Human Resources Management - Assignment Example

? Human resources management Introduction: Human resource management (HRM) stands at the core of any business management as it is concerned not only with managing the critical resources but also owns the responsibility of acquiring the best resources as well as retaining them with the use of a variety of rewards and practices. The following discussion will try to explore HRM and its functions, and will make use of two different firms, namely Tesco and McDonald’s, and their HRM approaches for this purpose to obtain a better understanding. During the process, a comparison between the two organizations’ HRM approach will be made wherever possible before drawing conclusions. HRM is said to have evolved from personnel management and very little difference exists between the two as explained in literature; Hendry and Pettigrew (1990) viewed HRM as a different perspective of personnel management (cited Armstrong, 2006, p.20). However, a thorough study reveals that HRM essentially deals with strategic integration of personnel management functions in order to instil better accountability and ownership of human resources and to improve commitment between human resources and the firm. Personnel management can be traced back to industrial revolution, in firms such as Ford, which has eventually evolved to HRM even in these firms (Henderson, 2011). Both, Tesco and McDonald’s operate as retail outlets and provide different services to their customers across the globe; while Tesco is a large supermarket with its major presence in the UK, McDonald’s is a fast-food restaurant operating throughout the world. Primarily, the functions of HRM include HR planning and acquisition, compensation and benefits, employee relations, safe working conditions, and human resources development; HRM’s secondary functions involve supportive activities such as job designing, performance management and performance appraisal systems, and research and information activities (Sims, RR & Sims, SJ, 2007). For instance, at McDonald’s, HRM functions include activities related to maintaining employee relations and managing technology and processes; however, McDonald’s has customized these functions according to the country they operate through a team of HR directors that travel around the world to formulate and implement HR policies and procedures that match the local requirements and conform to legislation (Sims, 2002). Observations show McDonald’s typically comprises of working crew, supervisors/managers and probably some back-office personnel that work at locations other than their outlets. According to their website, HR function at McDonald’s focuses on acquiring and developing best talent suitable to their business through strong practices and by providing constant support and learning opportunities. Their main functions include job analysis, HR planning, recruitment, development, performance appraisal, and compensation (HRMS, n.d). Their corporate strategy is to provide an exceptional customer experience through people, products, place, price and promotion (Mission & Values, n.d). Their first step towards this is to hire the right people for the job followed by training and development. Tesco’s HR function takes credit for its diversified businesses and substantial growth (MacLachlan, 2009). According to MacLachlan’s (2009) report, their HR team was able to successfully blend technical excellence and expertise with customer needs through integrity, which led to their growth. Tesco’s business policies and procedures are strategically aligned to its core mission through identification of leaders, commitment, training and development. Their HR function is involved in almost every aspect of these activities in order to achieve the desired outcomes. Considering the line managers’ perspective, generally, they own the responsibility of conducting business with the help of frontline staff. They manage routine business operations through planning, organising and controlling; and developing human resources through training, coaching, leading and guiding activities. Moreover, line managers also own the moral responsibility of fair treatment, equal opportunities, maintaining integrity and following company policies (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005). This also means line managers are expected to implement the practices designed for effective HRM by the HR department. In short, line managers perform multiple roles and should therefore be highly experienced and knowledgeable. Both at Tesco and McDonald’s, line managers’ functions involve planning and organising staff according to the customer demand; guiding the staff towards providing efficient and quality customer service; and to implement HR practices and developmental activities. A critical HR practice followed at both the organisations is diversity management, which is meant to promote equality through antidiscrimination practices and policies. Antidiscrimination is a legislative obligation to organisations in most parts of the world. At Tesco, antidiscrimination policy is incorporated into their codes of conduct, which every employee is expected to follow and its breach attracts severe disciplinary action (The Code of Business Conduct, n.d). Even McDonald’s adopts antidiscrimination policy and implements diversity through practices such as fair workplace, diversity and inclusion, promotion on merit, disability-confident, women-employer, and indigenous employment. Anti-discrimination is incorporated into their employment policies (Employee diversity, n.d). Implementing HR practices such as antidiscrimination is sometimes challenging for the line managers. For instance, both Tesco and McDonald’s employ part-time workers that are naturally paid lesser than the full-time employee, and this violates the equal pay and minimum-wage laws, the results of which surface in the form of protests for better pay as seen in the case of McDonald’s (Probasco, 2013). Such protests affect efficiency, customer service and profitability as well as tarnish the organisational reputation. Referring to such issues, many arguments to challenge integration of HRM strategies with business strategies can be identified in literature (Khilji & Wang, 2006). Another critical function is HR planning, which involves meeting the demand for human resources in every job role at all times by forecasting internal and external demand, and internal and external supply (Armstrong, 2006). Contemporary HRM also focuses towards strategic alignment of HR policies and practices with corporate strategies as seen in the case of Tesco where HR planning invades all business expansion strategies before they start hiring employees (MacLachlan, 2009). Succession planning is one method in HR planning to meet the demand, and also a critical practice for HRM as it provides a direction to the employees as well as organisation considering that employees have to be constantly moved to perform better and/or to effectively manage employee motivation and commitment. At McDonald’s, as Lainer (2012) asserts, succession planning is essential not only to motivate employees but also to drive a consistent strategy and develop human resources. Meeting the HR demands of the company starts with recruitment and selection of suitable candidates at minimum costs (Armstrong, 2006), and this process also decides the efficiency and profitability the company can achieve eventually. Armstrong (2006) identifies three stages in this process namely, defining the job, attracting candidates/recruiting and selecting most suitable candidate. Organisations adopt a wide variety of methods for each of these processes. For instance, for a frontline store staff, Tesco identifies customer service skills and attitude, communication skills, punctuality, integrity and honesty as the primary requirements. Tesco’s recruitment occurs online through their website and intranet portal. The recruited candidates are then asked to take an assessment at their centre followed by a personal interview (Recruitment & Selection at Tesco, n.d). On the other hand, McDonald’s recruitment and selection processes are slightly different. McDonald’s also recruits its frontline crew through online application basis post which the chosen candidates are invited to one of their restaurants for an On Job Evaluation (OJE) and interview. Their OJE programme is to evaluate the candidates’ customer service skills as well as to test their ability to work in high-energy environment. The selected candidates are given handsome pay package along with many other perks as well as opportunities to grow at the earliest. The OJE programme also provides an idea to the candidate about the potential work pressures, which helps the candidate in accepting the job offer; this can reduce employee turnover due to work stress by significant extent. Therefore, it helps in selecting the right candidate for the job, which is more advantageous compared to the assessment and interview process followed at Tesco. In summation, HRM has become a quintessential function in business management as it focuses on acquiring, motivating/reviving and retaining the most important resources namely human resources. The HRM phenomenon places these critical resources at the core during every decision related to business strategy. Yet, challenges in implementing and benefiting from these decisions or practices continue to surface because of multidimensional nature of business management. It has to be realized that apart from HR planning, HRM also involves critical policy making and implementing activities. Line managers play an important role in managing human resources effectively because they form a critical mass of leadership for larger population that conducts the business. Considering the challenges, it would be appropriate to state that effective HRM can be achieved with greater involvement from other areas, such as line managers/business operations, in policy making decisions and activities. References Armstrong, M. 2006. A handbook of human resource management practice. 11th edn. London: Kogan Page. Employee diversity, n.d. What makes McDonald’s? McDonald’s.co.uk. Available from http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/whatmakesmcdonalds/questions/work-with-us/employee-diversity/what-is-mcdonalds-approach-or-policy-for-diversity-in-its-uk-workforce.html (Viewed 22 October 2013). Henderson, I. 2011. Human resource management for MBA students. 2nd ed. London: CIPD. 1-31. HRMS, n.d. ‘Human resources management system.’ McDonald’s information systems. Available from, http://mcdonaldsmis.blogspot.in/p/hrms.html (Viewed 22 Oct. 13). Khilji, SE and Wang, X. 2006. “’Intended’ and ‘implemented’ HRM: the missing linchpin in strategic human resource management research,” International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 17, issue: 7, pp: 1171-1189. Lainer, M. 2012. ‘A lesson from McDonald’s on succession planning.’ HR outsider: insights on organisational transformation, high performing culture and leadership. Updated 27 March 2012. Available from http://hroutsider.com/2012/03/27/a-lesson-from-mcdonalds-on-succession-planning/ (Viewed 23 October 13). MacLachlan, R. 2009. ‘HR 'the conscience' of Tesco, says HR director. Organisation development.’ CIPD. Updated 18 Nov 2012. Available from http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/01/29/hr-the-conscience-of-tesco-says-hr-director-2009-11.aspx (Viewed 22 October. 13). Marchington, M and Wilkinson, A. 2005. Human resource management at work: people management and development. 3rd ed. London: CIPD. (Ch.5; 126-154) ‘Mission & Values.’ n.d. McDonald’s.com. Available from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mission_and_values.html (Viewed 22 October. 13) Probasco, J. October 2013. ‘Taxpayers Foot $1.2 Billion Public Assistance Bill for McDonald's Employees.’ Benzinga. Updated 17 October 2013. Available from http://www.benzinga.com/news/13/10/3997956/taxpayers-foot-1-2-billion-public-assistance-bill-for-mcdonalds-employees (Viewed 22 October 2013). ‘Recruitment and selection at Tesco.’ N.d. TESCO. Available from businesscasestudies.co.uk (Viewed 23 October 2013). ‘Recruitment and Training at McDonald’s.’ ca. 2008. McDonald’s. Available from http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/content/dam/McDonaldsUK/People/Schools-and-students/mcd_recruitment_training.pdf. (Viewed 23 October 2013). Sims, RR and Sims, SJ, 2007. ‘Human resources development.’ In Sims, RR’s (ed.) Human resource management: contemporary issues, challenges, and opportunities. USA: IAP.Inc. (Ch. 12; 319-348). Sims, RR. 2002. Organisational success through effective human resources management. Westport, CT: Greenwood publishing Group Inc. (359-390). ‘The Code of Business Conduct.’ N.d. TESCO. Available from, http://www.tescoplc.com/media/126222/code_of_business_conduct.pdf (Viewed 22 October 13). Read More