The Human Resource Policies at Tesco - Essay Example

Another area is HR Training and Development. This includes all activities where the employees are given training of different types to help them perform better in their jobs and improve on their productivity (Keep 1989). We shall also study the human resource practices from a future perspective and identify what Tesco needs to do in the future.

HRP (Human Resource Planning)

This is one strong area of Tesco’s HR policy. Tesco has made sure that its employees get to understand their roles in contributing to the overall core purpose and values of the organization. The first element of HRP is Recruitment and Selection at Tesco. According to The Times 100, ‘Recruitment involves attracting the right standard of applicants to apply for vacancies. Tesco advertises its jobs in different ways. The process varies depending on the job available. At the first step, Tesco looks at the current employees and evaluates if any of the existing employees can be promoted for the vacant position. For external recruitment, Tesco advertises its vacancies on its career website or through notices in stores. For other specialized jobs, Tesco advertises externally through other mediums (Recruitment and Selection ad Tesco).

In the selection process, Tesco seeks to find out the most suitable candidate for the job. One of them is screening the candidates. The screening procedure consists of evaluating the applicant’s CV or resume and the performance of the applicant at the assessment center (Recruitment and Selection ad Tesco).

Another aspect is training the newly recruited employees. This has been successfully achieved via an innovative induction program. This program caters to the differences in culture, learning styles, and commitments towards the job. Although the frontline employees are considered to be the foremost interaction point with Tesco’s customers, other employees, too, play a significant role in enforcing the organizational core values and practices (Whitelock, N. 2003).

Tesco’s infamous strategic HR policy known as “Future” was developed to improvise on the roles of store employees and improve their customer service capabilities. The policy provides a clear method of defining roles, responsibilities, and activities. It also provides a group of 13 key management techniques which include problem-solving, root cause analysis, plan-do-review, situational leadership and coaching for high performance (Anonymous 2003). The distinguishing feature of this policy is the focus on the people. 

HR Training and Development

The initial induction program at Tesco is well supported with a well-defined employee training program that takes place at different intervals. The program aims to ensure that every employee gets aware of the role they play in the “big picture” of the or organization and can significantly contribute to the organization’s overall performance (Tesco Management 2006).

Training is undoubtedly the area on which Tesco has laid very high importance. According to Tesco’s career website (Tesco Careers 2009), Tesco seeks to provide training through their dedicated learning centers.  These training are of two types: Management Training and Team Member Training. All managers at Tesco get at least five days of intensive leadership training which equips them with core management skills and other skills. Team Member Training includes embarking the essential skills to employees that they require to perform their jobs in a better way (Tesco Career 2009).

According to the Business Case Studies at Times UK, training at Tesco offers both on-the-job and off-the-job training. On-the-job training includes shadowing, coaching, mentoring, and job rotation. These are training which is directly relevant to the employees’ work. Off-the-job training is more appropriate for training new specific skills to the employees and to develop certain skills such as team-building, communications, organization, and planning. This is usually carried out via external courses (The Times 100).

Tesco has achieved massive growth and expansion in recent years. One of the key reasons for achieving this has been strategically integrating HR policies into their overall plans. Having done that, managers at Tesco are now able to utilize aspects of HR in their decision-making at every step. Tesco tracks its human-resource information as closely as its financial results (Anonymous 2003). This shows their high commitment to HR.

The Future Perspective

Looking from the future perspective, Tesco needs to continue the focus on increasing the skills of the workforce. The firm aims to integrate learning as part of its culture, and considers it as an important way of creating organizational flexibility and achieving success (Anonymous 2003). The training programs are the pillars of the HR practices and shall be further refined to cater to the needs of individual employees.

Operating in a fiercely competitive sector, Tesco has used its human resource-led business strategy to help them achieve the number one position. The position can only be sustainable if they enforce the ongoing strategy and maintain the role of the human resource department as a central figure in the organization (Armstrong, M 2005).