Unit 21 Assignment on Human Resource Planning

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 21 Human Resource Planning
QFC Level	Level 4

Introduction

Despite of the fact that human resources are the most important asset of an organization at many cases one cannot see its reflection in the organizational decisions. The current business trends show that in most of the organizations both employees and the Human Resource activities are relatively given less importance. Business experts contend by saying that HR is still expensive for organizations and is a liability, which comes from the lack of business understanding by the HR professional and further their incompetence in giving direction to the HR activities towards evolving the attributes of the human resources of an organization eventually affecting its strategies.

With change in modern business scenario, the HR department too has encountered a radical change eventually  decision making  the organizations discuss and consider HR as a key strategic partner in providing them with viable competitive advantage. In the fast paced economy rise in competition is a serious issues organizations face thereby, forcing them in offering the customers with best products and services, which can be achieved by proper utilization of available human resources.

Task 1

1.1 Distinguish between personnel management and human resource management

Personnel management means admonishing administration of employees to keep them satisfied and achieve organization objectives whereas Human resource management means developing and utilising employee talent judiciously to achieve excellence in performance. (Storey, 2014)

Points of difference	Personnel Management	Human Resource Management
Outlook	Traditional in nature which involves directing, organising and controlling activities of personnel.	Modern outlook with focus on optimum use of human resources to achieve organizational benefits. (Storey, 2014)
Priority	Employee satisfaction is priority	Development of employee is priority
Task Deputation	Task is distributed in generalised way	Deputation of task is made on skills and roles
Control of decisions	Made by central authority	Made by consent of employees and management
Guidance	Occasional guidance is imparted mainly during change	Periodic guidance is imparted.
Coordination	Involves coordination between individual teams to achieve goals (Storey, 2014)	Involves coordination across cross functional teams to achieve goals
Consideration	Employees are considered as resources to achieve routine tasks as per instructions	Employees are considered assets to achieve value for organization
Function of management	Performs transactional function to direct and control employees.	Performs transformational function to manage employees. (Storey, 2014)
System of payment	Based on job role and responsibilities	Based on performance
Transfer of information	Indirect approach is practised which leads to gaps and dissatisfaction (Storey, 2014)	Direct approach is practised which leads to transparency and clarity.

1.2 Assess the function of the human resource management in contributing to organisational purposes

The functions of HRM contribute to organizational purposes, which are assessed as:

• Planning manpower: this function identifies the current resource inventory and future demands to plan additional need of manpower. Thus, supply and demand is assessed to accomplish future objectives of organization cost effectively. (Kehoe and Wright, 2013)
• Manpower Acquisition: after current skills are identified and future requirement are assessed then HRM plans for acquiring new resources through hiring. During this roles and skill are matched to find right talent who can fulfil organization’s purposes.
• Training: when current capacities of manpower are assessed then training is imparted to develop their skills and competencies to build competitive advantage of organization in best possible manner to develop productivity. (Kehoe and Wright, 2013)
• Compensation and performance: employee’s compensation is designed based on roles and skills which appreciates their contribution. Additionally these are linked with performance benefits like promotions, rewards and incentives, insurance, medical allowance etc to keep employees satisfied and oriented to accomplish organizational goals. It also helps to build performance, loyalty and job security.  
• Builds relationship with employees: HRM facilitates good working environment, builds coordination and relationships between management and colleagues. Also policies maintained are for employee welfare which helps to enhance their interest thereby motivating productivity of organization. (Kehoe and Wright, 2013)

1.3 Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers in human resource management

Line managers are accountable for managing lower end employees so that routine activities are carried out smoothly.

They even dispose practices made by HRM which are as follows: 

• Routine activity management: line managers are responsible for all routine activities including allocation of task and control of teams. They also dispose HRM functions such as administration of leave, evaluating performance and supporting employees to ensure smooth running of operational activities. (Purce, 2014)
• Assisting employee: line managers are responsible to provide work process knowledge and technical assistance to employees so that they can perform their tasks efficiently. This ensures smooth work management.
• Allocating task: line managers delegate tasks depending on skills of employees and maintain duty rosters to incorporate greater coordination and flexibility. Thus, they facilitate HRM practice of employee welfare.  (Purce, 2014)
• Monitoring progress: line managers control progress of tasks and monitor employee performances by checking on quality measures. They assist HRM functions of training if employees need skill development and evaluate performance to support appraisals. Line managers also ensure discipline and behaviour among employees so that they do things in instructed way.  
• Conflict management: line managers maintain cooperative environment and strong relationship to reduce work disagreements and conflicts. They are responsible to handle and resolve issues to ensure productive environment. (Purce, 2014)

1.4 Analyse the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on human resource management

Legal and regulatory framework impact on HRM:

• Equality Act 2010: this legalisation states that all employees are eligible to get equal value of pay for equal nature of work irrespective of gender, race, nationality and religion. Thus, it protects HRM practices of employee welfare, diversity of workforce.
• National Minimum Wage Act 1998: this framework states that employees are eligible to receive minimum amount of wage as outlined by government in employment policies. This is also subject to revisions depending on market and economic changes, thus HRM practice of compensation and benefits is protected.  (Bamberger, Biron and Meshoulam, 2014)
• Employment Act 2008: this framework states that all employees should be given written agreement which includes description of job, work timing, salary, benefits, annual leaves etc. It should also state termination policies and code of behaviour to prevent wrongful cessation. Thus HRM practice of welfare is maintained. 
• The Working Time Regulation Act 1998: it states that employees are eligible for 40 hrs work per week and 8hrs/day. In addition, they should get 28 days paid holiday and should not be forced to work overtime by employer beyond working time. For extra work hours employees should be paid overtimes. (Bamberger, Biron and Meshoulam, 2014)

Task 2

2.1 Analyse the reasons for human resource planning in organisations

HRP is a process where current capacities of organization is analysed against future demands to meet goals strategically. It is needed in all organizations because:

• To predict labour demand: in order to meet production demands of organization, its current labour capacity is analysed to estimate future supply as labour proportion changes due to retirement, promotion, transfer or expiration. Thus, it helps to maintain labour flow and production outputs. (Bennett and Ho, 2014)
• To meet market change: in order to meet new changes and challenges in market HRP identifies the existing competencies of labour and then plans either hiring of fresh experts or training of current manpower to enrich their talent. Thus, this enables to meet changes efficiently and cost effectively.  
• To maintain imbalances and cost: HRP identifies the shortage in existing labour and equip them with training to upgrade and meet future demands of organization. It also maintains a balance between surplus and shortage of labour so that operational cost is maintained to provide estimated productions. (Bennett and Ho, 2014)
• To manage employee expectation: HRP helps to meet employee expectation by evaluating performance, providing mentoring and growth opportunities by appraisals or development. This helps to meet productivity of organization profitably by keeping employees satisfied and engaged. (Bennett and Ho, 2014)

2.2 Outline the stages involved in planning human resource requirements

The stages involved in planning human resource requirements are outlined as:

• The initial stage is determination of organizational purposes and objectives for which planning is needed. Example, if an organization has increased employee turnover then objective will be to find reasons behind the concern and plan a solution.
• The second step is environment scanning. Example, in this case, organization will discuss the concern with employees and supervisors to identify reasons. Also it will assess skill evaluation and delegation of task to get idea of workload, stress etc. (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014)
• The third step is determining gap. Example, here current manpower strength and future production need is analysed to estimate supply of manpower which can be met by hiring skilled employees.
•  The fourth step is identifying needs of job position, skills and knowledge requirements. After this, a structure is designed for job description, person specification, training, compensation and benefits. 
• The fifth step is execution of human resource planning. Example, in this case recruitment is made for new skilled employees.
• The final step is evaluation and monitoring of planning. Example, in this case new employees performance will be measured against set standards and expected outcomes to determine success of planning. In case, loopholes are identified then they are adjusted with strategic improvements in  marketing  planning . (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014)

2.3 Compare the recruitment and selection process in two organisations

In this section recruitment and selection process in Tesco and McDonald’s are discussed.

Tesco is multinational retailer, which conducts R&S in two phases. First potential vacancies are advertised both in their website and in stores. Applications are called from internal as well external sources where candidates have to fill online application and submit their CV’s. Based on preliminary information potential matching candidates are called for first phase. Then psychometric test is conducted to analyse their attitude and stability where various questions are asked on verbal and numerical ability. Next successful candidates are made to face technical round interview with senior managers followed by presentation series on company values, policies and career growth. Then individuals are invited to assessment centre where group roles are assigned to them to judge their situation handling ability. Those who are selected are called for final interview with HR manager where compensation is discussed and verifications are made followed by issue of offer letter to selected candidate. (Townley, 2014)

McDonald’s is fast food chain, which conducts R&S in four steps. Initially applications are invited for potential vacancies through online advertisements on their job portals and in stores. The candidates have to fill in details of personal and educational background, experience etc along with answering competency based questions. This helps to assess applications on teamwork and choice of career. The sort-listed applicants are called for personality test where their attitude and suitability to roles are verified. The screened candidates are then made to handle real work situations such as customer service, billing, complaint handling. Line managers who select candidates for final interview review their performances. These candidates sit with operation managers where technical knowledge and expertise is analysed. The final decision is also made here and selected candidate is offered joining letter. (Townley, 2014)

2.4 Evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection techniques in two organisations

The recruitment and selection process followed in Tesco is more structured and phased up compared to McDonald’s. This is because after the CV’s and online applications are assessed to sort eligible candidates they are called for first round interview followed by psychometric tests. This helps to evaluate their technical knowledge, attitude and mental stability. Also the selected candidates are given presentation on company policies, values and growth scope which gives clarity in mind of candidates about expected life in Tesco. This helps to filter suitable candidates who are willing to carry Tesco’s value forward. Then selected candidates are called in assessment centre where real exercises are given to evaluate their team work ability, leadership and practical understanding. This second filter helps to select only deserving candidates who can best understand and fulfil expectations of job. Finally the second interview with HR manager helps to discuss details of compensation, leaves etc with selected candidate. (Okun and Kantrowitz, 2014)

Whereas, recruitment and selection process in McDonald’s is simpler than Tesco which helps them to route fitting candidates for announced vacancies. After CV’s are sorted on preliminary information’s, matching candidates are called for personality test. This helps to eliminate excessive applications received which does not match the criteria for job description. During personality round candidates are evaluated on emotional and mental ability which helps to skim suitable candidates. Further during on job evaluation real work exercises help to filter only those candidates who have sound technical and practical knowledge along with necessary attitude like calmness, agility etc. Next the final interview with operation manager helps to review on decisions made in assessment process to filter only deserving and suitable candidate. (Okun and Kantrowitz, 2014)

Task 3

3.1 Assess the link between motivational theory and reward

Motivation is something that extremely influences a person’s behaviour by withholding his/her individual's needs and goals satisfaction. One can see the motivation theories from two varied perspectives namely content and process motivation theories where the content theories emphasizes on what exactly is motivation while process theories emphasizes on the actual course of motivation. Reward is what the staffs tend to attain in their working tenure and can either be financial in case when organizations pay for their performance and contributions or non-financial when organizations gives reward in the form of promotion, achievement and praise. According to Maslow’s motivational theory, employees’ needs at work are needed to be fulfilled through five levels of human needs. (Imran, Arif, Cheema and Azeem, 2014)

Managers pursuing this theory avert their diligence by offering interdependent relations and more challenging work that is full of self-fulfilment opportunities. In striking contrast Herzberg’s motivational theory emphasizes on two basic human needs namely hygiene factors and motivators. Managers pursuing this theory turn down cash as motivator and focuses on improving the job. Managers following McGregor's theory consider two varied theories namely theory X and theory Y pursuing to theory X average employee dislikes their work and tend to evade it and that is why management recommend  use of Theory Y eventually leading them in doing outstanding performances further allowing the managers in offering various opportunities for having a job done. An organization makes use of both positive and negative amplifications for motivating the employees. Approach of motivating positively involves persuading employees in giving a quality outcome however, a manager might adopt negative motivation techniques for encouraging employees and stopping them from behaving badly at work. Mangers might reward the employees by offering them with weekly or monthly bonus, free lunches or even by recommending the good performers name to the management in the form of praise.  (Imran, Arif, Cheema and Azeem, 2014)

3.2 Evaluate the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay

Job evaluation can be described as methodical course undertaken for defining the related value or jobs size within an organisation for establishing subjective relativities further providing a framework to design a fair structure for grade and pay, classifying jobs within the structure and handling job and pay relativities. Job evaluation needs to pursue an orderly approach as the process is extensive.  quality Management  at the beginning of the process clarify the employees the reason behind the evaluation and its importance and eventually form a team of HR professionals and knowledgeable employees. In the first step the team chooses the job’s that are to be evaluated from all departments and a detailed analysis is done with the method selected by the HR department for job evaluation that can mainly be analytical which involves points rating, factor comparison, proprietary brands and Non-analytical which involves job ranking, job classification, paired comparisons. Pay, which is an award for work done, is altered by multiple factors that generate certain change amid the roles and organisations. In addition, the other factors that determine pay are company size, seniority, skills and experience, industry type, profit of the organisation and employee performance. (Gomez-Mejia, Berrone and Franco-Santos, 2014)

3.3 Assess the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts

Reward system as an infusion of both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards that an employer provides and might even comprise of combined policies, processes, practices and administrative procedures in order to implement the system within the structure of HR strategy and the overall organizational system. Rewards can be categorized into two type’s namely extrinsic rewards that mainly are tangible like bonuses, salary hike, allowance, promotion, compensation and commissions and an employee gets it for exceptional performance whereas intrinsic rewards like information, feedback, recognition, trust and relationship are inclined in giving personal satisfaction to employees. It has been observed that bonus systems act as positive strategies for motivating the employees’ further taking in account factors like attendance, customer service, quality, performance within team and as individual. Bonuses are helpful in increasing the motivation and output level of employees eventually enhancing their morale and self-esteem. Moreover, bonus scheme that is planned precisely makes improvements in employee retention programs. In addition, rise in pay is another kind of reward system and most significant employee motivator eventually allowing them to improve their performances. Reward like promotion enhances employees’ morale and job satisfaction. The effectiveness of reward system can be measured by employees improved performance, which is undertaken for gaining the reward. Employees also tend to work hard putting their skills at the same time for acquiring new knowledge and learning. Reward system enhances the overall profit margin of organizations because of employees’ hard and honest efforts at work further cultivating a decisive cognitive contract amid the employees and organization eventually creating an improved working atmosphere. (Gupta and Shaw, 2014)

3.4 Examine the methods organisations use to monitor employee performance

Organizations use various means and methods for monitoring employees' performances such as observation and feedback which is the most common way of monitoring. In this method, organizations outsource a third party or person for monitoring employees' performances at work who further reports and gives feedbacks to the concerned authority. With the help of observing and providing feedback organizations can drive the employees’ energy towards right directions further allowing them to perform in a way that is expected from them. In addition, for monitoring employees' performances organizations also use performance standards where every employee’s performance is compared against set criteria which is practical, quantitative and asserted in the term of time, quality, cost, quantity, effect  or the way of performance. Another commonly used method is performance evaluation that is used for determining an employee’s actual job performance against the selected performance standards. Take for example in Tesco the HR Manager conducts a monthly interview with the employees where their performances are discussed for identifying their strengths and weaknesses and creating strategy on how weaknesses and strengths can be improved. At times Tesco also make use of 360-degree appraisal method where all the stakeholders analyse the performance of an employee and give them feedbacks. (Boon, Den Hartog, Boselie and Paauwe, 2011)

Task 4

4.1 Identify the reasons for cessation of employment with an organisation

Cessation of employment within an organization occurs resulted to various reasons. Most of the organizations consider the final step of cessation of employment in case an employee is involved in some kind of fraud or illegal activities at work, which maligns the company’s image in the market. In addition, financial repulsion in the early stage of business operations is another reason behind cessation of employees. Along with the reasons priory mentioned, employees’ poor performance at work, which can be in terms of dealing with  customer satisfaction  or constant failure in achieving the set targets, abusive behaviour etc. can lead to cessation of employment. (Pettigrew, 2014) Considering the example of Harrods, the primary reasons leading to cessation of employment are recession, economic slowdown and poor performance

4.2 Describe the employment exit procedures used by two organisations

The employment exit procedure differs from organization to organization, however, it is important that procedure be practiced by considering the employees rights. Furthermore, employment exit procedure just needs to be reasonable and specific. According to the employee rights, it is mandatory for organizations to ensure that fair means are adopted while the execution of employment exits procedure. (Mowbray, Wilkinson and Tse, 2015)

In the employment exit procedure at Harrods, the employee in question in informed well in advance about the cessation so that the employee gets enough time for proving his/her argument against the management’s decision. However, in case the employee is fails in placing an effective argument supporting his/her point, the HR Manager formally informs of the cessation of employment. Once the final date is informed, the management clears all the dues and other exit formalities are done and a cessation card is posted to the employee’s address.

The employment exit procedure of Harrods can be compared with that of Wal-Mart. The process differs in terms of informing in advance to the employees. It is mandatory for the employee to serve a month notice period which is not in case if the employee is been terminated. At the end of notice period other formalities like exit interview and discussions are organized by the HR department. (Mowbray, Wilkinson and Tse, 2015)

4.3 Consider the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation arrangements

Legal and regulatory framework leaves an immense impact on the employment cessation arrangements of any organization as these laws have been framed for protecting the employees’ rights and prohibits the employer to terminate an employee through discrimination or on the grounds of retaliation or an unreasonable termination or inadequate termination process. Furthermore, the framework ensures that the cessation of employment arrangements is practiced with an aim of doing justice with the employees and preventing any kind of misconduct in connection to caste, race, nationality etc. The legal and regulatory frameworks empower the employees to stand for their rights in case organizations breaches the provisions of termination process. (Betcherman, 2015)

Conclusion

At the end, it can be concluded that HRM is an integral part of organizations and takes into consideration the planning and implementation aspect of the business. The consistent obligation of HRM provides a competitive edge to an organization over its market competitors and keeps the employees engaged who are more likely to give outstanding contributions in the business growth because of their personal involvement

References

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bamberger, P.A., Biron, M. and Meshoulam, I., 2014. Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Routledge.
Bennett, J.M. and Ho, D.S., 2014. Human resource management. InPROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR ENGINEERS (pp. 231-249).
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Boon, C., Den Hartog, D.N., Boselie, P. and Paauwe, J., 2011. The relationship between perceptions of HR practices and employee outcomes: examining the role of person–organisation and person–job fit. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(01), pp.138-162.
Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Berrone, P. and Franco-Santos, M., 2014. Compensation and organizational performance: Theory, research, and practice. Routledge.
Gupta, N. and Shaw, J.D., 2014. Employee compensation: The neglected area of HRM research. Human Resource Management Review, 24(1), pp.1-4.
Imran, H., Arif, I., Cheema, S. and Azeem, M., 2014. Relationship between job satisfaction, job performance, attitude towards work, and organizational commitment. Entrepreneurship and innovation management journal, 2(2), pp.135-144.
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Mowbray, P.K., Wilkinson, A. and Tse, H.H., 2015. An integrative review of employee voice: identifying a common conceptualization and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(3), pp.382-400.
Okun, B.F. and Kantrowitz, R.E., 2014. Effective helping: Interviewing and counseling techniques. Nelson Education.