Human Resource Management Assignment Sample

Introduction

Human Resource Management is one of those departments that are required in every organisation irrespective of their scale. The HR professionals are responsible for hiring, training, managing, and directing the workers. This report is prepared to emphasise the importance of HRM in an organisation. For this purpose, various duties of HR in seeking the best talent for the company are mentioned. In addition to this, the advantages and disadvantages of different recruiting processes are enlisted and explained. The second part of the report talks about the perks of having an HRM department for employers and employees. Furthermore, various methods employed in HRM are critically evaluated. Apart from this, an analysis of factors affecting the HRM both internally and externally is done. The principles of HRM and their applicability is also talked about.

Task 1

LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of resourcing an organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business objectives

a. The purpose of the HR function and its importance to the organization, given its current problems and future plans for further growth.

As given in the case study that the management of ‘Say it with Chocolate’ has taken the decision to expand the business. Therefore, for this purpose, the organisation is looking to hire a number of employees. This job cannot be served any better without an HR department. The HR people are responsible for the various roles, such as recruiting and directing the employees on board. In addition to this, they are also responsible to formulate policies regarding the contract of employment, health and safety provisions, training, office conduct, performance management, etc. In addition to this, the HR manager is responsible for keeping the morale of the workers high and motivate them to fulfill the organisational goals (Alfes, et.al, 2013). This can be done either by promoting a healthy working environment or by training the employees to hone their skill sets. Another way to motivate the employees is to promote a healthy working competition and set up a reward or appraisal system.

b. Role and responsibilities as a Human Resource Officer.

HR Managers play a wide variety of role, such as hiring manager, service center coordinator, HR classification analyst, HR recruitment analyst, etc., (Alfes, et.al, 2013). Therefore, they have a large number of duties that are given below:-

• Determining the recruitment needs and develop the hiring plan, organisational charts, and contract of employment.
• Creating a job description and hiring procedure.
• Processing final job offers.
• Once over with the interview process, the HRs carry out thorough background checks.
• Maintaining an organisational code of conduct, policies, and other records.
• Handling the concerns and issues of employees.
• Handling the company programs and compensation.

c. The advantages and disadvantages of the current selection methods used by the organization.

Employee selection process is all about hiring the right person for the right job. In other words, it is a process of matching the company's requirement with the qualification and skills of an individual. The selection process is said to be effective only when there is relevant matching. Selection processes are quite different from that of the recruitment process (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The latter is often considered to have a positive influence as it drives the aspirants to apply for the job opening. On the other hand, the selection process has a negative influence as inappropriate aspirants are discarded from the selection drives. As it is mentioned in the given case study, the organisation is selecting the candidates on the basis of their performance in maths and the English test which is followed by an interview. There are many methods to select the right candidate for the firm. A comparison of the methods that can be used by the ‘Say it with Chocolate’ is given below:-

d. Potential improvements that could be made to the current selection methods

Even if the aforementioned methods are widely used across the world, but there are many improvements that are needed to be done in these selection procedures. If ‘Say it with Chocolate’ wants to hire the efficient employees and increase its turnover rate, then it has to do some amendments in current selection criteria. This would help the organisation to fulfil not only its short-term goals but its long-term goals also. First, there should be an online screening and shortlisting in order to filter the best out of the rest. It can be done by making use of Applicant Tracking System (ATS). In addition to this, instead of conducting an informal interview, the company should carry out a formal one (Bratton and Gold, 2017). This would help in exploring the candidate’s capabilities to perform in a corporate environment. Furthermore, to test the mental abilities, there should be a psychometric test that emphasises on aptitude and abilities testing and personality profiling.

Task 2

LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in an organisation

a. Create a person specification for the role of “Receptionist”

The job description is a formal written statement that is developed for a particular post depending upon the outcomes of job analysis. It generally comprises job title, working condition, relevant criteria needed, role and responsibilities, scope and purpose. In short, it is the job description states. A job description for the post of the receptionist is given below.

b. Provide a rationale for a suitable medium for placing the advertisement.

Since the ‘Say it with Chocolate’ is planning to start the recruitment process, the company aims at grabbing large public attention through the paid media announcement and advertisement. The choice of choosing the right media depends on three important factors (Breevaart, et.al, 2014):-

• The target audience
• The relevancy of the post to be advertised for.
• The advertising budget.

Selection is important for the success of the advertising process. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages that would be discussed in the next section. Since the company is rapidly growing, it requires a talented set of employees to keep up the pace. For this purpose, the company should advertise through a suitable media among those given below:-

Newspaper: It is one of the oldest modes for advertisement. It has the largest reach among other print media modes. The best part is that advertisement can be done in different regional languages. This method is more economical.

Social Media: Nowadays, most of the people are on social media. Due to this, social media platforms have emerged out as a great form of advertising media. It is cost-effective and has high reach. All that is required from the company is to post their job opening advertisement on some widely followed pages on these social media platforms.

Online Portals: Most of the job seekers have their account on various online job portals. Employers post their requirements on these portals and seeing their area of interest, candidates can apply for those post.

c. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the previous methods of advertising jobs in the organization

Referring to the case study, ‘Say it with Chocolate’ was earlier recruiting the employees via internal sources. But, this recruitment route may have certain negative impacts on the business. No doubt that internal recruitment could be very effective for any organisation and for some roles, but this is not the complete fact (Breevaart, et.al, 2014). So before boarding the employees, the company should carry out an analysis of advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

• It keeps the operations going without any serious effect.
• It reduces the paperwork and time wastage.
• It motivates the employees as it provides a room for career advancement.

Disadvantages

• This can lead to conflict among workers as one can blame the recruiter for favouring their friends and relatives.
• This limits the available choices and reduces the diversity.
• The employee often faces a problem in integrating with the team.

d. Produce a minimum of 6 questions which could be asked in the interview for the Receptionist, which would help to improve the selection decision-making process.

• What primary roles and responsibilities were assigned to you in your previous organisation?
• How did you manage and organise the work schedule?
• What software are you most competent in?
• What actions will you take if someone comes late for his/her appointment?
• What are the confidentiality measures that have to be taken care of in the workplace?
• How will you manage the angry client?

Task 3

LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management decision-making, including employment legislation

a. Evaluate the benefits to both the organisation and employees of apprenticeship and graduate training schemes.

In today’s time, many organisations are launching their internship and apprenticeship schemes. In addition to this, some companies are offering paid internship programs. The benefits of hiring interns are many for both the organisation and for the aspirants. The reason behind Microsoft offering the training program to the talented youth are many. The company can have extra sets of hands to accomplish the project that too at a very lower cost. On the other hand, the applicants have the opportunities to develop new skills, learn more about the corporate world, their working style, and gain experience (Chang, 2016).

Companies can even retain some of them for entry-level jobs. Internship and apprenticeship can help the organisation to train their employees in mentoring. This is beneficial for a healthy business culture. Furthermore, the companies can enhance their social strategies by offering internship opportunities. It is also a part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan. By training the youth, the firms can help in community development (Dipboye, 2017).

b. What developmental opportunities are available to staff once they are in a permanent job role?

There is two way by which an employee can offer his/her services to the employers, namely permanent and temporary job. Normally, it depends on the convenience of the employees and the needs of the recruiter. Some candidates are happy with working temporarily while others seek permanent jobs. The two options have their pros and cons. The permanent jobs have the following advantages:-

• The permanent employees experience a higher commitment and stability in current work and performance.
• There is well-structured leave entitlement.
• These employees have the job security. Therefore, they experience a higher job satisfaction level.
• Microsoft usually hires the permanent employees as there are efficient in fulfilling the deadlines and accomplishing the organisational goals.
• Permanent employees are more confident and self-esteemed.

c. The benefits of the approach Microsoft has taken in respect of flexible working practices.

Microsoft is among those organisations that follow the flexible working arrangement. This technique has benefitted the company largely. The management believes that if an organisation forces employees to stick to their desks, then it can miss out numerous benefits. It believes that for employees to be effective, it is not mandatory always to be in the office (Dipboye, 2017). Therefore, the management is providing the employees an opportunity to take the benefits of the flexible working hour. It benefits the company too that are given below:-

• It increases the employees' productivity as an employee can choose to work from home and save a lot of time spend on commuting. In addition to this, employees can understand their role much better.
• It increases the creativity of employees as it encourages them to think outside the box and give innovative ideas.
• Employees are more satisfied as they can keep a right balance between personal and professional life.
• It also helps in improving the employee retention rate.
• It assists heavily in attracting the talent all around the world.

d. Explain how Microsoft motivates its workers through its job design and systems of reward.

Microsoft is known for its good retention rate, intrinsic, and extrinsic reward strategies. The rewards can be promotions, bonuses, incentives, salary hike, etc. There are many advantages of having a reward system in an organisation. It attracts employees from other organisations, helps in fostering the relationships between the organisation and the employees. The total reward system sets the performance standards for employees and motivates them to achieve them. In addition to this, these programs can also lead to training and performance management and professional development. This enhances the employees’ wisdom and knowledge at work.

Management can also manage and monitor employees’ performance. Reward system also helps in retaining the valuable employees. The distinct fact about Microsoft is that it follows the task-based work system in order to give equal opportunities to workers. This help the management to monitor and analyse the employees effectively.

Task 4

LO4 Apply Human Resource Management practices in a work-related context

a. What is meant by the term employee engagement?

Employee engagement is the concept of the workplace that is characterised by the most suitable conditions for all members working in a company to contribute their best every day. Researchers have expanded it meaning further by including the employee’s commitment towards the organisational goals and objectives. In simple words, employee engagement talks about being zealous, sighted, and understanding of one's responsibilities in order to accomplish the organisation's goals. Employees are required to be motivated towards organisational success with a sense of own well-being.

Companies try to increase employees' engagement by building long-lasting relationships, bringing trust factors, promoting integrity. This approach has led to higher success and improvement in the individual performance and productivity. The employee engagement can be rated as poor or great. There are many factors that can affect the employee’s engagement that is discussed below in this section:

• Career Development opportunities act as the factors that improve the career engagement.
• Flexible working conditions also enhance the career engagement.
• Having a fair and stable pay structure improves the pay structure.
• Adopting a learning culture within the work premises promotes the career engagement.
• Cultural diversities affect the engagement.
• Having a transparent and honest environment in the work premises also affect the employee engagement.
• Employee recognition also influences the employee engagement.

b. Why is employee engagement an integral strategy of employee relations?

In today’s day and age, the employee engagement is one of the key emphasised areas in the managerial strategies. This is done to align the employee’s career goals with the managerial goals assuming that this would lead to enhancement of organisational performance. It is believed that workers who are said to have high job engagement behave in a more professional and positive way. This indeed benefits both the employees and the organisation. Such workers outperform others by virtue of their dedication towards their work and their willingness to go the extra mile for the firm. In addition to this, highly engaged employees are more satisfied and they are more meaningful and accomplishing. Hence, one can say that employee engagement is directly linked to organisational and individual benefits.

In one of many research studies, it was found out that a highly engaged worker is more time-efficient and cooperative. Such people are valuable assets for the company and they stay with the firm longer. In other words, having an engaged employee can have many benefits for the company, such as customer loyalty, employee turnover, profitability, and productivity. It has been found that most of the organisations fail in defining the employee engagement. HR managers are inefficient in formulating a program to increase employee engagement. Some ways to increase it is by creating a culture with an aim of how workers and customer relations intersect. Another tactic is to map the worker’s journey.

c. Key approaches to engaging workers

There are numerous approaches to increase employee engagement. In fact, every organisation has their own modus operandi to engage employee. But, there are a few common approaches followed by the majority of the organisations that are discussed below:-

• Recognition: The manager should recognise the role of the employees in order to strengthen employee engagement. This would help in providing significance to relationship-focused behaviour, increasing visibility and face-time with workers.
• Engagement Board: Developing an engagement board that comprises senior members to promote the employee engagement culture can be really effective. The board can understand worker’s perspective through engagement forums. In addition to this, the board can also implement new strategies to strengthen employee engagement.
• Engagement awareness training: The organisation should make their supervisors and managers understand the significance and benefits of having an engagement awareness training. This should be provided at every level of supervision as this can really help in overcoming the barriers to employee engagement.
• Working in teams: It is a well-known fact that teamwork can strengthen the bonds and relationship between employees. Moreover, it also improves the productivity of the individual and organisation as well.
• Bonus Scheme: It is the most efficient factor to motivate employees to give their best and surely, it will contribute to employee engagement as well. In addition to this, it also improves customer satisfaction.
• Review communication tactics: A full review of communication tactics would also serve in increasing the employee engagement. This could include recognition stories, recognising worker achievements, referring to case studies, award events, etc.

1. Main pieces of employment legislation in the UK

The business world can also have certain malpractices and to avoid them in the first place, legislations are required. The English legal system is pretty much efficient in dealing with various types of issues the employees, employers, and organisations can face, such as discrimination, minimum working hours and wages, health and safety, compensation, child labour, etc., (Banker, et.al, 2013). A few laws are discussed below in this section:-

• Health and Safety Regulations: In the UK, the Health and Safety at Workplace Act of 1974 safeguards the employees against any potential mishap. It obligates the employers to maintain safety measures and sanitation at the work premises and provide training to the employees.
• Worker’s Compensation: In the UK, theWorkmen's Compensation Act, 1943 was passed in order to provide compensation to the workers for any injury occurs to them in the workplace. In addition to this, the Act also obligates the employers to provide a partial wage to the employees while they are recovering (Brewster, et.al, 2017).
• Minimum Wage: The European Union directed the UK to take measures regarding the minimum wages for labour working in the organisations. This resulted in the formation of the National Minimum Wage Act, 1998. The Act turned out to be very helpful for those who work on a contract basis (Banker, et.al, 2013).
• Child Labour: In the UK, the Factory Act of 1833 came into existence during the industrial revolution. This act prohibits the children below the age of 9 years from working.
• Discrimination: TheEquality Act of 2010safeguards the employees against any kind of discrimination based on gender, caste, race, social status, income, sex, physical disabilities, etc.

Conclusion

This report is prepared to emphasise the importance of HRM in an organisation. For this purpose, various duties of HR in seeking the best talent for the company are mentioned. In addition to this, the advantages and disadvantages of different recruiting processes are enlisted and explained. The second part of the report talks about the perks of having an HRM department for employers and employees. Furthermore, various methods employed in HRM are critically evaluated. Apart from this, an analysis of factors affecting the HRM both internally and externally is done. The principles of HRM and their applicability is also talked about.

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