Analysis of HRM Functions and Recruitment Strategies at Tesco PLC

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes Tesco's HRM practices, focusing on recruitment and selection.

Unit 3: Human Resource Management
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Executive Summary
In this report, the various functions of HRM in an organisation have been identified \ along with
the explanation of recruitment and selection approaches. Some examples have been provided that
justify the benefits of core HRM practices with reference to Tesco in terms of productivity and
profitability. In this report, two specific approaches have been selected and explained along with
the identification of their strengths and weaknesses.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................5
1.1 HRM and its purpose in an organisation...............................................................................5
1.2 Various functions of HRM in an organisation.......................................................................5
1.3 Detailed explanation of 2 functions.......................................................................................6
1.4 Various approaches of recruitment and selection..................................................................6
1.5 Detailed explanation of 2 recruitment and selection approaches..........................................7
1.6 Various HRM practices in Tesco...........................................................................................7
1.7 Benefits of the practices for both the employer and employee.............................................8
1.8 Practices that will benefit Tesco in terms of profit and productivity....................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference List................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Human Resource is considered as one of the most significant resources of a specific
organisation. It is crucial for every organisation to manage it in order to maintain the
sustainability and competence of the organisation. The purpose of the report is to provide the
learner with the understanding regarding the different practices and functions involved in the
HRM department. The various functions and purpose of HRM will be defined along with the
detailed explanation of two selected functions. In this report, the different recruitment and
selection approaches will be explained along with the assessment of their strengths and
weaknesses.
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Task 1
1.1 HRM and its purpose in an organisation
Human resource management is the specific term concerned with the management and growth
of employees and staffs within an organisation. It involves viewing every things associated with
the management of the organisation’s human capital (humanresourcesedu.org, 2019). The
concept of human resource management is concerned with the management of four specific
areas i.e. selection and recruitment, compensation and benefits, labor and workforce relations
and many more. HRM involves the development and administration of various programs and
schemes that are introduced in order to enhance the competence of the business.
The main purpose of HRM is to synchronize the individuals working for the organisation in such
a specific way that it is possible for them to accomplish the organizational goals and objectives.
The main feature of HRM is that it scopes the people working for the organisation as essential
assets and internal consumers that perform extremely hard to deliver exceptional consumer
service and workforce effectiveness.
1.2 Various functions of HRM in an organisation
It can be said that every organisation is simple formed on the base of the contribution made by its
people. In other terms, it is all about acquiring the potential services of the people and
developing their skills by providing them with the all the basic amenities and training programs
and schemes (Parry, 2011). The major functions of HRM in an organisation are as follows:
 Recruitment and Selection – The goal of this function is to attract the deserving candidates
or applicants and to motivate the undeserving applicants to opt themselves out of the
recruitment process.
 Orientation – This function helps the new employees or candidates to adjust and coordinate
themselves according to the employer and the new job position. The offering of intensive
orientation to the workforce of the organisation is considered as one of the major key
functions HRM in an organisation.
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 Managing employee relations – This is termed as the second crucial function of HRM that is
concerned with the improvement of the relations between the individual employees of the
organisation.
1.3 Detailed explanation of 2 functions
 Recruitment and Selection – The process of recruitment is defined as the captivating and
selection of potential candidates and applicants for a specific job position based on a certain
set of objective criterions. Before the initiation of the recruitment and selection function, the
business organisation needs to appropriately execute the staffing strategy along with the
grading of the employees and staffs. The forecasting of the staffs and employees working for
the organisation totally relies on the goals and annual budget of the organisation.
 Managing effective relations – Employees and staffs working for the organisation are
termed as the main pillars of the organisation. The relationship existing or developed
between the various employees is considered as one of the most crucial and significant
functions of HRM. The HRM department of an organisation possesses the potential to
manipulate the behavior and performance of the employees resulting in high productivity and
profitability. It is very much important for HRM to focus on the management of healthy and
strong employee relationship in order to promote a balanced relationship between the
employer and employee (Aswathappa, 2013).
1.4 Various approaches of recruitment and selection
A majority of the organisations perform extensively hard for a long-term profitability and mutual
happiness. Some of the various organisations implement a proactive approach or a systematic
approach towards recruitment and selection as these approaches helps the organisations to build
a pool of talent and respond to job vacancies at a more rapid rate. Some of the approaches of
recruitment and selection are as follows:
 Attracting the deserving candidates – It is very much important for a HRM department to be
accurate and interesting in their implemented approach of recruitment and selection. The
managers in the organisation also understand the realities of the job role and what are the
skills required for the company.
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 Equality and Diversity – In the present period, a majority of the organisations are
considering different approaches of recruitment and selection just in order to consider and
select them based on their merits. This approach helps the HRM to eliminate the reasons
behind discrimination and biases (Zhao and Liden, 2011).
1.5 Detailed explanation of 2 recruitment and selection approaches
 Online job boards and websites – General job boards are termed as to be extremely helpful
and important for the organisations that do not have a strong and reputed brand image and are
unlikely to attract deserving and high-skilled candidates to their websites (Shaghaghi et al.,
2011). The main advantages associated with this approach of recruitment and selection are
that it tends to be cost-effective, increases the pace of the recruitment cycle and streamline
administration and has global reach towards the mass audiences. Some of the disadvantages
associated with it are that an inappropriate website can damage the reputation of the brand
and is viewed as a discriminatory approach.
 Social Networks – In the recent times, a majority of the business organisations have
preferred LinkedIn to be their recruitment network shimmering the increasing rise of online
recruitment. According to Ranstad Employer Brand Research, there is an estimation of 39%
of applicants and candidates that utilize the different platforms and outlets of social media in
order to explore the new job vacancies (randstad.co.uk, 2019). The major advantages
associated with it are that it is one of the most appropriate ways of appealing to the connected
generations.
1.6 Various HRM practices in Tesco
Tesco in its most profitable periods had introduced strategic human resource along with the
introduction of more training programs and schemes. In the recent times, there has been an
increased significance and importance of HRM in every individual organisation especially the
retail business organisations. The strategic HRM policies and norms introduced by Tesco helped
it to gain a competitive edge over its rivals and eventually led to the increase in the business
operations. Tesco is known for its exceptional contribution towards training and development of
its employees and staffs and this is because the organisation completely understands that the
performance of the employees and staffs plays the main role or part behind the success of its
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products and services. Tesco follows two types of recruitment process i.e. internal recruitment
concerned with talent planning and external recruitment concerned with social media approaches
to recruitment. In the competitive environment of retail industry, Tesco acknowledges that it
needs to employ highly skilled and professional candidates in order to support its growth and
development (Otaye-Ebede et al., 2014).
1.7 Benefits of the practices for both the employer and employee
The HRM practices adopted or implemented by Tesco provides the organisation with an
understanding regarding the different elements of a HRM department. This provides various
opportunities and benefits to the employer and as well as to the employees of the organisation
also. The various HRM policies adopted or introduced by Tesco helps in influencing the working
culture of the organisation eventually leading to the improvement in the behavior and
performance of the employees and staffs (Gopalia, 2011). For example, a HRM policy
concerned with punctuality helps in promoting the time management skills of the various
employees and staffs and helps the employers to focus effectively towards their goals and
objectives. It is evident from the above answers that Tesco mainly focuses on the training and
development of its workforce in order to develop the skills of the employees and guide them in
delivering of exceptional consumer service. This constant training and education keeps the skills
of the employees updated so that they can emerge with innovative and unique business ideas and
concepts.
1.8 Practices that will benefit Tesco in terms of profit and productivity
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the specific business
organisations those are highly and expertly skilled in their HRM practices gain upto 3.5 times the
revenue growth and 2.1 times of profit of poor performing companies (shrm.org, 2012). There
exists a correlation between skilled HRM practices and positive economic performance in some
crucial areas including employee retention, leadership development, talent management, and
performance management. The direct and indirect practices adopted by the HRM department of
Tesco are connected to three outcomes i.e. financial outcomes, HR outcomes and organizational
outcomes. The impacts of the various HRM practices adopted by Tesco are mainly on the HR
and organizational outcomes and are larger in impact compared to the impact on financial
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outcomes. For example, Tesco has designed its various employee engagement activities on the
basis of workforce surveys and discussions. This has helped the employees and staffs to
participate in activities and perform as a single unit that has helped in generating higher
productivity and profitability.
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Conclusion
Various core HR practices influence the motivation and performance of the employees and staffs
working for the organisation. The report in overall covers the importance and function of HRM
in an organisation. It has been concluded that various HRM practices such as employee training
and development, team work and performance appraisal methods has a crucial impact on the
aspects of job performances and satisfaction of the organisation. In this report, the various HRM
practices have been explained that is beneficial for both the employee as well as for the employer
also.
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Reference List
Aswathappa, K., 2013. Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill
Education.
Gopalia, A., 2011. Effectiveness of online recruitment and selection process: a case of Tesco.
humanresourcesedu.org. (2019). What is Human Resources | HR | What is Human Resource
Management. [online] Available at: https://www.humanresourcesedu.org/what-is-human-
resources/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019].
Otaye-Ebede, L., Priola, V. and Yerby, E., 2014. Diversity in Organizations: HRM and
International Practices.
Parry, E., 2011. An examination of e-HRM as a means to increase the value of the HR
function. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(05), pp.1146-1162.
randstad.co.uk. (2019). Different Recruitment Methods: Advantages & Disadvantages -
WorkPocket. [online] Available at:
https://www.randstad.co.uk/workpocket/finding-candidates/different-recruitment-methods-
advantages-disadvantages/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019].
Shaghaghi, A., Bhopal, R.S. and Sheikh, A., 2011. Approaches to recruiting ‘hard-to-
reach’populations into research: a review of the literature. Health promotion perspectives, 1(2),
p.86.
shrm.org. (2012). Effective HR Practices Drive Profit . [online] Available at:
https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/1112focus.aspx [Accessed 19 Feb.
2019].
Zhao, H. and Liden, R.C., 2011. Internship: A recruitment and selection perspective. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 96(1), p.221.
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