BUSINESS HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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Table of Contents
Introduction: .................................................................................................................................... 3

LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of resourcing an
organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfill business functions................................... 3

P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation. ............................................................................................................. 3

Significance: ................................................................................................................................... 3

Functions of Human Resource Management: ................................................................................. 4

P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection. .. 6

LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in an
organisation. .................................................................................................................................... 7

P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the employer
and employee. ................................................................................................................................. 7

Benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation: ......................................................... 8

P4: Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organizational
profit and productivity. ................................................................................................................... 9

LO3 Analyze internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management decision-
making, including employment legislation. .................................................................................. 11

P5 Analyze the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision

making........................................................................................................................................... 11

P6: Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision making. ........................................................................................................................... 12

LO4 Apply Human Resource Management practices in a work-related context. ........................ 13

P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific

examples. ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion: ................................................................................................................................... 15

Reference : .................................................................................................................................... 16

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Introduction:

Human Resource Management is the term used to describe formal systems devised for the
management of people within an organization. This management activity taken by the
commercial firms, state owned enterprises and other organizations to recruit retain and motivate
their employees. In other words HRM is the bundle of policies, programmes and plans which
organizations adopt with the objective of making full use of the people they employ. This
includes everything from the recruitment and selection technique, to the mass of rules that
determine how people are treated as current employees and all the way to policies on separation.
(Bratton and Gold 2017)

The following study would focus on the HR Management of the company, Unilever UK. This
company is leading in HR Management. The following study would consist of an overview of
the organisation, purpose, key roles and responsibilities of HR function, the approach to and
effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement and the key areas of employment
legislation within which an employee must work.

LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of
resourcing an organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfill business functions.

P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation.

Significance:

The first and important significance is concerned with managing people. It is concerned with
employee both as individual as well as group. It is also concerned with helping employee to

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develop their potential and developing the maximum satisfaction of employees. Its significance
is continuous in nature. (Chelladurai, and Kerwin, 2017)

The purpose of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to hire, train and develop staff and
where necessary to discipline or dismiss them. Employees at Unilever achieve promotion within
the company through effective training and development and reach their full potential. This
reduces the need of external recruitment and makes maximum use of existing talent. This is a
cost- effective way for a business to manage its people.

The role of HRM is not only manages its existing staff but it also plans for change that will affect
its future staffing needs. This is known as Workforce planning. For example:

 The business may grow into new markets, such as Enterprise moving into truck rental
 It may use new technology which requires new skill e.g. global positioning equipment
 Staff may retire or to be promoted, leaving gaps which need to be filled.

So HRM monitors all of these things in planning recruitment strategy. This places the
HRM function in a central role in the business because all managers use this expertise to
acquire staff.

Functions of Human Resource Management:

The following functions include:

 Staffing: Staffing function is related to employment of managerial as well as operative in

the organisation. Here at Unilever this function is performed by every manager like
managerial functions viz. planning, organizing, directing and controlling.
 Recruitment: Recruitment is the process of creating a common platform between the
employers and the prospective employees, so that both of them evaluate each other and
take a decision which is mutually beneficial.
 Selection: At Unilever selection process is very important as it helps in eliminating poor
performers.

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  Training and Development: Three factors which necessitate continuous training in an
organization are technological advances, organizational complexity and human relations.
 Maintenance: Maintenance is the last phase which puts all the activities into place which
further help retain productive employees.

Fig 1: Input process output of HRM functions

(Source: British journal)

Workforce planning:

It is a methodical process of analyzing the current workforce, determining future needs,

identifying gaps between the present and future, devising and implementing solutions, and
evaluating results. It also makes the human resource decisions which provide the right people,
right skills, right place, and right time.(Cascio, 2018)

Soft and Hard HRM:

Soft HRM emphasizes the importance of high commitment, learning and enlightened leadership.
Human resources are valuable assets not variable costs. Here models and theories focus on
tapping the human potential, based on organizational behaviors theories. Whereas Hard HRM
emphasizes the quantitative and strategic management aspects of managing the workforce in a
rational way as a key resource from which competitive advantage can be obtained.

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P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection.

Recruitment is the process of identifying that the organisation needs to employ someone up to
the point at which applications forms for the post have arrived at the organisation. Selection then
consists of the processes involved in choosing from applicants a suitable candidate to fill a post.
Recruiting individuals to fill particular posts within a business can be done either internally by
recruitment within the firm, or externally by recruiting people from outside. At Unilever it has
two format applications. One is a job description and other is the personal specification. For
Internal recruitment, it uses an Appraisal form. Unilever gives training to all new recruiters and it
also invests in its employees doing their BA honors in “retail and distribution”. And the
Selection process is “it allows the individual to demonstrate their strength which aligns with
Unilever”. (Brewster, 2017)

Internal Process:

The strengths of internal recruitment and selection are:

 Considerable savings can be made. Individuals with inside knowledge of how a business
operates will need shorter periods of training and time for ‘fitting in’.
 Internal Promotion acts as an incentive to all staff to work harder within the organisation.

The weakness of internal recruitment and selection are:

 You will have to replace the person who has been promoted.
 Promotion of one person in a company may upset someone else.

External Process:

The strength of external recruitment and selection are:

 External recruitment makes it possible to draw upon a wider range of talent.

 It provides the opportunity to bring new experience and ideas in to the business.

The weakness of external recruitment and selection are:

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  It is more costly in compare with internal process.
 It may end up with someone who proves to be less effective in practice than they did on
paper and interview selection.

Fig 2: The Recruitment Process

(Source: dynateam.in)

LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management in an
organisation.

P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and employee.

Understanding Employer – Employee Relations:

Good employees relation is to provide fair and consistent treatment to all employees and to foster
good employee relations, employers must listen to and understand what employees are saying
and experiencing. Employers need to support to staff employees and supervisors regarding
policies and procedures, work related issues, meditation and conflict resolution, Disciplinary
process and grievance process.(Supplant et al., 2015)

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 Fig: 3 Employer – Employee relations

(Source: Knowledge management research)

Benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation:

I have always believed that good Human Resource Management practice creates a lot of
difference in enhancing the productivity of the employees. Let us see how Human Resource
Management of Unilever is contributing in the current scenario:

 HRM helps in Hiring and Training the Workforce: Manpower planning is one of the
most important responsibilities of the HR department. HR managers devise hiring
strategies for bringing in the right kind of people in their organization.
 HRM takes care of performance management system: HR is responsible for keeping
people feel motivated for their work. This helps in alignment of the organizational
objectives with their own personal goals.
 HR helps in building culture and values in the organization: Performance of an
individual is dependent on the work atmosphere or culture that prevails in an
organization. A safe and clean work culture helps in bringing the best of an employee and
creates a higher job satisfaction.

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  HR is responsible for developing good relations: Establishing cordial relations lies
with the HR to a great extent. They are responsible for holding meeting, seminars and all
official gathering on behalf of the management.(Albrecht et al.,2015)

P4: Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organizational
profit and productivity.

The main principles of human Resource Management towards raising the organizational profit
and productivity contain different practices by the human resource manager of the specific
company. It solely depends on the company management along with the human resource unit o
manage and plan the ways and practices and how to make them effective.
One of the main way should be proper appraisal and performance of the employee. In Unilever
hr is considered as the core of the company. It helps in forming the business strategy of the
company. The core human resource management provides an wide array of goals to best use for
the future and fulfillment of the company. (Albrecht et al.,2015) a strong sense of community
where the individuals and their personalities are taken for development and provide them with
motivations. These include, work from home, virtual working conditions, etc.these help in higher
performance within the workforce. The flexible work force increases the effectively in Unilever.
The employees skills are a mainly sought after. Interest in the business is looked for in every
employee. Workforce with a digital mindset geographical mobility and ability to influence and
negotiate is what Unilever as a company looks in its workforce. As for example: Unilever has
incorporated The Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP).

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 Fig 4: Unilever future programme
(Source: Unilever.uk)

Within this leadership programme the company focuses on four major stages of development:
1. Digital on-demand interview
2. Profile assessment
3. Digital application
4. Selection Day
So, Unilever maintains that its employees and only they can bring in change into the business
and profitability. So employee driven programmes like different processes, capability building,
up skilling, employee relations, employee engagements are main steps that they take. Learning
from experienced managers and taking advises from trainee colleagues are all proving very
helpful. Effective performance management leads to proper understandings of an individual
employee and largely he total workforce. Proper information and documentation of the
organizational policies and visions would futher help in building a profitable workforce.
Employees would like a proper feedback of their compensation, feedback and incremental
developments.

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LO3 Analyze internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management
decision-making, including employment legislation.

P5 Analyze the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision

making.
The main objective of employee relation making for the HRM is many. First of all the
establishment of reliability between the employer and the employee. Reliability helps in ensuring
the decision making process consistently across the whole working period of the individual.
Reliability, selection devices and validity are the main landmarks for establishing the employee
relation.
Unilever, believes in building up a happy and easy going environment for work. For this they
allow a flexible working hour, working from home, visual digital role and digitalization of
processes. But there are various problems that may incur during implementation of the processes.
Employees may firstly take advantage of the flexibility and may hinder the smooth working
process of the organization. For that constant monitoring and and updating the bosses and the
upper line managers help in upholding their teams and hence they can be more accountable and
thus the company got a very positive return from the business. This way this particular project
according to the company have managed to achieve €500,000 savings though its not complete
yet. Good employee relation means that the employees are happy and content working in the
organization .despite all good relationships and programmes employee output is hampered due to
various reasons, employee grievances and employee indiscipline gives the organization HRM a
real pain in proper providing of output. The work stress plays a real problem and hindrances in
proper maintain of employee-employer relationship. Employee’s wrong expectations of goals,
performance, self respect, promotional opportunities and the type of job may bring downfall in
performances. Absenteeism from work, and wrong expectations lead to various indiscipline in
the organization. Employee stress may occur through failing to meet goals, career goals, lack of
self esteem and respect, lack of various promotional opportunities etc.
Above conditions have been seen to hinder organizational purpose and productivity. Unilever
has been able to reduce such hindrances through its various programmes. The most famous being
the UFLP.

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Such programmes are master minded only after facing above kind of problems and obstacles.
Building a good rapport by the HRM of the organization is the key to success.

P6: Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision making.

Over time the UK body of legislation has developed various laws and legislations for the
employers and the employees. Present citations are from the employment legislation of 2018.
 Auto enrolment pension contribution rates- The contribution grew to5% annually
automatically through enrolment. The employer should contribute atleast 2%.These
contributions are calculated according to the earning scales of the employees .In this case
both employee and the employer should contribute to the fund .If any increase in
percentage the employer should let the employee know.
 Gender pay gap reporting-it has been stated under the Equality Act 2010 regulations
2017,organizations with more than 250 employees should submit the ratio of male to
female. The organization should also provide information about the pay differences based
on gender, race and ethnicity.
 Taxation of termination payments-removal of all kind of distinctions between
contractual and non- contractual payments. Till £30,000,is exempted from income tax
The rules of income tax and employer NIC’s should be incorporated and aligned so that
employees get the employer NIC payments on payment above £30,000.

 General Data Protection Regulation-a new rule was implemented where the new rules
gives full right to his own data to the individuals, a right to be forgotten ,a right to know
that their data has been hacked.

The organizational HRM is largely guided and impacted through this legislations.
Employee satisfaction largely depends on policies which o the other hand depends on the
legislations. Several cases have proved that employment regulation has failed to provide
satisfaction and lead to grievances and disputes with the HRM of the company.

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Apart from this we should also take into consideration:

– Equal Pay Act 1970 – both sexes treated equally re: pay
– Sex Discrimination Act, 1974 – Not discriminate on grounds of sex or marital
status
– Race Relations Act, 1976 - Not discriminate in relation to colour, race, nationality
or ethnic origin
– Disability Discrimination Act, 1994 – not discriminate due to disability
– Equality Act 2010 now covers the majority of law governing discrimination.
– Working Time Regulations, 1998 – this sets a limit on the number of hours
worked per week
– Employment Act 1980 – employees aren't obliged to negotiate with unions
– Trade Union Act 1984
– Employment Act 1982, 1988, 1990
– Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act, 1993
– Minimum Wage Act, 1998
– Employment Relations Act, 2000

LO4 Apply Human Resource Management practices in a work-related context.

P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific

examples.

The HRM of the company have to look after various tasks like filing a job description for the
recruitment of an assistant HR personnel.

Job description:

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 – Recruiting employee and staffs for the organization
– Keeping a track of employee performance
– Employee orientation programming and managing
– Maintaining employee relations
– Developing proper channel of communication between employees, trade unions and
organizational managements
– Looking into health and safety of employees
– Keeping full record of employees

Selection of proper cv:

CURRICULUM VITAE

ELON BRITTANY

AGE:23 YEARS

QUALIFICATION:MSC.HRM- University of
London,2014

Work experience:

0 years

Profile

I am a 24 year old English lady. I just completed my

masters in Human resource Management from the London
University. I think I will be helpful for your organisation
as I am a quick learner.

SKILLS:

Proficient in ms office.

Proficient in English, Spanish and German.

INTERESTS
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A FLAIR FOR PLAYING PIANO.
Conclusion:

The above analysis provides a beneficial understanding of the human resource management of
Unilever. The company would be expanding and improving its HR level to a new extent. The
above discussion provides analysis of the major factors that are going to influence the HRM of
the company. HRM focuses on matching the needs of the business with the needs and
development of employees. Unilever depends on its people because their skills contribute to
achieving its business objectives.

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Reference :
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.

Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource
management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.

Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.

Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy.
In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.

Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated
approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.

Supanti, D., Butcher, K. and Fredline, L., 2015. Enhancing the employer-employee relationship
through corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(7), pp.1479-1498.

Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated
approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.

Bal, P.M., Kooij, D.T. and Rousseau, D.M., 2015. Introduction to aging workers and the
employee-employer relationship. In Aging workers and the employee-employer relationship (pp.
1-9). Springer, Cham.

Guest, D.E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(1), pp.22-38.

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