Workforce Planning and HRM Practices at WhatsApp: A Detailed Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within the context of WhatsApp, an American Bank. It delves into various aspects of HRM, including workforce planning, recruitment and selection methods, training and development, performance appraisal, and job analysis and design. The report distinguishes between hard and soft HRM approaches, evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection processes, and highlights the benefits of HRM practices for both employers and employees, particularly focusing on flexible working options and employee satisfaction. Furthermore, it assesses the effectiveness of HRM practices in terms of organizational profit and productivity, emphasizing the importance of employee relations and engagement. The report concludes by examining significant employee relations strategies that influence HRM decision-making, such as providing freedom to speak and share ideas, ensuring employee well-being, and offering career planning advice. The analysis aims to provide insights into how WhatsApp leverages HRM to enhance employee engagement, productivity, and overall organizational success.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management refers to administering the functions that increases
efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation (What is Human Resource?, 2019). It is a wide
department which includes different functions such as recruitment and selection, training and
development, HR Planning, labour relations etc. Its purpose is to increase the productivity by
providing training and development to employees. Every company need skilled and well
qualified employees and this requirement can be fulfilled by HR department. WhatsApp is an
freeware, cross platform messaging and voice over IP. This repost is based on the purpose and
functions of HRM applicable to workforce planning and strengths and weaknesses to recruitment
and selection. It also explains the benefits of HRM practices in the context of both employer and
employee and how it is effective in raising the productivity and profitability of an organisation.
This report analyses the importance of employee relations, identifies the elements of
employment legislations and their impact upon HRM decision-making.
TASK 1
P1. Purpose of HRM functions applicable to workforce planning of an organisation
Workforce planning is a method used to determine the needs of employees in an
organisation (Bratton and Gold, 2017). It identifies the current and future needs which are
appropriate to recruit and retain the employees. HRM functions focuses on HR practices and
employee's guidelines in a company. This function is concerned about the employees safety,
motivation, benefits, training etc. Various functions of HRM are discussed below:
Recruitment and Selection: It is a process in which candidates are hired to achieve
organisational goals and fulfil their needs. This process is costly and time consuming as well
because it requires experts for recruitment. (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016). They both
are different as selection means sorting the applications of candidates, screening and scrutinize
them. Whereas recruitment means hiring the best among them. WhatsApp uses two methods for
selection (a) Psychometric test (b) Interview. Purpose of this function is to provide suitable
candidates to organisation as they help in achieving organisational goals. It is important because
it contributes in economic growth as it provide employment to unemployed people.
Training and Development: It is a process by which employees gain knowledge and
managers guide employees about their work (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2018). It can be

conducted for new as well as existing employees. Training is of two types (a) On-the-Job
training (b) Off-the-Job training. By this process, employees improve their skills and knowledge
to achieve their goals in an effective manner. WhatsApp uses On-the-Job training because in this
method employees learn while performing their job. Purpose of training and development is to
brush up the knowledge and skills of employees to develop skilled labour. It is important because
it improves productivity and performance and teach them that how to overcome from their
weaknesses.
Performance Appraisal: It is a process of evaluating the performance of employees and
it is done by HR department. This function helps in finding out that employee is taking steps to
achieve goals and aim of the organisation (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung, 2016). There are
various methods to evaluate performance but WhatsApp uses 360 degree appraisal technique, in
this approximately 8 to 10 people are involved to appraise an employee. Evaluation of the
employees performance is come from different people such as managers, subordinates,
customers etc. Its purpose is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of an employee and
conduct training programme for them if needed. It is important because it motivates the
employees and helps in their promotion.
Job Analysis & Design: It refers the detailed study of job and also determine the roles
and responsibilities of the job. It is a process of collecting whole information about job and also
helps in understanding that which task is important (Brewster, 2017). This function includes the
description of job such as qualifications, skills and experience which is required to design job.
Job design includes outlining responsibilities, roles and work into small unit by which goals are
easily achievable. WhatsApp uses this function to improve efficiency of employees and reduces
wastage of resources. It is important to decide benefits, compensation and analyse training and
development needs.
Nature and scope of Strategic HRM
 It is pervasive in nature and present in all organisations to maintain relations with
employees.
 It helps an organisation to achieve its goals by motivating employees through various
compensation policies.
 By this friendly relation is maintain between employees working at different levels.

 It develops the potential of employees and motivates them to give their best in an
organisation.
Hard and Soft HRM approaches
Hard Approach: In this approach, employees are treated as a machine or robot. This
approach pays less attention to the requirements of employees and those organisations who adopt
this approach suffers from employee turnover, absenteeism and also reduces the reputation of the
company (Berman and et. al., 2019). In this approach, appraisal system is about judging the
performance of employees and adopt autocratic leadership in an organisation.
Soft Approach: This approach treats employees as an important resource and their
organisational goals are planned according to their individual needs. This approach focus on
motivating employees with compensation and rewards (Mondy and Martocchio, 2016). In this
approach, appraisal system is about determining the training and development needs and adopt
democratic leadership in an organisation.
P2. Strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection
Recruitment: It is a process of hiring best employees in an organisation in order to
achieve organisational goals. In WhatsApp, this process can be undertaken by managers and HR
specialists. But there are various companies who outsource their recruitment to other consultancy
services. There are two methods of recruitment: Internal: It is a process in which company fills the vacant position from its existing
workforce. This method is easy than external because in this employers already knows
the employee's skills and their strengths/weaknesses (John and Taylor, 2016). Strength of
this approach is that employee already familiar with the organisation and managers also
remain aware about employee’s behaviour. Weakness is fresh talent and innovative ideas
are not introduced from outside within organisation. External: It is a process in which company hire employees from outside the organisation.
Various methods of external recruitment are social media, website, referrals etc.
WhatsApp uses external recruitment method to hire candidates because they want fresh
talent and creative employees in their organisation. Strengths are company gets fresh
talent, new ideas and large number of applicants are available from which company select
best for it. Weaknesses are lengthy and expensive process as experts are required to hire
candidates and company needs to conduct training and development program for them.

Selection: It is a process of selecting applications of candidates for an organisation. It
involves selecting the profile of candidates, screening and also scrutinizing them (Jabbour and de
Sousa Jabbour, 2016). This process involves pre-employment testing and interview both online
and face-to-face. Currently, WhatsApp uses two methods of selection which are as: Psychometric Test: This test is taken by employer to identify the knowledge, abilities and
personality of employee. This method is very popular in banking and finance industry
and as WhatsApp is a bank it opt this method to select candidates in its organisation.
Strengths are it is cost saving, cheap and accurate. It is totally unbiased like no
favouritism is there. Weaknesses are different languages and cultural background can
become hurdle and also can make candidate anxious.
 Interview: After psychometric test, candidates who pass will be called for interview
round. In WhatsApp interview round is conducted to observe the communication skills of
candidate. Strengths are employer observes the personality of employee and verbal
questionnaire will be their. Weaknesses are verbal communication among employer and
employee is for few minutes which is short period to observe and judge someone's
personality.
TASK 2
P3. Benefits of HRM practices for both employer and employee
HR manager has different responsibilities in an organisation in order to protect the
interest of both employer and employee (Hecklau and et. al., 2016). HRM practices involves
hiring, training, performance benefits etc. WhatsApp is an American Bank and deals in
investment and wealth management. Company encourages the culture of growth and develops
opportunities for employees.
Flexible working options: HR department make sure that working hours should be
flexible because this is the best method to retain employees in an organisation (Guest, 2017). By
this, employees feel free and give their best. If employees are motivated then productivity will
increase. For this, it is necessary to retain best employees and it includes location, working
hours, schedules etc. Through flexible schedules, employees feel relaxed and able to perform at
their peak time. Flexibility creates an environment for better management of work life. Through
this practice both employer and employee have benefits.

 Benefit to employer: Employee retention, work sharing, work and family programs etc.
are the important benefit of flexible working options. Happier employees tend to be more
engaged and productive in their work. It also increases the reputation of an organisation
and this helps in recruiting and retaining best talent in the organisation.
 Benefit to employee: Employees with flexible working options have great job satisfaction
and feeling of being supportive by their managers. By this, work life of employees will
be balanced as they get their personal time. Employee's satisfaction can be seen by
various ways such as productivity increases, absenteeism decreases, employees feel
happier and healthier and most important organisation earn trust of employees.
P4. Evaluating the effectiveness of HRM practices in terms of organisational profit and
productivity
Flexible working options is effective as it increases freedom in company and by this
employees feel that they are worthy for an organisation. It is necessary in an organisation in
order to reduce stress and absenteeism and helps in maintaining distressed workforce and these
components increases productivity and profitability of an organisation (Shen and Benson, 2016).
Learning, development and training provides both theoretical and practical knowledge to
employees to encourage them. It refers to those efforts by which an organisation provides job
related knowledge and behaviour of their employees. In WhatsApp, training and development
increases personal skills and improves performance, productivity and profitability. It put positive
impact on employee's performance and utilise optimum human resource planning and strategies
in an organisation. Payment and reward management is monetary and non-monetary benefits
given to employees of WhatsApp which helps in keeps employees motivated. These are based on
the performance of the employees and given according to the company's policy. Company uses
this method to motivate and boost their employees performance and morale in order to achieve
both individual and organisational goals. Employee performance management and monitoring is
a process used to align employees and resources to achieve objectives. By this, employers and
mangers evaluate the performance of employees and monitor them if they find any deviations
then take corrective actions. It is important because it motivates the employees helps in overall
development of employer performance. It improves employees motivation which ultimately
leads the organisation towards increasing.

TASK 3
P5. Significant employee relation in order to influence HRM decision making.
Employee relations and engagement
Maintain healthy employee relations is the responsibility of HR department. It improves
the engagement of worker in work activities at workplace which improves the relationship
among team and mangers (Voegtlin and Greenwood, 2016). Engaged employees always try to
achieve goals at their level best. In the context of WhatsApp, employers try to influence their
employees to take active participation in business activities. It is considered that higher employee
engagement in company supports healthy relationship in an organisation. Positive relationship
boosts employee growth. HR department of WhatsApp follows various employee engagement
strategies:
 Freedom to speak and share their ideas with top management.
 Concerned for employees health and well-being.
 Provides career planning advices to their employees.
 Employees involvement in business planning process.
 Management ensures that employees work life should be balanced.
 Provides learning opportunities and create excitement about upcoming opportunities.
Employee relations refers to establish and maintain a positive and healthy relations with
employees (Brewster, 2017). Positive employee relations signifies that employees are motivated
in an organisation. Good relations among employees are necessary to avoid conflicts in an
organisation. WhatsApp maintains healthy relations among employees to avoid conflicts and
helps in achieving organisational goals. Employee relations is important in HRM decision-
making:
 Groovy employer relations discourage fights and conflicts among employees.
 With healthy employee relations, employees can easily share their work among them.
 Employees feel motivated as trust issues are not present in healthy workplace.
 It increases productivity and loyalty among employees.
Employees gets engaged in their work if they feel motivated and passionate about their
job. Engaged employees make extra efforts to achieve their goals and they are more creative in
an organisation (Delery and Roumpi, 2017). Through employee engagement, employers can

retain best talent in an organisation and have advantage of getting skilled and qualified
employees. It is a continuous process which is undertaken by HR department.
Open Communication: Communication is a way to keep people informed and involved
in an organisation (Tung, 2016). It is a way to keep employees update about their work,
important announcement and about various policies. Open communication is essential as it helps
employees to share their ideas among them. Internal communication is a kind of informal
communication in an organisation and it does not involve top level management.
Reduce Absenteeism: It is a term which includes short term absence such as illness,
injury, personal issues etc. It can be seen in an organisation when employees are not satisfied or
employers does not maintain healthy relations within an organisation (Noe and et. al., 2017).
WhatsApp reduces absenteeism by improving employees morale at workplace. Company
develops morale of employees by motivation, appraisal, compensation and rewards, organising
trips for them and conducting friendly competition between different departments.
Employee Retention: It refers to the ability of the company to retain their employees.
Under this strategy, company make various policies and practices which make employees stick
to an organisation (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Company uses employee engagement to retain their
employees as by this, they feel important for an organisation and also involves them in decision-
making process because if employees cannot utilise their mind and strengths, they do not enjoy
their work.
Clarity about expectations: Gathering employees to attain goals and clear them about
aim is quality of a good manager. Clarity is essential to maintain good relationship among
employees and for this, HR manager should know the needs of employees (DeCenzo, Robbins
and Verhulst, 2016). It is the duty of manager to clear the purpose like what is expecting from
employees. This reduce the grounds of rising conflicts at workplace.
WhatsApp uses open communication to keep in touch with its employees and build up a
healthy relation with them. Company assign good leaders to its employees who can motivate and
encourage them in achieving their objective and do their work in an efficient and effective
manner. All these above discussed approaches helps both the employer and employee in their
communication at the workplace in order to maintain healthy work environment.

P6. Employment legislations and their impact on employee decision making process.
There are various legislations which are important in order to operate in a legally
accepted. Civil law refers to law which regulates employees who are working in an organisation
(Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2018). Laws put major impact on decision-making of HR department
as it is responsible for enforcing laws within the organisation.
Health and Safety Act, 1974: As per this act, company ensures that the safety and
security of workforce is maintained. conditions should be provided to employees (Sparrow,
Brewster and Chung, 2016). It is the responsibility of HR manager of WhatsApp to provide
healthy working environment in the premises and also provide some safety measures by which
employees feel safe. Thus, the company will take decisions.
Equal Pay Act, 1970: According to this act, company treat its workforce in fair and equal
manner. Both man and woman should get equal rights and payment for their work. There is no
discrimination on the basis of caste, sex, gender etc. and if it happen then employees have right
to sue against company (Guest, 2017). It is important for the HR manager of WhatsApp to
provide equal pay at workplace. Therefore, it will help the organisation in taking decisions.
Data Protection Act, 1998: According to this act, employees has right to control
information about themselves. Purpose of this act is to protect the personal data stored in
computers. There are more sensitive information about employees which are strongly protected
by laws such as biometrics, genetics, health, political opinions etc. (John and Taylor, 2016)
Under this right, employees have right that they can find about information which is stored by
organisations. For this, WhatsApp should establish a data protection policy for their employees
and ensure that the data would not get revealed. Managers are not allowed to share any
confidential information of employees as this can impact the reputation of company.
Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923: As per this act, company should provide some
relief in case of injury or accident to the workmen or their dependents. Compensation can be
provided in case of accidents arising out in working hours and resulting into death, permanent
and total disability, partial disability or temporary disablement. WhatsApp to provide
compensation worker or their dependents after their injury or accident. Therefore, the company
will take decisions regarding the compensation of employees and how much amount is to be
provided to the employee or their dependents.

Sexual Harassment Act, 2013: It is a legislative act which looks for to protect women
from sexual harassment at geographic point (Bratton and Gold, 2017). HR department of the
company actively involved in the complaints of harassment at workplace. If the HR manager is
not a part of harassment committee, then the harassed employee should have knowledge of law
and procedure of filing complaints. HR manager of WhatsApp should actively participate in
complaint procedure if this happen. Therefore, company should take strict action in such cases. It
is the responsibility of the HR manager to recruit that person who does not have any negative
record on the basis of this act and also provide awareness to them about this act like how to
report and whom should they report.
TASK 4
P7. Illustrate the applications of HRM practices in a work related context
HRM practices are those which are planned to manage the performance of employees. Its
purpose is to develop flexible environment for employees and it is necessary to retain the
employees in an organisation. Overall, it improves the productivity of employees. This
specification comes from job description and helps in recruitment and selection process.
Questionnaire is prepared from the person specification (Brewster, 2017). It helps in
understanding the skills, qualification and experience of the candidate.
Person Specification: It describes the essential and desired attributes, skills, experience,
knowledge and objectives of the candidate who possess to perform job duties.
Person Specification
Job Title: Chef at Michelin Star Restaurant
Reference Number: 1822754
Reporting to: Administrating Manager
Essential Attributes:
 To provide a professional food preparation service.
 Experience in similar position with minimum 2 years.
 Personal hygiene.
Desired Attributes:
 Additional diploma in related course. (if any)
 Ensure wastage is kept to a minimum at all times.