Effective HRM: A Report on Waitrose's HR Strategies

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Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of resourcing
an organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business objectives.........................4
LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in an
organisation................................................................................................................................7
LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management
decision-making, including employment legislation...............................................................11
LO4 Apply Human Resource Management practices in a work-related context.....................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................16
References................................................................................................................................17

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Introduction
Human resource management or HRM is a key to the organisational success and growth. It
helps in accomplishing the objectives, targets and goals of the organisation in an effective
way. Waitrose Company originally named as Waitrose and partners, is a UK based British
organisation, which operates in retail business and functions under John Lewis partnership.
The company was found by Wallace Waite and David Taylor along with Arthur rose in 1904.
In the following report, various aspects of HRM in business context of Waitrose will be
discussed along with various approaches and processes related to Human Resource
Management.
LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of
resourcing an organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business objectives
The nature and scope of HRM:
Definitions of HRM along with main functions and activities of HRM
According to Low et al. (2011), HRM is defined as effective utilisation of human resource
for better management of the organisation. Main functions and activities of HRM in Waitrose
will include strategic & risk management, planning policies, recruitment, selection, training
& development, motivating employees, maintaining compliance with laws and maintaining
relations between employees and the organisation.
The ‘Best Fit’ approach vs ‘Best Practice’
Best fit Best practice
 As per this, reward system should be
aligned to company’s strategies
 Helps in attaining competitive advantage
 Reflection of organisational values and
strategies
 As per this, reward system should be
aligned to HR policies.
 Helps in attaining employee’s
commitment and enhanced performance
 Existence of best pay practices
Table.1- Best fit vs Best practice
(Source: Learner)
The hard and soft models of HRM
Models of HRM Description

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Hard
 Also known as instrumental approach
 Employees are viewed as normal resources
 Hiring and firing employees as required.
Soft
 Also known as humanistic approach
 Employees are given more importance than any other resource
 Utilising the workforce and employees for long-term goal
acquisition
Table.2- Hard and Soft HRM models
(Source: Learner)
Workforce planning & types of labour market and PESTLE
Through workforce planning, as mentioned by Guerci et al. (2016), the need and requirement
of employees in Waitrose can be estimated and they can be utilised for performance
enhancement.
Types of labour market:
As reflected by Alfes et al. (2013), there are four kinds of labour markets-
1. Independent primary- Salaried staffs in both professional and technical fields
2. Subordinate primary- Production workers and union rivals
3. Craft- Highly skilled members of craft unions
4. Secondary – Low skilled labours with dead end jobs
PESTLE:
Influencing
factors
Description
Political  Trade and government policies
 Labour laws and tax policies
 Restrictions in trade
 Tax policies
Economic  Rate of interest and currency values
 Rate of inflation and exchange
 Level of unemployment
 Stability and growth of economy
Social  Growth rate of population

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 Consciousness regarding health and safety
 Demographics and cultural diversity
Technological  R&D development
 Technological advancement
 Technological transformations and incentives
Legal  Copyright and patents
 Discrimination and employment laws
Environmental  Climatic and weather change
 Sustainability policies
Table.3- PESTLE analysis
(Source: Learner)
The internal labour market is a unit of administration where allocation of labour and pricing
is governed through administrative guidelines. Analysing turnover in Waitrose is required to
be checked by the HR professionals and managers frequently. As per the suggestions of
Budhwar et al. (2016), analysis turnover can be calculated by checking HR records and
employee turnover. The legal and regulatory frameworks save employees of Waitrose from
discrimination and provide them safe and friendly environment. As reflected by Dewettinck
and Remue (2011), Advances in technology have facilitated fast completion of work and
helps in improving the efficiency of HR practices.
Recruitment
Sources of recruitment: internal vs external recruitment
Internal recruitment This recruitment occurs in Waitrose when employees are recruited
through internal sources and references
External recruitment This recruitment takes place in Waitrose when recruitment occurs
through external agencies and ads.
Table.4- Internal vs external recruitment
(Source: Learner)
Selection
Methods of selection Strengths Weaknesses
Assessment centres Lowered operation cost through
selection of right candidate
Subjective results because of
manual grading

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Biographical data Manual as well as electronic
administration
Expensive & time taking
Cognitive ability tests Prediction of job performance Contrasting results due to
gender and race differences
Interviews Evaluation of presentation &verbal
skills
Time taking process
Table.5- Methods of selection
(Source: Learner)
Reliability and validity as key criteria
According to Thompson (2011), reliability is the method of accomplishing consistency and
validity comprises of several types like constructs, criterion and content.
On-boarding and induction
The issues affecting successful induction and socialisation of employees in Waitrose
comprises of excess data provision, impersonal experience, emphasis on formalities, etc. As
mentioned by Savanevičienė and Stankevičiūtė (2011), these issues and obstacle are to be
eliminated from on boarding and induction programs.
LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in
an organisation
Learning, development and training
Differentiating development and training
Development Training
 Procedure of growth &learning
 Career oriented
 Long term process
 Emphasise human and conceptual ideas
 Ensure better job performance
 Procedure of skills and knowledge
enhancement
 Job oriented
 Short term process
 Emphasise technical skills
 Ensures employee’s overall growth
Table.6- Development vs training
(Source: Learner)

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Identifying training needs – the training gap
The training needs of employees in Waitrose are identified and fulfilled through Training
need analysis. As mentioned by Simkin (2013), the gap between the current and desired
levels is called as training gap, which can be understood from the following figure:
Figure.1- Training gap
(Source: Anon, 2019)
Types of training & evaluation of training
As opined by Goyanes et al. (2017), the types of training that can be used in Waitrose by HR
are as follows:
1. Quality training
2. Professional and legal training
3. Managerial training
4. Skills training
5. Team training
It has been opined by Zalengera et al. (2014); the evaluation of training takes place through
describing output, pre-training evaluation, post evaluation of reaction, post evaluation of
learning and follow up.
Job and workplace design
Reward management: extrinsic and intrinsic rewards from work.
In Waitrose, extrinsic rewards are tangible rewards like bonus and pay raise, which are
offered to employees of Waitrose for their good performance and for generating extrinsic

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motivation. On the other hand, as opined by Aithal (2016), intrinsic rewards are intangible
like praise letters, which generate intrinsic motivation in the employees of Waitrose.
The link between motivational theory and reward
As per the opinion of Munro (2018), motivational theory and reward system are linked with
each other as both the factors are used for motivating the employees. In Waitrose, HR
manager can refer to any of the motivational theories given by Maslow, McGregor, Herzberg,
Alderfer etc. These theories can be content theories i.e. for identifying the needs; and process
theory, which deals with the procedure of proving motivation. As mentioned by Lowe et al.
(2012), rewarding is a part of motivation system and thus it is related to the motivational
theories. For example, in Waitrose Company, HR refers to Maslow and Herzberg theories for
motivating the employees and enhancing their performance in the organisation. They also
motivate employee through providing them extrinsic and extrinsic rewards for their good
performances in the organisational projects.
Series of job design-job extension techniques
As opined by Storey et al. (2014), the process of job design occurs in various steps like Job
Rotation, Job Enlargement, Job Simplification and Job Enrichment.
Figure.2- Job design
(Source: Cdn.businessmanagementideas.com, 2019)
The flexible organisation:
Types of flexibility: numerical, structural and functional flexibility
Numerical flexibility – Waitrose will be numerically flexible if it is able to adjust labour’s
quantity for overcoming organisational changes.
Structural flexibility – This flexibility will be achieved by Waitrose if it becomes capable of
managing structure according to changing environment.
Functional flexibility –If Waitrose gains the ability of deploying employees, and then it will
gain functional flexibility

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Models of flexible organisations (e.g. Handy, Atkinson)
Figure.3- Handy’s model
(Source: Drvidyahattangadi.com, 2019)
Both these models can be used by Waitrose Company for bringing flexibility in organisation.
As per the suggestion of Dwyer and Reed (2015), the flexibility model of Handy comprise of
three elements, which are called as leafs. These leaves and their constituents can be observed
from the above figure.
Figure.4- Atkinson’s model
(Source: Researchgate.net, 2019)
Atkinson’s model is also used for this purpose, but through this model, Waitrose can
restructure their employees and workforce for bringing organisational flexibility. As opined
by Grimm et al. (2013), this model comprises of core and peripheral sections of employees.
Flexible working options in modern organisations and Benefits to employers and benefits to
employees of flexible working practices

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As suggested by Faulkner et al. (2012), various flexible working options like Flexitime,
compressed workweek, sharing job, part time and telecommuting are the options available in
the modern organisations. Through flexible working options, employers can provide more
satisfaction to employees and boost their morale. According to Law et al. (2015), employees
will get to work according to their skills, capabilities and convenience. Overall, this will
facilitate better performance of the employees in the organisation.
Performance and reward
Performance management and methods used to monitor employee performance.
Performance in Waitrose can be managed by the HR through monitoring the performance of
the employees. As reflected by Hyman (2012), HR should ask the employees for using
relevant tools, which helps in recording their task performance. Keeping track of projects,
performance and their deadlines is also another method of monitoring the employee’s
performance.
Types of payment and reward system
Extrinsic – Extrinsic rewards are tangible reward offered to employees for generating
extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic- Intrinsic rewards are intangible which generate intrinsic motivation in the
employees.
Financial – As reflected by Alfes et al. (2013), this kind of reward are cash and capital
related.
Non-financial –This reward system does not include cash or capital and found to be
beneficial in generating intrinsic motivation.
LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management
decision-making, including employment legislation
Employee relations
Maintaining good employee relations
Employee relation in an organisation refers to the relationship shared between the employer
and the employee. It is necessary for an organisation like Waitrose to maintain their
organisational culture and healthy employee relation. As mentioned by Guerci et al. (2016),
good employee relationship in an organisation reduces the chances of conflicts and has some
other advantages, which include higher productivity of the organisation, better understanding

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and raising the staff morale. The company Waitrose uses different strategies to improve the
relation between employee and the management.
Strategies for building and improving employee relations and engagement
Various strategies used by the company to build and improve the relationship between
employee and the engagement include:
 The company selects right and deserving managers.
 Using a technique such as surveying to assess the performance and character of an
employee
 The strategy also involves focusing on the employees who are filled with enthusiasm
and positive energy at the organisation.
 The company, Waitrose defines employee engagement every day to their employees
Employee relations and the law
The purpose of employment law
As per the suggestions of Budhwar et al. (2016), employment law also known as the
individual labour law came into effect when industrialisation spread all over the world. This
law brought a big change to the world as globalisation took place and created vast job
opportunities. This law concerns the right of individual at the organisation from the standard
regulations.
Key legal issues and constraints
The law ensures that confidentiality is maintained in the workplace. As per the suggestions of
Budhwar et al. (2016), legal issues such as workplace equality and fair hours and wages are
covered in the law. The employment law implemented to provide fair working hours and
appropriate was to the employees working with the same post. At Waitrose, the law was
implemented where each employee was provided to sue another employee if he/she feels any
unsafe conditions. The working atmosphere ensures workplace equality such as each of the
employees is treated equal at Waitrose.
Ethical and social responsibilities
As opined by Goyanes et al. (2017), ethical responsibility ensures that the civic duty is being
fulfilled by each of the employee that must benefit each sector of the society. At Waitrose,
ethical responsibility is maintained to maintain the economic growth and welfare of the
society.

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Trade unions and workplace representation
The role of trade unions – local/national
The activity followed by trade union includes assistance to their individual members and
providing necessary services. As reflected by Alfes et al. (2013), the services are provided to
the individuals to, who continuously bargain to get a suitable working condition and want
higher wages. Including such roles engage the individuals to improve the services provided to
the public and perform political campaigns. The union members can include the staff such as
nurses, engineers, apprentices, bus drivers, teaching assistant etc.
Collective agreements
The common interest of the employees is represented by trade union. As opined by Goyanes
et al. (2017), collective agreement functions as a contract between the labours and the union.
It is a written contract. In Waitrose, a collective agreement is issued to settle the common
interest of the employees and fulfil them (Waitrose.com, 2019).
Discipline, grievances and redundancy – best practice
According to Thompson (2011), under the regulations and disciplinary action, the employer
must send a formal letter to the employee who is setting out the conduct. After this, a
disciplinary action includes the invitation of other employees for the meeting and informs
other about the decisions being made. In any condition, an employee appeals, it is necessary
for the employer to arrange another meeting.
LO4 Apply Human Resource Management practices in a work-related context
Job and person specifications
Job description
Duties  Maintain organisational staffs and employees through
testing and interviewing program.
 Providing training to employee particularly as well as
together
 Facilitating motivation and rewards for the employees
Job requirements  Formulating budget according to the target
 Working in team for attaining organisational goals and
objectives