Effective HRM Practices: A Case Study of Tesco PLC's HR Department

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes Tesco's human resource management practices.

Unit 03– Human Resource Management
Student’s Name:
Student’s ID:
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Executive Summary
In this assignment, the various human resource functions have been discussed along with its
assessment. The employment law that governs the decisions of the human resource department
of an organization has been illustrated. The job description and person specification of a
particular post has been described along with various human resource questions for the post has
been depicted. The affect of social media and technology on human resource functions have been
illustrated briefly in the given assignment. The importance of employment engagement activities
have been depicted along with the case study of the organization that has been considered in the
organization.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................5
1. An explanation of the purpose of the HR function and the key roles and responsibilities of the
HR function, highlighting the significance that HR plays in acquiring talent to meet business
objectives.........................................................................................................................................5
2. An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection, development
and training, performance management and reward systems..........................................................7
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices........8
4. The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, with
mention of the flexible organization and flexible working practices and ‘employer of choice’.....9
5. Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organization must work....................9
6. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision making
and meets business objectives.......................................................................................................10
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................11
7. For any job role in your chosen organization, prepare a Job description and Person
Specification. Assuming a person is being called for the interview; identify at least four
appropriate job related questions that you will ask the candidate at the interview. Prepare a job
offer letter assuming that you are offering the job to one of the interviewed candidates..............11
8. Evaluate the use of technology, online resources, digital platforms and social networking on
improving the recruitment and selection process..........................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
Reference List................................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Human resource department is one of the most important aspects of an organization. It has
numerous functions within the workplace and assists the managers and leaders to deal with the
difficult scenarios. This report has been developed for understanding the roles and
responsibilities of the human resource department and the ways in which the HR department
functions for meeting with the objectives of the organization. Besides this, the assignment helps
to understand the ways in which recruitment and selection takes place within an organizational
context. The company that has been selected for completing the assignment is Tesco Plc. Tesco
is one of UK’s leading retail organizations and it will assist in understanding the functionalities
of the human resource department that are required for completing the assignment. There are
certain employment legislations that have been discussed in the assignment. This provides a clear
understanding of the HR department of Tesco Plc.
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Task 1
1. An explanation of the purpose of the HR function and the key roles and responsibilities
of the HR function, highlighting the significance that HR plays in acquiring talent to meet
business objectives.
Within the organizational context, the human resource department serves a prime purpose. The
purpose of the human resource department has been analyzed below:
Internal Customer Management
It is important for Tesco Plc to ensure that they are managing their customers in the right
manner. In order to achieve this, they have to focus on the quality of their products and services
so that customers are retained for a longer period. Besides this, they have to look after their
employees and keep them engaged in the workplace so that the organizational goals and
objectives are easily achieved (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Staffing
The human resource department looks to hire skilled and talented employees for their workplace
so that they are well equipped with new and advanced technologies in the workplace. As a result,
they have to make use of different methods of recruitment and selection for hiring employees.
The roles and responsibilities of the human resource department is essential for ensuring that the
all the business objectives are achieved easily. This section highlights the important roles and
responsibilities of the HR department in terms of Tesco Plc. These have been discussed below:
Recruitment
The HR department is responsible for recruiting employees to develop the strength of the
workforce. They have to develop strategic campaigns so that they can get new recruits. This
allows them with a scope to gain access to wide variety of employees. As a result, their process
of recruitment can be eased (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
Training
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After the process of recruitment is complete, the HR department should take initiative to train the
selected employees and make them acquainted for using advanced technologies in the
workplace. Besides this, they should explain the employees about their job roles and
responsibilities in the workplace.
Resolving Conflicts
While working within an organization, there are times when conflicts arise between employees
and employers for some obvious reasons. It is the duty of the human resource department to
ensure that they take all the required measures to resolve the conflicts amongst the employee and
the employer. It will help to enhance their relationship in the workplace (Briscoe et al., 2012).
By the inclusion of the above roles and responsibilities, the human resource department of Tesco
Plc is able to ensure that they are working in accordance to the requirements of the organization.
As a result, the employees are able to understand the objectives of the company and they perform
the task that has been allocated to them.
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2. An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection,
development and training, performance management and reward systems
Several methods are used to evaluate the various human resource functions. Evaluation of the
human resource functions aids to check the effectiveness of the activities practised by the human
resource department. Thus, the analysis of the HR function assists in finding out the areas in
which the HR department is not able to deliver its functions properly. The assessment approach
that is used to assess the functions practised by the HR department of TESCO has been described
below:
Workforce Planning: The process of workforce planning in TESCO starts from the end of
February every year. The organization takes reviews on a quarterly basis in May, August and
November. TESCO takes such steps to evaluate the vacancies and fill it through recruitment.
This process gives TESCO sufficient time as well as flexibility such that it can fulfil its
requirement of staffs and meet the objectives of the organization. The organization motivates its
employees for their career development through “talent planning”. This method is highly
effective and aids the employees to have job satisfaction. It also assists the organization to meet
its requirement of workforce (Chuang et al., 2016).
Recruitment and Selection: TESCO adopts several methods in order to recruit people and fill
the vacancies. It organises walk-ins in order to recruit the right candidate for the posts. It uses
employee referrals for the process of recruitment as well as selection. Other means that it adopts
for recruitment and selection is advertisements on websites. It also organises e-recruitment in
order to select the most apt person for a particular post. The candidates need to fill an application
form, in case the applicants are found suitable then an initial round of interview is conducted by
the HR department following which the candidate’s aptitudes and achievements are tested. If the
candidates are able to clear the previous rounds the employees’ background is verified and then
the supervisor of the team (whose vacancy is to be filled) conducts another round of interview.
Finally, a medical examination or drug test is conducted and if the candidate is able to clear all
the rounds the candidate is finally selected in TESCO. The procedures followed by TESCO for
recruitment and selection screens the candidates in every aspect and it is recommended to follow
the same (Brewster et al., 2016).
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Development and Training: TESCO organizes several conferences and seminars for the proper
development of its employees. The staffs of TESCO get proper training from the organization
such that they are able to improve their skills and increase their knowledge. TESCO makes sure
that it employees derive job satisfaction and are content with the work they are doing (Albrecht
et al., 2015). The HR department of TESCO makes sure that its employees get equal
opportunities of being developed and trained such that they can develop and grow themselves in
their career.
Performance Management and Reward Systems: The HR department of TESCO carefully
monitors the performance of each employee and gives them rewards accordingly like incentives
or promotion (Kavanagh et al., 2017). It makes sure that the employees are motivated and are
satisfied with the work they are doing such that they are encouraged to perform better and aid the
organization to achieve its objectives and goals.
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices.
The human resource team of TESCO is also known as People team since they are passionate
about serving their customers in a better way thus they create a positive working environment in
their stores and offices (Tesco-careers.com, 2019). It makes sure that it has good and positive
relationships with its customers as well with its employees. As per the reviews of the workers,
TESCO facilitates flexible working hours as well as locations for its employees and aids them
to have proper work-life balance. It makes sure that its employees are well-trained and can grow
as well as develop in their career.
It adopts several strategies in order to engage its employees and develop healthy relationship
with them. The leaders of TESCO interrogated its employees regarding any kind of problem
they are facing in the organization. As per the reviews they received, several steps were taken in
order to deal with the issues effectively. In 2011- 12 TESCO made significant investment to
ensure that the staffs face no problem and purchased several coffee machines as well as
dishwashers for all the stores where it was required. It also organised several programs in order
take reviews of the employees anonymously such that their identity is not revealed
(Personneltoday.com, 2012). The only requirement for the employees was to give the store
number or the name of division director. As per the response TESCO took several steps to deal
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with the issues effectively and sort them out. It makes sure that all its staffs participate and are
given equal opportunities to communicate their ideas such that they participate in every program
and feel a strong sense of connection with the organization.
4. The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, with
mention of the flexible organization and flexible working practices and ‘employer of
choice’
TESCO has adopted two-way communication so that it is engaging its employees effectively. In
this process, the leaders interrogated the employees regarding the issues they are facing. The
feedback so received was then worked upon such that the issues can be resolved properly.
Employee engagement is an important means or tool used by an organization such that it is able
to retain its workforce and is able to attract candidates in order to fill the vacancies in the
organization. It has a positive approach towards employee engagement as it has set low barrier
towards participation. It invites its employees to present and communicate their thoughts
through texts or emails in any kind of program (Personneltoday.com, 2012).
The responses that TESCO records are anonymous and the only information it takes is the
number of the store or the name of the director of the division. The feedbacks so obtained are
then segregated and then analysed so that the main issues are identified following which
appropriate actions are taken. TESCO made significant investment and ordered several coffee
machines and dishwashers for its employees in the stores where it was required. The main motto
behind this was to make sure that the workforce of TESCO do not face any kind of trouble or
inconvenience and retain their service to the organization. TESCO adopted helicopter view such
that it can address broad issues or problems that arose in several of its stores. It took various
steps to deal with the problems significantly.
5. Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organization must work.
Employment legislation comprises of all kinds of measures that are required for employee
protection. It is the law that administers the employment in an organization with each of its
employee. It directly affects the organization and its employees. It affects the unions as well. It is
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also termed as labour law. The laws that affect the employment laws of an organization have
been described below:
No discrimination: The organizations must not practice discrimination based on caste, creed,
gender, or religion. The organization must not practice discrimination based on disability of a
person and must give equal opportunity to each individual while the recruitment and selection of
people along with the training and development of the employees (CIPD.co.uk, 2019).
Maximum working hours: The employment law of UK has set a standard for the maximum
number of hours that the employees can work in an organization to make sure that the employees
have work life balance such that they can enjoy their lives as well along with the work they are
doing.
6. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision
making and meets business objectives
The employment laws affect the operations as well as the decisions made by TESCO since the
human resource department of TESCO have to make sure that each individual is given a chance
while it recruits. It has to ensure that the department is not biased while recruiting people or
giving training opportunities to the employees of the organization. The human resource
department of TESCO has to take steps such that the employees of the organization get a positive
and healthy work environment such that they are able balance their work along with their life
(CIPD.co.uk, 2019). It makes sure that the working hours of its employees are according to the
employment law of the United Kingdom. The human resource department of TESCO cannot
discriminate among its employees based on race, caste, creed, colour, or gender. The human
resource department must adhere to the employment rules and legislations of United Kingdom
and has to make decisions accordingly.
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Task 2
7. For any job role in your chosen organization, prepare a Job description and Person
Specification. Assuming a person is being called for the interview; identify at least four
appropriate job related questions that you will ask the candidate at the interview. Prepare
a job offer letter assuming that you are offering the job to one of the interviewed
candidates.
TESCO PLC
Email id – [e-mail]
Job Profile: Store manager
Job description:
 Develop appropriate strategies to increase the profit of the store
 Meet the targets of sales
 Monitor and evaluate the performance of the staffs such that they meet the sales target
 Handle the administration activities of the store
 Suggest innovative ideas such that the sales of the store and its market share is
increased
 Resolve the issues of the staffs and customers
 Behave well and deliver high performance
 Make and submit a report on the buying trend of the customers and their needs
 Evaluate the training needs of the employees and provide appraisals based on
performance
Venue: Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
(Till 25th March 2019)
Reporting time: 9:30 AM
Table 1: Job description
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(Source: Created by the learner)
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