Tesco's HRM: Talent, Skills, and Business Functions

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HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
LO1 Purpose and scope of Human Resource Management (HRM) in terms of resourcing an
organisation with talent and skills to fulfil business functions....................................................2
LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in an
organisation..................................................................................................................................5
LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management decision
making including employee legislation.......................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Scope of HRM..................................................................................................................3

Introduction
Human resource management (HRM) is a vital part that ensures the smooth operations and
working of the organization. HR department in the organization is responsible for making
effective human resource management so that organization can achieve its desired goal by
making optimum utilization of the skilled and talented employees. The current report will discuss
the purpose and scope of HRM by discussing the case study of the Tesco that is the third largest
retailer in the world. Tesco has numbers of retail stores in the UK as well as in other countries so
it requires numbers of skilled and talented employees and their effective management for gaining
the competitive benefits. The report will discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of the key
elements and practices of the HRM in the organization. The report will also highlight and
analyze various internal and external factors that can impact the decision-making of the HRM in
the Tesco.
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LO1 Purpose and scope of Human Resource Management (HRM) in terms of resourcing an
organisation with talent and skills to fulfil business functions
Purpose of the HRM
Tesco is the one of the largest retailer in the world and its HRM has important roles in resourcing
skilled and talented human resources for achieving the desired objectives of the business. The
main purpose of the HRM in the Tesco is to provide maximum benefits to the organization by
managing and controlling the performance of the human resources. The HRM department in the
Tesco perform different functions and practices for providing skills and talents so that
organization can meet its desired objectives by making optimum utilization of the skill and
efforts of the human resources (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). HRM meet the human resource
requirements of the organization by attracting and appointing skilled and talented candidates
towards the organization. the role of the HRM in the Tesco is not end with the attracting the
talents and skills towards the organization but also perform different functions and practices to
enhance and improve the skills and knowledge of fresh as well as existing employees so that they
can perform their assigned more efficiently and effectively to accomplish the organizational
goal.
The scope of the HRM
The HRM has wider scope as it is not limited to only the human resource planning and
resourcing of the skilled and talented candidates to the organization but also protect the mental
and physical potential of the organization. Following are given below the brief explanation of the
scope areas of the HRM in the Tesco:
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Figure 1: Scope of HRM
(Source: http://www.whatishumanresource.com, 2019)
Employees hiring: It is the role of the HRM in the Tesco to hire skilled and talented employees
in the organization to meet the manpower needs to accomplish the desired goal of the business.
As per requirement, HR department in the Tesco design and publish vacant job advertisement in
the newspapers, job portal and website that attract numbers of applicants and then they are
selected on the basis of their skills and abilities (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
Train and develop employees: HRM has also job to conduct training and development in the
organization for improving and enhancing the capabilities of employees and ensuring their
personal as well as professional development so that they contribute their maximum efforts and
to achieve organizational goal.
Remuneration and compensation planning: It is the job of the HR department in the Tesco to
make panning about the compensation and remuneration to be offered or paid to employees in
the organization. HRM develop various policies and strategies on the basis which remuneration
is paid to employees that will satisfy them fully (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Employee motivation: It is the job of the HR department in the Tesco to use different methods of
motivation to sustain skilled employees in the organization. The HR department provide
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monetary as well as non-monetary motivation that satisfies financial as well as social needs of
employees.
Employee maintenance: The HR department in the Tesco also has job to maintain the
employee’s master data and various cost related to the activities and practices of employees in
the organization.
Industrial relations: It is also an important job of the HR department in the Tesco to maintain
the healthy relationships with the union members for preventing the organization from the strike
lockouts and ensure the smooth functioning of the organization (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
Performance appraisal: It is also essential job of the HR department to make the performance
appraisal of employees on the basis of their performance in the workplace. The HR department
can promote employees, provide incentives and make increment on the basis of performance.
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LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in an
organisation
Key elements of the HRM and their effectiveness in the organization
HR planning: An effective human resource planning will help the Tesco to identify future needs
of the skilled human resources to meet the desired goal of the organization. An effective human
resource planning will also helpful to meet the current as well as future human resource needs of
the organization.
Recruitment and selection: Effective recruitment and selection practices by the HR department
in the Tesco help in attracting and hiring talents and skills that will contribute their maximum
efforts and time to accomplish the organizational tasks. Therefore, effective recruitment and
selection practices will provide maximum benefits to the organization in achieving its desired
goal (Ekwoaba et.al, 2015).
Training and development: Training and development programmes conducted by the HR
department will be helpful in developing, improving and enhancing skills and abilities of fresher
as well as existing employees. Proper training to employees will enhance their efficiency and
performance level that will be helpful in accomplishing the desired objectives of the organization
by making optimum utilization of skills and talents (Bratton and Gold, 2017). It is also essential
that the HR department in the Tesco must make promotion and increment of employees that will
ensure their professional growth and development and hence will be helpful in gaining
competitive advantages in the retail markets.
Motivation: Proper motivation to employees in the Tesco will be helpful in enhancing the work
efficiency and performance level of employees that will enable them to complete their assigned
task more efficiently and effectively. The use of appropriate motivational methods will also be
helpful in retaining skilled and talented employees in the organization so that their skills and
talent can be used for enhancing the customer service, sales and gaining competitive advantages.
Performance management: It is essential that performance of employees must be managed
efficiently and effectively so that their appraisal can be made accordingly to retain them in the
organization. The regular monitoring of performance of employees will be helpful in
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determining the incentive, compensation and remuneration to be paid to employees to satisfy the
fully (Shields et.al, 2015). The effective performance management and appraisal will be helpful
for the Tesco to retain employees in the organization for longer time period and utilize their
skills and knowledge for enhancing the customer service and gaining competitive advantage in
the market.
Industrial or labour relations: If the HR department in the Tesco is maintaining healthy
relationships with the union members in the organization then it will be helpful in preventing the
organization from the problem of strike lockouts by the employee and hence ensure the smooth
operations and working of the organization. Also, employee legislation and laws followed by the
HRM will be helpful in protecting rights and interest of employees and hence ensure the co-
ordinal and healthy relations between the employer and employees.
Management of the HR information system: The HR department in the Tesco plays important
roles in managing the HR information system in the workplace so that employees attendance,
their functioning and their payroll can be manage effectively for ensuring the smooth operations
of the organization. The effective management of the HR information system helps in
maintaining the confidential data of the employees safely in the organization and hence
protecting from any misuse and threat (Johnson et.al, 2016).
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LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management decision
making including employee legislation
The business environment includes various internal and external factors that can impact the
decision-making of the HRM in the Tesco. The internal factors involve organizational plans and
policies, human resources, financial resources, labour management and relations, and
organization image in the market. If there are strict and complex policies and procedures
followed in the Tesco then it may restrict or hinder the decision-making performance of HRM.
Due to highly strict organizational policies, the HR department in the Tesco needs to take various
decisions related to the human resources within the limited boundaries (Gooderham et.al, 2015).
It is essential that organizational policy must be flexible and favourable that will enable HR team
in the Tesco to take HR decisions effectively that will be beneficial for both organization as well
as the employees.
HRM decision-making can also be influenced by the skills and abilities of human resources in
the workplace. If there is a lack of proper skills and knowledge in the employees as per current
market trend the HRM in the Tesco face difficulties to take necessary decision related to the
incentives, increment and promotion of employees. While, proper skills and abilities in
employees enable the HR team to make necessary decision effectively related to the increment
and promotion of employees and hence retain them in the organization (Johnson and Szamosi,
2018). Moreover, unhealthy relationships between the employees and employers will also limit
the HR department to necessary decisions that will provide benefits to both organization and
employees. While healthy relations between them will support HR team to take effective HR
decisions to ensure smooth working of the organization.
On the other hand, external factors include the competitions, employment or employee
legislation, etc that also may affect the decision making of HRM in the Tesco. In the current
time, there is huge competition in the labour market as supply of labour is abundance and
demand is extremely high. Due to huge competition, HR department in the Tesco may face
difficulty in hiring skilled employees as required in the organization to perform different tasks
and accomplish the desired goal. There are numbers of big organizations in the UK which are
hiring skilled employees at attractive salary packages so HRM needs to develop effective HR
strategies for attracting numbers of skilled employees towards the organization. The employee
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legislation in the UK is also one of the main external factors that are affecting the decision
making of the HRM in the Tesco (Anderson, 2014).
As per Health and Safety Act 1974, it is essential for the HR department in the Tesco to secure
the health of employees in the workplace for taking maximum utilization of their skills and
knowledge and hence retain in the organization. Improper safety to the employee’s health may
reduce their interest of working in the organization hence HRM needs to develop effective health
security policy for employees. As per Employments Rights Act 1996, the HR team in the Tesco
also needs to conduct the recruitment and selection practices with full transparency that will
provide opportunities to skilled candidates to work in the organization (Countouris, 2016). Also,
as per the Equality Act 2010, the HR department in the Tesco also needs to make equal and fair
treatment with all employees in the workplace without discriminating them on the basis of
gender, age, race and disability. Therefore, the HR department in the Tesco must need to analyze
and consider all the internal and external factors while making decisions related to the HR for
providing maximum benefits to the organization.
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Conclusion
The report has concluded that HRM plays very crucial in ensuring the growth and success as
well as smooth working of the organization. HR department is the organization is responsible for
ensuring effective HRM and resourcing the organization with the skills and talents for achieving
desired objectives. the report has as explained the main purpose and scope of the HRM that is to
provide maximum benefits to the organization by performing different functions and practices
such as HR planning, recruitment & selection, training & development, performance
management & appraisal, and labour or industrial relations. But also there are various internal as
well as external factors such as organizational policies, employee relations, competitions and
employee legislation that majorly impact the decision-making of HRM in both positive and
negative manners.
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