Human resources management - Essay Example

Human Resources Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 Company Background 4 4 Analysis of the HRM Structure within HSBC Holdings plc 4 EmployeeDiversification within HSBC Holding plc 7 Employee Engagement Initiatives as Potential HRM functionality in HSBC Holding plc 7 HSBC’s Initiative Regarding Employee Health Management 8 Compliance of HSBC’s HRM Structure with the Employee Exchange Legislation 8 The Employment Act 2008 9 Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 9 9 The Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 10 Recommendations for HSBC Holding Plc with regard to its HRM Practices 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 13 Introduction Human Resources Management (HRM) has always been considered as a major aspect of the modern day business processes. This concept in actual terms encompasses a multiple functional areas such as employee management, leadership, employee welfare and performance management, among others (Bloomberg L.P., 2014). Apart from just emphasizing on strategic implementation, this concept also encompasses the implication of multiple legal prospects that are necessary for mitigating the possible complications that might emerge as a result of the business functionalities. In addition, HRM also serves as an effective tool that finds wide applicability within the areas of capital management of a business organization. Understanding the significance of this present day business development tool, this discussion will mainly focus towards evaluating the HRM functions and guidelines that are being implemented within ‘HSBC Holdings plc’. The evaluation procedure will encompass the impact of HRM over multiple other functional areas such as employee relationship and performance management, employee welfare, process development, diversification of work force and multiple more (HSBC Group, 2014). Likewise, the discussion will also lay significant amount of focus towards evaluating the prevalent strength and weakness factors within the HRM structure of ‘HSBC Holdings plc’. Based on evaluation, specific recommendations will be structured and inculcated accordingly. On further note, specific focus will also be imparted upon the implementation of three specific UK employment legislations within the HRM structure of ‘HSBC Holdings plc’. The prime intention will be to identify the accurateness and precision with reference to the implementation of these UK employment legislations within the company. Company Background HSBC Holdings plc is ranked as one of the leading British multinational operating in the banking and financial services domain. This multinational has its established headquarters within the UK and it also holds the title of being the second largest banking and financial organization in the world. The organization has the largest count of branches all across the globe. At present, the total number of branches associated with this brand accounts to more than 6,200 that are located in 74 different nations (Forbes.com LLC, 2014). HSBC Holdings plc also supports the functionality of multiple other financial sectors such as ‘Retail Banking and Wealth Management’, ‘Private Banking’ and ‘Commercial Banking’ among others. Apart from these facts, the bank in an overall manner employs a total count of 254,066 employees across the various locations of its operations. As a matter of fact, the necessity of implementing an effective HRM system is vital in context to managing such a large sized employee force. Taking consideration of the tediousness associated with managing such a large employee force, HSBC Holdings plc has subsequently aimed towards implementing the concepts of cultural diversification in its HRM policies (Forbes.com LLC, 2014). In addition, the organization takes consideration of multiple employee performance boosting and rewarding strategies aligned with the goals of attaining increased competiveness in the present market scenario. Analysis of the HRM Structure within HSBC Holdings plc Owing to the worldwide operation of the organisation and large sized workforce, there is a greater need for developing effective HRM practice within of HSBC Holding plc. In the current dynamic business environment, it is essential for this global financial organization embrace periodic changes within the HRM functional structure for ensuring employee welfare. HSBC Holding plc in the present scenario takes consideration of the ethnocentric factors within the design structure of its employee rewarding schemes. An instance in this context can be provided by taking reference of the ‘employee share savings plans’ that was implemented by HSBC’s HRM with the intention of boosting up the motivation levels of the employees in the long run. Likewise, this multinational business organization also takes consideration of innovative global bonus plans for employees as a form of employee welfare initiative. From a management perspective, it can be stated that HSBC appears to be utilizing the ‘Maslow hierarchy of needs theory’ for structuring its Employee welfare policies. Justification regarding such perception can be provided by taking reference of the innovation being implemented by this brand within its HRM policies. The organization also appears to be utilizing this theory for meeting the social and financial safety needs of its employees as a way of motivating them. The HRM practice within HSBC specifically relies upon the implementation of ‘ERG theory’ that encompasses all the functional aspects of the ‘Maslow’s need and hierarchy theory’. In compliance with the others, the HRM practices of HSBC, it also takes into consideration, the ‘Core group theory’ within all their departmental functionalities. Justification regarding such theoretical implementation can be found based on the fact that HSBC has always considered its employee awareness and legal practices as its core aspects, which in turn finds alignment with the ‘Core group theory’ to a major extent (Caulton, 2012). Apart from the above theoretical implementations, HSBC Holding plc also takes consideration of the ‘planned behaviour theory’ that form a crucial aspect of its employee behavioural management (Learning South West, 2009). Apart from just being confined with developing the reward system, HSBC Holding plc also takes consideration of multiple other HRM functions that have been listed hereunder. Identification of Key Skill Areas within Employees and its associated Strength and Weakness factors Continuous recruitment and training of employees within HSBC Holding plc is a major factor that supports the functionality of such a large organization. In this regard, the HRM structure within HSBC effectively utilizes the mass media tools and techniques for recruitment purposes. Moreover, the organization conducts majority of its recruitments and staff training through its local branches as a result of its enormous size. From a logical perspective, the decision of the organization to meet the human resource requirement predominately from the local market can be thought to be a major weakness associated with its HRM practice. Justification regarding such aspect can be provided depending on the fact that since the recruitment processes usually takes place within the local branches, thus a high risk prevails related to the inequality with respect to the quality and level of knowledge attainment by the employees of distant branches Through the effective utilization of creativity, the organization appears to have developed multiple online training provision techniques for imparting specific training modules to the new and existing employees in nearby and distant branches (Harzing & Pinnington, 2010). This on the other hand can be categorized a as a crucial strength factor associated with its HRM practice. Identification and evaluation of employee performance through performance appraisal techniques is another credential aspect of the HRM structure within HSBC which can be recognized as another potential strength factor. This organization basically focuses upon its soft model HRM techniques for boosting up the confidence levels of its employees. If seen from a technical perspective, the soft model technique generally constitutes utilization of innovation and creativity which in turn forms a major strength aspect of HSBCs staff management functionality (HSBC Holdings plc, 2013). Employee Diversification within HSBC Holding plc Successful attainment of employee diversification has been one of the core aspects of this organization that has proactively supported its existence and growth within varied geographical locations. The HRM practice within HSBC Holding plc attempts reap the benefit of diversified employee through delivering appropriate value training to the employees. In addition, the organizations have established compliance disclosure lines within its various branches through which the employees can inform the compliance monitoring heads regarding any form of fraudulency or compliance violation. This initiative of HSBC Holding plc can be considered as a strength factor that has supported the maintenance of appropriate employee behaviour and quality within the functional areas of its HRM practice (HSBC Holdings plc, 2013). Employee Engagement Initiatives as Potential HRM functionality in HSBC Holding plc With the intention of analysing the possible issues prevailing within the employee forces, HSBC has also implemented multiple employee engagement initiatives on periodic basis. These initiatives comprises distribution of structured survey questions where the employees provides their view points and complaints based upon which, specific HRM strategies is formulated. If seen from a logical perspective, this initiative might appear as a strength factor in its current HRM practice. However, the employee engagement initiative practiced by HSBC might also appear as a weakness factor as it is oftentimes consuming practice that may disrupt the operation of the organization (HSBC Holdings plc, 2013). HSBC’s Initiative Regarding Employee Health Management HSBC has also laid its focus towards ensuring the maintenance of heath related aspects associated with the employee forces. In compliance with the organizational guidelines, the HRM structure within HSBC has made it mandatory for all of its employees to undergo an online medical check-up once in every two years. This might appear like a positive factor however if seen from the expense levels, once can state such an initiative as an cost raising factor that the bank incurs for motivating its workforce (HSBC Holdings plc, 2013). Compliance of HSBC’s HRM Structure with the Employee Exchange Legislation In the current business environment, the governments across the world have revealed their deep concern towards protecting the interest of employees. In this regard, government across the world has enacted numerous regulations and legislations which the organizations are required to comply. The impact of these regulations is identified to be widespread in curtailing any unjust treatment against the employees by the organizations at the workplace. Notwithstanding, the UK government has also enacted certain laws and regulations to promote employee welfare and protect their interest. The three most common laws in this domain legislated by the UK government is described below, the description of the regulations are closely related with the current HRM practice of HSBC in order to determine the degree of their compliance by the organization. The Employment Act 2008 The Employment Act 2008 has been enacted by the UK parliament with the objective of resolving the possible discrepancies that might emerge in the workplace. It takes consideration of the legal aspects such as ‘minimum wage laws’, ‘trade union case laws’ and equality related aspects within fork force’ among others. The HRM practice with HSBC can be seen to conform to the provision of this Act. Justification regarding the implementation of this ACT within the HRM practice of the organization can be provided by taking consideration of the possible modifications that this financial organization continues to bring about within its HRM guidelines by taking reference of the prevailing employee related issues (HSBC Groupb, 2014). Besides, the HRM practice within the organization also recognizes its workforce to a vital assets contributing towards its success. The organization thus values its employees and diversity in the workplace by offering equal opportunity to every employee without any discrimination (HSBC Groupb, 2014). Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 The ‘Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013’ has been legislated by the UK parliament for safeguarding the interest of the small and medium sized entrepreneurial business processes that attains a major portion of financial support from organizations such as HSBC (Mail Advertising, 2014). This law takes consideration of multiple legal and ethical related aspects such as merger and competition regulation, contract settlement and ethical trade practices among others. However, by taking consideration of the present market scenario, it can be stated that HSBC Holding plc has demonstrated negligence towards complying with the stated guidelines within this Law. Specific surveys in this context revels that the internationals expansion perspective of this financial organization is the main reason based on which the brand appears to have undertaken such initiatives (Freelancers Union, 2014). Through these initiatives, the HSBC Holding plc projects its intention of moving their business to higher profitability markets, which from a logical perspective might sound beneficial. However, such initiatives reveals the potential of this organization in context can be seen to decimating its own reputation and market share that it has earned through its years of service within the domestic markets of the UK (Postmedia Network Inc., 2014). The Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 The regulation can be categorized as the modified version of the ‘Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006’ that was enacted by the UK legislation with the intention of safeguarding the employees from being subjected to discrimination based on age factor (Crownb, 2014). In compliance to this regulation, HSBC Holding plc over time has strictly adhered to the guidelines mentioned within this law. Evidence regarding such adherence by HSBC can be found within its recruitment and application forms were no specific factor associated with the candidate’s age remains mentioned. As a matter of fact one can start that the implementation of this regulation’s guidelines within HSBC’s HRM practice can be thus justified certain constraints of such implementation can also be found within the techniques through which HSBC conducts recruitment procedures through third parties (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2014). Recommendations for HSBC Holding Plc with regard to its HRM Practices By taking consideration of the above facts, one can perceive about the high inclination of HSBC towards the development and motivation of its employee force. As a matter of fact, a specific recommendation can be provided regarding the development of an appropriate employee performance appraisal system through which the effectives of the initiatives undertaken by HSBC towards its employees can be measures in an effective manner. In addition, the HRM structure of HSBC also takes consideration of the behavioural and psychological projections of the employee forces in relation to their assigned job roles (Trinity College Dublin, n.d.). Justification regarding such statement can be provided by taking consideration of the types of employee engagement and employee health check-up programs conducted by HSBC on periodic basis. In addition, in order to promote and non-discriminatory workplace environment, the organizations need to be committed towards developing a workplace culture wherein every individual is treated equally without any discrimination, Besides, managers within the workplace need to be trained in such as manner who are capable of resolving any workplace challenges without any biasness or favouritism. In addition, it should incorporate minimum salary structure that would be provided to the employees within the organization irrespective of nationality and cultural background. Conclusion The above mentioned facts have been highly effective in context to elaborating the initiatives undertaken by HSBC Holding plc towards ensuring its workforce development and welfare. Throughout the discussion, multiple fact shave been provided that illustrates how this multinational financial organization manages its employees and workplace diversity that in turn supports the growth perspective of this brand in the long run. Within the discussion, specific amount of focus has been provided upon the implementation of varied HRM theories that projects the reflection of a diversified workforce within this brand. In a contradictory manner, certain discrepancies in context to supporting the supporting the small and medium sized business processes within UK that has been categorized as a major weakness of the organization. The overall discussion also encompasses the elaboration of systematic employee management techniques and recruitment processes that has been specifically structured for identifying the potential competency of HRM practice within HSBC. Apart from all these, the above discussion also projects the adherence pattern projected by HSBC Holding plc against the employment legislations that are structured by the UK government for maintaining work place ethicality and to safeguard the employee interest within the domestic market of the UK. References Bloomberg L.P., 2014. HSBC Holdings PLC. Markets. [Online] Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/HSBA:LN [Accessed December 04, 2014]. Crown, 2014. Employment Act 2008. Legislation.Gov.UK. [Online] Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/24/contents [Accessed December 04, 2014]. Caulton, J. R., 2012. The Development and Use of the Theory of ERG: A Literature Review. Emerging Leadership Journeys, Vol. 5 Issue. 1, pp. 2-8. 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