How Walmart Managing Human Resources Assignment

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	How Walmart Managing Human Resources
QFC Level	Level 4

Introduction

For the following assignment we have chosen Walmart as an organization of our choice. The present managing human resources walmart assignment is related to the managing of the human resource. It gives us an idea about the human resource management and personnel management at Walmart. It tells us about the scope of giving the flexibility in the organization and handling its pros and cons. It makes us familiar with the tropical approach of the management.  In this assignment we have explained the model of Guest and Storey. We also dealt with the major difference between the two models. We carefully analyzed the human resource management and personnel management. The  human resource  is managed according the strategic planning for the success of the company. We also explained the different models of flexibility available for easing the work of the employees. There are many types of the flexible working models offered by Walmart. 

Task 1

1.1 Explain Guest’s model of HRM to the organization

Guest’s model of HRM is associated with the management of human resource as listed by the guest. The model has two basic dimensions loose-tight and hard-soft. Storey also gave his interpretation of the dimensions. These are namely weak-strong and hard-soft. While defining their model both the commentators Guest and Storey, both of them laid a strong emphasis on the difference of both the definition on the basis of weather the emphasis is laid on the human or the resource. Guest laid a strong focus on the difference between the soft and hard HRM. Soft HRM deals with the human relationship and movement and it lays focus on the on the human beings. It also lays emphasis on the on using the talents of the people and analyzing the different perspectives of the Mc Gregors theory. It equals the high level of commitment of our present work system. It also deals with the flexibility of our company Walmart.

Hard HRM in Walmart mainly deals with the utilitarian system of approach. It lays its focus on the calculation of the quantities and making business strategies for the management of the human resource in a very practical manner. It handles all the strategies of the Walmart and it has a close association with the main purpose of the organization. On the deep study of the model in the Walmart it was revealed that the soft HRM mainly deals with the employee of the company. It lays an emphasis on maintaining a healthy atmosphere within the workplace and maintaining good relationship between the people. At Walmart it 9is directly involved in the strategic planning of the policies of the company. It is due to this effective planning and execution Walmart is a success story. (Price, 1989)

1.2 Compare the difference between Store’s definition of HRM personnel and IR practices

At Walmart the main difference between the personnel management and the human resource management is quite distinct. Personnel management is a ever going process of improvement within the company where more and more expertise is required. It helps in the overall evolution of the company in a better direction while the human resource management in the Walmart basically deals with the addition of more resources to the many department of the company. In the view of Storey, human resource management is practically a totally different strategy and approach with different principles when compared to the handling of the employee who are employed for a definite period of time. Considering from this point of view human resource management is different from the personnel management. Thus, personnel management can be defined as the orthodox management of the employees. Human resource management is a modern approach of personnel management.

On the brief analysis of both the theories at our company Walmart it can be inferred that Walmart has not changed its approach and is still working under the personnel management as it is continuously employing more and more people which are good in technology. Hence, it can be said that the definition of Storey is more inclined towards the theoretical aspect and do not have much practical application. (Gado, 2016)

1.3 Assess the implication for line managers and employees of developing a strategic approach to HRM

 In an approach to meeting an ever increasing demand of the present day business of Walmart a lot of pressure has been put on the line managers. The major role of the line manager is to manage the dynamic business environment. They also specialize in the sustaining their job and handling the business with the least resources possible. A line managers should have the skills such as guiding, teaching and counseling to manage the workforce. Line manager also has to control the heavy load of work and manage it effectively. Human resource management is the major helping hand of the line manager in meeting its goal. Employees play an important role in the success of the Walmart as they are the essential part of the organization. They work very hard in fulfilling all the needs of the Walmart and directly helping the organization at many levels. They put in extensive effort and skills to manage the work. Human resource also helps the employee in taking the strategic decision which makes their jobs easier.

At Walmart the employees have a healthy competition with the fellow employees in strict accordance with the human resource management. The human resource management in a strategic way narrowed the gap between the management of the business and human resources at the same time. The human resource management is a strategic way that links in a very practical way the management of the workforce within the Walmart. It helps the managers to have an overall control on the environment on the workplace. (Choudhary, 2012)

Task 2

2.1 Explain how a model of flexibility might be applied to your organization

The main aim of the flexibility model is to reinforce the capabilities of the organization to give effective response to the competitive environment of the workplace. As per the flexibility model the Walmart accomplishes its defined missions and objectives. After that it finds about any possible external threat or obstacle that may come in the way of company. After the proper and complete analysis of the threats and obstacles, the flexibility is checked. The flexibility which has its focus on enhancing the skills and skills and talents of the employees are considered. The talents and the skill of the employees results in the desired flexibility based on the practical approach. The practical approach gives way to the actual intended flexibility which in turn leads to the flexibility in the  employability skills  of the employees. The skills are depicted by the flexible behavior of the employees. All these practices have an overall positive effect on the efficiency of the employees. (Dyer, 2016)

2.2 Discuss the type of flexibility which may be developed by your organization

There are various beneficial flexibility options available for work. There are different optimum options available for different organization according to their workload.

The different types of available flexibilities are as follows:

• Sustainable options available: Managers and employee consider different options in accordance with their flexible work. There are different arrangements possible according to the flexibility options. Successful implementation of the work requires the management of the flexibility. Flexibility options in combination with the hard work and aptitude leads the success of the company.
• Part time jobs: Part time jobs involves less hour of work amounting to 38 hours per week. Part time is the most often used option for flexibility.
• Sharing of Job: It implies to the sharing of the duties and workload among the employees for the effective functioning of the Walmart.
• Work from home: It gives the flexibility to the employees to work in their comfort zone as long as they deliver the quality work.
• Leave on purchase: The Walmart make it possible for the employee to take the additional leave which involve a deduction in the salary.
• Maternity leave: Walmart gives long maternity leave to the female employees for the care taking of their child and themselves. (VPSC, 2015)

2.3 Assess the use of flexibility working practices from both the employee and the employer perspective.

Employees enjoy the flexible timing a lot as it help them work in their comfort zone while giving their best work. Employee has to put in less effort in dressing up and reaching the workplace. Thus, they do better in accomplishing their work. The flexible work time faces fewer problems as compared to the office working. Walmart gives a lot of flexible in work to its employees. As being a multi-national organization the Walmart can afford to give lot of flexibility in work. The big companies give a lot of flexibility to stay in competition with the other big firms. Some of the job profiles require the presence of the employees in the work place. With such job profiles very less flexibility is possible.

There are possible five arrangements levels for both the employees and the employer:

• It gives a lot of job satisfaction
• It increases the morale of the employees
• It increases the creativity of the employees as it allows working in the comfort zone
• It reduces the possibility of being absent from the workplace.
• It reduces the stress and tension of the employees
• It helps in maintaining the balance of life

When the company such as Walmart understands the personal life of the people then the employees work with increased effort. They can think creatively at home and work at any hour according to their convenience. (Richards, 2013)

2.4 Discuss the impact that changes in the labor market have had on flexible working practices

Flexibility in the labor market deals with the readiness and the skill of the labor to respond to the present changes in the market and meet the demand in the market. The labor market function is to adjust the supply and demand of the market. Flexibility meets the supply related to the macro economy in achieving its objectives.

The following are the impact of the changes in the labor market:

• It helps in tackling with the unemployment by provide jobs to large number of people. It helped in tackling with recession and inflation of the market by coping up and giving flexibility to the labor.
• There is a low rate of wage growth. The greater flexibility keep the market firm and keep the wage low.
• The job uncertainty increases.With the rise in flexibility the job security is lost. The workers have no contracts. Sometimes the job is denied to them without any prior notice. Such practices are increasing the instances of under employment.

There are many advantages of flexible market. There is the least governmental regulation in the flexible working timing. Flexible market controls the wages of the employee. It makes it a lot easier to hire the employees and gives the organization to fire them without much difficulty. There are not many trade organizations in flexible working so it makes the working easier. There are some of the disadvantages associated with the labor market. Part time staff is not fully committed to the organization. Flexible timing creates a lot of stress and job insecurity among the laborers. With the flexibility it is now much more difficult to hunt the job and approach the contractor. With very less governmental interference and no trade union there have been raising cases of reported job insecurity. (Economics Help, 2016)

Task 3

3.1 Explain the forms of discrimination that can take place in the workplace using examples of recent discrimination cases which has made the news.

Discrimination is a biased or unfavorable behavior with a person because of a troop they belong to. Although many laws have been made to avoid discrimination at workplace still numerous people find themselves being discriminated at work. Yes, even in modern times people get discriminated on the basis of factors like cast, religion, gender etc. and further these discrimination make news. Based on the organizations in relation to Walmart the following cases of discrimination have been noticed in the organization and the management has taken preventive measures to sort out these cases.

• Discrimination based on ethnicity or race: Discrimination based on race is seen almost in every organization but laws of every country have strictly prohibited racial discriminations. Usually employees from same group tend to tease employee of different origin. They may be treated partially or may not be given promotion at workplace. Their pay scale might be different from others. Sometimes job applications of people belonging to other race do not get accepted. When the discrimination reaches at peak point, management should take severe action against such offence against those employees who practice discrimination.
• Discrimination based on gender: Another type of discrimination that can be observed at Walmart is discrimination based on gender among employees. It is usually concerned with the team leaders offering major work tasks to male workers rather female workers. Due to this male workers get better opportunities to get noticed themselves whereas female workers are left behind. The management of the organization should interfere in such matters and should give equal opportunities to both male and female workers.
• Discrimination based on disability: Discrimination against disability can be seen in Walmart too. Usually people are discriminated on the basis of their physical disability. Employees often make fun of physically challenged employees. The management should take initiative to stop such type of activities at work place. Physically disabled people should be given chances to prove themselves on the basis of their eligibility and qualification. Proper working environment and medical facilities should be provided to them.

All the discriminations taking place at work should be considered as serious offence. Strict actions should be taken against those employees who praise such activities. Organizations like Walmart should be careful about such happenings as could harm the position of the organization in the market.  For this management should interfere in such affairs in order to prevent it. (Timmons, 2016)

3.2 Discuss the practical implications of equal opportunities legislation for an organization.

Considering the recent scenario, there are number of rules and regulations imposed by in every organization to protect the interests of employees and markets in which organization operates to function smoothly. Laws are implemented in order to safeguard the interests of customers too. For example, the management at Walmart has to examine their guidelines and rules in order to make sure that there is no discrimination happening at workplace. It also ensures that employees are provided with equal opportunities at workplace so that they can prove themselves. They also provide chances to employees to grow professionally and personally as well. This helps in recognizing the finest skills in the employees and up to what extent their skills can be utilized for the sake of the organization. In order to convert it into a huge success management of the Walmart needs to know the qualification and experience of the employees so that they can be assigned projects according to that and acquire the best potential out of them. After this, performance of each employee is analyzed; the one with best output is praised in form of rewards, incentives or bonuses. Apart from this, the organization needs to follow the guidelines set by the UK government and make sure that they are not violating any code of conducts regarding the equality legislation. Walmart in order maintain its position in market has to abide by these legislations such as providing equal opportunities to the employees, being against discrimination. They have to manifest this among staff as well as publicly. Walmart consider its employees as their biggest property and believes that they should be appreciated for their contribution towards organization. (Casico, 2012)

3.3 Compare the approaches to managing equal opportunities and managing diversity. You should give examples from a selected organization and discuss the similarities and differences in their approaches to managing equal opportunities and diversity.

Walmart has already composed opportunities for their 2.2 million colleagues across the globe and now it focuses on creating commercial opportunities for businesses and people who are linked with the organization’s supply chains. Its foundation holds programs that develop productive flexibility for its female workers, develop new ideas of development for employees in sales and sectors related to it, assist local manufacturers and helps in the growth of small businesses.

Walmart has launched the initiative regarding women which is called Global Women’s Economic Empowerment. This initiative aims at improving the conditions of women in the world by helping them with career opportunities and access to market operations, giving training to approximately one million female who are working in factories and farms. They are eventually providing them the way to the passage of opportunities and growth they are worthy of.  They have three main motives:

• Engaging more women in business
• Giving more privilege to women by conducting training programs
• Promoting diversity
• Increase in productivity and employing suppliers.

Walmart gives job opportunities with higher pay to veterans when they are discharged from the military service and supports them through training program and the education they may need to understand the tasks.

Walmart promotes the culture of diversity and thus respects all the differences based on caste, creed, religion, age, gender or race. It believes in employing people from different culture. In addition to that their commitment expands across the boundaries of the organization and out into the communities where their team operates and live. This refers to the provision of growth and favorable circumstances through training programs and various guiding courses where the Walmart team can conspire and rejoice their diversity. They work together on the matters that mean so much to the employees and their customers. (Walmart, 2016)

Task 4

4.1 Select an organization you work or have worked for, identify and compare the performance management methods used.

One of the biggest companies in terms of  organizational behavior  and structure is Walmart. The human resource management at Walmart is responsible in making performance appraisal system. This system helps in assessing the performance status of employees and how it can be improvised. Human resource management uses software system to ascertain the single and group performances. These activities serve the purpose of setting goals and targets established by human resource management. The performance strategies of the organization rely on the career advancement plan.

Common motives of Walmart are connected to performances of the employees. The organization aims at increasing profitability which can be accomplished through sales revenue. Different standards are set by the management in order to assess the performances of employees. These include:

• Provide standardized services to customers.
• Proficiency to work
• Effective procedures
• Punctuality of activities related to delivery
• Maximum production by sales employees

Interviews are conducted twice a year at Walmart in order to acquire data for estimating employees’ performances and their proficiency to work is under constant observation. With the help of performance interview the management could easily attain the response from employees. Sometimes the management has to face the issues of the employees such as low self esteem and detention. This can lead to less productivity. In such situations the HR team can boost the morale of the employee by providing flexible working environment, giving bonuses and incentives and appreciating their good performance. As an HR manager, I can say that these techniques can be considered as it will help the company to analyze the current position of the employees and will give innovative ideas for performance enhancements. (Thompson, 2016)

4.2 Assess the approaches used to managing employee welfare in your organization.

Every organization’s biggest asset is its employees who work hard enough to achieve organizational objectives. The plans and strategies in the organization are formed considering them only. In order make the strategies work, the organization has to take care of employees general necessities. It should also find ways to motivate them. It is the responsibility of management to take care of necessary equipments needed by the employees. The management at Walmart ensures that the employees are taken well care of and not get affected by any negative factors. They maintain the interest of employees by providing them health and safety insurance and make sure that they remain healthy and fit. They have also introduced the pension schemes to guarantee that the employees future after retirement is safe. This means management considers employees as their own family. During any health crisis of the employees, the company takes full initiative to arrange everything on time. Various paid leaves are granted to the employees such as sick leaves, leaves for vacations, maternity leaves for women, leave travel allowances etc. When any employee gets terminated, he/she is offered various unemployment packages.

The conclusion we get from above illustrations explain that broad range of plans are imposed from time to time at Walmart to ensure that the employees are happy and contented because efforts of satisfied employees are much more profitable as compared to the efforts put by unhappy workers. (Dessler, 2014)

4.3 Discuss the implications of health and safety legislation on human resources practices.

The HR management is an important part of the organizations. It is responsible for ensuring that the employees are working in safe and sound environment. The management at Walmart is always one step ahead of any other organization as they tend to follow preventive measures before any accidents takes place. We know that the factories of Walmart are genuinely heavy and if any incident takes place only the reputation of company will be at stake. So to avoid such incidents company has hired technical team so that the machineries are under constant check. Inspection of machineries is done on regular intervals by the team so that if there are any technical issues it could be resolved on the spot. Management at Walmart adopts new technologies as soon as they enter market as they are upgraded version of the old ones and are much safer. Special trainings are provided to make employees aware about the devices and machines and how to operate them.  All the necessary equipments are installed in advance for the protection of the employees. Medical facilities such as first aid kit are provided to the customers at the time of injuries.

Every organization is forced to follow the rules and regulation set by the government regarding the safety and health of the employees. Important trainings are conducted at regular time break at Walmart to ensure the safety of employees. (Dessler, 2014)

4.4 Evaluate the impact of another topical issue on human resources practices.

There have been changes in trends in markets every now and then. And these changes are usually tackled by the human resource management. In order to survive in rapidly changing dynamic environment, it is critical for the organizations to renovate themselves according to the market trends. The major issue faced by any organization’s human resource team is E-learning. It has now become crucial for the organization to sustain with market flow and new inventions. Company can perform miracles with the development of technology up gradation.

Other issue that has influenced practices of human resource at Walmart is its culture. Walmart administers various levels in its interview which improves the efficiency of the candidates. It is up to the management team to appoint the one who is capable of performing well. The style of leadership also affects the human resource management because of its culture at Walmart. They follow the democratic style of leadership that has provided productive results in terms developing trust and self confidence in employees to boost their competence and aptitude. (Cascio, 2012)

Conclusion

This assignment helped us in acknowledging the fact that employees have grabbed the focus of the  business management . The employees are now much more particular about their needs and management too have shifted their attention towards the requirement of the employees. The core motive of the companies is to achieve organizational goals without compromising with the safety and welfare of its employees. In this assignment we have studied about the organization named Walmart. We also learnt the provisions provided by the Walmart to its employees and what the management is doing for the betterment of the employees as well as society. In the end, we can say that happy employees tends to give higher productive outcome which will ultimately results in achievement of organizational targets.

References

Cascio, W., (2012), Managing human resources, [Book], 9^th Edition, McGraw-Hill Education, [Accessed: 17 June, 2016]
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Dyer, S., (2016), flexibility model, [Article], Available: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/01437729810220428?journalCode=ijm[Accessed 13 June 2016]
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Richards, P., (2013), making flexible working win-win for employer and the employees, [Article], Available: http://www.hrzone.com/perform/people/making-flexible-working-win-win-for-both-employee-and-employer [Accessed 16 June 2016]
Thomson, A., (2016) Walmart: Human Resource Management, [Article], Available: http://panmore.com/walmart-human-resource-management-hr-management[Accessed: 16 June, 2016]