HRM Policies and Practices of Grocer Inc - Case Study Example

Case Study Analysis Name: Institutional Affiliation: Management: Instructor: Date: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY ANALYSIS Introduction One of the major contributing facets to the organizational success is the human resource management functions. Companies are imparting increased effort on the HRM practices and policies to acquire competitive edge. In the course of this case study, a number of HRM practices are tied to the retail operations of the Grocer Inc are explored. These practices include selection and recruitment, HR planning, performance appraisal, induction, staff development, training, compensation plan among others. This case study discussion has offered the opportunity to assess the HRM policies and practices of Grocer Inc and to establish the facts that are impediment for the effective HRM. The concluding sections of this paper offer some recommendations for the Grocer Inc. to acquire competitive edge via HRM policies and practices. Analysis Business objectives and goals are supported with effective HRM policies and practices, and it is for this reason why these practices are referred to as strategic because it can advance organizational performance through enhancing productivity, innovation and customer satisfaction (Gratton, 2009). Therefore, from selection and recruitment, to HR planning, compensation, performance appraisal, training all HRM practices should be viewed equally significant just like other components of the company such as financing and marketing.HRM has two facets; both as a business practice and academic theory, which tackles the practical and theoretical methods of managing employees. According to Schuler and Jackson (2007) its synonyms comprise industrial management, manpower management, personnel management and personnel administration. HRM means systems, practices and policies which affect or influence employees’ performance, attitudes, as well as behavior. It is an organizational unit which handles matters linked to people example, training, administration, organizational development, performance management, hiring, compensation, communication, employee benefits, wellness, and safety. Hence, according to this description, Human Resource Management has five core function and they include; 1) Managing Relations, 2) Promotions, 3) Management and Evaluation of performance, 4) Compensation and 5) Hiring. The functions of HRM entails a number of activities and core among them is determining the organizational staffing needs and whether to hire employees or deploy independent contractors to fill such needs , training and recruiting best staff, making sure that they effectively and efficiently perform, and making sure that the management and personnel practices abide by different regulations. In addition, the activities entail managing the approach of the organization to employee’s compensation and benefits, personnel policies and employee records. What are critical in the HR section are responsibilities and functions that not any other person is capable of handling or wants, ranging from new employee recruitment to orientation, drafting job descriptions to attendance tracking, from monitoring and instituting polices to handling employee benefits (Wright, Dunford, and Snell, 2007). This calls for generalist HRM to help executive management in developing a structure to minimize administrative costs. The key objective of HRM is to make sure that at any given moment the company is staffed correctly with the correct number of employees with the relevant expertise of the needs of the business. Hence, the HRM should unlock common sense, wisdom, experience and talent of several people within the organization through making the work fun, safer, rewarding, quicker and simpler. An Overview of Grocer Inc Grocer Inc runs its business in a multi-store grocery and has employed more than 10,000 people within its 700 branches across the United Kingdom. In one of its largest store, “The Store” seventy-one percent of employees are employed on part-time basis with more than half being female. The general manager supervises store operations, and is aided by 4 store managers including; 2-trading managers, 1 personnel manager, and 1 customer service manager. In the absence of GM, the store managers are in charge as a duty manager apart from working in their assigned departments, and these includes the personnel manager. There is no requirement of HR knowledge or experience to be recruited as a personnel manager whereas its functions are viewed to be no more specialist rather than all the other store management functions. All the 4-departments are divided in various sections, which are headed by the section managers. They function as line manager to employee within the sub-department and perform daily activities. The store managers have comparatively secure employment conditions besides a structured career paths as well as good reward package relative to the retail department. Conversely, the section managers are can join Grocer Inc as school leavers and get promoted to their roles with relatively low package. Major Themes While examining the HR practices within the Grocer Inc, there exits minimal written evidence, however there is some dedication to strategic-level Human Resource, since the HR director has full status of a director. The retail HR director reports to the HR director who is responsible for retail section activities. The retail HRM has outlined some of the HR shortcoming within the Grocer Inc comprising; Expanding productivity at the least cost to the company, however lessening job intensification for staff. Building a positive relationship with the reputable workers union Effectively balancing the ration of part-time and full time employee The retail HR director believes that enhanced employee stability by way effectively balancing the ration of part-time and full time employee would offer solution to the above challenges. So they plan to do this by increasing the number of full-time based workforce. The other HR policies intended to manage these shortcomings are through option schemes, attempts to advance employee communication, organizational customer training and development as well as a performance appraisal programs. Employee development is the acquisition behaviors, skills and knowledge that enhance the ability of employees to attain changes in client, job requirement and the demands of the customer (Fitz-enz, 2010). Grocer Inc has identified as a number of methods of employee development; nonetheless, this can be supported by other approaches such as transfer, job rotation, job enrichment, job enlargement, and formal education initiatives. The employees are accorded job promotions based on their performance having worked on the shop floor; this gives them no opportunity to have rotation, job enrichment, job enlargement among other. Employee training and development is delivered through customer service induction and training packages by the section manager. Grocer Inc Selection and Recruitment Process The section managers carry out formal selection and recruitment process, performance management, employee scheduling and on-the-job training. If there is a requirement of a new employee, the GM is handed in the vacancy request. Upon the approval of the vacancy request, the HR manager helps in the vacancy advertisement as well as the candidate short-listing based on the company standard application forms. During the selection process, the section managers emphasize on matching the job description which the specifications of the candidate detailed in the advertisement. In the interview session, the mangers examine the attributes of the candidate for instance, integrity, communication skills, keenness to details and punctuality. Probation and Induction of new recruits According to Armstrong and Baron (2003) induction is the process of assisting new employees to develop a transition into the new job environment, a new area or role of responsibility. This process should be a continuous that normally begins with the initial contact before accepting the offer and goes on through the arrival, the first few days on the employment and proceeds to the third month of taking the offer. Induction is important for all members of the company irrespective of the conditions or category of employment. In the case of Grocer Inc the new employees irrespective of the rank are encouraged to deploy a considerable time “on the floor”, and a day or two is spent with at the company’s head office acquainting themselves with the general operations of the organization. Even though there is a mentoring system that is championed by the HR director, the section managers do not implement it consistently. The new employees are assigned their respective mentors who would offer further advice and assist them in their duties within the first year; this is not a good decision because new employees should be allowed to choose their own mentors. Corporate strategies for competing Business environment is rapidly changing and this shift is characterized by ever-growing market-product competition and changing investor and customer demands (Pfeffer, 2005). In order to successfully compete within these setting companies constantly need to enhance their organizational performance through innovating processes and products, cutting costs, and improving speed, productivity and quality to the market (Lado and Wilson, 2009). In the case of Grocer Inc quality enhancement and cost reduction are the core competing strategies. They attain their cost cutting strategy, the company managers across all departments and sections are thoroughly monitored from the head-quarter in respect to targets and budgets. However, the HR responsibilities are not evaluated or scrutinized directly. And because of this it is hard to secure the commitment of section managers to HRM practices since there is a limited inducement for them to prioritize such functions, and only focus on attaining pre-set targets and quantifiable elements of their duties, while assuming the intangible functions for instance HRM. What is more disturbing is that the section managers are cognizant of the difficulties related to implementation of what appears to be a conflicting organizational strategy aimed toward cost minimization and quality enhancement. As a result these section managers apply their discretion and decide to manipulate or circumvent aspects of organizational policy that they purport limits their ability to attain their targets. In order to achieve economic constraints, Grocer Inc prefers part-time employment as opposed to full-time. This approached is attributed to the argument that full-time employment renders it hard to meet the targets and budgets from the head office since full time employment is expensive due to overtime costs while part-timers do not get as a result they end up recruiting part-timers since they are the once responsible for the selection and recruitment process. Again, this approach contravenes core HR policy, which strives to employ more full-time workers to offer quality customer service. The section manages routinely prompt a recruitment freeze so that they could cut cost. The delivery of Quality Customer service Customer representatives are a head office project established to offer promise of customer service, and resources are availed to support their employment (Wernerfelt, 2009). Nonetheless, the section managers perceive customer representatives employment as an extravagant affair in a time when they are busy trying to execute organizational competing strategies of quality enhancement and cost reduction. Recommendation and Conclusion I In the overall analysis of the case study of Grocer Inc, the company has identified core HRM polices areas that pose great challenge to the effective and successful business operations and they include; Expanding productivity at the least cost to the company, however lessening job intensification for staff. Building a positive relationship with the reputable workers union Effectively balancing the ration of part-time and full time employee Conclusion II In their effort to achieve their strategic competing goals, it is clear that their Section managers is the major hindrance to attaining their strategic goals, hence the paper proposes the following suggestions for HRM practices and policy adjustments to the company. Establish a more proactive selection and recruitment solutions for employees Establish relationships with the senior management by creating hiring strategies and staffing specialists focused on the priorities of recruitment Establish a central recruitment portal procedures for HR managers to utilize while recruiting for any jobs Support professional development initiatives to enhance job skills, leadership capabilities, and employee productivity Offer corporate consulting programs to all the store managers to stimulate improved individual and organizational performance Establish comprehensive mentoring programs, job enrichment plans and career management techniques to assist the workforce prepare for promotions or new opportunities Communicate to the store managers to significance of behavioral change in enhancing productivity References Pfeffer, J. (2005). Competitive Advantage through People: Unleashing The Power of Workforce, Harvard Business School, 54:64-76 Armstrong, M (2008). Strategic Human Resource Management: A Guide to Action, 4th Edition, Kogan Page, London. Porter, E. (2005). Competitive Advantage, Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, The Free Press. Wernerfelt, B. (2009). A Resource-based View of the Firm, Strategic Management Journal, Vol.5, p.172, pp.171-180. Lado, A., and Wilson, C. (2009). Human Resource Systems And Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Competency-Based Perspective, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 19:699-727. Fitz-enz, J (2010). The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance, American Management Association, 65:98-243. Armstrong, M., and Baron, A, (2003). Strategic HRM: The Key To Improved Business Performance, CIPD, London. Wright, M., Dunford, B., and Snell, A. (2007). Human Resources and Resource-Based View of The Firm, in: Randall S. Schuler, Susan E. Jackson. Strategic Human Resource Management, 2nd Edition, Blackwell, USA. Schuler, S., and Jackson, E. (2007). Strategic Human Resource Management, Blackwell Publishing, USA. Gratton, L. (2009). Strategic Human Resource Management, Oxford University Press, New York Read More