Unit 21 Human Resource Management Assignment – Sainsbury

Introduction

The success of any organization relies on its human resource management. For achieving the organizational targets every company needs to hire a human resource team as they deal with day-to-day challenges in this dynamic global market. The human resource management is the valuables that hold the utmost importance in a company. Therefore, in this Unit 21 Human Resource Management Assignment Sainsbury we will learn about the working and complexities of the human resource management and their paradigm for recruitment and selection of applicants. The deficiency of skilled workers and the increasing competition have made the work of human resource team more complex.  Apart from this, the human resource team has the duty to manage the management of top level to lower level in an organization. Thus, it is important for all the employees and managers appreciate the responsibilities of human resources management and follow the norms and policies imposed by them for the benefit of the organization. The human resource team investigates the processes such as employee motivation, performance appraisal, recruitment of new candidates and managing the organization for its betterment. We will get to know about the methods used by them for job appraisal and why the employees get terminated. And finally what rules and legislations are set by government for the organization will be cleared in this assignment.

Task 1

1.1 Differentiate between personnel management and human resource management giving examples in two suitable organizations.

Sainsbury’s is an example of human resource management which is based in UK and is the second largest chains of supermarkets. Personnel management and human resource management are people oriented approach of management but the major difference between the two is the former is a classical method of management whereas the latter is a modern approach of management. Other major differences are as follows:

• The scope of services personnel management deals with operational activities of workers such as recruitment, labor force and remuneration, job assessment, employees training and job specification. The human resource management at Sainsbury’s lays emphasis on employees’ motivation, leadership, promoting organizational culture plus the activities of personnel management. The human resource management believes in optimum utilization of human resource for the achieving organization’s targets.
• Difference in approach: human resource management is much wider scope than the personnel management. The personnel management approach gives much significance to old customs and norms and struggles to invigilate such practices. Whereas the human resource management follows own policies that give importance to organizational objectives with better performances of employees.
• Difference in nature:  The Personnel management uses the approach that is rigid in nature. Employees have to abide by the rules set by the administration. On the other hand, human resource management provides flexibility to its employees.
• Difference in application: the personnel management functions independently with the little from line managers. Power lies in the hands of the top level of management. On the other hand, the human resource management remains unified. There is a decentralization of power where responsibilities are divided among all the departments. (Nayab, 2015)

1.2 Assess how human resource management functions help your chosen organization in achieving its purpose.

Sainsbury’s was started in 1869 and at present day has more than 1200 stores operating in UK. It has employed over 161000 people and offer finest products and services to its customers. Because of its best human resource management team, it holds a strong position in the market (Sainsbury’s, 2016). The human resource team at Sainsbury’s offers structure and culture in order to meet its business requirements. The Sainsbury’s considers its employees as the most valuable assets. The functions of human resource team in achieving the organizational goals are:

• Synchronized planning: the HR team at Sainsbury’s makes sure that whether the current workforce has the capability to fulfill the future organizational targets. In order to accomplish this task, the team and other department managers work together to analyze the skills and capability of the workers. This helps in analyzing the best possible action that has to be taken for the identification of adequate workers. They are then given proper training in order to manage more responsible jobs.
• Workforce mobility: in order to achieve organizational objectives, the HR team train employees about the jobs of other departments which is called workforce mobility. This helps in enhancing the skills and aptitude of employees related to the work of other departments. They could perform different jobs which strengthens the business and ultimately increases the production and profits.
• Employees’ relations: it is basically concerned with bracing the relations between employees and employers in terms of sorting out conflicts, providing job satisfaction or employees engagement in work. Labor relations generally deals with the agreements related to labor force and labor union contract law in business.
• Training and development: it is the duty of the human resource to provide training to the employees in order to enhance their skill. When new candidates are hired at Sainsbury’s, they are guided and directed under the leadership of the managers so that they can understand the working environment and contribute in organizational objectives. (Mayhew,2016)

1.3 Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers in your organization or familiar organization and how it supports human resource management functions.

The key role of line managers at Sainsbury’s includes supervising the employees, making sure about the safety and fitness of the employees at workplace and above all they act as a direct link between the top management and lower management of the company. They are also allotted the duty of imposing the HR actions on the employees. Other functions of line managers are as follows:

• Supervision: the first function a line manager is to supervise the work of the employees and their performance. They ensure that all the employees are present and if anyone is absent, they should have a replacement. It is their duty to see that the operations are carried out smoothly leading to profits and increased production.
• Safety: the line managers ensure that employees are working in safe and sound environment. They train the employees in such a way that employees are capable of operating the machines smoothly and avoid injuries. Safety tools are provided to each employee at Sainsbury’s and employees are forced to follow all the safety rules. (Writing, 2016)
• Performance Appraisal: technically, the process of performance appraisal is developed by the human resource team but it is put into action by the line managers. The role of line managers is to analyze the performance of the employees and according to that only feedback is provided to the employees in a meeting. The feedback should be given in serious way unless it will reduce the integrity.
• Performance related pay: the line managers pay the remuneration to the employees according to their overall performance. The best performer receives more than average performer. This process should be honest and fair based on the performance. Line managers are trained to make sure that the ratings given by them are impartial. (MacDonald, 2016)

1.4 Analyze how legal and regulatory framework impact on human resource management. 

The government of UK has made several legal laws for avoiding the exploitation of workers. These laws are as follows:

• Equal pay act, 1970: according to this law, each employee should be paid according to their capability and job performance. No one should be biased in terms of payment.
• Race relations act (1992-amended in 2000): this law is made to protect the interest of employees against caste, religion, creed and nationality in and out of the workplace.
• Sex discrimination act, 1975/1995/1997: under this law, no male and female should be discriminated based on their gender. Job should be given on basis of their capability and not gender.
• Employment equality act (sexual orientation, religion and belief) (2003; Equality act 2010): there is a similarity between this law and Race Relation act which mentions that equal opportunities should be given to the employees which is not based on caste and religion.
• Disability discrimination act (1995-amended in 2005): this law is made to protect the physically challenged people from being deprived of employment. People can’t bias other people on the grounds of their disabilities.
• Work and families act (2006): this act is made for the employees to manage their personal and professional life. Maternity leaves and payments for mothers and new leaves for father have been introduced like paternity leave, less working hours etc.
• Rehabilitation of offenders act (1974): this law ensure that no one faces the blame of the criminal offence for their whole life after the rehabilitation period in the future for the small offense.
• Data protection act (1998): it states the management of confidential data that how it should be stored, transferred and destroyed within the premises itself. (Dabydeen, 2004)

Task 2

2.1 Analyzing the reasons for human resource planning.

There were times when human resource management was known for processing salaries and recruitment of new applicants. With the change in market trends, the status of human resource has also changed. It plays a crucial role in attaining the set goals of the organization. The reasons for human resource planning at Sainsbury’s are as follows:

• Grabbing “the people aspect”: for achieving organizational goals, the HR staff of Sainsbury’s targets to catch the people aspects. This refers to having skilled people at right place, optimum utilization of their capabilities, the appropriate attitude and behavior of employees.
• Improving performances: the HR team at Sainsbury’s drafts a plan to assess the employees’ performances. They categorize them into the work they expertise. This improves their caliber.
• Composing required human resources: the human resource team invites all the candidates to fill the desired positions at work. They allure, assess and appoint the applicants needed in an organization’s work force.
• Setting a planned direction: the HR staff sets a strategic direction. They guide and instruct the employees to work towards organizational goals along with attaining the individual objectives.
• Modes of encouragement: the best performances are awarded in a form of incentives or raising the salary. The HR uses different methods of motivating workers either encouraging them verbally or applauding them with incentives.  

2.2. Outlining the stages involved in planning human resource requirements.

The human resource planning is an appropriate method of making sure that all the demands of business and customers are met on time. Various factors affecting the planning process at Sainsbury’s are opportunity to employees having specific skills, pending retirements, changes in organization for training old employees. (Richards,2016). The stages involved in human resource planning are:

• Assessment of organizational objectives: this is the first step involved in planning process which includes the objectives to be accomplished of all divisions in future. It gives a brief outline about how to work in an organization.
• Assessing human resources: it includes the assessment of internal and external resources required in an organization. After that the strengths and weaknesses of the resources are analyzed. It is generally concerned with the availability of human resources in the company.
• Forecasting demand and supply of human resource: it is concerned with the existing man force working in the organization and number of candidates required to fill the desired positions. Total calculation of demand and supply is done by the management and according future requirements are met to fulfil organizational goals.
• Estimation of manpower gaps: after the comparison between demand and supply of human resource, the management estimates the shortage and surplus of the workforce requirement. This estimation points out the equilibrium position where the situation can be sorted out. Shortage leads to hiring of new employees and surplus results in termination of existing employees.
• Formulation of plan: the next step after estimation of surplus and shortage is making and execution of plan. New employees are appointed in case of shortage whereas employees are terminated in case of surplus.
• Monitoring, control and feedback: generally, the plan is put into action in this stage. The whole process is evaluated and done under supervision where the actual plan and implemented plan is cross checked. (Chand, 2016)

2.3. Compare the current recruitment and selection process in the organization with another organization you recommending.

• Recruitment and selection process at Sainsbury’s: The very first step of recruitment process at Sainsbury’s is analyzing the job for employees. Through the analyzing process the requirement of the job is assessed. The outsourcing is the second step involved after the job analysis. The appropriate candidates are identified and called for through the process of outsourcing. The company receives the loads of application for the job which is when screening is done. The candidates eligible for the job are shortlisted. These shortlisted candidates reach to next level where their personal interview is taken. The candidates who clear the personal interview are trained for the job they have been hired for to improve their efficiency and skills.
• Recruitment and selection process at Harrods: The candidates have to fill the online form posted on company’s official website. These applicants are called for screening test. Then the eligible candidates have to clear the written test (aptitude, reasoning etc.). The selected candidates receive the confirmation through e-mail and then they have to clear the telephonic or video interview. After this they are called face to face debate with the line managers. The last step is the final interview where candidate goes to assessment centre for his individual analysis.

2.4. Evaluating how effectiveness is the organization recruitment and selection techniques with another organization you recommending.

The effectiveness of recruitment and selection process at Sainsbury’s and Harrods can be explained as:

• Balanced human resource demand and supply: the effective recruitment and selection process at both the organization balances the relation between demand and supply. For the well functioning of an organization, the balance between both is important as the imbalance between two can have bad effect on the company.
• Training: the correct procedure used for recruiting and selection of candidates avoids the training cost required for the new employees. It is easy to train those employees who are talented and skilled rather than those who are unskilled and lack capability as skilled work force will pay off in long run.
• Problem avoidance: using appropriate methods avoids hindrance in recruitment of candidates. Ineffective recruiting process costs expense to make a mediocre employee into a shining star.
• Job satisfaction: the effective recruitment and selection process provides customer satisfaction as dull candidates tends to quit organization soon as they have low caliber. The effective process separates the skilled and unskilled candidates. (Mathis, Jackson, and Valentine, 2013)

Task 3

3.1 Assess the link between motivational theory and reward at Virgin Media or your chosen organization. Your answer must show if you think there is a link, what connects the two.

Virgin media is a British based company that provides services like mobile, telecom, television and internet to the customers (Virgin Media,2016). In order to inspire its employees, the management at Virgin Media uses Maslow’s motivational theory. Maslow’s theory helps in identifying the wants and motives of the employees.

• Physiological needs: The physiological needs of individual is the fundamental requirements i.e. food, water and shelter. Virgin media provides competitive remuneration to their employee which is necessary to complete their basic necessities.
• Safety:  employees expect its organization to provide job security. Virgin media facilitates various schemes for protection and interest of employees such as staff protection schemes and pension scheme.
• Social needs: every individual needs a sense of belonging at their workplace. At Virgin media, employees feel the same as they connect and socialize with other colleagues which fulfill their social wants.
• Self-esteem: At virgin media, management inculcates the feeling of self-confidence in employees. They give opportunities to raise the standards of employees by challenging them with different projects which increases their confidence level and efficiency as well.
• Self-actualization: it is the term to analyze individual’s potential. Once the caliber is identified by the team at Virgin Media, employees are offered different challenging roles where they can use their skills.
• Rewards: Virgin media realizes that rewards are one of the factors that motivate the employees to work more. It offers schemes like ASPIRE field pay and reward scheme. This inspires the employees to achieve organizational goals as well as personal goals.

3.2 Evaluate the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay at Virgin Media or your chosen organization.

• Job evaluation: it is an appropriate series of describing the job and categorizing them according to that. The management at Virgin media aids to make fair remuneration for the employees using this process. The jobs from all departments are evaluated and analyzed. It has following steps.
• Job description: under this process, job is analyzed by identifying the responsibilities and roles of the performing the job.
• Job specification: it is a process under which eligibility criteria of an employee is analyzed for performing the tasks. The knowledge related to the job is measured in job specification.
• Job rotation: it is a procedure under which workers are given projects which are not related their departments in order to promote flexibility and keeping the interest of the employees to stay at virgin media. It improves the versatility of the employees giving wider scope of understanding the business.
• Allocation of money: allotting money is a process where employees are paid according to their job classification.
• Job classification: it is a process of classifying the job according to the existing duties. The results of job classification create equality in job titles within the Virgin media and the level of skill and knowledge required to perform the job. (Mathis, Jackson, and Valentine, 2013)

3.3 Assess in different contexts (for e.g. attracting talent, retention, and motivation) how effective is the reward systems at Virgin Media or your chosen organization.

Virgin media put into the consideration an effective system of rewards that has a huge effect on the employees. The reward system inspires workers so that they use their skill and give contribute 100 percent in the organization. The employees work hard to achieve personal objectives such as incentives and bonus. The company inculcates the positive and confident environment which motivates employees to work with positive attitude. At Virgin media, services to customers and providing quality products are the top priorities. When employees get appraisal they work with efficiency which increases the productivity and profit for the organization. The reward system at virgin media is one of the factors of inspiration for the employees that motivates them to use their skill with potential. Schemes like ASPIRE field pay have been introduced to motivate employees. The Reward system fascinates new applicants to work with the organization. Salary hike, incentives, bonuses, compensation are the ways of rewarding and appraising the employees. (Virgin Media, 2016)

3.4 Examine the methods Virgin Media or your chosen organization use to monitor employee performance.

The success of any organization relies on the performances of the employees. Their performance is directly proportional to the customer satisfaction. Various approaches are introduced to evaluate the employee’s performances at Virgin Media.

• Balancing score card: the company assesses the performance of the employee in terms of challenges to be accomplished within a given time. An employee is bound to finish the work within the given deadline at Virgin media.
• Identifying the best employee: the Virgin media praises its best employees if the given target is completed by him in given time. He can be set as idol for the other employees as well. Identifying the best employee raises organization’s expectations for employee performance.
• Providing feedback: the work of the employees is supervised on a regular basis.  According to that the reviews are given. Delaying in providing feedback can cause problems because of which small yet powerful chances could be missed by the employees.
• Administer monthly or annual training: Virgin media holds training programs monthly or annually to improvise and bring perfection in the job which enables them to work in new dynamic environment. (Wohner, 2016)

Task 4

4.1 Identify the reasons for termination of Faisal’s employment contract with The Chicken Master and generally explain other reasons for cessation of employment.

The reasons for the termination of Faisal’s employment contract with the chicken master are:

• Poor performance: the one of major factor for the termination of Faisal was his poor performance. In spite of having experience of 15 years in the field of managing restaurants, he was incapable of supervising his colleagues and neither did he take care of the store.
• Violation of company policy: no employee was allowed to use company’s assets for the personal and professional use at The Chicken Master. Faisal went against this rule. He was found watching porn stuff at night. He used to mail hi s wife and helped his children in homework. Bob found that he was developing an idea of designing his own store against the company’s policy.
• Less attendance: being absent from work was another reason for Faisal to lose his job. A specific amount of days is important for the employees to attend the store, Faisal’s absenteeism from work resulted in his cessation. He took off from work to design his own store without other employees’ concern.
• Attitude of the employee: the employees’ behavior has a great impact on the company and other employees. Inappropriate and disrespectful behavior of Faisal at work led to the termination of his employment at The Chicken Master. (Doyle,2016)

4.2 Describe the employment exit procedures used by The Chicken Master and another organization of your choice.

The Chicken Master and Chicken Cottage follow the same procedure for cessation of employment:

• Informing the employee: The management of The Chicken Master as well as Chicken Cottage is responsible for informing the employees about their termination. There has to be at least one witness present a t the time of the termination process.
• Meeting: the cause of cessation is told in the private meeting to the employee. No meeting is held if the employees resign themselves.
• Disable the employees’ access: While terminating the employees, their right to access the office and other sources of the office such as important computer, and cabin gets ceased too. They are not allowed to enter the premises without any legal authorization.
• Notice period: if the employee resigns himself, then he has to give notice period as per the contract. If he does not give the notice period then he is bound to pay the amount for the incomplete notice period. If the company terminates the employee then they are liable to give notice period to the employee so that in the mean time they can apply for new jobs. If company is unable to give notice period, then they are liable to pay for the incomplete notice period.
• Settlement of dues: each department is aware about the cessation of employee.  The departments are given authority for ceasing the access to smart cards, identity card, credit cards, employee’s handbooks etc. The final payment id given by the management and records are kept confidential.
• The exit interview: This interview is conducted to remind the ceased employees that they are no longer the part of the company and they do not have any access to the company’s property or documents. (Stewart,2016)

4.3 Consider the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation arrangements with an organization such as The Chicken Master if Faisal’s claim was proven to be true.

Impacts of the UK legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation arrangements:

Faisal’s claim could have been proven true if The Chicken Master has not issued the letter of notice period. According to UK regulatory framework:

Notice period: it is compulsory for all the companies in UK to provide employees with notice period before leaving the company. The time period of the notice relies totally on the employment of the employee. The employee as well as organization is tied in legal framework to issue the letter of notice period as mentioned in the employment contract. There are three conditions regarding the notice period:

• If the resignation is given by employee himself, then he is bound to provide notice period of seven days to the company as mentioned by the regulatory framework of the government or stated in employment contract. A formal letter regarding the resignation is a must that has to be provided by the employee to the organization. 
• If the company removes the employees from the services provided by him, then company should mention the least sanctioned time period to the worker as stated in the contract of the employment. The notice period authorized by law is as follows:

If the company is unable to issue the notice period to the employee, they are liable to pay the unsettled payments to the employee as per the employment contract. Similarly, the employee has to pay the desired amount to the company in case if he is unable to give the notice period to the company.

• If the employee is indulged in any serious offense such as theft, violation of policy, fraud, he will be terminated with immediate effects without giving any prior notice. This is called as exit summary dismissal. Proper investigation is conducted into the matter and proving the employee accused before his termination.

Payment: the employee is given the unsettled payments after the termination of his employment. It is the responsibility of the company to clear all the payment after the cessation of employee’s employment. (Dabydeen, 2004)

Conclusion

The human resource management plays an important role for the growth of the organization. The selection techniques and approaches used by the HR team are often productive and beneficial. The methods used by them not only motivate employees for obtaining organizational goals but also inspire them to achieve personal objectives. In this Unit 21 Human Resource Management Assignment Sainsbury enlightened us with different perspectives of management such as handling the employees, methods of motivating them, terms and conditions required for cessation of employees and the rules and legislations set by the government that has to followed by all the organization in context with different illustrations and case study.

References

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In this Unit 21 Human Resource Management Assignment Sainsbury we will learn about the working and complexities of the human resource management and their paradigm for recruitment and selection of applicants, We are posting Locus units solutions so scholars can explore the our Assignment Help in UK and get review the quality of our work.