The Key Issues of Human Resource Management - Coursework Example

Human Resources Management Table of Contents Difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management 3 Function of HRM in Contributing Towards Organisational Purpose 3 Roles and Responsibilities of HRM in ASDA 4 Impact of Legal and Regulatory Framework on HRM 4 Reasons for Workforce Planning in ASDA 5 Stages Involved In Planning Human Resource Requirements 5 Comparison in the Recruitment and Selection Process in ASDA and Other Organisations 6 Evaluation of the Recruitment and Selection Techniques in Two Organisations 7 Link between Motivational Theory and Reward 7 Job Evaluation and Other Factors Determining Pay 8 Effectiveness of Reward System at ASDA 8 Methods Used To Monitor Employee Performance 9 Reasons for Cessation of Employment with an Organisation 9 Employment Exit Procedures 11 Impact of Legal or Regulatory Framework on Employment Cessation Arrangements 11 References 12 Difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management Personnel management (PM) is an organisational function of recruiting and evolving the workforces in an organisation. Human Resource Management (HRM) on the other hand, refers to the function of an organisation that is associated with recruitment, training, employee development and maximisation of employee performance. Both PM and HRM are interrelated to each other but, there is a huge difference between these concepts. PM is related to the routine issues of employees in an organisation while HRM is related to integration of managerial tasks. The remuneration aspect in PM is based upon collective rates while the remuneration aspect in HRM is based upon market rates. The organisational structure in PM is hierarchical, whereas, the organisational culture in HRM is flexible based upon the business requirements. The training process in PM is limited to non-managerial staff only while in HRM the process involves all key employees within an organisation including non-managerial staff as well. The outlook of employee relations in PM is ‘pluralist’, which involves low trust however, employee relation outlook in HRM is ‘unitarist,’ which involves high extent of trust. In addition, PM is inclined towards reducing the overall cost of HR on the other hand HRM is inclined towards optimum utilisation of HR and controlling the cost associated with it (Henderson, 2011). Function of HRM in Contributing Towards Organisational Purpose HRM function at ASDA plays a key role in meeting the long term purpose of the organisation. Workforce planning is the primary function of HRM at ASDA, which determines the workforce requirements both in present and future context. ASDA also promotes employment opportunities through its recruitment and selection function of HRM. Training and performance appraisals are the most vital part of HRM at ASDA, which influences employee performance and their productivity level. Furthermore, employee acknowledgment and motivation is included in the HRM function, which helps in contributing towards the long term strategy of the organisation (Wilton, 2010). Roles and Responsibilities of HRM in ASDA HRM as mentioned above plays a key role in workforce planning wherein the actual requirement of workforce is determined in the organisation. In addition, HRM has the responsibility of recruiting employees in the organisation and training them in an appropriate manner to enhance their skills as per the business requirement. Performance appraisal and employee motivation are the key roles of HRM in ASDA, which helps in alleviating the performance along with the productivity level of employees through employee motivation and appreciation. It has been revealed that ASDA has a robust brand image in the global market, which can be considered as its strengths. As the company has established more than 136 retail stores, benefitting from the ‘economies of scale’ has been one of its key strengths. However, there are certain weaknesses of ASDA wherein it is considered that due to ASDA‘s large business structure, it is often challenging for the company to manage and organise its wide range of business activities. Moreover, ASDA is considered as an economical retailer, which sometimes creates an image that the company trades in low quality goods (ASDA, 2012). Impact of Legal and Regulatory Framework on HRM Legal frameworks such as Sex Discrimination Act, Race Relation Act and Disability Discrimination Act have affected the entire process of HRM in various organisations to a huge extent. In this context, Sex Discrimination Act has impacted the HRM process, wherein, it is completely legal for a victim who is the employee of an organisation to file a petition against his employer for sexual harassment. Likewise, Disability Discrimination Act has promoted equal treatment of disabled employees in an organisation, which has changed the traditional human resource related activities. In addition, Race Discrimination Act has created an obligation for HRM policies wherein discrimination of an employee based upon race, gender and colour should be completely eradicated. This in turn has impacted the HR departments in various organisations as most of the HR policies are inclined towards promoting racial equality (Azygalieva, n.d.). Reasons for Workforce Planning in ASDA ASDA, which is one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom (UK) has opened several new branches i.e. retail stores globally and has increased its requirement of workforce planning. More than 20,000 employees in the organisation are above 50 years of age, which denotes 19% of its entire workforce. Thus, it is quite important for ASDA to use workforce planning for determining the employees, who retire annually from the organisation and establish workforce requirements in the present and future context. On the whole, workforce planning has been an important aspect for its business success as it has helped ASDA to develop flexible working schedule, which has ultimately increased their productivity (Leibold & Voelpel, 2007). Stages Involved In Planning Human Resource Requirements The stages involved in planning human resource requirements at ASDA, are initially identifying the existing requirements of employees in the company. The next stage involves recruiting and selecting employees based upon their required skills. Consequently, ASDA indulges in training employees so that the employees are well aware about their job role. The next stage involves management development wherein, ASDA focuses on improving the employees and enhancing their performance. Redeployment is the next stage in HR planning where the employees are assigned various tasks based upon their skills. Redundancy is the final stage in HR planning in which employees are terminated based upon their performance and behaviour (Marsden, 2009). Comparison in the Recruitment and Selection Process in ASDA and Other Organisations ASDA has an online recruitment process wherein jobs are advertised through online media portals. Consequently, ASDA receives job application from numerous candidates and accordingly candidates are shortlisted based upon their skills and competency level. ASDA then provides job description of the specified job along with its personal specification. Managers then select candidates whose skills match the job requirement. Once the candidates are selected the final process involves recruitment after which the candidates are trained appropriately and inducted to the job (ASDA, n.d.). Sainsbury’s on the other hand indulges initially in job analysis in its recruitment and selection process. Then the company uses sourcing as a strategy for advertising the job and attracting applicants through online advertisements. The next process involves screening and selection wherein, applicants are screened and assessed on the basis of their skills, knowledge and educational qualification. The final process involves lateral hiring wherein, Sainsbury’s recruit candidates and assign them their job roles and designations (Sainsburys, 2013). With reference to the above-mentioned, the recruitment and selection process it is apparent that both ASDA and Sainsbury’s attract candidates in their business through online advertising. Moreover, both the company’s selection process is quite similar as new candidates are recruited based upon their skills and experiences. Evaluation of the Recruitment and Selection Techniques in Two Organisations As mentioned above the recruitment and selection techniques used by both the organisations are quite similar but there are certain advantages and disadvantages in these techniques. The advantages involve effective selection of the candidates that helps in meeting the job requirement. Additionally, the main advantage of this technique is that candidate skills and work experience are reviewed appropriately. This in turn induces enhancement in the recruitment process. However, experienced candidates who are not familiar with online job application might not apply for the job, which can be considered as a disadvantage due to this technique. Furthermore, in some cases this technique might not generate the required number of candidates for the company, which can turn out to be a disadvantage (Sainsburys, 2013; ASDA, n.d.). Link between Motivational Theory and Reward Motivation is referred to as a process, which stimulates and guides the behaviour of an individual. This can be either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. On Contrary, reward can be defined as an aspect for providing recognition to individuals based upon their performance and self-efforts, which is provided in terms of gifts and incentives. There are different types of motivational theories, which include ‘need based theories’, ‘cognitive theories’ and ‘non-cognitive theories’. Therefore, there is a huge difference in these motivational theories as Need based theories involves ‘Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory’, ‘Alderfer ERG theory’, ‘McClellands Human Motivation Theory’ and “Herzberg two factor theory”. Cognitive theories involve ‘Equity Theory’, ‘Expectancy Theory’ and ‘Goal Setting Theory’. Contrariwise non-cognitive theories involve both positive reinforcement theory and negative reinforcement theory (University of South Australia, n.d.). It has been revealed that motivational theories are directly linked with reward. The reason being, intrinsic rewards such as employee empowerment and independence, employee recognition and gratitude are directly linked with the motivational theories, for instance ‘Equity Theory’ and ‘Expectancy Theory’. Similarly, extrinsic rewards like fringe benefits, incentives and promotion are directly linked with motivational theories such as ‘Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory’ and ‘Alderfer ERG theory’ (Hafiza & et. al., 2011). Job Evaluation and Other Factors Determining Pay Job evaluation can be defined as an organised process of determining, analysing and quantifying each job in contrast to recognized standards and evaluate the comparative value of jobs in a uniform and constant manner. There are various processes of job evaluation wherein the first process includes job description. The next process includes approval of the job description after which job description is reviewed by the HRM. Consequently, the next process evaluation in which the Job Evaluation Committee (JEC) in which the members of JEC are responsible for maintaining equality amid jobs. The final step is confirmation in which all the job evaluations are confirmed by the responsible authority (Salt Lake Community College, 2008). Effectiveness of Reward System at ASDA ASDA has introduced digitised reward system which has made the employees or is staffs to easily comprehend the benefits of these rewards and access it in a better manner. As the reward program initiated by ASDA has become digital, the organisation has made a huge advancement in its reward system. This is because ASDA employees can use the ‘interactive reward portal’ to view information related to their reward which in turn has been quite beneficial for the company to reduce its administration cost. Therefore, the effectiveness of reward system at ASDA cannot be ignored as the reward portal provides the employees the facility to view their allowance, incentives, employee’s share options and pension schemes (Swire, 2013). Methods Used To Monitor Employee Performance Employee performance is a systematic process in which organisations determine the skills of individual employees and analyse the productivity level of an individual employee. There are various methods that organisations use to monitor the performance of employees in order to enhance their productivity level and ensure optimum performance. Performance feedback is one of the methods used for performance monitoring wherein, organisations use Gantt charts, performance line graphs and record charts. Performance appraisal is another method used in monitoring the performance of employees wherein, organisations conduct meetings to appraise the performance of individual employees (Caldwell, 2002). 360-degree evaluation is also a performance monitoring tool in which feedback from various individuals in an organisation such as superiors, co-worker and subordinates are taken, which provides a complete picture about the overall performance of employees (Oliverio & et. al., 2006). Reasons for Cessation of Employment with an Organisation Cessation of employment is the process wherein employees are terminated from their jobs, which might be either for lawful or unlawful reasons. Continuous absenteeism of employees is one of the prime reasons for cessation of employment. Insubordination is another reason for cessation of employment within an organisation wherein the employer fails or denies complying with the directives and policies of the business. Employee misconduct is also considered as a reason wherein employees are terminated for workplace misbehaviour. Likewise unsatisfactory performance of an employee can result to the cessation of employment within an organisation (Freedman, 1994). Employment Exit Procedures Exit procedures of employees are the processes used by organisations to discharge their employees in a specialised fashion. ASDA uses exit interview as its exit procedures in which employees are interviewed by HR managers for identifying the reasons due to which they intend to end their employment. This procedure can be anticipated to help the company to resolve the problems related to employee exit in the future. However, as far as the present status of the company is concerned, the procedure can be seen to be less effective. Thus, ASDA introduced the ‘No Quit policy’ for decreasing the number of staffs exiting the company (Reed Business Information Ltd, 2001). Tesco on the other hand uses a different employment exit procedure. The first procedure involves using retaining methods through offering better reimbursement. Tesco then conducts exit interview for identifying the causes of employees exiting. The next procedure involves stress testing after which the employees are provided the reference letter. ‘Payment In lieu’ of notice is the last procedure in which all the dues of the exiting employee are cleared by Tesco (Tesco PLC, 2012). Impact of Legal or Regulatory Framework on Employment Cessation Arrangements Regulatory framework in the UK has highly influenced the HR practices in various organisations, which in turn have impacted their cessation arrangements. Due to the changing regulations, employers can seek employment tribunals so as to justify that their cessation arrangements were unfair. Furthermore, employment cessation arrangements in numerous organisations due to regulatory changes have introduced counselling in their HR practices so that the employees are provided with good consultation for their cessation. Employment cessation arrangements in the UK have been designed in such a manner that continuous training and counselling is provided to employees before they exit a job (Jordan & et. al., 2013). References ASDA, No Date. Effective Recruitment and Selection. People. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&safe=active&es_sm=93&q=ASDA+recruitment+and+selection+process&oq=ASDA+recruitment+and+selection+process&gs_l=serp.3..0.459368.482413.0.482875.44.20.0.24.24.0.214.2120.0j11j2.13.0....0...1c.1.49.serp..7.37.2271.W9lO-7k7z74# [Accessed July 31, 2014]. ASDA, 2012. Internal and External Analysis of Asda. Asda Analysis, pp. 1-12. Azygalieva, N., No Date. Analyze the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on HRM. Academia. 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[Online] Available at: http://reward-guide.co.uk/hubs/motivationandengagement/case-study-asda-s-total-reward-package [Accessed July 31, 2014]. Tesco PLC, 2012. Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012. Files. [Online] Available at: http://www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/tesco_annual_report_2012.pdf [Accessed July 31, 2014]. University of South Australia, No Date. Motivation And Reward @ Unisa : A Good Practice Guide For Supervisors. Staff Development. [Online] Available at: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/staffdev/guides/motivation_and_reward_good_practice_guide.pdf [Accessed July 31, 2014]. Wilton, N., 2010. An Introduction to Human Resource Management. SAGE. Read More