Human Resource Management in Tesco - Case Study Example

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN TESCO By Location Contents Executive summary 3 HR Policy and Practice 3 Reward and Benefits 6 Employee relations and Performance management 7 Recommendation 9 Conclusion 9 References 11 Executive summary This report discusses the policies of human resource at Tesco. The firm has started a very high commitment model that offers training to all the employees. Little steps help to prove the commitment to employees and to customers as well. The implementation of strategic HR as a change agent replaces the outdated department of personnel. The organization being reviewed is Tesco. The company has introduced strategic HR by increasing training of employees. Introduction Since its foundation in the year 1919, Tesco has been growing exponentially. The company is currently very well established in more than fourteen countries in the whole world. There are more than 4000 Tesco stores and the number of employees has exceeded the 300000 mark. The company enjoyed a lion’s share of profits in the year 2009 having made group sales worth 59.4 billion euros. Recently, it was announced that the company’s profits have been overstated and this announcement resulted in the fall of their share price to the lowest levels in the past eleven tears (BBC News, 2014). Moreover, their sales have also been falling. However, the firm has attempted to improve customer services as indicated by the C.E.O Dave Lewis. This report comprises of a set of ideas regarding the HR practice and policies. The attempt is also made in this paper to outline some recommendations for the company in areas of reward, training, learning and development as well as employee relations. HR Policy and Practice The essence of HR in the UK has been recently recognized. The realization has been the result of stiff competition from other countries like Japan, Germany etc. some organizations have reviewed their policies on training as well as continuously investing in their employees. Many argue that the survival of organizations is dependent on new skills. The organizations are seen as emergent, open, self – regulating systems. Tesco has gone ahead to integrate HR into their schemes. Managers are utilizing HR aspects in decision making. An effort has been made to seek acceptance from all the employees by offering basic and extended training. Discussing the big picture of the firm’s strategic directions with all the employees helps the staff as individuals to gain a clear understanding of their role and importance within the organization. Training has been stepped up and all employees are receiving more training than before. At Tesco, HR are on the strategic level of the organization. Prioritizing increased training has been backed up fully by a rise in Human Resource Management (Tesco-graduates.com, 2015). The practice puts more emphasis on the fact that an increase in growth can only be maintained when the work force is equipped and skilled enough ready for the completion of the tasks at hand. Strategic human resource management is become more and more popular in the past ten years especially when it comes to its impact on performance. Every employee is seen as part of the overall strategy. Therefore the staffs are instructed on the importance of their role. The success of HR depends on the proactive role within the organization. Strategizing HR creates value since there are opportunities for learning and development of capital and the core competences are enhanced. Many employers want the best possible performances from the employees. The best practice ensures there is an increase in the skills of the work force. Reinforcing learning requires the understanding of learning and there is needed shift from viewing learning as sudden facts to learning as a dynamic process. The learning environment at Tesco encompasses all the aspects of the work environment. At Tesco, the human resource strategy, works towards challenging the unwritten rules, simplification of work, passing the important skills to all employees inclusive of the head – office and performance management that is attached to achieving the targets that would in turn propel the company forward. The company makes sure that all employees have got a clear understanding of their roles in contributing to the company’s values and purposes as well. Therefore, an induction program is very necessary to cater for the different learning styles, varying commitments to the job and different cultures (Tesco plc, 2015). Employees in the front line are viewed as the reflection of the company and its customers. However, employees play a role in turning customer commitment and core values into a reality. The uphill task for the company is majorly to make sure that all the employees regardless of their work stations are well aware of their marked role and they should be able to clearly see how their actions affect the big picture in the business as a whole. For these to be achieved, development and training is necessary. Tesco recruits large numbers of staff including fresh university graduates. Such workers have little or no experience and no idea of how they will perform their due duties. Before the recruits start working, they readily accept a training period and an opportunity to learn new skills (Businesscasestudies.co.uk, 2015). Each employee gets the same opportunity to acquire a new skills set about their work. An opportunity is given for them to develop themselves and to learn new knowledge. In the UK, specialists like bakers and fish mongers get recognized at Tesco. In the year 2008, 99% of DC and 97% of shop – floor employees in the UK were trained to the competence level, and 94% of the shop – floor employees ware trained to the expert level. The whole process took twelve weeks to complete. The company had reached the planed target of training 97% of retail and DC staff to the competent level and 85% to the expert level. All the employees are receiving much more training than before. Thanks to the human resource department, Tesco has been able to take the lead over its counterparts in the very competitive UK supermarket sector. The aim of the strategic policy is to free up the stores employees so that they could work towards the improvement of customer services (Our Tesco, 2015). The strategy focuses on marking a clear way of defining responsibilities, activities and roles. It is guaranteed that all the workers are responsible, consulted, accountable and equipped with the needed information. The training technique includes an analysis of the root cause, plan – review, situational leadership as well as coaching for high performance (Tescoacademy.com, 2015). The company has made the labor force a core element in its strategies. Board meeting are held four times in a year with the sole purpose of reviewing the human resource issues. It is evident that the organization is not going back on its strategies (Tesco.ie, 2015). Tesco intents to put much more emphasis on maximizing the skills of the work force as a unit. The firm wants to integrate learning into its culture. This way, the company will always be steps ahead of its rivals. In addition to the training program, Tesco has a development program altogether. The program enables the staff to select and learn the skills they might need to get a firm grasp on the next work level. The employees choose the set skills that they would like to learn thus maximizing their enthusiasm (Slideshare.net, 2015). There is a special program that focuses on employees who just graduate. The program attempts to employ the high – potential graduates and to train them for leadership positions. The program makes use of the graduates and gives them a sense of belonging. The new workers identify themselves with the firm thus reducing the probability of them leaving. Reward and Benefits The task of the HR department is the payment procedure. Employees are paid according to the national minimum wage recruitment act. Tesco gives the highest possible wages. However, the firm bases the wages on the amount of work that an employee does. Employees are motivated through an increase in the pay after thorough evaluation. The other aspect of motivation is promotion. On top of that, Tesco has reward plans in all its markets. The management shares the bonus from the growing market. It also links with the targets (Tesco-careers.com, 2015). The staff usually gains discounts in the stores. Tesco has a bright future it will extend its strategies towards increasing the market share. Employee relations and Performance management Every company has to perform the complicated duty of managing people as a resource. When it comes to the utilization of resources, there is no machine that can match the ability of the human being. Tesco has a human resource department that helps much in the achievement of goals and objectives. The department works alongside other human resource components. The components include reward and performance management and employee relations. The HR department recruits workers in a specific procedure. First, there is a call for application after which a specific criterion is used to shortlist the interviewees. Following the interview, the salary is negotiated and finally, those who qualify land the job. After the recruitment process, the candidates undergo training especially by use of the resources that are available thus the end result is quality employees. There are two kinds of training. One is process training where the employee becomes aware of his or her duties together with the work processes. The second is the on the job training where an employee is following the process training. The new recruit is set to work with the more experienced workers. Tesco understands that good quality products are produced by quality workers. The company therefore, trains its workers perfectly. The training procedure ensures that the employees are equipped with knowledge of handling customers. It also aims at getting workers from other countries outside the UK. Another training category addresses all training types from basic to the managerial training programs. The training given comes along with allowances to those performing well leading to good performance when the training ends. For good relation, workers are encouraged to work near their homes in order to reduce the transport costs (Nelson, 2012). The employees are also given freedom to transfer thus avoiding frequent recruits of new employees. Workers usually work in shifts to promote unity in the company together with the exchange of ideas. The presence of multicultural nature of the society, the HR department works for the creation of healthy work environment. To achieve this, the firm ensures that every employee is aware of his/her rights in the organization. For a healthy environment, Tesco prohibits the use of alcohol and drugs. Employees are also trained on disaster management in order to improve safety in the premises. The lessons include control of fire outbreak and cases of burglary. People as a resource are looked into through models in order to achieve the goals of the firm. All people are unique. Therefore, approaches are required in order to bring harmony in the company. The firm commits its self to the use of commitment based model that doesn’t force the employees to meet frameworks. Goals are achieved through respect, self – control as well as coordination. A psychological approach to employees is also emphasized. Motivation is also called upon to achieve the objectives of the management (News.bbc.co.uk, 2015). Opinions from the staff are taken into consideration and used as a guide to solving the problems. The model puts the employee in the front to ensure that they are satisfied and motivated to work. Complains are also heard and considered alongside suggestions from the same employees. A healthy working environment is the end result. Recommendation The training strategy being applied by Tesco is excellent. However there is still room for improvement. The firm can invest more on foreign experts and reduce much reliance on the local work force. The foreign experts might come up with new ideas that would propel the firm forward. When it comes to rewards and wages, it is necessary to make a connection between performance, rewards and the achieved profits. When there is an increase in the annual profits, the employees should receive an increment in their salaries. Additionally, the performance of the firm management requires dealing with the employees’ performance in its efficiency. The management has to be very effective at the individual and organizational level. Tesco should work towards the improvement in its delivery system. For good customer service, a supply chain should be innovated. Maintaining innovation provides the company with competitive advantages since the goods get more value. The firm should henceforth continue to invest in technology. However, high technology has its drawbacks as well. Therefore, the firm cannot be controlled by technology through and through. Human capabilities should never be ignored. Non – food products are the future of the company. Therefore, sourcing a wide range of non – food products would improve service delivery. There is potential growth in online shopping across the world. In the near future, the company can focus on making improvements in the operations capability of grocery shopping together with good preparation for retailing internationally. Conclusion Certainly, Tesco is doing well in strategizing the human resource sector. The firm is also achieving competition. The excellent training being given alongside the rewards and excellent relations is propelling the company towards success. If the firm continues with the good work, it will surely thrive in the market. References BBC News, (2014). Tesco warns over full-year profits. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30391447 [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Businesscasestudies.co.uk, (2015). Training - How training and development supports business growth - Tesco | Tesco case studies, videos, social media and information | Business Case Studies. [online] Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tesco/how-training-and-development-supports-business-growth/training.html#axzz3V0pMcjxJ [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Nelson, J. (2012). Employee engagement at Tesco: optimising two-way communication - Personnel Today. [online] Personnel Today. Available at: http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/employee-engagement-at-tesco-optimising-two-way-communication/ [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. News.bbc.co.uk, (2015). BBC NEWS | Business | Tesco labour relations under fire. [online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8127477.stm [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Our Tesco, (2015). Training and Development - Our Tesco. [online] Available at: https://www.ourtesco.com/office-handbook/your-development/training-and-development/ [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Slideshare.net, (2015). Training and Development at TESCO. [online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/chandan9211/training-and-development-at-tesco [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Tesco plc, (2015). Tesco plc. [online] Available at: http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=17&newsid=532 [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Tesco.ie, (2015). Valuing our people: Position - Tesco Corporate Responsibility Review 2008. [online] Available at: http://www.tesco.ie/crreview08/people-training.html [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Tescoacademy.com, (2015). Tesco Learning Portal. [online] Available at: https://www.tescoacademy.com/ [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Tesco-careers.com, (2015). Inside Tesco | Tesco Careers. [online] Available at: http://www.tesco-careers.com/Inside-Tesco.aspx [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Tesco-graduates.com, (2015). Home | Early Careers | Tesco. [online] Available at: http://www.tesco-graduates.com/ [Accessed 21 Mar. 2015]. Read More