The Human Resource Function of Harrison Brothers Corporation - Assignment Example

They also want to convert the empty spaces into selling spots and want to stock and sell the in-demand brands. Moreover, they are also looking to better forecast their sales and maintain better inventory records by using computer systems. Also, they want to increase the productivity of their staff.Harrison is headed by an Executive Vice President and General Manager. The Branch Store Manager works under him. Within the branch, Harrison has divided its human resources into three departments: HR, Sales, and Operations.

The sales department is divided into three departments each headed by a Sales Manager. Each Sales Manager looks after the sales of a number of sales categories. The HR manager has four people working under him responsible for assistance, training and payroll processing. The Operations Manager oversees five employees responsible for receiving, maintenance, supplies, security, and accounting. Exhibit 1.4 presents a summary of the responses made by HR and Store Managers on how much importance they give to the various HR functions.

In some of the functions, both of them have given equal importance, which means that they will support and approve the HR department’s activities in these areas. Store Managers give more importance to areas such as compensation and training and development, while At Harrison Brothers, the HR department was not up to the mark in its performance. However, since McCain has joined she has taken measures to reorganize the HR department and upgrade its performance. Given the strategic objectives of Harrison Brothers, I believe they need to hire a more educated and trained workforce.

Rather than hiring salespeople in general which they can place in any category, they should hire salespeople who can perform well in specific areas, such as women's clothing, furniture, housewares, etc. This would make the sales force more focused and allow them to specialize in their own areas. Another thing that they should look to do is to centralize the HR department rather than having it in each branch. This would make the process of hiring, training, and evaluation more effective and would also result in economies of scale.