Human Resource Management Practices at Walmart: A Critical Analysis

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HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
1.Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing the chosen organisation of your choice and assess how the functions of HRM can
provide talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business objectives...............................................2
2. Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
for the chosen organisation. Also, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different
approaches to recruitment and selection......................................................................................4
3. Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within the organisation chosen of your
choice for both the employer and employee. Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM
practices in terms of raising the chosen organisations profit and productivity...........................5
Explore the different methods used in HRM practices, providing specific examples to support
evaluation within an organisational context................................................................................7
4. Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection, supported by specific examples...................................................................................7
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................9
5. Analyse the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision
making for the chosen organisation. Identify the key elements of employment legislation and
the impact it has upon HRM decision making for the chosen organisation. Evaluate the key
aspects of employee relations management and employment legislation that affect HRM
decision-making in an organisational context.............................................................................9
6. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples from the chosen organisation. Provide a rationale for the application of specific
HRM practices in a work-related context..................................................................................11
7. Critically evaluate employee relations and the application of HRM practices that inform and
influence decision-making in an organisational context...........................................................13

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Person Specification........................................................................................................11
Table 2: Job Advertisement...........................................................................................................12

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: HRM Functions................................................................................................................3
Figure 2: Employee Relations.........................................................................................................9

Introduction
Human resource management helps the employees to manage positive relations with the
organisation to decrease the employee turnover. In concern with Walmart which is a retail
multinational enterprise have over 2.3 million employees globally to perform their business
operations. The report will discuss the function of the HR department to gain productivity and
employee satisfaction. The benefits of HRM practices for both employer and their staff will be
discussed along with the importance of employee relations in the decision-making process of the
firm. For attracting suitable candidates, the firm is required to create an appropriate job
advertisement for the vacancies.
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Task 1
Introduction
Human resource management function adopts various practices to improve the business
effeceincy and productivity. The current task will discuss the importance of implementing
effective methods of recruiting and selecting best candidate along with the merits and demerits of
such approaches (Reiche et.al, 2016).
1.Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing the chosen organisation of your choice and assess how the functions of HRM can
provide talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business objectives.
Human resources management is the firm’s strategic function as it focuses on managing effective
relations within the firm. The organizational goals and customer satisfaction can be attained with
the help of monitoring the HR activities and the resources of Walmart along with recruiting
appropriate staff for performing various job roles. The main purpose of HRM is to develop an
effective communication system to increase organizational effeceincy.
HRM Function and Purpose
Recruitment activities: the productivity and profitability of Walmart can be increased with the
help of an effective recruitment process implemented by the HR department of Walmart by
selecting the right candidate. Human resource planning is requiring for identifying the vacancies.
Training sessions: training and development sessions conducted in Walmart can help in the
personal and professional development of the firm’s employees and make the necessary
improvements assessed in the training need analysis.
Induction process: the organization performs its work and operations as per the various cultures,
employment legislation and the business environment. Thus, when new candidates are employed
in the firm they go through the orientation process to understand the business and working
(Oyemomi et.al, 2016).
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Flexible work practices: flexible work practices provided by Walmart to its staff members help
them to gain confidence and enhance the work efficiency for both the employers and the firm.
Flexible working and positive environment reduce staff turnover.
Employee relations: with the help of offering attractive rewards and benefits to the employees,
the firm gets success in gaining the trust and motivation of their employees so that they can
retain for a more extended period contributing in business goals.
Figure 1: HRM Functions
(Source: Surbhi S, 2015)
Soft and Hard HRM Models
In context with Soft HRM applied in Walmart, the employees are given the top priority and
provide them effective motivation to gain competitive advantage and profitability enhancement.
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While the practices of Hard HRM gives priority to increase the business outcomes and profits by
effective monitoring and controlling the organizational activities (Verheul, 2018).
The efforts of Walmart employer to gain employee satisfaction and minimize the turnover level
in the firm can be attained with the help of the above HRM functions and their successful
implementation for the benefits of employees. These HRM functions can help in attaining
business goals by talented and skilled staff and their increased knowledge with training activities.
2. Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection for
the chosen organisation. Also, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to
recruitment and selection.
The HR department of Walmart uses various recruitment and selection methods so that they can
select the skilled candidates for their job positions. These approaches and methods have some
advantages as well as drawbacks which are discussed below to enhance business efficiency.
Recruitment approaches in Walmart
Internal recruitment: when the job positions are available in Walmart, the HR manager use the
internal recruitment methods like filling the position by selecting current employees so that time
and cost can be saved. They also recruit the trainees as the new employees for the available
position of the firm along with using transfer so that trusted and experienced candidates can be
selected in Walmart and achieving the productivity (Chowdhury, 2017).
Strengths: the merit of using internal recruitment approach in Walmart is that the cost incurred in
this recruitment process is low and also saves the employers time. Another advantage is that the
organization is already familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of their current employees.
Weaknesses: the main drawback of adopting an external recruitment approach is that it can create
disputes and conflicts among the other employees who are not getting the same opportunities.
Along with this, the chances to attract new ideas and talents for better and improved work can be
reduced.
External recruitment: to attract fresh talents for the Walmart jobs, the firm uses the approaches
and methods like campus selection and get a larger pool of candidates with effective skills. They
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also use job advertisements to attract skilled and qualified candidates as per the requirement of
the firm to meet the business motives (Bartlett et.al, 2016).
Strengths: as external recruitment involves more talented applicants, the chances of selecting the
best candidate can be more. The fresh qualified candidates can help the firm to introduce
innovative and creative ideas for gaining competitive advantages.
Weaknesses: the cost and time involved in the external recruitment process of Walmart are high
as compared to other sources. The morale and motivation of existing employees can be
decreased which can lead to decrease the productivity as well.
Selection approaches in Walmart
The approaches used for selecting suitable candidates for the jobs in Walmart includes structured
interviews to assess the candidates in a detailed way along with understanding their expectations
related to Walmart. The other approaches and methods like situational judgement test and
another personality test can help in knowing whether the candidate will be able to work
according to the organizational functioning or not (García et.al, 2017).
Strengths: selection process helps in analysing the detailed information related to the selected
candidates along with identifying their strengths and weak points so that their job role can be
assigned accordingly.
Weaknesses: while conducting the interviews the candidates may get nervous because of
confusing questions asked by the interviewers. Biases can be present while implementing the
selection process in Walmart.
3. Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within the organisation chosen of your choice
for both the employer and employee. Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in
terms of raising the chosen organisations profit and productivity.
Benefits of HRM practices for employers of Walmart:
 Effective HRM practices applied in Walmart can help the firm as the turnover of the
employees can be reduced and more employees are retained for performing their jobs and
meeting the goals.
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 The business targets along with the business mission, objectives and goals can be fulfilled
as the HRM practices are implemented in an effective and appropriate manner.
 The rewards and benefits offered to Walmart employees can help in enhancing the
morale of employees so that their capability for performing their job roles and tasks can
be increased (Wilton, 2016).
 Training and development programs in Walmart help the firm to increase their business
effeceincy along with minimizing the rate of accidents and errors within the organization
and gaining profits.
Benefits of HRM practices for employees of Walmart:
 With the help of effective practices applied in Walmart, the employment relationship of
the employees with their employers can be improved.
 The involvement and participation of employees in the decision making process of
Walmart can lead to increased confidence of employees for performing their work.
 HRM practices help the employees to get the opportunities for their growth and
development within the firm whether personal or professional.
 Effective practices related to HRM can increase the morale and motivation of employees
as the firm focus on providing various benefits to their employees (Bratton and Gold,
2017).
 The job satisfaction of employees can also be enhanced with the successful
implementation of HRM practices in Walmart.
Effectiveness of HRM Practices
Skilled employees: with the help of adopting appropriate practices of recruitment and selection,
Walmart can select skilled and talented staff members which can contribute to gaining better
efficiency of work performance along with increasing the productivity.
Effective leadership: the leadership techniques adopted in Walmart help the firm to gain the
commitment of its employees. The leaders will contribute their efforts in providing appropriate
guidance and motivation to their employees for improving their work (Kim and Mauborgne,
2017).
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Effective decision making: HR manager of the firm is responsible for taking an effective
decision regarding HR activities. The firm is also encouraging the active participation of
employees in the process of decision making to encourage them.
Employee’s efficiency enhancement: training sessions by the employers help the employees to
increase their job knowledge so that their work performance can be improved along with
improved efficiency.
Appropriate management: the profitability and sales of Walmart can be increased with the help
of using appropriate HR practices so that the activities and resources of the firm can be managed
properly and in an effective manner (Easterby-Smith et.al, 2015).
Explore the different methods used in HRM practices, providing specific examples to support
evaluation within an organisational context.
Different Methods of HRM Practices in Walmart:
Walmart adopts various methods of HRM practices like providing appropriate benefits,
incentives, paid and annual leave along with promotions which can help the firm to have flexible
working and gaining the commitment of employees. Training practices can help the firm to the
employee performance to the set benchmark. Recruitment of skilled candidates can improve
productivity. The other method is effective job design that can help the workers to attain the
satisfaction of employees in performing their jobs effectively. This includes job enlargement and
enrichment, simplification of work, etc. Flexible organizational structure helps in developing a
positive work environment in Walmart.
4. Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection, supported by specific examples.
The adoption of internal recruitment sources in Walmart like recruiting current skilled employees
for the jobs available will help the firm to have an advantage of low cost with experienced
employees. The time consumed in this process is also less. The demerit is non-availability of
new and improved ideas. The advantage of external recruitment in Walmart like recruitment
through job advertisement and campus selection method is that, more skilled and talented
candidates are selected from a larger audience (Zhang and Li, 2015). The drawback is the
involvement of higher cost and more time. On the other hand, the selection process applied in
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