Managing Human resource
Harrods
Table of Contents
LO 1 Understand the different perspectives of human resource management 4
P1.1- Explain how the Guests model of HRM is adopted at Harrods. ..4
P1.2- Compare the differences between storey's definitions of HRM,
Personnel and IR practices, by reflecting the HRM practices at Harrods and
choose similar organizations which have adopted Personnel or IR
practices…………………………………….5
P1.3- Assess the implications for line managers and employees of developing
a strategic approach to HRM at Harrods 6
LO 2 Understand ways of developing flexibility within the workplace …..6
P2.1- Explain how a model of flexibility might be applied in practice.
Relate this to the Harrods and reflect your argument with examples ……7
P 2.2 – Discuss the types of flexibility which may be developed by the
Harrods. 8
P 2.3 – Argue by assessing the use of flexible working practices from both
the employee and the employer perspective of Harrods 9
P2.4 – Discuss the impact that changes in the labor market have had on
flexible working practices at Harrods 11
LO 3 Understand the impact of equal opportunities within the workplace
11
P3.1 – Explain the forms of discrimination that can take place with special
reference to Harrods 11
P3.2 – Discuss the practical implications of equal opportunities
legislation practiced in Harrods 12
P3.3 Compare the approaches adapted by Harrods to managing equal
opportunities and managing diversity 13
LO 4 Understand approaches to human resource practices for the chosen
organization 14
P.4.1 Research, Compare and comment on different methods of performance
management adopted by Harrods 15
P4.2 Research and assess the approaches to the practice of managing
employee welfare in Harrods. 16
P4.3 Discuss the implications of health and safety legislation on human
resources practices with special reference to Harrods. 16
P4.4 Evaluate the impact of one topical issue on human resources practices
reflected in the case study and additional research of
Harrods………………………………17
Conclusion 17
References 18
LO 1 Understand the different perspectives of human resource management
There are five different perspectives to human resource management which
are as under:
Normative approach: Normative approach base itself on Hard HRM and
soft HRM concepts through which HRM strategies are applied.
Critical approach: Critical approach to human resource management is
against the normative approach and contradicts the theory proposed in
normative approach.
Behavioural approach: Behavioural approach to human resource
management focuses on employee attitude and behaviour to suit
strategies so that desired performance can be attained (Merkle, 2007).
System approach: System approach to human resource management
advocates for competencies management, behaviour management and
setting up mechanism for technology.
Agency of transaction cost: Human resource department of the
organization need to adopt an approach which can minimize transaction
cost for the organization.
P1.1- Explain how the Guests model of HRM is adopted at Harrods.
Guest model of HRM followed at Harrods have six major parameters which are
given as below:
HRM strategy: HRM strategy adopted at Harrods is to make higher
employee engagement as this would ensure the organizational success.
Harrods have focus on enhancing employee engagement as organization
understands that an engaged employee can perform much better in
comparison to other employees.
HRM practice: HRM practice adopted at Harrods includes recruitment &
selection, performance and development. Aim of recruitment & selection
processes adopted at Harrods is to attract suitable new employees
while performance enables their employee to work in accordance with
the employee abilities and get desired results (Mayo, 2005). Employee
development is done through identification of career progression
opportunities for the employees at Harrods. HRM practices adopted at
Harrods should be such that career development can be done for the
employees.
HRM outcomes: Through HRM practices there are two vital results
which have been obtained by Harrods and these are commitment and
quality. Commitment and quality both are resultant of their HRM
strategy of higher employee engagement. Harrods needs to ensure high
organizational performance by understanding employees need and
maintain Harrods value.
Behaviour outcomes: There are four behavioural outcomes obtained by
Harrods by deploying best HR practices and these behavioural outcomes
include motivation among employees, cooperation, employee engagement
and organizational citizenship.
Performance outcomes: Through HRM practices and HRM strategy adopted
by Harrods organization is successful in obtaining key performance
outcomes such as higher productivity, quality and innovation.
Financial outcomes: Financial outcomes which have been gained by
Harrods through its active HRM policies include higher return on
investment made and higher profits.
P1.2- Compare the differences between storey's definitions of HRM,
Personnel and IR practices, by reflecting the HRM practices at Harrods and
choose similar organizations which have adopted Personnel or IR practices.
According to Storey's definition of HRM, personnel and IR practices there
is difference between these terms. Difference in the terminologies can be
identified based on the HRM practice followed at Harrods and there are two
aspects which can make the difference and these two aspects are belief &
assumption and strategic aspects. Personnel management and IR practices
tries to carefully delineation of written contract while Storey's
definition for human resource management followed at Harrods looks much
beyond written contracts. In terms of management action personnel and IR
follows procedure while HRM practices at Harrods manages business card
(O'Brien, 2009). In terms of behaviour personnel and IR follows customs &
practices while HRM followed at Harrods emphasizes on values & mission.
Following the managerial control process personnel management and IR
follows monitoring while HRM at Harrods makes nurturing as its guiding
principle. Nature of relationship followed in personnel management and IR
is pluralist in nature while HRM adopts unitarist approach. Dealing with
strategic aspects it has been observed that personnel and IR are labour
management while HRM is customer focused through active employee engagement
as adopted at Harrods. Another difference is in terms of initiative as
personnel & IR is piecemeal while HRM followed at Harrods is integrated in
nature.
P1.3- Assess the implications for line managers and employees of developing
a strategic approach to HRM at Harrods
Strategic approach to HRM adopted at Harrods demands for higher level of
employee engagement understanding the viewpoint that engaged employees in
the organization would be highly performing. Hence employees need to
perform as per Harrods expectations and also measures would be adopted by
the organization in order to achieve higher employee satisfaction. Line
managers would be solely responsible in order to develop the relationship
with the employees of the organization and higher engagement with employees
would be the prime responsibility of line managers as they are in direct
touch to the employees.
Line managers are responsible at Harrods in order to develop open
communication with the human resource of the organization and direct
functioning related with human resource is being directly handled by line
managers. Line managers at Harrods handle the role of selection &
recruitment, payroll management, assessing customer satisfaction and
adopting measure for enhancing employee motivation.
LO 2 Understand ways of developing flexibility within the workplace
In order to develop flexibility approach within the workplace it is
important to have thorough research and active communication process with
the employees of the organization. Communication practices with employees
would explore way out regarding HR practices that best suit the
organization.
P2.1- Explain how a model of flexibility might be applied in practice.
Relate this to the Harrods and reflect your argument with examples
One of the vital models for human resource management flexibility used at
workplace is the mixture model which can be applied to Harrods as given as
below:
"High functional flexibility "High functional flexibility "
"& "& "
"High numerical flexibility (HH) "Low numerical flexibility (HL) "
"Low functional flexibility "Low functional flexibility "
"& "& "
"High numerical flexibility (LH) "Low numerical flexibility (LL) "
Figure 1: Showing the mixture model of flexibility (Ling, 2012)
In the above proposed model LL and HH region represent the balanced models
whiles LH and HL regions represent the unbalanced model. There is
difference in role played by functional and numerical flexibility at
workplace. Difference in terms of employee's ability would make an overall
impact on the organizational performance. Firm would have best performance
under HH model followed by HL, LH & LL models.
For Harrods it is recommended that HH model of flexibility should be
employed in order to enhance the organizational performance. Functional
flexibility can be employed in Harrods by deploying employees between
various functions. For example an employee at cash counter can also work in
the customer support division at retail store. Similarly Harrods can hire
contract employee so as to handle rush during several occasion which would
foster numerical flexibility in the organization. Hence a mix of the two
flexibilities would help Harrods to ensure good performance.
Mixture model of functionality works according to the two main flexibility
aspects which are numerical flexibility and functional flexibility. An
organization need to develop employee skill set in various functions so as
to foster functional flexibility while numerical flexibility needs to be
foster in organization by hiring contract employees, part time employees
and full time employees in the organizational context.
P 2.2 – Discuss the types of flexibility which may be developed by the
Harrods.
There can be three types of flexibility that can be developed in Harrods
and can be given as under:
Functional flexibility: Functional flexibility is sought in
organizational environment in order to redeploy employee between
various functions & role smoothly. Functional flexibility would mean
to reduce occupation or job roles for the individuals. For example in
NHS nurses are offered the job roles which were initially reserved for
the medical staff (Jonathan, 2010).
Financial flexibility: Financial flexibility provided for the pay
levels of employee would enable demarcation in demand & supply for
employees in external labour market. For example in order to link cost
to output variable pay linked with performance of sales staff has been
spread over various departments of the organization. This would be
important to reduce linkage between price and output.
Numerical flexibility: Numerical flexibility of the organization can
be in terms of the number of employees working in the organization,
number of hours worked or number of locations at which employees are
working in the organization. In order to ensure numerical flexibility
several organizations hire employees on contract basis or through part
time jobs. Numerical flexibility of the organization depends upon the
nature of business done by the organization. For example, supermarkets
would be more interested to employ people on part time basis so as to
match shopping hours of the customers while hospital would be
interested to employ nurses on contract basis so as to meet peak
demand for the hospitals.
In context of Harrods flexibility at workplace has been implemented as
revealed through below points:
Offering work life choices for the employees which contains
preferred meeting schedule, paid employee volunteering and compressed
working schedule for one week
Defining reward structure which is in accordance with family such as
offering break during children school off
Work policies such as work from home and flexible timings as per
availability of time in organization
Special leave arrangement for parents, e.g. 22 weeks paid leave for
mothers, 10 day paid leave for father and 52 week unpaid leave for
mother to grow their child till age of six years
Unpaid life style or career break so that people can take long
breaks and can join again
P 2.3 – Argue by assessing the use of flexible working practices from both
the employee and the employer perspective of Harrods
Flexible working programs are arrangement where in employer would give levy
for the employees to select their working time with higher flexibility such
as flex time where in start and end time for the work are chosen by
employee while ensuring that employee give fixed number of hours as stated
by employer (Wright, 2011). Some of the common examples of flexible time
job arrangement include job sharing and telecommuting etc. For Harrods
example of flexible working practice can be given as under:
Offering work life choices for the employees which contains
preferred meeting schedule, paid employee volunteering and compressed
working schedule for one week
Special leave arrangement for parents, e.g. 22 weeks paid leave for
mothers, 10 day paid leave for father and 52 week unpaid leave for
mother to grow their child till age of six years
Unpaid life style or career break so that people can take long
breaks and can join again
Benefit & limitations for the employer
Benefits
For an employer such as Harrods below can be some of the possible
advantages for the flexible working practices:
Higher employee engagement & freedom involving higher performance
Emerging organization as an attractive employer to work with
Best possible tool for implementing employee retention as it has
become necessity for the organization to allow flexible work schedule
for the employee or taking risk for losing valuable human resource
To match the organization peak and valley of activities during which
requirement for the human resource would vary
Reduced absenteeism which organization attain through flexible
working schedule
Limitations
Some of the potential limitations for the flexible work schedule for
Harrods include below mentioned:
Businesses and their managers need to recognize that flexible work
schedule is not always applicable to all industries, people and
business needs
It becomes burden for the organization as by providing flexibility
to one employee there would be problem of work allotment to other
employees working in the organization or organization has to suffer
from work loss
In long run work schedule flexibility can create inequalities among
employees leading bad working environment in the organization (Conaty
and Ram, 2011)
Job flexibility creates problems for job success measurement and
require higher investment for establishing continuous communication
with its employees
Benefits & limitations for employees
Benefits
Employees working at Harrods can deploy below mentioned benefits through
flexible work schedule practice employed in the organization:
Work life balance
Additional income through part time or contract jobs
Help in enhancing productivity
Facilities such as work from home offers opportunities for
physically disables persons as well
Limitations
Some of the potential limitations for flexible schedule working for
employees of Harrods include below mentioned:
Create inequalities among peer group leading to unfavourable working
environment in the organization
Some of the forms of flexible work schedule such as contract or part
time are not considered as full time work experience for the employees
P2.4 – Discuss the impact that changes in the labour market have had on
flexible working practices at Harrods
A large number of organizations implement flexible working practices in
order to deploy benefits which are obtained through such practice. Flexible
working practices have favourable impact for both employees as well as
employer due to which trend for flexible working practice is ever
increasing. IOD member organizations have reported that flexible working
practice has noticeable impact on their bottom line and more than 81% of
the organizations have reported positive impact on the bottom line. Changes
in labour market would impact the flexible working practices at Harrods as
organization need to respond to demand & supply situations (Maier et al,
2013). In case of excess supply from labour market organization would try
to deploy flexible working practice so that cost for human resource can be
minimized. While in case of shortfall in demand for the workforce
organization may reduce number of contract or part time employees and try
to get higher number of fixed employees so that work loss can be minimized
through availability of the employees.
For Harrods changing labour market trends such as high employee churning
and shortage of skilled labour are the main issues. In order to handle
these issues Harrods needs to implement flexible work practice which would
help employees to work according to their suitable time hence employee
churn would reduce and higher availability of employees can be ensured.
LO 3 Understand the impact of equal opportunities within the workplace
Equal opportunities at workplace would allow an employee to engage it
better with the organization and a sense of equality would be obtained by
the employees working in the organization. Hence employees would be working
with better motivation in the organization for the equal opportunities
offered by the organization to its employees.
P3.1 – Explain the forms of discrimination that can take place with special
reference to Harrods
Considering context of Harrods below forms of discrimination can take
place:
Direct discrimination: Direct discrimination can be said when an
employee is favoured against other in the similar situations due to
the some factor which is not present in other employee of the
organization. Factor under consideration for such a differentiation
may include physical disability or economic status etc. For example
refusal to a person for hiring despite of required skill because of
physical disability (not hampering workplace performance) can be
considered as example for such discrimination adopted at workplace in
Harrods.
Indirect discrimination: Indirect discrimination at workplace for
Harrods can take several forms such as illegal hiring & firing, denial
for pay or promotion and on job harassment etc.
Some of the common factors which may lead to the direct or indirect
discrimination at workplace with the employees include age, gender,
religion, disability, marital status and citizenship. For example in case a
person is legally allowed to work in United States but denying a person for
job in United States is barred by law (Ingraham and David, 2002).
P3.2 – Discuss the practical implications of equal opportunities
legislation practiced in Harrods
Some of the key equal opportunities legislations being practiced in Harrods
include below mentioned:
Race relations act 1976
According to Race relations act 1976 it is unlawful to discriminate against
a person on racial grounds for any kind of services, goods or opportunity
for employment. There exist two type of discrimination i.e. direct and
indirect. Direct discrimination would be when a person is less favoured
against another person in same situation while indirect discrimination
involves application of a requirement which is equal for the people of same
race while having adverse impact on the people of other race. Racial
grounds on which discrimination is done include colour, race, nationality,
citizenship or ethnic factors. For example in Britain the most prevalent
form of discrimination is against the ethnic minorities. Section 71 states
that it is the prime duty for local authorities to ensure that unlawful
race discrimination is not prevailing in society and good race relations
are being promoted in society (Pohlmann and Linda, 2002).
Race relation amendment act 2000
Amendment act 2000 put forward idea for bringing government departments
such as police, immigration services and prisons in purview of racial
discrimination legislation. The aim of amendment act was to combat against
discrimination prevailing in institutions and give duty to the public
bodies to fight against racial discrimination. Public bodies were asked to
analyse reasons for absence of black people in senior position in their
organizations. With implementation of amendment act 2000 public bodies
started analysing their policies & procedure so that racial discrimination
can be avoided in any form from their organization.
Some of the duties which were allotted to public bodies in order to ensure
implementation of racial discrimination legislation include carrying out
impact assessment, conducting ethnic monitoring and issuing reports
pertaining to the received information (Mathis & Jackson, 2006). Harrods
has got benefit of equal opportunity regulations as it creates an
environment where employees feel encouraged and there is no direct or
indirect discrimination prevailing in the organizational environment.
P3.3 Compare the approaches adapted by Harrods to managing equal
opportunities and managing diversity
Harrods has adopted vital measures in order to promote equal opportunities
and managing diversity at workplace such as treating employees fairly
without any biases, creating environment that creates emphasis on value
system of the organization and encourage workplace diversity. Harrods
provides ample chances of career development to their employees so that
they can make a better career with the organization and can remain in the
organization for longer time period. Diversity is managed at Harrods
through seven elements which are age, disability, race, gender, religion,
sexual orientation, work life balance etc. Harrods does not promote any
discrimination at workplace related to age, sex, region, gender or
disability of the employees. Work life balance is maintained by providing
necessary breaks and offering chances to work as per their comfortable
timings.
LO 4 Understand approaches to human resource practices for the chosen
organization
Some of the major responsibilities for Harrods in organizational context
include below mentioned:
Impart training for the employees so that organizational
competitiveness can be maintained
Developing industrial policies & procedure of the organization in
accordance with the legislation
Establishing recruitment and firing processes within the
organization
Establishing active communication with trade unions
Assess employee performance and design reward structure which can
motivate employees
Establish career progression for the employees so that they can
remain with the organization for longer time period
Enhance employee engagement so as to get better performance
P.4.1 Research, Compare and comment on different methods of performance
management adopted by Harrods
Harrods management has adopted several methods in order to evaluate
performances which are as under:
Performance appraisal 360 degree: In this method of performance
appraisal performance of a person is evaluated through confidential
form filled by people working around them. Stakeholders involves in
360 degree feedback involve superior, subordinate, peer group and
people working in other departments as well. Harrods while making
assessment for the employees would take feedback from the various
employees, supervisors and from the cross functional team so that
proper assessment can be done for a person.
Employee engagement: Another method of employee performance can be
to measure employee engagement level as an engaged employee would
perform better and would be satisfied as compared to an employee who
is not engaged. An engaged employee is supposed to perform much better
in comparison to an engaged employee. Hence employee engagement should
be enhanced for Harrods which would be done through active
communication with the employees of the organization and involving
into various HR activities of the organization.
P4.2 Research and assess the approaches to the practice of managing
employee welfare in Harrods.
Every organization includes employee welfare in their human resource
policies and Harrods in pioneer among their policy regarding employee
welfare scheme. Some of the major adopted by Harrods for employee welfare
are as under:
Friend-family policy: Employees are given additional leaves
annually so as to spend their time with friends and family.
Additional leaves are being paid at lower salary in comparison to
normal salary range of an employee.
Flexible timings: Employees are being given autonomy to choose
their start and end hours for working making total hours at job fix.
Assistance program for employees: Harrods make career progression
planning for their employees and assist them in developing a bright
career for their employees.
Bullying and harassment policy: Harrods have developed suitable
policies in order to avoid any incident of bullying and harassment
with their employees so that employees can work freely in
organization.
Lifestyle and career breaks: Employees working at Harrods are being
given career and lifestyle breaks so that they can take out time from
regular schedule and can relax.
P4.3 Discuss the implications of health and safety legislation on human
resources practices with special reference to Harrods.
Considering health and safety legislation in human resource policy at
Harrods there are two important acts which are management of health and
safety at workplace act 1999 and Health and safety at work act 1974. These
two acts are important in order to ensure that employees and other
stakeholders involved in organization related to work do not get affected
adversely. In addition to above mention two acts for the health safety of
employee other health legislation covering specific activities also
pertains in organizational context e.g. computer work & electricity and
lifting & carrying activities (Samuel & Herbert, 2005). Considering Harrods
context lifting and carrying activities may have health & safety impact for
the employees working in the organization and other people at workplace.
Lifting and carrying activities are generally being done in supermarkets so
as to shift goods from one place to other (Sherwin, 2007).
P4.4 Evaluate the impact of one topical issue on human resources practices
reflected in the case study and additional research of Harrods.
The key issue identified in present context is high employee turnover and
enhancing organizational performance with help of higher employee
engagement. Looking into the current labour market scenario employee
turnover is a major issue especially into retail domain. Harrods has the
strategy so as to improve employee engagement level with the organizational
activities and providing flexible work practice so that long term
commitment with the organization can be ensured and organizational
performance can be enhanced.
Harrods needs to deal with the human resource issues identified in above
context wherein high employee turnover can be improved through enhancing
employee morale and giving reward and recognition in the organizational
context. Employee engagement would be beneficial but other methods of
reducing employee turnover should be implemented in the organizational
context.
Conclusion
The aim of present task was to understand various human resource management
perspectives followed at Harrods. Through present task human resource
perspectives have been understood, importance of flexibility at workplace
was examined in order to evaluate benefits & limitations for the
flexibility policy to the organization. Further organizational equality in
terms of providing opportunities for the employees was examined along with
its impact on the organizational performance by enhancing employee
motivation. Human resource practices adopted at Harrods were evaluated in
order to understand essential element of Human resource practice which
helps an organization to maintain its most important asset which are the
employees of the organization. Overall present task has helped to examine
role of human resource and its related legislations such as equal
opportunities, employee welfare and best practices in human resource
management towards development of an organizational environment which is
supported for both organization as well as its employees.
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