Tesco's HRM: Strategies for Talent Acquisition and Retention

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Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Activity 1.........................................................................................................................................4
An explanation of the purpose and the functions of HRM applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation...............................................................................................................4
Assess how the functions of HRM provide talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business
objectives.........................................................................................................................................5
Explanation and evaluation on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to
recruitment and selection. Are these different approaches successful, do they achieve the
organisations aims, what could be changed and why?....................................................................6
Activity 2.........................................................................................................................................8
An explanation of the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and the employee.............................................................................................................8
An evaluation of the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational
profit and productivity leading to an exploration of the different methods used in HRM practice,
providing specific examples to support evaluation within an organisational context.....................9
Activity 3.......................................................................................................................................11
Analysis of the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-
making...........................................................................................................................................11
Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision-
making...........................................................................................................................................12
Evaluation of the key aspects of employee relations management and employment legislation
that affect HRM decision-making in an organisational context....................................................12
Application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific examples provide a
rationale for the application of specific HRM practices in a work-related context.......................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
Reference List................................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Human resource management is an important function of every business organizations, which is
solely responsible for managing performance and welfare of the employees in the organization.
In this regards, it is noteworthy that the human resource management unit in every organizations
are continuously emphasizing upon recruiting and retaining the best talents in the organization,
who can contribute in the organization’s performance excellence. In this regards, it is noteworthy
that the HRM department is also responsible for offering training and development opportunities
to the employees also (Noe et al., 2017). The HR practitioners should also align the practices
with the legislations and policies related to HR practices. In this regards, the following
assignment is going to emphasize upon understanding the purpose and function of HRM in the
selected organization, the renowned retail organization Tesco Plc. and understanding the key
elements, legislations and other aspects associated with the HRM practices.
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Activity 1
An explanation of the purpose and the functions of HRM applicable to workforce planning
and resourcing an organisation
Purpose of HRM
The human resource management department of Tesco plays a key role in shaping the skills and
competencies of organizational workforce. The purpose of human resource management
department in the organization is to “achieve business objective, meet organizational staffing
needs and maintain employee satisfaction”. The HRM objectives at Tesco are set in such a way
that these are directly related to the organization’s mission and goal. Therefore, the wider
purpose of HRM at Tesco is to contribute to the overall business growth by involving the process
of nurturing human talent and supporting employee welfare. Further, the HR managers at Tesco
are playing a key role in strategic decision making (Cascio, 2015).
Function in Workforce planning
The function of HRM at Tesco is mainly associated with workforce planning and resourcing in
the organization. The workforce planning is the process of analyzing the organization’s future
needs for people in terms of numbers, skills and locations. As the company is growing, Tesco
needs to recruit on a daily basis for both food and other sectors. Tesco is utilizing a workforce
planning table for establishing the possible demand for new staffs, which considers both
managerial and non-managerial positions. For instance, the organization estimated in 2008-09
that for supporting the business growth, it would be a demand for approximately 4000 new
managers. The planning process runs every year from last week in February, with quarterly
review in May, August and November, in order to adjust staffing levels and recruit accordingly.
It enables the HRM team at Tesco sufficient time and flexibility to meet its demands for staffs
and contributing in organization’s strategic objective (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The HRM team
at Tesco seeks to fill most of the vacancies from within the company, through the program called
“talent planning”, for encouraging employee’s commitment in the organization. The workforce
planning also includes the annual appraisal scheme, which is a major function of HRM at Tesco.
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The employees can identify roles in which they seek to develop their career at Tesco and they get
help from managers.
Function in Resourcing
It is another major function for the HRM team at Tesco, which includes recruitment, selection
and retention. In order to start to recruitment process, the HRM team provides specific job
description and specification. The initial step in the Tesco’s recruitment process is the internal
talent plan, i.e. preferring existing employees for the higher designations, with the purpose of
encouraging talented staffs. If there is no such suitable option, the HR managers and executives
shift towards external recruitment. For the purpose of recruitment, a distinct website has been
created by HR team at Tesco (www.tesco-careers.com), where advertisement for vacant
positions are promoted for identifying the most suitable candidate for the given position, through
using online application form. In some instances, help from recruitment agencies are also taken
for recruitment purpose (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The selection process includes screening all
the applications, interviewing the screened candidates, sending offer letter to the candidate
finally. For retention purpose, the HR team is offering suitable induction and other training
programs. The HR team offers safe working environment, with training on “how to tackle with
dangerous situations”. Further, minimum wages are paid to daily checkout staff based on the
working hours and days worked.
Assess how the functions of HRM provide talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business
objectives
From the above discussion, it has been revealed that recruitment, selection and retention are the
major functions of HRM team at Tesco, which are helping the employer to provide talent and
skills appropriate to fulfil their business objectives. The core business objective of Tesco is “stay
leading retail supermarket” and “provide good quality services and products at a low cost so that
they are cheaper than their competitors”. The HR team at Tesco, through the effective workforce
planning and resourcing, is acquiring the best talent for the vacant position in the organization.
Instead of relying upon only external recruitment, it is relying more on internal recruitment, for
empowering the existing workforce and enhancing the overall productivity of the organization,
thereby increasing the overall profit also (Noe et al., 2015). On the other hand, through offering
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effective training and development program, high quality performance management and reward
management, employees’ skills are developed to meet the changing market needs and offering
the best quality service to their customers. In addition, motivated employees would increase
productivity and profit, which would help the organization to hold its leading position in the
market also.
Explanation and evaluation on the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to
recruitment and selection. Are these different approaches successful, do they achieve the
organisations aims, what could be changed and why?
In the above section, it has been identified that the HRM team at Tesco is recruiting and selecting
candidates through both internal and external recruitment and selection procedures. It is crucial
to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches in order to understand their
effectiveness at Tesco.
Internal recruitment process – Tesco uses internal recruitment process as its first priority, for
encouraging existing employees, which is referred to the “talent planning program”.
Strengths
 Cost effective and time saving process
 Empowers existing staffs and shapes their career path in the organization, strengthening their
loyalty and retention
 Overall workforce productivity is increased with enhance organizational excellence (Bailey et
al., 2018)
Weaknesses
 The possibility of finding the best possible candidate for the vacant position is limited
 A gap is created in existing workforce in the organization, as the higher position is filled with
the staffs from the lower designation
 It can cause inflexible organizational culture, if not controlled properly and discrimination
takes place
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External recruitment process – If there is no scope for internal talent planning, Tesco goes for
external recruitment, through its specific website and recruitment agencies.
Strengths
 Diverse talent pool could be attracted, which promotes innovation and creativity
 It eliminates organizational politics and increases flexibility in organizational culture
 The highest potential of a vacant designation could be attended (Banfield et al., 2018)
Weaknesses
 The procedure is complex and require a lot of time and money
 The chance of biasness or unsuitable recruitment is also high
 It lowers motivation of existing employees, which could reduce overall productivity
Both the recruitment and selection processes used in Tesco are successful in meeting the
organizational demand. However, the overall quality of the procedure could be improved through
including alternatives, like including professional referral schemes, unsolicited applications etc.
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Activity 2
An explanation of the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both
the employer and the employee
A range of HRM practices are taking place in the organization, which are giving significant
benefits to the employees and employer. The key functions of HRM team are to recruit and
manage the talent pool in the organization. Managing talent is crucial for the employer to meet
the business objects and perform as per the industry needs as well as to eliminate employee
issues; on the other hand, for employees, such practices are continuously helping to understand
and fulfil their roles and responsibilities in the organization. The employers and employees are
getting benefits through the following HRM practices.
Training and development – Tesco is offering a range of training and development programs to
its employees. The training and development programs are helping the employees to develop
specific traits and competencies, required to fulfil their job roles and gain rewards. In addition,
the development programs offered by Tesco are giving the employees the opportunities to
develop their career in the organization (Guest, 2017). On the other hand, making the employees
more competent to fulfil their job roles, this HRM function is helping the employer to meet its
objectives and beat the competitors in the competitive market.
Recruitment and selection – The recruitment and retention procedure helps the employees to get
employment or get a higher designation in the organization, thereby shaping their career path. On
the other hand, the recruitment and selection helps the employer to fill the vacant position and
strengthen the workforce, so that it could meet the market demand (Shields et al., 2015).
Performance management and reward system – It is a crucial function for the HRM team at
Tesco. The HRM team at Tesco is utilizing performance appraisal and talent management plan
for performance management. In addition, reward system is used for motivating staffs to fulfil
their job roles. The performance management helps the employees to identify their own strengths
and weaknesses, based on which performance development plan is set for them for further
improvement (Brewster, 2017). It improves their skills and competencies and organizational
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performance. On the other hand, employer gets benefitted through performance management, by
ensuring legal compliance and improving employee relations. Reward system also enhances
employee relations.
An evaluation of the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising
organisational profit and productivity leading to an exploration of the different methods
used in HRM practice, providing specific examples to support evaluation within an
organisational context
The HRM practices are also helping the organization Tesco to raise organizational profit and
productivity. Profit and productivity of a retail organization like Tesco, increases in hand-in-hand
manner. As organizational productivity is solely dependent upon the employee’s productivity,
the HRM practices play crucial role in ensuring its rise. Thus, different HRM practices at Tesco
are discussed which are helping to raise profit and productivity.
Training and development – The highly skilled and competent employees are the key behind
Tesco’s success. Tesco’s marketing slogan is “Every Little Helps”; but it is not just indicating
their marketing, but it stands for everything they do. It is indicating that they are doing every
little help their employees too, for making them perfectly skilled and competent, so that their
productivity could be increased. Highly skilled employees are able to offer exceptional service to
customers, making them satisfied and loyal, thereby increasing organizational profit also
(Conway et al., 2016).
Selective recruitment – Tesco prefers selective recruitment, which involves assessing the
candidate’s capabilities in respect to the job description of the vacant position, to ensure that the
candidate could offer the desired level of productivity. The preference to internal selection,
which is referred to “talent planning program”, also indicates that the existing staffs are already
skilled and familiar in the organizational environment; thus, they would be more productive,
when they would be encouraged and promoted. It would encourage others to work hard and get
the chance to be promoted too (Irawanto, 2015). Therefore, this procedure is also effective in
increasing overall productivity and profit.
Compensation – Tesco includes effective reward and compensation system, which mainly helps
to empower employees to work harder and be committed to achieve more. It is known to all that
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committed employees are more prone to be highly productive. Offering compensation in a fair
and unbiased manner promotes overall productivity, by encouraging all the staffs to achieve the
compensating level. Finally, higher productivity gives higher profit to the organization.
Employee security – It is an important responsibility for the HR team at Tesco. The HR
managers have developed effective policies for ensuring that employees working at a secured
environment in the organization. Further, upon recruitment, the employees get special security
training on “how to tackle with dangerous situations”. According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs theory, it meets the security needs of the employees, thereby motivating them. Sparrow et
al., (2015) claimed that motivated employees are much more productive in meeting
organizational objectives, compared to demotivated ones. As a result these practices are helping
HR team at Tesco to improve overall productivity and profit.
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Activity 3
Analysis of the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-
making
Employee relations are referred to the effort provided by the organization for managing its
relation with the employees. It is crucial for the employer like Tesco to offer fair treatment and
flexible working environment to the employees, along with all other employment benefits, to
ensure a strong positive relationship with its employees. Employee relations are important for
ensuring that the organization is safeguarding the interest of its workforce and management
through ensuring high level of mutual understanding or negotiation. A strong employee relation
indicates that the employer is engaging its employees in the organizational decision making and
other procedures. It is important for Tesco to ensure that the organization is able to make
employees satisfied and meeting their needs. Tesco is continuously creating opportunity to boost
employee engagement, which is the core to build a strong employee relation, through activities
like “Colleague Briefing Session, Talent Showcase, FaceBox, Yammer Chat, Rewards &
Recognition (R&R)” etc. A strong “employee relation” makes Tesco a “flexible organization”,
which enables the employee to adopt organizational norms and rely on customers’ expectation,
while working from their own side and contribute in decision making (Samantara and Sharma,
2015).
A strong employee relation is important in respect to influence HRM decision-making.
Employee relations at Tesco are indicating that the employer is continuously putting significant
effort to boost the employee engagement in organizational decision making. It is important
because, it is helping the organization to give the employees the space for innovation and the
space to feel valued in the organization, which further enhances their organizational commitment
(Chowdhury, 2016). Further, strong employee relations promotes the HR managers to promote
conflict resolutions and related decision making in a more smooth and effective way.
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Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision- making
The key elements of employment legislation, which are affecting the HRM decision making are
discussed below:
Employment rights Act 1996 – This act indicates that the employer like Tesco is responsible for
preserving the employment rights of employees in the organization. Aligning with this
legislation, the HR professionals are making the policy decisions to make fair judgment for the
employees, during recruitment, performance management or reward.
Equality Act 2010 – This act indicates that no organization should perform biased decision for
employees based on gender, caste, culture or other aspects. This act influences the HRM decision
making, while developing the employment contract, anti-discriminatory holiday policy or other
HR decisions, to eliminate discrimination (Abe and Oldridge, 2019).
Working Time and Minimum Wage Regulations 1998 – This regulation sets the rule for “no
more than 48 hours of working per week, with mandatory right to pay annual leave of at least 4
weeks” applicable to every employee. This regulation influences HRM decision of compensation
policy development.
Health and Safety at Work act 1974 – This act ensures that the employer is responsible for
ensuring that the working environment is safe for the employees and they are provided with all
the health benefits. While developing health benefits and health policy for the employees, this act
influences HRM decision making (Abe and Oldridge, 2019).
Evaluation of the key aspects of employee relations management and employment
legislation that affect HRM decision-making in an organisational context
Employee relations management influences HRM decision making as being part in legislative
workplace. It is important to improve employee relation management that is effective for Tesco.
Tesco maintains key aspects of employee relations to improve the decision-making management
by motivating employees and subsequent performance (Sparrow et al., 2015). Quality of
employee’s workplace relationship is important to motivate and improve level of subsequent
performance of employees. Harmonious relations between the employers and employees are
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