This is a solution of UK College Human Resources Development Assignment given for HND Business course, in this various development methods are desribed with respect to Harrods

Introduction

Human Resource Development is one of the most complex and challenging fields of modern management. A Human resource has to build up an effective workforce to handle the responsibilities and ensure that they perform at their best. Recruiting and retaining staff of the right skills contributes to the achievement of organizational purposes. Organizations with effective human resource management policies, processes and practices will have committed skilled employees who contribute effectively to the organization growth and profitability. In competitive business contexts this is a significant contribution to maintaining a competitive advantage.

Task 1

P1.1- As new internship HR Assistant at Harrods, your new manager wants you to distinguish between personnel management in Small retail organization’s practicing PM and human resource management at Harrods.

Human resource management deals with the “people” dimension in management. “Human Resource Management encompasses those activities designed to provide for and coordinate the human resource of an organization” (Byars, 2010). Personnel/ Human resource management is the function performed in organization that facilitates the most effective use of people (employees) to achieve organizational and individual goals.

Harrods is an up market departmental store located in Brompton Road in Knightsbridge. It has a global reputation that has been instilled through its brand value. A brand value represents what an organization stands for.  Human resource is a vital part of any organization. Every organization is composed of people and utilizing their services, developing their skills, motivating them to enhance their level of performance and ensuring that they remain committed to the organization. Especially in the retail industry like Harrods the employees are the public face of the organization. They are the one who are daily interacting with the customers.

In Personnel Management that the employee would work as the employer instructed them and enforce at least minimal compliance. The HRM on the other hand was based on seeking willing commitment of the employee. At Harrods they were seeking willing commitment of the employee. In Personnel Management the remuneration is based on collective base rates, pay by position. Example of such an organization could be Kabiri – Designer jewellery store. It was launched in June 2004, by Nathalie Kabiri continues to lead the way in contemporary jewellery. The company practice personal management as the company is small in nature and the company only focus on getting right person for the right job. Here they have to deal with day to day issues and have short term perspective.

P1.2 - Assess the function of the human resource management in contributing to Harrods purposes.

An effective manager should be able to align the two and eventually help in achieve the goals. Underlining the significance of “the human resource in the process, man, of all the resources available to man, can grow and develop” (Drucker, 2012).

• Planning
• Organizing
• Staffing
• Directing
• Controlling.

1. Operative Functions

• Employment
• Human Resource Development
• Employee Relations.

1. Managerial Functions:

• Planning:  Planning involves in advance the programs and changes that would be required for the achievement of the organizational goals. It also includes forecasting personnel needs.
• Organizing: this would involve the structure and roles for people in an organization such as the chain of command, division of labour.

• Staffing: In this process we obtain and maintain capable and competent personnel in various positions at all levels. It includes manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction, orientation.
• Directing: it involves coordination between all the departments for the maximum utilization of resources for achieving the organizational goals.
• Controlling: this function helps in measurement and ensuring all the events conform to plans is known as controlling. It helps in checking whether the goals and plans are in the right track in case of any deviation it places the process back on track and helps in achieving the goals.

1. Operative Function:

• Employment: This process is the first operative function of HRM. It includes the procurement of employees with knowledge, skills, experience, and expertise to perform the assigned job. This function includes Job analysis wherein job description and job specification is given. Human resource planning includes planning about the present and future manpower requirement of the organization (Griffin, 2011). Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of candidates against a vacancy in the organization. Selection is the process of choosing the right candidate for the job. Induction is an introduction of a new employee to the organization, its culture, values and practices.
• Human resource development: HRD is the process wherein the employees are trained and developed so as to improve and update their knowledge and skills so that they can perform their task better. Performance Appraisal is the process of evaluating the employee’s performance on the job. Assess his strength and weaknesses. Training is provided for the development of knowledge and skills required to perform a particular task (Griffin, 2011). Career planning refers to identifying one’s goals and then developing the individual to achieve it through trainings and education.
• Compensation: it includes all the extrinsic rewards that an employee receives during his tenure in the organization. Compensation includes the base salary, allowances, bonus, incentives, fringe benefits which is based on his job evaluation.
• Employee Relations: it includes the ways in which the organization can increase the productivity of the employee. Keep them more satisfied and motivated, Develop the team building and leadership skills. Implementing fast and suitable grievance management systems.

These were some of the function of HR Management which helps any organization. In case of Harrods  when they identified high attrition rate they carried out the employee survey which helped them make the following changes like changing organizational structure, changing leadership style, Improved communication, living brand values. These changes mentioned helped in the developing a people focused organization.

P1.3 - Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers in the human resource management department at Harrods.

At Harrods the line managers are responsible for recruitment of employees. Selection of right person for the right job. Proper induction once the person joins the organization is very important. The employees were told about the Brand Value of the organization. Harrods values are – British; Luxury; Service; Innovation and Sensation. Line Managers are also responsible for the orientation of the new joiners. In any retail industry the employees are the face of the organization.

Line managers are responsible for the Training of their subordinates and reviewing their performance on time to time basis. Helping the team members to improve their performance. For the smooth functioning of the organization the line managers have to gain the cooperation of all the team members.

The Line Managers are also responsible controlling the labour costs. They have to interpret the policies and procedures of the organization. The main responsibility of the Line Managers is to develop his subordinates. The employees should be able to build their careers with Harrods through identifying their career progression opportunities. The employees should be able to perform their roles to the best of their ability by keeping them informed and providing relevant training opportunities. Employees are not just a key part of the visual representation of the organization - they are the organization.

P1.4 - Analyse the impact of legal and regulatory framework on Harrods human resource management.

HRD at Harrods have to work under the regulatory framework so that it would benefit the employees as well as the organization. The work environment of Harrods should include the following policies for the welfare of the employees.

Anti-Discrimination laws- discrimination should not be based on sex, race, colour, religion or ethnicity. There are two types in this direct discrimination or Indirect Discrimination. In order to come to stop discrimination the court has come up with Equal Opportunity Commission (sex discrimination), the Commission for Racial Equality (racial discrimination) or the Disability Rights Commission, except that, individuals can take allegations of discrimination relating to employment directly to an Employment Tribunal. The court has set up simple and cheaper civil courts. Limited power but it can award compensation.

The Employment Act 2002 covered things like paternal leave when their baby was born. Adoption leave was given, Dispute resolution which improved the Industrial Tribunal Practices. Under Individual Employment Right: it covered the following points Unfair Dismissal, limits on hours (EU Working Hours Directive 1993, UK Working Time Regulations 1998), contracts of employment, right against discrimination, a person could join the trade union of his choice (Trade Union Reform and Employment Relations Act, 1993);

These were some of the legal and regulatory framework, which Harrods could follow.

Task 2

P2.1 - Analyse the reasons for human resource planning at Harrods.

The resources available internally are already available in the system and the external resources have to be hired from outside. The objectives of HRP are:

• To maintain the required quality and quantity of people for the smooth functioning for the organization.
• To control the attrition rate.
• To foresee the technological changes and meet the requirements accordingly.
• To develop the existing manpower for future requirements.
• To utilize the manpower effectively and efficiently.
• It also helps in analysing the cost and time involved in managing the demand.

HRP involves long term planning rather than short term or temporary needs. It has to take into consideration career planning for individuals and succession planning for the organization. This would involve the line managers in identifying the needs for their respective departments. At Harrods they have come up with the following things:

• Talent spotting: here they identify talented people who can make major contribution towards Harrods.
• Mentoring & coaching: they are people who give advice and guide the less experienced employees. Mentoring and coaching takes place in structured feedback as well as informal conversations.
• Support Network: Managers meet regularly to share ideas and hence leads to knowledge sharing.

HRP has been growing in importance in recent times. With the market becoming more dynamic and companies becoming more competitive it has become imperative for organizations to plan and forecast its manpower demands. HRP helps in situation like expansion through proper planning.

P 2.2 – Outline the stages that Harrods can adapt in planning human resource Requirements

This process consists of Forecasting, goal setting, strategic planning, program implementation and evaluation. In 2010, when Qatar Holdings purchased Harrods from Mohamed Al Fayed during that period the attrition rate was high and Harrods had to take care of their employee engagement. So planning for human resource had to be done in other to meet the future requirements, reduce the loss of expertise and reduction in the cost of training new recruits.

• Forecasting- the primary goal is to predict areas where there would be shortage of manpower in future. This future needs have to be compared with the available resource depending on whether there would be surplus or deficit of manpower. Based on this action has to be taken to meet the requirements, there would be financial implications to any action taken which has to be in correlation to the organization objectives. Different forecasting methods like Time Series Analysis, Regression method, Productivity Ratio, Delphi Technique, Scenario Analysis, Benchmarking can also be used for forecasting.
• Determining Labour Demand- demand forecasts are developed for specific Job categories or skills in the organization for current or future demands. Once the skills are identified the person needs to forecast the whether the demand for these categories would increase or decrease in future. This can be done by using Leading Indicator which measures accurately predicted future labour demand.
• Determining Labour Supply- Determining the internal labour supply would mean how many employees is currently working in the organization and also the number of people who in the near future, would be promoted, transferred, voluntary retirement and terminations.
• Determining Labour Surplus or Shortage- once the forecasting is done the HR inventory with the future needs has to be phased out. They have to keep in mind whether addition of new recruits would be from outside. Transfers should not affect the organizational structure. Promotion and demotion also affects manpower planning. Employees going for long leave would be covered in this category.
• Managing Future Demand- if there is demand the requirement has to be fulfilled by employing a temporary or permanent staff. However training the existing staff can also work.
• Managing Future Surplus- when there is need for downsizing the companies can opt for retrenchment such as lay-offs, voluntary retirement, loaning, work-sharing, reduction in work hours.

Effective Human resource planning helps in identifying the right skill, planning or forecasting to meet the surplus demand or reduction in labour supply.

P2.3 - Compare the recruitment and selection process at Harrods with another organization such as John Lewis, M&S or Sainsbury etc.

  “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization” (Kulkarni, 2013). Effectively, recruitment is the process of getting the right kind of people to apply for the vacancies in an organization (Alsabbah, 2013). The aim of an effective recruitment drive is to attract the best people for the job and help the recruiter with a wide choice available. There are factors affecting recruitment. These are internal or external environment factors.

There has to be a good recruitment policy:

• Complies with the government policies for hiring.
• There should be job security and avoids frequent lay- offs.
• The policy should be in alignment with the objectives and people- policies of the organization.
• The policy should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in the organization.
• It is cost effective for the organization.
• It should ensure long term employment opportunities for its employees.

Selection- is the process the most suitable candidate for a job from among the pool of applicants is called Selection. The Selection process starts with gathering information about his application form and with inducting the candidate. The hiring process is of one or many ‘go, no-go’ gauges (Alsabbah, 2013) Candidates are screened by the application of these tools. Qualified applicants go on to the next hurdle, while the unqualified are eliminated.

The selection process starts with review of the Resumes which leads to initial screening. The company checks the educational qualification and experience of the candidates.  Then the applicants are called for a test and then preliminary round of interview. The next round of interview is conducted by the Department head. Later reference check is done. Job is offered to the candidate and hence the process of selection is completed.

If we compare the selection process of Sainsbury the candidate has to fill up a questionnaire which consists of Motivational questionnaire, situational questionnaire, application form. Then the second round consists of verbal and numerical reasoning ability test. Then the third round is a telephonic round and then the final round consists of assessment centre where they evaluate the current and future potentials.

At M&S the selection process consists of two stages.

1. Online application filling and aptitude test
2. Assessment Centre

These were some of the examples of selection process at other organizations.

P2.4 – Evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection techniques in the above two selected organizations.

The selection process is based on the organizational objectives, the job specification and the recruitment policy of the organization. The various selection processes help in facilitating a near accurate applicants success on the job, the selection methods should meet the standards of reliability, validity, generalization, utility and legality.

The applicant form used in both the cases is a formal record of an individual’s application for employment. Selection tests include personality test, situational test, psychometric test, aptitude test, intelligence test. Interviews help managers to fill the gaps in the information obtained through tests. Interviews help to make an impact on the applicant’s view of the organization and behaviour with his knowledge.

The process of interviewing consists of conducting, closing and evaluating. The selection process helps in background verification and also for authenticity of the information provided by the applicants.

Task 3

P3.1 Assess the link between motivation theory and its reward with an application on Harrods Case study.

“The willingness to exert high levels of efforts towards organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need” (Drucker, 2004) At Harrods the employees are engaged which they believe is reason for their continuous success. The want their employees to be happy so that they are consistent and high performers.

The HRM said that the factors which really motivated them were the intrinsic ones which were based on the individual needs. Human have psychological needs. This was explained by Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory. It was given by Abraham Maslow which explained the concept of motivation. According to this theory once the need at a particular level is satisfied, they are no longer motivating factors. Instead the next level becomes the motivational level. Hence he had given five level of hierarchy.

• Physiological needs- this includes our basic needs of hunger, thirst, sleep. If these are fulfilled the next level becomes the motivating level.
• Safety Needs- it includes both emotional and physical safety. Job security could be one of them.
• Social Needs- it can also be called the need for belongingness, the need to be part of the group.
• Esteem Needs- these are also called higher level needs like need for power, achievement and status.
• Self-Actualization Needs- this is the highest level where a person has realized his potential and is fulfilled.

At Harrods they also recognized their intrinsic needs and encouraged job enrichment, job enlargement, job rotation, this helped them to develop their skills.

P3.2- Research and Evaluate the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay with special reference to Harrods as your scenario

            The person would be relieved from the monotony of his job. It would also help in gaining knowledge about the entire work process. It is effective technique of training new and inexperienced employees (Armstrong, 2012). Therefore job rotation enhances the person’s motivational level. The Line Managers at Harrods evaluate their subordinates’ performance which leads to rewards which are extrinsic and intrinsic. Job Evaluation begins with job analysis and ends at the point of determination of the worth of a job. Job evaluation is systematic way of determining the value of a job. Harrods follows the following ways of job evaluation:

• One should rate the job not the employee.
• All the data should be collected accurately.
• Look for distinguish job and features in a job.

• The team includes various experienced employees who are experts and understands job evaluation well
• Job evaluation should be based on facts and accurate information.
• The result should be fair and unbiased.

P3.3 - Assess the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts with your references to Harrods

The reward systems are based on individual performance of the employee, their experience and their job classification. Harrods has an efficient reward system. It includes both intrinsic and extrinsic reward system. At Harrods the non-financial rewards provided to the employees are Promotion which is based on their performance.  Since decision making they have reduced or flattened their hierarchy structure (Garavan, 2010). The employees can make a major contribution to the team and have the team building spirit. Due to Job rotation they are capable of doing different Jobs, apart from this there other tangible benefits which the organization is giving them. People take a pride in working in Harrods. To encourage and motivate employees to work efficiently and give their best the company promotes job enlargement where employees get various varied opportunity to perform and prove their capability.

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P3.4 - Examine the methods adopted by Harrods to monitor employee performance. Comment with any suggestions

Performance appraisal is defined as the process of evaluating the performance of an employee and communicating the result of the evaluation to him for the purpose of rewarding or developing the employees, “Performance appraisal is a formal assessment and rating of individuals by their managers at usually an annual review meeting” (Armstrong, 2012). Performance can be defined as the degree of accomplishment of tasks by an employee in his job. It has to be continuous process and feedback should be given to employees at regular interval.

The management start with employee engagement and managing activities to involve more of its employees and also helped in reducing the attrition. They also started with surveys and these are used to make strategic plans for the development of the employees (Garavan, 2010). The company also started with the Coaching and Mentoring of employees. It was done in a structured format and feedback was given. Old employees mentored the new employees in the organization. At Harrods the line managers discuss the targets face to face with the team members. The managers meet regularly and share ideas. This makes the employee feel that each one of them can make a difference.

Task 4

P.4.1 Identify the reasons for cessation of employment with special reference to Harrods in General.

There are many reasons termination of employment. An employee can resign and end his employment with the organization. He might be leaving due to his personal reasons like better job opportunity, unhappy with the current working system. Cessation of employment takes place when there is unacceptable behaviour or poor performance is shown by the employee (Collins, 1992). If this results in affecting the organization’s profitability or changes the business condition. One has to be careful with the documentation part which will protect the company against charges of discrimination or unlawful termination that could result in a lawsuit against you.  Cessation of employment could be due to following reasons:

• Inadequate business performance- when the employees are unable to perform and not able to achieve the targets time and again then the company needs to look for a replacement.
• Business Conditions- due to market conditions or recession the poor performing employees can be asked to leave.
• Unacceptable behaviour- if the attitude of the employee towards work or the company is negative then cessation of employment can take place.
• Absenteeism- Employees who are absent without information or absconding from work are first issued warning letters and later cessation of their employment.

P4.2 Research and Describe the employment exit procedures used by Harrods and compare it with any other organization of your choice.

This helped in reducing the number of people leaving the organization (Collins, 1992). The exit procedures gave them a feedback and helped in increasing the communication with the existing staff. They started with “Share your Voice” which helped in getting feedbacks and also make changes in the system like changing the organization structure, changing leadership, Improved Communication.

The Exit Policy at John Lewis the procedure is simple. They have to serve their notice period but the exit is made simple and the employees are treated well. At John Lewis they remain in touch with their retired employees and arrange regular reunion.

P4.3 Consider the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation arrangements with special reference to Harrods.

Cessation of employment is an important part of HRM but one has to be careful in the exit procedures. The employee should be well informed by his termination so that he can look for a job in the meantime. Employers have the basic right to exercise cessation if they feel it is right to do that but more than a right it is a big responsibly of the employer to do it right way (Dunn, 2012). One has to be careful with the documentation part which will protect the company against charges of discrimination or unlawful termination that could result in a lawsuit against you (Collins, 1992).

• The company should inform the employee well in advance about the cessation so that the employee can look for a job.

• They should be treated fairly and should not be denied of any benefits they are entitled to,
• The process should be professional and should be conducted carefully and with care (Collins, 1992).
• The reason of cessation should not be shared with any other employee.

Conclusion

            The report here has dealt with every aspects of Human Resource functions, the legal and regulatory framework which helps in smooth functioning of the organization. The changes in Harrods has developed it a people- focused organization. The Human resource department plays a very crucial role in determining the working of an organization. It helps in the smooth functioning of all the departments in the organization.

References

Armstrong, M. 2012. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Ulrich, D. 2013. Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press. Alsabbah, M & Ibrahim.H., 2013. Recruitment and Selection Process and Employee Competence Outcome: An Important Area for Future Research. Human Resource Management Research, 3(3), 82-90. Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. 2011. Organizational behaviour. Cengage Learning. Barnard, C. 2012. EU employment law. Oxford University Press. Byars, L. L., & Rue, L. W. 2010. Human Resources and Personal Management. Yoder D. et al, 1958, McGraw Hill, ‘Hand book of Personnel Management and Labour Relations’

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