Tesco's HRM: Strategies, Culture, Employment, and Personnel Management

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Tesco's Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. It begins with an introduction to HRM and its role in organizational success, using Tesco as a case study. The main body of the report delves into specific areas of Tesco's HRM, including its strategies for creating value, such as employee training, performance management, work simplification, and efficient resource utilization. It then examines the impact of regional and national culture, particularly in the context of Tesco's operations in India, on HRM practices such as employee training, motivation, selection processes, leadership styles, and corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, the report explores Tesco's employment model and the organizational levers it uses to create value, referencing relevant legislation like the Equality Act 2010 and the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. It also differentiates between HRM and personnel management, using Storey's 27 points of difference as a benchmark. The report emphasizes the importance of local culture in hiring and firing practices and outlines general and transnational HRM practices. Finally, the report discusses the differences in employment laws when international HRM changes, and offers recommendations for HRM practices, culminating in a conclusion that summarizes the key findings and reinforces the importance of effective HRM in a multinational context.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
(A) HR Strategies used to create value of the firm with the use of concepts of strategic HRM
................................................................................................................................................3
(B) The impact of regional and national culture on the practice of HRM.............................4
(C) Use appropriate organisation’s employment model and state the organisational levers used
to create value.........................................................................................................................5
(D) Difference between HRM and Personnel Management...................................................6
(E) Importance and significance of Local Culture ...............................................................7
(F) Differences in terms of law employment laws when International HRM changes..........8
(G) Good HR practices and literature.....................................................................................9
(H) Recommendations regarding HRM practices................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management works as a department in any organisation for performing
all the activities related to human resource. Process of HRM involve procurement, development
and maintenance of human resource. It helps the employees to work well so that individual,
organisational and social objectives can achieve easily. For planning or preparing of any type of
policies in organisation, HRM is responsible. Recruiting, selecting, inducting, providing
orientation, imparting training and development, motivating employees, are the roles and
responsibilities of HRM. It is also a responsibility of HRM department to know about the needs
of the organisation, so that they can motivate them by fulfilling their needs. Tesco is a company
of grocery founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 from market stalls (Truong and Barraket, 2018). It is
a multinational company as, almost 7000 stores are currently working and it is third largest
supermarket in all over the world. At Annual Grocer Gold Award 2012, Tesco was awarded as
Green Retailer of the year. And according to a report, it was found that the Tesco is generating
revenue of approx 6,391.1 crores GBP. This report include HR strategies, Regional & National
culture on the practice of HRM, Models of employment in the context of Tesco Company.
MAIN BODY
TASK
(A) HR Strategies used to create value of the firm with the use of concepts of strategic HRM
HR strategies are long term plans made by HRM department for the welfare of all human
resource, which aims at integrating organisational culture, employees and process of doing work
in any organisation so that it's goals can achieve easily (Airapetova and et. al., 2017). While
developing HR strategy, four dimensions must be addressed i.e. Culture, Organisation, people
and Human Resource System. Following are the strategies using by the HRM department of
Tesco: Employee Training Providing training to the employees of any organisation is too
mandatory for better performance (Islam and Managi, 2019). Tesco is continuously
running their training programs in their organisation, so that the employees can do their
best and give better result. While it is an expensive strategy but it improve the work
quality of employees and help the organisation to achieve their goals and targets. As
performance of employees are the only pillars towards the success of Tesco. Efforts

made by the employees while doing their work can only be seen by the result or
outcome (Zhang and et. al., 2020).
 Performance Management Measuring and then managing the work performance of
employees is another responsibility of HR department. If performance of employees is
not as per standard, their managers should give efforts to improve work quality.
Mangers of Tesco continuously monitor their employees and for improving their
performance they provide targets so that they can work best as per their ability (Leroy
and et. al., 2018).
 Work Simplification It is the responsibility of a manager to assign the work to their
employees by doing as simple as possible (Carpenter, 2017). Managers of Tesco give
a complete presentation of the work or project which they want to be done by the
employees. If the employees find it simple, as explained by the manager, they
performance their best and do work with interest as they are well known easier by
work .
 Efficient Utilizing It is the responsibility of manager to manage all the resources and
also see whether the project and sources are in budget or not. Tesco is a growing
company as their managers do proper utilization of resources so that their result can
show efficiency. Proper utilization of resources not only gives good result also it helps
in cost cutting of organisation (Weiwei, H., 2018).
(B) The impact of regional and national culture on the practice of HRM
It is a challenge for all multinational companies to adjust with various regional, cultural
and political environment and factors. Because of difference in various factors of various
countries, managers of MNCs have to prepare many policies, so that they can work in the
concerned country (Liu and et. al., 2017) . Before starting working in any country, company have
to analyse all the aspects of environment for not facing many problems while working.
Following are the impacts of regional and national culture of Tesco on the practice of HRM in
the Asian Country i.e. India. Employee Training As it is well known that training is an important function played by
HRM department for improving work skills of their employees. If, Tesco a multinational
supermarket comes in Asian Counties, some changes in this HR strategy will be held
because they have to change their language(Kavanagh and Johnson, 2017) . As people of

UK can understand fluent english but people or employees of Asian countries are not so
good in english. Motivation It is the responsibility of managers to understand the need of employees
working in the organisation to motivate them. Employees, working in US or UK wants
appraisal or reputation at workplace while employees working in Asian countries believe
in monetary motivation. Employees needs for motivation got different as their culture
and religion are different (Tregaskis and Heraty, 2018). Selection Process The process of selecting employees are different from country to
country. Asian countries follow extensive selection process although US follow short
selection process. Difference in selection process means difference in steps. Tesco have
to make their interview or selection rounds as per the culture and religion of the people
of country. Leadership Style There are many styles of leadership i.e. formal, informal, centralization
and decentralization. Generally in UK, structure of taking any decision in Tesco is
structured as centralized. Japanese would like to do the work as silent leaders whereas
Arabs finds silence as a weak leadership style.
 Corporate Social Responsibility Tesco's social responsibility is varies from country to
country. As people of US or UK wants that there environment should not be effected but
in Asian countries people want that the organisation should donate some money to
schools, for poor people etc.
(C) Use appropriate organisation’s employment model and state the organisational levers used
to create value
For creating value, organisation have to fulfil all the needs of employees as well as they
have to achieve organisational goals and targets. Here are some acts and laws, which are used by
Tesco so that they can create value in society (Aboramadan, 2018).
Equality Act 2010 This act was maid by merging nine acts and it brings almost 116
various pieces of legislation into a single act. It was came in force on 1st October 2010. It's main
focus is to protect individual rights and to provide equal opportunities to everyone. Tesco is
using this law by providing fair and equal opportunities to everyone. They always looks at the
side of skills because the skills of any employee will gives the result of success or huge profit.

Health & Safety at work Act 1974 This act gives explanation of general duties of
employers and employees to managers and owners to maintain the workplace environment safe
and healthy. This act came in the force in 1974 by the government of US. Tesco is following this
act of government by taking care of all employees working there (Miranda and et. al., 2017).
They are providing proper training to employees or staff members for their safety at workplace.
Managers of Tesco is providing proper information regarding safety of employees and proper
supervision to employees.
(D) Difference between HRM and Personnel Management
It is totally depend on the organisation, that the company wants to bring practise of HRM
or Personnel management or both (Nezamoleslami and Hosseinian, S.M., 2020). There are
various differences given by Storey. Below mention table is showing Storey's 27 points of
difference between HRM and Personnel Management
Basis of difference HRM Personnel Management
Standardisation Low High
Managerial Task Nurturing Monitoring
Thrust of relations with
stewards
Marginalised Regularised
Contract Aim to go beyond contract Careful delineation of written
contracts
Nature of relations Unitarist Pluralist
Selections Integrated, Key task Separate, marginal task
Training and Development Learning Companies Controlled Access to courses
Communication Increased flow Restricted flow
Labour management Towards individual contracts
(Drobyazko and et. al., 2019)
Collective bargaining
contracts
Pay Performance related Job Evaluation
Condition Harmonisation Separately Negotiated

Speed of decision Fast Slow
Management role Transformational leadership Transactional
Rules Can do outlook, impatience
with rule
Importance of devising clear
rule/mutuality
Key relations Customer Labour management
Conflicts De-emphasised Institutionalised
Key managers General/business/lines
managers
Personnel/IR specialists
Prize management skills Facilitation Negotiation
Job categories and grade Few Many
Foci of attention for
interventions
Wide ranging cultural,
structural and personnel
strategies
Personnel Procedures
(Ko and McKelvie, 2018)
Conflict handling Manage climate and culture Reach temporary truces
Guide to management action Business need Procedure
Initiatives Integrated Piecemeal
Behaviour Referent Values/mission Norms/custom and practice
Communication Direct Indirect
Corporate Plan Central Marginal
Job design Teamwork Division of labour
Above mentioned table is clearly showing the Storey's 27 points of difference between
HRM and personnel Management. Tesco is using both HRM as well as Personnel management
as many of factors of HRM and some of Personnel Management are good for organisation which
result in the growth of organisation (Taylor, 2018).

(E) Importance and significance of Local Culture
The local culture is used to distinguish themselves from the common traits, experiences,
customs of other localities. This helps an organisation to assume how individuals will perform in
a team. In simple words, it helps an organisation in forming teams with an aim to achieve the
organisational goals effectively and efficiently (Longxi, 2018). It motivates the isolated
individuals to work as a team members and attain the targets. The local culture identifies whether
the individual could fit in accordance with the values of the organisation. It identifies the
employees who remains unsatisfied with the job and create a negative work environment (De
Mooij, 2019).
Every company has its own culture with the values, process and expectations defined.
The key to success of the Tesco is its values of trust and respect. It is the vital part of the Tesco
as it help the company in its growth and success. Hiring and Firing is considered a part of
culture, if suitable individuals are not hired they will create hindrances in achieving
organisational goals (Bachin, 2020). It amounts to a mistake if Tesco hires an individual or an
employee which creates a bad culture fit in the organisation. Thus, local culture plays an utmost
important role in HRM department.
General Human Resource Practices
The HRM practices which are need to be undertaken are:-
 Making non bias and effective policies and rules
 Proper mode of recruitment, must not be contrary to the values of an organisation
 Performance feedbacks (Dittmer and Bos, 2019)
 Developing training programmes and discipline committees
Human Resource Practices in Transnational/International-Subsidiary
These human resource practices including the measures for cultural differences are also
exercised by the business at international level (Dilrukshika and et. al., 2020). The HR practices
which the Tesco need to carry out HRM in transnational/international-subsidiary are as follows:-
 The company need to formulate the policies and strategies keeping in mind the changing
environment of the country (Tordera and et. al., 2020).

 Develop an effective local culture in accordance with the values of
transnational/international-subsidiary company(Njiru, 2020)
 Tesco must form measures to resolve the conflicts between its subsidiary company.
(F) Differences in terms of law employment laws when International HRM changes
Human Resource Management is an effective strategy of managing people of an
organisation to achieve the organisational goal effectively and efficiently (Connell and et. al.,
2017). A separate department of Human Resource Management is formed in an organisation
which carries out the functions like selection, training, interviewing, organising orientation,
providing incentives etc. In simple words, Human Resource Department manages the employees
of an organisation with an aim to attain business goals (Feliciano and Harriss, 2017). On the
other hand, International Human Resource Management focus on handling human resource
activities of an organisation at the international level. The Employment Law deals with the
problem arises between employers and employees. It includes issues such as contracts related to
the employment, disputes involving discrimination etc. It also provides the rights to the
employees and grant the employers with responsibilities (Willborn and et. al., 2017) .
Accordingly, Human Resource policies projects the structure of an organisation, so as the
company Tesco, also formulates HR policies and tactics which outlines the company's strategy in
order to provide better outcomes between employees and the organisation. International HRM
changes its business system when there is need in the company to improvise the strategies and
when the company is adversely affected by the external factors, such changes are made in order
to make business effective (De Wet, 2018). When international HRM changes its local business
system the terms of employment laws differs, for example when an employee is assigned with an
international project and HRM changes its business system, will somehow cause change in the
terms of an employment contract, thus causing conflicts. Personnel Management norms are rigid
and the employees need to follow as per the employment contract and such changes may cause
disputes in an employment contract (Jing, 2017). But the Tesco follows the flexible strategy
which focuses on motivating employees to use their skills towards the organisational goals.
Further Tesco follows such rules and laws which provides opportunities to the employees. The
Tesco does not belief in the discrimination of employees and make such recruitments of an
individuals with an aim to improve there skills and knowledge. Thus, any change in recruiting
process of the Tesco may affect the terms of an employment contract. Therefore, employment

law collectively binds the relationship between the employer, employee and union, so any
change in it will cause an impact on the human resource management (Howell, 2020) .
(G) Good HR practices and literature
As discussed above, the Human Resource Management projects the structure of an
organisation and formulates the policies and strategies to achieve the organisational goals. Thus,
Human Resource practices is required to provide consistency, fairness and reliability in the
polices and strategies which are formed by the HRM. Tesco gives a greater significance to such
practices in order to attain its organisational goals (Amorim and Santos, 2017).
Some of the practices followed by the Tesco are as follows:- Ensuring Safety Needs: The Tesco ensures the safety of its employers and employees, as
the company has bifurcated the department in order to provide the speedy action. For
example, Group People Safety Department, Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
(Das and Singh, 2020) . Equal Opportunities: Tesco follows this norms strictly, as the company aims to increase
the morale and dignity of the employees, thus, does not create a discrimination between
the individuals (Mehmood, 2017). Female employees in the company are offered the post
equivalent to their capabilities without making any comparison with male employees. Selective Hiring: The Tesco aims to calibre the individuals according to their skills and
knowledge and hires sufficient individuals in order to work effectively (Schenk, 2017) .
Thus, the company recruit qualified work force to achieve its goals. Adapting practices with the changing environment: Tesco examines the changing
environment and accordingly adapt the human resource practices. The company is
required to cope with changing environment in order to survive in the competitive market
(Malla and Lehal, 2017). Training Needs: Tesco formed its training programme to guide the individuals to utilise
their skills fully and give their best, as the company believes that the best return can be
gained from the employees.
 Performance Appraisal: Performance of the employees are need to be supported in order
to motivate them to contribute towards the organisational goals . Tesco uses the Tesco
Steering Wheel to indicate the performances of the employees.

(H) Recommendations regarding HRM practices
Human Resource Management helps the company to provide with the greatest assets i.e.
the skilled workforce. No doubt, the company has replaced with the advanced technology but
human force remains the best assets of an organisation (NIKOLETT, 2019) . Some of the HRM
practices recommended to the employers to ensure high organisational performances are: Considering the external and internal factors: The company before formulating the
strategies must consider the external and internal factors. Tesco need to outlines the
business strategy with the changing environment. As the changing factors affects the
employers in giving their best performance (Jiru and Tadesse, 2019). Develop Training Programmes: There requires a need for training programmes to guide
the new employees so that they can contribute to their best. Such training programmes
polishes the employees skills and knowledge. As Tesco uses its training programme to
improvise the skills of the employees (Al-Zeidi, 2020). Thus, the employers need to
develop such programmes in order to guide the employees in using their potential skills. Maintaining the Discipline Environment: In order to achieve the goals effectively and
efficiently it is required to establish measures for improving the discipline in the
organisation. Tesco follows the code of business conduct in order maintain the discipline.
Thus, the employers need to formulate rigid rules and codes in relation to the working of
an organisation (Moh, 2017). Fair HRM practices: The important feature of HR practice is that they should not be bias
or partial. Such practices formed by the employers need be bias as they may decrease the
morale of the employees towards the organisational goals. Thus, the practices followed
must not create flaws in working of the organisation(Dolan, 2017).
 Achievements & Feedbacks: The best way to motivate the employees towards goal is to
give the rewards or performance feedback for the work they have done. This will create a
competitive spirit within the employees and thus, targets will be achieved timely. Also
the feedbacks will provide a great help to an employee in achieving target better. Thus,
enhances the working on employees in an organisation towards the goals (ALBERTI,
2017) .

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that, Human Resource Management plays a crucial
role in achieving organisational goals. This management provides the organisation with its best
asset i.e. human force. The management requires an effective human resource practices in order
to bring the consistency and clarity in the policies and procedures formulated by the human
resource management to meet the requirements of the organisational goals. Tesco follows the
human resource management strictly and the upcoming trends in modern era. The role of human
resource management is wide and thus, required to be flexible. Furthermore, HR practices also
focuses to maintain the stability of the company in required competitive environment.
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