Unit 34 Research Project in HRM Assignment

Acknowledgement

I hereby declare that this unit 34 research project in HRM assignment has been executed by me with the help of the guidance and support provided by the mentors and project guides. I would like to thank my parents and family for their support and encouragement which has helped me in the completion of the program in a better manner. I would also like to thank the university and institute for providing me an opportunity for develop my skills and knowledge. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends for motivating me throughout this research program.

Abstract

• Topic: Role of human resource in increasing sales of Boots, United Kingdom
• Purpose of study: the purpose of execution of this program is to gather information regarding the role of human resource in improving the sales and performance of the organisation. For the purpose of better understanding an organisation of United Kingdom has been selected named as “Boots”. The aspects discussed in this program will help the users in better understanding of the research. 
• Methodology: this section of the research program discusses the numerous methods or approaches which have been used for the purpose of collection of the information related to the research.
• Findings: this section of the research program covers the analysis, evaluation and interpretation of the information collected for the purpose of execution of the program.
• Conclusion: this section of the program covers the summary of the whole research so as to provide a better understanding of the key aspects or elements of the research.

Task 1: Poster

Task 2: Research Report

Research title: Role of human resource in increasing sales of Boots, United Kingdom

Introduction
Human resource plays a vital role in every organisation. Human resource can be understood as the management of the employees or workforce in an organisation. Human resource of an organisation performs the activities of the organisation so as to attain the objectives of the organisation. The main motive of human resource is to enhance the performance of the organisation by contributing enhancement in the productivity of the organisation. For the better execution of the activities of the business there is a need to possess skilled, talented and knowledgeable workforce. Performance of the organisation is directly linked with the performance of the workforce or human resource of an organisation (Kock, et. al., 2012). Quality and quantity of human resource are two important aspects which affects the performance of the whole organisation at large. This program has been executed over the role of human resource in increasing the sales of an organisation. Sales and human resource are related with each other as the sales of an organisation is dependent on the quality of product or services it is offering to its customers and the quality of the product or services of an organisation is dependent on the effectiveness and performance of the human resource (Ross, 2014).

Human resource includes various aspects which affects the sales of an organisation. These aspects includes executing the analysis of the jobs, writing job descriptions, writing job specifications, preparing or developing plans for compensation packages, incentive schemes, bonus system, determination of the requirement of manpower, recruitment and selection of the workforce, conducting training and development programs for the purpose of improving the performance of the organisation, management of the effective and efficient workforce, setting up the sales news, setting up the training for the knowledge of the product, providing trainings for the sales management and setting the standards for sales performance. If the organisation lacks in coordination among the human resource and sales then it may result in low sales of the organisation (Mostaghim, et. al., 2013).

For the better understanding of the various aspects related to role of human resource in increasing the sales an organisation of UK has been selected named as “Boots” a  pharmacy chain in United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1849 by John Boot. It’s headquarter is located in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It offers variety of products to its customers so as to satisfy their needs. These products include health and beauty products, and also provide optician and hearing care services (Messersmith, et. al., 2013).

• Research aim: research aims are set so as to gather information for the execution of the research in a better manner.Research aim of this program is to gain understanding of the role of human resource in enhancing the sales and performance of Boots. Sales of an organisation get affected by the quality of the services or products offered by it. For the purpose of increasing the sales, the main focus of the organisation should be on the quality of the products and services which can be maintained by the workforce of the organisation.
• Research objectives: research objectives are set so as identify the goals of the research which need to be achieved with the help of execution of the research. The main motive behind the execution of this research programso as to identify the fields which will help in the enhancement of the performance of an organisation. Objectives of this program are discussed below:
  • To identify the impacts of the human resource over the performance of the organisation (Zuzeviciute, & Tereseviciene, 2010).
  • To evaluate the role of motivation in enhancing the performance of the employees or human resource (Ross, 2014).
  • To recommend the measures for improving the quality of human resource and sales of the organisation.
• Research questions: research questions are framed so as to collect the information required for conducting the research. Research questions for this program are as follows:
  • What is the role of human resource in enhancing the performance of Boots (Diaz-Fernandez, et. al., 2015)?
  • What are the impacts of various factors which affects the performance of the employees as well as of Boots (Mostaghim, et. al., 2013)?
  • What is the relationship between the human resource and sales or performance of an organisation (Ognjenovi?, 2015)
• Rationale of the research project: this research project has been executed over the topic Role of human resource in increasing sales of Boots, United Kingdom so as to analyse the impact of human resource over the change in the sales or performance of an organisation. A company has been selected so as to provide better knowledge of the various aspects related to the research project. Boots is providing various products to its customers. For improving the performance of Boots there is a need to effectively manage the human resource of the organisation.
• Scope and limitations: scope and limitation refers to the aspects which bounds or restricts the researcher from executing the research in a broader manner. The main limitations or scope faced during this research project is the time factor as the time for the execution of the research was limited and the research need to get completed well on time so as to get completed in an effective manner. The information collected for this research is based on the responses of the respondents and random sampling methods have been used for the analysis of the collected information. This technique has been used so as to form an opinion over the information collected.

Literature review
This section of the research program covers the detailed information regarding the research so as to provide a better understanding of the various aspects related to the topic. Human resource is an important part of every organisation. Human resource helps in the attainment of the goals of the organisation. Boots is offering wide range of products and services to its customers so as to provide quality services to them (Soltani, 2010). The main motive of Boot is to enhance the performance of the organisation by increasing the sales so as to expand the area of operation by serving large number of customers. Human resource and sales or performance of an organisation is closely related with each other. Effective human resource act as assets for the organisation and improves the performance of the organisation. There are various aspects which affects the sales of an organisation. These aspects includes the production of the products or services, marketing strategies of the organisation, quality of the products or services offered and distribution channels used by the organisation (Roh & Kim, 2016;2015).

Boots need to consider the performance of the human resource so as to enhance the sales and performance. For this purpose there is a need to identify various aspects related to the performance of the employees or human resource as these aspects affects their performance and of the whole organisation. Human resource need to be managed in an effective manner so as to obtain the desired results. There is a need to motivate or encourage the human resource so as to enhance the performance of the human resource and to increase its contribution towards the increase in the sales and performance of the business (Junni, et. al., 2015). The main focus of Boots need to be on the performance of the human resource which will help in monitoring their performance and identifying the need for change in the process adopted by the human resource or identifying the requirement of the training process so as to develop the human resource and its capabilities for executing the activities of the business management. For the purpose of improving the performance and sales of Boots there is a need to make changes so as to enhance the capabilities of human resource of the organisation. An analysis need to be done of the aspects which create an impact over the human resource and performance of the employees as well as of Boots (Iglesias & Saleem, 2015).

Coordinationneeds to be maintained between the human resource and goals of the organisation which it desire to achieve with the available resources and using its resources in an effective manner so as to produce the desired results. There is a need to formulate plans and strategies so as to involve the human resource for the attainment of objectives of Boots. The Human resource activities get affected by the quality of the human resource as the skills and knowledge possessed by the human resource are the most important aspects which affects the performance of the human resource. For enhancing the performance of the organisation there is a need to enhance the performance of the human resource and the activities which are affecting the performance of the organisation. There is a strong link between the business strategies and development activities of an organisation (Roh & Kim, 2016;2015).

This section of the report provides an understanding of the various aspects or factors which affect the performance of the human resource as the performance of the human resource create an impact over the sales or performance of the organisation. Boots need to maintain the quality and quantity of the human resource so as to enhance its capabilities, performance, sales and expand its areas of operations so as to reach large number of customers. It also provides an understanding of the issues or problems related to human resource which affects the sales of Boots (Junni, et. al., 2015).

Issues related to human resource which affects the sales of Boots:
These issues affect the human resource of an organisation which ultimately results in creating an impact over the sales of the organisation as well as performance of the organisation. These issues are as follows:

• Retention of the existing talent: the main impact over the sales of the organisation is due to the lack of talented and skilled human resource as human resource performs the activities which lead to increase in the sales of the organisation.
• High employee turnover: the high employee turnover of an organisation consumes time, money and efforts of the organisation which would have used for the purpose of enhancing the performance of the business (Iglesias & Saleem, 2015).
• Recruitment: recruitment of the human resource need to be effective. If the recruitment process in poor then the quality gets affected.
• Productivity: productivity of the human resource gets affected due to various reasons. Organisation need to monitor the performance of the human resource so as to increase their productivity.
• Training and compliance: lack of training leads to low efficiency of the human resource which creates an impact over the performance of the organisation.
• Health and safety: the environment of the workplace need to be maintained as it affects the health and safety of the human resource which results in poor sales or low sales as the productivity will be low (Iglesias &Saleem, 2015).

 

Measures which can be adopted to enhance the human resource so as to enhance the performance and sales or Boots:
Performance of human resource forms a base for the other activities of the organisation. All the activities are dependent over the human resource of the organisation. For the purpose of effective execution of the activities of the organisation and increasing its sales there is a need to develop the human resource of the organisation. These measures are discussed below:

• Using motivation: motivation is the most effective measure which helps in enhancing the performance of the human resource as it encourages the employees to improve their performance which results in improved performance of the organisation. It can be in monetary or non-monetary form (Mayo & Mallin, 2010).
• Monitoring the performance of human resource: monitoring will help in keeping a check over the performance and achieving the objectives decided by the organisation.
• Creation of a fast reaction team and retaining talent: this helps in building a strong base and improving the productivity of the human resource.
• Providing training and development: training and development provides a better knowledge to the human resource to deal with the situations and improving the quality of the services or products which results in improved sales (Soltani, 2010).
• Effective flow of information: effective flow of information leads to reduction in the communication gap and eliminates the chances of errors or mistakes. 
• Involvement of the human resource in decision making: involvement of human resource in the decision making process helps in encouraging them and it leads to focused human resource and enhanced performance of the organisation (Mayo & Mallin, 2010).
• Improve real time feedbacks:real time feedbacks can help the organisation to identify the issues at the initial stages and eliminating them so as to operate in a better manner.

Research methodology

Introduction: This section of the program provides an understanding of the various methods and approaches which have been used in the research so as to gather information regarding the various aspects of the research. The main motive of research methodology is to generate an understanding of these methods or approaches among the users of the research. For the purpose of this program various methods and approaches have been used. These approaches have helped in the collection of information regarding the role of human resource in enhancing the sales or performance of an organisation.

• Research design: there are various methods available for the purpose of collection of information. For the purpose of this program mixed method has been used which includes use of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection for the purpose of collection of information. Quantitative method helps in the collection of information in huge quantity. Quantitative methods use primary sources of data collection which collects information or data with the help of questionnaire, surveys or interviews. Qualitative methods collect quality information with the help of websites on internet, journals, books or notices issued by various authorities (Toledo-Pereyra, 2012).
• Data collection and analysis: data collection is the most important aspect as it helps in the collection of the data for the purpose of executing the research in an effective manner. For the collection of information primary and secondary sources of data collection have been used. These sources of data collection help in the collection of different types of information. Primary sources of data collection help in the collection of the information or data which is first hand and is in the raw form. It directly gets collected from the respondents and is based on the reactions of the respondents. Secondary sources of data collection collect the information which has already been collected, analysed, evaluated and used by other persons in their work. It provides more reliable form of data (Turkenburg & McAuley, 2013).
• (Questionnaire is in the Appendix)
• Techniques and procedures: for the analysis of the collected information random sampling has been used as analysis of the large amount of data is not possible. So for forming a view over the collected information and execution of the program this sampling technique has been used (Ibrahim Al-Omari, 2014).
• Choice: there are various choices available for the program. For the purpose of execution of the program in a better manner the most appropriate and suitable alternative have been selected.
• Proposed time scale: for completing the research in a better manner, there is a need to complete the research program within the time frame or the time limits set. 

Action plan

Sequence	Activities performed	Starting date	Duration	Date of completion	Details
A)	Forming a plan	04 June 2016	4	07 June 2016	Plans are prepared so as to form a base for the execution of the program.
B)	Implementation of plan	08 June 2016	9	16 June 2016	Plans get implemented so as to reach at the desired outcome.
C)	Collection of the information	17 June 2016	11	27 June 2016	Information gets collected so as to execute the research in a better manner.
D)	Evaluation	28 June 2016	5	02 July 2016	Information which has been collected gets evaluated so as to form an opinion.
E)	Conclusion and recommendations	03 July 2016	3	05 July 2016	Conclusions are made on the basis of the evaluation of information and recommendations are given for making improvements.

Gantt chart

• Collection of data and targeted market: data gets collected from the respondents. And for this purpose researcher need to identify the population which will help it in the collection of information.
• Limitations: the time limit has acted as a limitation for the completion of the project and due the time limit sampling techniques have been used as it was not possible to evaluate the whole data.
• Ethical considerations: during the execution of the research information has been collected from the respondents and confidentiality of the information has been maintained and the information has been collected with the help of ethical practices so as to conduct the research in a legal framework.

Data analysis and findings

Table 1: There is direct relationship between the effectiveness of the human resource and sales and performance of an organisation
 

Analysis: according to the responses collected from the respondents it has been concluded that majority of the respondents agree with the statement that there is direct relationship between the effectiveness of the human resource and sales and performance of an organisation. Human resource of Boots helps in the better execution of the activities of the business which enhances the performance of Boots. They both are directly linked with each other.

Table 2: Quality of the human resource plays a vital role in the execution of the activities of an organisation
 
Analysis: according to the responses collected from the respondents it has been concluded that majority of the respondents agree with the statement that quality of the human resource plays a vital role in the execution of the activities of an organisation. Effective and efficient human resource helps in attainment of the objectives of the organisation in a better manner. Quality of the human resource affects the quality of the products or services offered by the organisation.

Table 3: Motivation is an important factor which affects the performance of the human resource
 
Analysis: according to the responses collected from the respondents it has been concluded that majority of the respondents agree with the statement that motivation is an important factor which affects the performance of the human resource. Motivation encourages the human resource for improving the performance and to attainment the objectives of the organisation as attainment of the organisational goals helps in the attainment of the personal or individual goals. Boots uses different types of motivations for the purpose of enhancing the performance of the human resource so as to improve the performance of the organisation.

Table 4: Real time feedbacks do not help the organisation to improve the quality of its services
 
Analysis: according to the responses collected from the respondents it has been concluded that majority of the respondents disagree with the statement that real time feedbacks do not help the organisation to improve the quality of its services. Real time feedback is an effective measure for improving the performance by improving the effectiveness of the activities of the organisation. It helps in the identification of the issues or problems as and when they occur and help in solving them so as to quality services to the customers.

Table 5: Availability of human resource does not create an impact over the performance of the organisation
 
Analysis: according to the responses collected from the respondents it has been concluded that majority of the respondents disagree with the statement that availability of human resource does not create an impact over the performance of the organisation. Human resource executes the activities of the business and for this purpose organisation need right number of human resource with the skills and knowledge required for the execution of the activities. Availability of the human resource with the skills and knowledge and in right number determines the success of the business.

Conclusion

This program has been executed so as to analyse the role of human resource in enhancing the performance of an organisation by improving its sales. This program provides the knowledge of various aspects related to human resource which can have an impact over the performance of an organisation and over its sales. It provides an understanding of the issues or problems which can affect the effectiveness and performance of the human resource of an organisation. Human resource is an important asset of an organisation which determines the effectiveness of its operations as well as its success and future prospects. It also discusses the measures or methods which can be adopted by an organisation so as to enhance the performance of the human resource so as to conduct the activities of the organisation in an enhanced manner. It explains the role of human resource in shaping the future prospects of business.

Recommendations

Recommendations are made with a motive so as to make improvement. Recommendations for the purpose of improving the performance of the human resource so as to improve the sales and performance of the organisation are as follows:

• Recruitment and selection process adopted by the organisation need to be effective so as to appoint or hire the human resource which contributes towards the development of the organisation and improvement in the performance of the organisation.
• Training should be provided to the human resource so as to make them aware of the changing requirements of the environment and helping them in coping with the changing environment.
• Motivational techniques should be used for boasting the morale of the employees for performing in a better manner so as to provide effectiveness and to enhance the performance of the organisation.
• Market survey is an effective measure for dealing with the changing environment and increasing the sales and performance of the organisation.
• Use of technology helps in improving the performance and effectiveness of the human resource. Organisation should use these technological advancements for improving the effectiveness and performance of the human resource which leads to improvement in the performance of the organisation.

References

Diaz-Fernandez, M., Bornay-Barrachina, M. & Lopez-Cabrales, A. 2015, "Innovation and firm performance: the role of human resource management practices", Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 64-80.
Ibrahim Al-Omari, A. 2014, "Estimation of entropy using random sampling", Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, vol. 261, no. 1, pp. 95-102.
Iglesias, O. & Saleem, F.Z. 2015, "How to support consumer-brand relationships: The role of corporate culture and human resource policies and practices", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 216-234.
Junni, P., Sarala, R.M., Tarba, S.Y., Liu, Y. & Cooper, C.L. 2015, "Guest Editors’ Introduction: The Role of Human Resources and Organizational Factors in Ambidexterity",Human Resource Management, vol. 54, no. S1, pp. s1-s28.
Kock, H., Wallo, A., Nilsson, B., Höglund, C., Linköpings universitet, HELIX Vinn Excellence Centre, Institutionen för beteendevetenskap och lärande, Arbete och arbetsliv, Pedagogik och sociologi & Filosofiska fakulteten 2012, "Outsourcing HR services: the role of human resource intermediaries", European Journal of Training and Development, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 772-790.
Mayo, M. & Mallin, M.L. 2010, "The Impact of Sales Failure on Attributions Made by "Resource-Challenged" and "Resource-Secure" Salespeople", Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 233-248.