Strengths and Weaknesses of HRM Practices of Shell - Case Study Example

Human Resource Management Table of Contents Introduction 3 A Detailed Analysis of the Strengths & Weaknesses of HRM Practices of Shell 4 Performance Management 4 Staff Welfare 6 Staff Development 7 Employee Diversity 8 Effective Implementation of UK Employment Legislations by Shell 9 Growth & Infrastructure Act 2013 9 Equality Act 2010 10 The Employment Rights Act 11 Recommendations & Conclusion 11 References 13 Introduction Royal Dutch Shell, which is acknowledged as Shell, is regarded as one of the foremost oil and gas companies throughout the globe. The headquarter of this company is positioned in Netherlands and is integrated within the UK. Shell is viewed to be one of the best valued companies in the world (Donovan, 2011). In recent years, Shell is raising the attention of the people in the form of practicing its varied human resource management (HRM) practices in an effective manner. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the company has been involved in following as well as implementing certain employment related legislations while conducting its business operations throughout the globe. It is worth mentioning that the practices perform by the company in terms of human resource eventually aid the company to reap several significant benefits. These benefits encompass improved level of profitability in terms of market share, attaining long-term sustainability and ensuring long-term sustainability among others (Leaton & Grant, 2014). With this concern, the essay intends to discuss and analyse the strengths along with weaknesses of the current HRM practices perform by Shell in relation to performance management, staff welfare, self-development and employee diversity. Moreover, a brief discussion will also be made regarding effective implementation of three major selected UK employment legislation pieces by the company. In this regard, the Growth & Infrastructure Act 2013, Equality Act 2010 and Employment Rights Act have been duly considered as the three prime pieces of the UK employment legislation. A Detailed Analysis of the Strengths & Weaknesses of HRM Practices of Shell Performance Management Performance management can be referred as the systematic procedure, which is used for enhancing the performance of an organisation by developing the potential skills of the individuals as well as the team members. There exist numerous strengths of HRM practices in relation to the field of performance management. In terms of analysing the strengths relating to the HRM practice of performance management, it can be affirmed that through this HRM practice, it certainly becomes quite easy for generating better as well as positive results of the organisations by developing the entire performance of individuals as well as teams. It is worth mentioning that the performance of the team members can be evaluated based on the performance management process. It helps the team members of the organisations to focus on conducting right activities for attaining the predetermined organisational goals (Latherbarrow & Fletcher, 2014, CIPD, 2014). The prime objective of performance management is identified to create an environment with high performance wherein individuals as well as teams take the responsibility for making wider organisational improvements. It helps in rewarding as well as inspiring employees for doing their best for the development of the organisations. It also helps the team members in maximizing their potential growth at large (Armstrong, 2006; Amstrong & Baron, 2004). The following diagrammatical illustration depicts the cycle of performance management: Source: (Armstrong, 2006) Notably, the HRM practice of performance management of Shell mainly focuses on attaining long-term objectives by developing the overall performance of its personnel. In this regard, the long-term objectives of the company can be ascertained as improved capital efficiency, deliverance of strong projects incessantly and effectively using the accessible resources among others. One of the strengths of this HRM practice perform by Shell can be determined as motivating its employees towards the attainment of desired business or operational objectives of the company (Shell, 2014). Along with the strengths, certain weaknesses can also be found to get associated with the HRM practice of performance management. In this regard, lack of support of top management officials is regarded as one of the weaknesses of HRM practices in relation to performance management. Support of the managers is essential for the team members to do the best for the development of the organisations. Moreover, lack of ability is also a weakness of HRM practice based on the notion of performance management, as the team as well as the individuals must possess the ability or capacity to perform well in future. Apart from the above discussed aspects, shortage of providing effective training to the personnel is the other weakness of HRM practices linked with performance management. Justifiably, training is necessary for the entire employees associated with an organisation for developing their entire performance at large (Kuiper, 2012). In the context of Shell, maintaining its upstream business in alignment with strong cash flow is one of the weaknesses of HRM practice perform by Shell in relation to performance management (Shell, 2014). Staff Welfare The factor concerning staff welfare is fundamentally viewed to be a term, which covers all the major facilities provided especially to the organisational staff members for augmenting their motivational level. Notably, there are several strengths of HRM practices in relation to staff welfare. In terms of strengths, it can be inferred that this particular HRM practice helps in securing maximum collaboration between the management officials and staff members and also motivating them towards serving their best for the development of the organisations. Moreover, the HRM practice aids in providing all the facilities as well as support to the staff with the aim of enhancing their respective performance towards the attainment of the predetermined business goals (CIPD, 2013; Civil Service Branch, 1995). The staff welfare policies of Shell are identified to constitute business development, microcredit and most vitally financial empowerment initiatives. In this regard, by taking into concern the aforesaid initiatives, one of the strengths of HRM practice perform by Shell in relation to staff, is facilitating the employees with utmost benefits that enable them to fulfil the desired organisational targets (Shell, 2014). Along with the several strengths discussed above, certain weaknesses of HRM practices in relation to staff welfare can also be apparently observed. In this regard, lack of communication between the management officials and staff is another weakness of HRM practice relating to staff welfare. This weakness certainly creates a greater level of misunderstanding amid them, which certainly affects staff welfare by a considerable extent. Lack of communication between the managers and the employees can be duly considered as one of the weaknesses of HRM practice perform by shell in relation to staff welfare, which eventually creates misunderstanding between them (Ivo, 2006). Staff Development Staff development refers to the attainment of skills as well as knowledge for both personal and career development. The HRM practice of staff development is important to consider for the entire staff of the organisations, as this aids them to perform better for attaining the desired objectives. In terms of determining the strengths of HRM practice in relation to staff development, it can be asserted that this factor aids in raising the confidence level of the staff members at large. Moreover, the development in the overall performance of the staff members of an organisation by gaining proper as well as effective training can also be duly considered as the other prime strengths of the above discussed HRM practice. The management team of Shell tends to provide effective training to the employees, so that they can acquire better knowledge about varied important aspects and implement the same in workplace for the development of the organisation. Moreover, the management team of the company also look after the deliverance of career opportunities to its personnel, which is regarded as one of the prime strengths of HRM practice conduct by Shell in relation to staff welfare (Silva, 1997). Along with the several strengths discussed above, there are certain weaknesses of HRM practice in relation to staff development. One of such weaknesses can be ascertained as lack of training program. Justifiably, certain organisations do not provide required training to the employees as well as staff members due to which, their career development certainly becomes quite restricted or limited. Apart from this, shortage in forming effective communication amid the staff is the other weakness of HRM practice in relation to staff development. Another weakness of HRM practice linked with staff development can be ascertained as lack of accurate information provided by the management. This can be explained in such a way so that the management team often does not provide accurate information to the staff, which eventually creates a problem for them to perform their respective works effectively (Zaria & et. al., n.d.). Employee Diversity Employee diversity is fundamentally regarded as the similarities as well as the differences persisting between the employees in terms of age, religion and cultural background among others. There also exist numerous strengths of HRM practice in relation to employee diversity. In this context, one of such strengths can be determined as forming a culture of working together as a team to achieve the desired organisational goals. The other strength of the above discussed HRM factor can be ascertained as influencing the behavioural attitudes and values of the individuals at workplace. The varied policies of Shell associated with the HRM practice of employee diversity include generating a favourable work culture as well as affable work environment and promoting the sharing of feelings of every organisational member irrespective of having diverse cultural backgrounds. In this regard, making the employees to work in a collaborative manner is one of the prime strengths of HRM practice conduct by Shell associated with employee diversity (Cieri & et. al., 2008). Along with the strengths of HRM practice relating to the field of employee diversity, certain weaknesses of the same can also be apparently noticed. In this similar context, one of such weaknesses can be ascertained as the creation of greater misunderstanding between the employees, as there would lay the presence of varied ideas and concepts of different organisational members. Most crucially, the inefficiency in preserving the information concerning cultural background and education of the diversified employees is also the other weakness of HRM practice linked with employee diversity. One of the probable weaknesses of HRM practices perform by Shell in relation to employee diversity can be raising misunderstanding amid the employees due to the presence of varied culturally diversified employees within a single workplace (Singh & Kelay, 2011). Effective Implementation of UK Employment Legislations by Shell Growth & Infrastructure Act 2013 Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 makes several provisions for facilitating as well as controlling varied important aspects including infrastructure and looking after the growth along with development of the organisations and employees. Specially mentioning, promoting growth and facilitating provisions of infrastructure are regarded as the prime facets of this particular Act (Blackwell, 2013). In relation to the above context, it can be apparently observed that Shell is effectively implementing the rules and regulations of Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 for the growth of its business and most importantly securing rights for its staff members (Blackwell, 2013). While determining the effective execution of the above stated Act, it can be found that the company paid utmost attention on the Planning Act, which constitutes an integral part of Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, at the time of making effective plans for undertaking a new project. In relation to the factor concerning looking after the rights of the staff members, Shell implemented the aforesaid Act in an effective manner with the aim of encouraging the staff to perform their respective works in alignment with the organisational objectives (Reporting Centre, 2013). Equality Act 2010 Equality Act 2010 is the legal provisions that mainly aim at protecting any sort of discrimination prevailing in a specific workplace based on the grounds of age, sexual orientation and religion among others. It can be apparently observed in this regard that Shell effectively follows as well as implements the provision of this Act to facilitate the employees in evading any sort of conflict emerging in a workplace and protecting the rights of the employees as well. Moreover, it is also observed that the company implements the provisions of the above stated Act for protecting the employees from any judgement and providing equal facilities to them (Government Equalities Office, 2010). The Employment Rights Act Employment Rights Act generally includes several provisions that aim at securing the rights of the personnel whole working with any company. These rights can be measured in the form of providing maximum working hours, l holiday facilities, offering sick pay to the employees, determining the activities of trade union, representation of employees and ensuring employees’ safety at work among others (Wessing, 2014). It can be apparently observed that the company i.e. Shell effectively execute the above discussed Act for the purpose of covering the rights of the employees, which is quite important for its development in long run. In relation to determine the effective utilisation of this Act by Shell, it can be ascertained that the corporate law system of the company contains different features of employee determination. Based on the provisions of the above stated Act, the company intended towards safeguarding the rights of its employees, which is deemed to be quite important for its long-term sustainability (Bekkum & et. al. 2010). Recommendations & Conclusion Based on the above analysis and discussion, it can be recommended that certain improvements are required for Shell to obtain greater success in long run. It will be vital to mention in this regard that the deliverance of better training is required for the employees so that they can acquire more knowledge as well as skills for performing their respective works efficiently and likewise attain predetermined organisational goals within a specific time frame. Apart from this, the company also needs to apply more advanced technologies for generating accurate as well as better results. It is projected that by using advanced technologies, the company might generate better operational results that would prove to be quite advantageous. Specially mentioning, Shell needs to retain talented people for ensuring greater success in long run. In this regard, the company must create a positive culture and working environment, which might aid the employees to perform better. It is quite obvious that positive work culture helps the employees to think positively for the success of the organisations. Furthermore, the management team of Shell has to find out new ways for providing accurate information to every organisational member regarding their respective job roles in order to address and evade any sort of confusion or misunderstanding (KPMG International, 2012). From the above analysis and discussion, it can be ascertained that the conduct of varied HRM practices by Shell eventually made it one of the valuable companies in the world. From a theoretical perspective, it can be inferred from a broader understanding that the conduct of HRM practices in an effective manner is quite important for the growth of a particular business. It can be apparently observed that the HRM practices conduct by Shell in relation to performance management, staff welfare, staff development and employee diversity possess several strengths as well as weaknesses. These impose huge impacts on the overall development of the company. Throughout the discussion, it has been revealed that the company i.e. Shell has been effectively following and implementing three major pieces of employment legislation including "Growth &Infrastructure Act 2013", "Equality Act 2010" and "The Employment Rights Act” while performing its varied operational functions. In conclusion, it can be stated that the provisions of the aforementioned three legislations are deemed to be quite different from each other that certainly proved to be quite essential for any business like Shell to conduct their respective operational functions in an efficient manner. These legislations or provisions are deemed to be important from the standpoint of organisational development. 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