Purpose and the Scope of Human Resource Management

Contents

Purpose and function of HRM

The different approaches to recruitment and selection

Benefits of different HRM practices within organisation

How effective is HRM practices in raising organisational profit and productivity

Analysis of the importance of employee relations.

Key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has on HRM decision-making

Government Acts

Application of HRM practices in work related context

Conclusion

References

Introduction

In this report I will explore the purpose and the scope of human resource management. This will be in terms of how an organisation resources with the appropriate talent and skills in order to fulfil business objectives and aims.

Purpose and function of HRM

Within HRM there are two main sectors, this is recruitment and selection of employees this involves employee’s education, training and development within the organisation. This is done in order to progress in the future as an organisation depends on these functions.

Recruitment within HRM is one sector that is significant as this is what builds up the company’s production. For example, JD have goals and requirements that are required to meet the expected time frame in order to add value and stay afloat in the market. Recruitment Is a strategic and essential process for any organisation, this means that companies must find employees that possess the values and skills required to accomplish the organisations aims and goals. There are many ways for an organisation to implement its recruitment as some companies use more than one way to recruit. These may be ways such as advertising, vacancies online, newspaper, job centres and institutions locally and internationally. When selecting employees there are various activities that may be carried out by HRM. The department will send out advertisement online, newspaper and job centres with specific requirements to fill the job vacancies for various departments. This then leads to HR management to review the resumes and select only the most appropriate person who fits in the specific requirements. Interviews are also conducted which helps both company and management to decide who fits into the job.

Selection: when selecting an employee, the HRM team take on many activities. The HRM team sends out advertisement in many ways like online, newspapers, job centres and many other online job sites. There are specific requirements for the vacancy that is for the department. After HRM team reviews the candidate’s CV they then select the most certified candidate for the vacancy, then an interview is held to seek out which applicant fits the organisation the best.

Training:  The HRM team are also responsible for managing and training for new and current working employees that need to improve their knowledge and skills for the organisation to improve. This is because technology is always upgrading to higher standards. Having trained and skilled staff will always help the organisation to keep their standards higher than their competitors.
 

Within HRM there are sources of functions that include internal advantages and disadvantages for recruitment. Internal advantages such as increasing the chances of finding the right person for the job and providing the person with a renewed opinion on an industry which will be necessary to remain competitive within the market. An advantage will also be that it will promote loyalty as well as having no error within the selection. This will lead to better assessment ability as the HRM team will have full knowledge and know the persons expectations. On the other hand, they also have internal disadvantages such as outsiders will be less encouraged to join the team, this may be a concern within the department. Qualified people that may have responded to the job application may not be longer available which may mean they are not flexible, and this may lead to possible morale problems within the company. 

The different approaches to recruitment and selection

Strengths and weaknesses

Within recruitment there are approaches to complete aims and objectives in order to attract many employees. Recruitment within a company is a simple process and straight forward to do this is as applicants need to submit their application through to the company that they are applying for.

There is a widespread of job boards that unemployed and employed people may look at, for example indeed.com etc. This is useful for an organisation as this is how they would find their specific applicants that may be interested in the job. Many organisations whether it is large or small have a ‘vacancy’ section on their provided website this will then automatically take you to a job board. For example, JD go through job boards to advertise that they have a space in their company with the specific location and job details.

There are weaknesses within this which may be that a large amount of applications may apply who are not appropriate, this may be because the applicant had not read the requirements or have not taken time to decide whether they have the skills in order to apply. Badly designed websites or faulty websites may turn back applicants from applying and may damage your brand and reputation.

Strengths such as being cost-effective will help the company as it does not cost a lot for the company to advertise online. This will also speed up recruitment within the organisation as this will be posted for public to see through technology which also plays a role in helping the company as well as finding candidates quickly enough for the organisation.

Benefits of different HRM practices within organisation.
Employer and employee

Human resource managers protect the interest of both employees and employers. For employees they manage and identify ways to cut labour cost and protect employee rights this is as employers insure operate within the scope of employment and the labour regulations. This is as they have many responsibilities within an organisation that they must follow and respect.

Business owners reward and motivate their employees by their performance and behaviour. Smart reward systems help to give employees positive feedback and motivate them to always perform well within the organisation. Human resource managers also have an important responsibility which is to help workers with their training and development this is how the functions within their department meet their objectives and structure. They organize and deliver the appropriate training method to introduce the desired training material based on there employees needs which is also to support all employees who work for them. HR resources also use training to let employees gain additional experience and skills in order to meet objectives and create a secure structure for both the working team and organisation.

A function such as the work environment make sure that the work place is in good condition in order to get the best out of the employees. This means creating a positive and physical work environment. This should include respect, safety and fairness as the main concern within the organisation this will link to how the organisation meets its objectives as all workers will gain respect and improve the work structure to its required needs. A government report 2014 (Managing the Work Environment,2017) shows that employees wellbeing effect positively on their workplace performance. This means that when an employee gets trusted and respected from the value of effort and performance, they tend to be more loyal to their manager and the company itself. This shows that the quality shown within a work environment this puts a good effect on employees in order to enhance employee engagement. This also helps as a function to how its linked to an organisation as keeping employee’s happy means that they will be motivated to meet company objectives.

How effective is HRM practices in raising organisational profit and productivity

HRM practices are effective whilst raising organisational profit and productivity as each organisation uses different ways in order to improve both profit and productivity. This may be through innovation and high performing employees as this improves productivity by having an innovative environment which will motivate their employees as it will help the company increase both profit and productivity. (Delaney et al,1889)

Leaders and managers both play an important role in setting the required direction, purpose, goals and objectives within the company. This is as HRM practices recruit the correct people who have the specific requirements in order to work within an organisation. They lead the company in order to raise profit and productivity.

Within an organisation effect rewards are used in order to treat staff as this will drive performance and is a monetary reward which are related to the performance of employees.  They will have goals and objectives that should be met by employees. If rewards are there for employees, then they will be more interested in completing tasks within the workplace and reaching their goal which improves productivity; this would make the employee satisfied as well as customers.

Strategies such as updating employee skills is useful within HRM as this will lead to success for both profit and productivity within the organisation. This means that the manager within the company should always focus on the employees and recognise the weaknesses and strengths of all employees. They should identify employees with less skills and try to help develop them by setting goals. This is how productivity within the workplace will increase.

Analysis of the importance of employee relations.

How it influences HRM decision making.

Strong employee relations are required in every organisation for high productivity and employee satisfaction. Employee relations help deal with avoiding and resolving issues that concern themselves or others working with them. Good employee relation lead to more efficient, motivated, and productive employees which will also lead to higher sales in the long run.
 

The importance of employee relations influences HRM decision making as their representation will rise whilst also having negotiation skills to employment terms and conditions. This means mutual co-operation between management and staff. This can lead onto shared learning and continuous improvement. Within an organisation it is compulsory to recognise and negotiate with their specific trade union if the company decide to make any changes to pay, hours or holidays.

Key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has on HRM decision-making.

Employment legislations are an important role within and organisation this is as they play a part of how the workplace should be treated and everyone should be treated in the same manner. The legislations should be complied by any business in terms of decision making of HRM as it may totally change any decision or plan set by the HR department.

Government Acts

Employment relations act 2004

An act regarding the law which is related to the recognition of trade unions and industrial actions. (Employment Relations Act 2004)

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 protects characteristics within an organisation or company such as; age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. (Equality Act 2010)

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

This is an act to protect all works as health, safety and welfare of each person in the company.  To protect others from health and safety risks with the activities of the people at work.  (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974)

National Minimum Wage Act 1998

Workers In all companies and organisation should be paid at least the minimum wage. (National Minimum Wage Act 1998)

Data Protection Act 1998

This is an act to make a new facility for the regulation of personal information relating to individuals, obtaining, holding or the use of information. (Data Protection Act 1998)

All acts should be included within every organisation for the employer, leader or manager to decide effectively on decision making. Employment legislation affects the decision-making process in HRM in many ways. Areas of decision making that is affected includes retention to labour relations, employee criminal record checks and the mileage reimbursement requirements for workers.

Application of HRM practices in work related context.

HRM within an organisation have a purpose of attaining work as well to stay connected to the whole world. This will have an impact on the recruitment of how employers from different organisations carry out different tasks in order to find people and ways that are right for the job. For example, Asda uses online recruitment system and then the HR team shortlist candidates that they think fit to the job. (Effective recruitment and selection An Asda case study,2018)

HRM practices such as online recruitment has a process that is divided into phases such as Asda HR team may start off by using a job analysis followed by job advertising. This would then lead onto pre-selection of candidates which they would then send out a letter or email to advise the candidate about the interview including what date and time. Which would then lead on to the actual interview.

The HR team within any organisation would then have to follow each legislation in order to create a productive team and to not break any laws that the company must undertake. Whilst employing someone they would have to make sure to show them all legislations and rules of the company for example ‘Health and Safety Act 1974’ for the employee to be safe whilst working.

This would also apply to JD Sports organisation as they also do online recruiting. This is as candidates are required to apply via submission of a covering letter as well as their own CV. JD sports have an assessment day which the candidate may have to do some tests and would be given advice after they have finished. (JD Sports Recruitment Process, No date). HRM team within this company would also have to follow employment legislations as this is what will make the HR team productive and successful.

Conclusion

Within this report both purpose and functions of HRM have been stated whilst also been applicable to a workforce plan and how an organisation is. Strengths and weaknesses have been shown in order to identify the different approaches to recruitment and selection which has shown that there are many ways for a company to recruit whilst also having difficulties in how to select the right candidate. Benefits within different HRM practices have been shown in both employer and employee positions this indicates how both positions play a role within HRM practices in order for the company to be successful. Profit and productivity have been explained in a way of how HRM practices help raise these parts of a company. This showed that it played a role as when productivity was high within a company the profit would go higher as well. Key elements were stated in employment legislation whilst also stating main Acts for a company to follow. Finally, an illustration has been shown in how HRM practices in an both Asda and JD Sports use online recruitment and how they choose their candidates.

References

• Delaney, J.T. and Huselid, M.A., (1996). The impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. Academy of Management journal, 39(4), PP.949-969
• Employment Relations Act 2004, c.24. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/24/introduction (Accessed: 22^nd November 2018)
• Equality Act 2010, c.15. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/part/2/chapter/1 (Accessed: 22^nd November 2018)
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, c.37. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37 (Accessed: 22^nd November 2018)
• National Minimum Wage Act 1998, c.39, Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/39/section/1 (Accessed: 22^nd November 2018)
• Data Protection Act 1998, c.29, Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/introduction (Accessed: 22^nd November 2018)
• Effective recruitment and selection An Asda case study (2018) Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/asda/effective-recruitment-and-selection/selection.html (Accessed: 22^nd November 2018)
• JD Sports Recruitment Process (No date) Available at: https://ughandbook.portals.mbs.ac.uk/Portals/0/JD%20Sport%20Recruitment%20Process.pdf (Accessed date: 22^nd November 2018)