P1: Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and

resourcing an organization

The role of human resource management is to plan, develop, and administer policies and

programs designed to make expeditious use of an organization’s human resources. It is that part

of management which is concerned with the people at work and with their relationship within an

enterprise.

The major functional areas of human resource management are:

Planning: In the human resource planning function, the number and type of employees needed

to accomplish organizational goals are determined. Research is an important part of this function

because planning requires the collection and analysis of information in order to forecast human

resources supplies and to predict future human resources needs. The basic human resource

planning strategy is staffing and employee development.

Job analysis is the process of describing the nature of a job and specifying the human

requirements, such as skills, and experience needed to perform it. The end product of the job

analysis process is the job description. A job description spells out work duties and activities of

employees. Job descriptions are a vital source of information to employees, managers, and

personnel people because job content has a great influence on personnel programmes and

practices.

Staffing: Staffing emphasizes the recruitment and selection of the human resources for an

organization. Human resources planning and recruiting precede the actual selection of people for

positions in an organization. Recruiting is the personnel function that attracts qualified applicants

to fill job vacancies. In the selection function, the most qualified applicants are selected for

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hiring from among those attracted to the organization by the recruiting function. On selection,

human resource functionaries are involved in developing and administering methods that enable

managers to decide which applicants to select and which to reject for the given jobs

Orientation is the first step toward helping a new employee adjust himself to the new job and the

employer. It is a method to acquaint new employees with particular aspects of their new job,

including pay and benefit programmes, working hours, and company rules and expectations.

Training and Development: The training and development function gives employees the skills

and knowledge to perform their jobs effectively. In addition to providing training for new or

inexperienced employees, organizations often provide training programmes for experienced

employees whose jobs are undergoing change. Large organizations often have development

programmes which prepare employees for higher level responsibilities within the organization.

Training and development programmes provide useful means of assuring that employees are

capable of performing their jobs at acceptable levels.

Performance Appraisal: Performance appraisal function monitors employee performance to

ensure that it is at acceptable levels. Human resource professionals are usually responsible for

developing and administering performance appraisal systems, although the actual appraisal of

employee performance is the responsibility of supervisors and managers. Besides providing a

basis for pay, promotion, and disciplinary action, performance appraisal information is essential

for employee development since knowledge of results (feedback) is necessary to motivate and

guide performance improvements.

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

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Effective recruiting and selecting of job candidates is just as much a science as an art.

Companies can approach recruiting with a reactive or proactive attitude, responding quickly to

new job vacancies as they arise or taking the time to build a pool of qualified candidates before

new positions open up. Small businesses face additional challenges in building a high-

performance team, as well. Savvy companies understand that putting a systematic plan in place

to find the best candidates for open positions is virtually always more desirable than hiring

reactively at the last minute.

Job Descriptions

A systematic hiring policy begins with thorough and accurate job descriptions. Job descriptions

should include detailed information on all aspects of a job, including pay ranges, job tasks,

reporting requirements and supervisory responsibilities. Job descriptions help job candidates to

more accurately gauge their interest in different positions, and can provide insight into which

applicants would be most satisfied and fully utilized in specific job roles. Job descriptions are

just as important in small businesses as in larger companies, but creating job descriptions can be

a challenge in the startup phase. Employees of a new startup often find themselves taking on a

range of responsibilities outside of their normal job descriptions; make sure you note this in all

initial job descriptions

Skills Inventory

To find the ideal candidates for specific jobs, first, compile a comprehensive list representing the

ideal set of skills for an employee in each job. In addition to the list of minimum requirements

listed in job descriptions, having a list of ideal candidate traits on hand can help you to weed

through a large pool of applicants and find the ones most likely to succeed in specific jobs. For

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example, you may list a bachelor's degree as a requirement for a specific job, but you might

prefer to hire someone with a master's degree.

Job Posting Strategy

Developing a strategy for posting job openings is part of a systematic recruitment and selection

process. With your list of ideal skills in hand, favor job posting outlets that are most likely to

produce the type of candidate you are seeking. If you are seeking to fill a management position

requiring a bachelor's degree, for example, consider posting the job through university job

placement offices throughout your state. If you are seeking to fill an entry-level position, favor

outlets frequented by a wider range of potential applicants.

Multi-Step Recruitment

A systematic interview process can provide deeper insight into interested job candidates who

meet the desired skills profile for a specific job. Savvy recruiters break interviews up into several

stages, relying on collaboration from several current employees to make a final decision.

Conducting a multi-step interview becomes more challenging for small businesses which do may

not have human resources managers and direct supervising managers to collaborate. Consider

beginning with brief telephone interviews as a first contact, then inviting candidates for in-person

interviews. Breaking the interviews into two steps can save you time by only conducting face-to-

face interviews with the most promising candidates.

P3: Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organization for both the employer
and employee

Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function

with the strategic goals of a business in order to improve and drive performance. In simple terms,

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human resource management involves recruiting, hiring and managing employees. However, a

successful human resource system requires many more pieces of the organization, involving

organizational culture and administering health and safety. With an understanding of these

elements of an HR management system, business owners and managers can effectively structure

their business processes.

Organisational Culture

Organisational culture is the assembly of values, working rules, company vision, traditions and

beliefs that a company has adopted over the years. The HR management system plays a vital part

in influencing the organizational culture within a business. Establishing guidelines, procedures,

and company standards let employees know and learn the behaviors that are acceptable in the

workplace. For example, a policy may state that punctuality is important within the company,

which promotes improved time management skills among employees, or the HR team may adopt

a more flexible time management policy that values employees’ freedom to manage their own

schedules – also referred to as ‘flexi-time’. Therefore, the organizational culture affects the way

people do their work and cooperate with one another and with customers.

Planning for Change

The business world changes rapidly. Technology is changing and being updated constantly,

employees come and go, and the finances of the business vary from time to time. It is the

responsibility of the HR team to help stabilize the company for ongoing change and this cannot

be ignored. Planning for change means helping employees understand their roles taking into

account the larger picture of the company. It involves building bridges between departments and

managers and getting people to talk about “what-if” circumstances. HR uses this information and

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develops a management plan for disasters, for changes in workflow and for reassuring employees

in times of disaster or alarming change.

Training and Development

Nearly all employees, including ones that are highly qualified and skilled, require training at

some stage due to the fact that each organization does things differently to others. Policies and

procedures need to be firmly conveyed to all staff as part of their on-boarding process – therefore

having everyone on the same wavelength. The HR management system is also in charge of

ongoing employee development. This continuing education keeps employees’ skills up to date so

they bring original and modern ideas to the company.

Health and Safety

The HR management system plays a key role in ensuring health and safety in the workplace.

This can be achieved through policies and procedures, but the HR function may go a step further

to make sure employees understand the risks of certain activities. For example, if there is heavy

machinery in the office, HR can post warning signs and posters listing the steps to take in case of

an emergency. This minimizes the possibility that an accident will occur and helps to eliminate

any subsequent legal action that might be taken against the company.

Recruitment and Retention

While recruitment and retention may seem like a given for HR management systems, it is the

main hub for all HR’s policies and systems. Obtaining qualified workers, keeping them involved

within the company, training them correctly to successfully complete their jobs and encouraging

them to undergo further education, upskill, awarding them with benefits and compensation are

all drivers to organizational success and should be continually on the minds of HR managers.

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Developing and implementing the right Human Resource Management System for your business

is important. While it is possible to take care of these functions manually, an automated system

ensures there is plenty of time available for the human resources staff to develop and maintain

the data that goes into those systems. Remember, a Human Resource Management System is not

“one size fits all”, each company is different so find the right system that works best for you.

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

HRM has been effective for Indian Airlines in terms of raising organizational profit and

productivity. Since the implementation of HRM in the company, it has achieved huge profit and

productivity from the following perspective:

Innovative and high performing employees

The companies HRM promotes the innovative environment and motivate their employees for

better facilities and of course, all of these initiatives help the company to increase the

productivity as well as the profit (Delaney et al., 1996).

Effective direction setting and execution

Leaders and managers play an important role in setting the direction, purpose, priorities, goals,

and roles of the workforce. HRM helps Indian Airline to recruit the appropriate managers for the

right place. They lead the company to the superior place with profit and productivity.

Team and individual goals with effective communication

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Indian Airline HRM helps to set and attain both the individual and the team goal as also to

achieve them. As the communication mode has been changed a lot over the last periods, the

HRM provides the employees with the effective mode of communication.

Effective rewards drive performance

When monetary rewards are tied directly to performance and with each particular goals,

employees reinforce them with the tasks more seriously. That’s what happened to Indian Airline

after implementing the HRM to the companies controlling process

Sharing and collaboration

Productivity and profitability of Indian Airline improve magically when others from the outside

the company freely collaborate and willingly share the best ideas and collaboration tools. It is

HRM which helps the company to develop formal methods to increase the way of the

collaboration and sharing process.

Non-monetary factors to improve employees

Indian Airline managers, leaders, and team workers provide nonmonetary factors that increase

employee excitement, energy, motivation, and loyalty (Terpstra et al., 1993). These factors

include praise, recognition, exposure, challenge, feedback, and learning opportunities. It is the

company’s HR that ensure managers know how to effectively utilize these nonmonetary factors.

Updating employees’ skills to maintain productivity

As today’s world is full of competition. So in order to cope with the global competition, Indian

Airline has created a massive pace of change which means that current skill sets must be

continually updated. It is the company’s manager’s job to identify employees with less optimal

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skills. So it can be clearly understood that different practices of HRM play important role in

raising Indian Airline profit and productivity over the competitors.

P5: Analyse the importance of employee relations with respect to influencing HRM decision-
making.

Every person at Indian Airline shares a particular relationship with his/her fellow workers. They

have to do it because they are human not a machine which can start working by pressing the

particular switch. They need to talk and discuss with others in the perspective of decision

making. An interactive workplace can motivate the employees which can’t be measured in

monetary values (Roehling et al., 1998). It is essential that people are comfortable with each

other and work together as a single unit towards a common goal. So some of the importance of

employee relations are like as the followings:

Work is easy if it is shared among all workers

In Indian Airline the healthy relations among the workers eases the workload on any particular

person and in turn, increases the chances of productivity. As it is impossible for one to do

everything on his own, works must be divided among the members of the team to accomplish the

desired tasks within the assigned time. If the workers have good relations with their team

members, they will have the ability to assist them to make the task easy.

Discouraging conflict among workers

Good relations among the workers at Indian Airline reduces the chance of conflict and fight

among the workers. They trust each other in assisting in the performance to fulfill the goals and

objectives. They consider their fellow workers as their colleagues, not as the competitors to their

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places. As a result productivity increases which helps the HRM to take better decision for the

company.

Loyalty to the employee

The Pleasant and interactive work environment in the Indian Airline helps to create the loyal

employees. They feel motivated to perform the tasks assigned to them by the company more

willingly. They provide with more efforts which leads to greater productivity and return to the

company (Tzafrir et al., 2004). Moreover, the rate of employee turnover is very few in the

company which helps to reduce the cost of recruiting new employees very soon.

Ensuring equality by communicating effectively

An effective communication system in Indian Airline helps to ensure the employees that there is

no discrimination across the company in any perspective. As a result, they feel more motivated

to perform their tasks to attain their desired goals set by company’s management. Proper

communication system helps the company’s HRM to take the proper decision in time.

So good employee relations help Indian Airline HRM in the perspective of decision making.

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

Like other reputed companies, Indian Airline is also maintaining the employment legislation

while recruiting the new employees as well as for the running employees in the company that has

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some critical impact on the HRM decision making for the company. So the major elements of

employment legislation are the followings

Defining positions

At the time of the recruitment process, the company has to define the employees their positions

in the company. It also describes what will be their rights and responsibilities in the company

with respect to HRM decision making.

Proper compensation

The company must define their compensation for the employees at the time of recruitment. It

must ensure their employees about their minimum wages and length of their work hours (Morgan

et al., 2003). After the proper agreement on everything, the company identifies and select their

desired employees.

Ensuring equality

The company must ensure the equality in every perspective while appointing the employees.

There will be equality in wages, sex, working hours, health facilities and also in other

perspectives. If there is any discrimination in any criteria the employees can ask for legislative

help to fulfill their demand. HRM of the company can influence the employees positively if they

can ensure equality in all perspective.

Time of work

Employees should be aware of their time to the company which means the daily or weekly

working hours to perform the tasks. They may perform the overtime duties but they have to get

the proper compensation for the overtime. The company should allow them the proper leave and

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leave on any particular occasion (Leana et al., 1999). This time distribution to the company helps

the HRM to take better decisions.

So these legal actions must be ensured by Indian Airline while recruiting the employees as they

have contributed to the company which has the positive impact on HRM decision making for the

success of the company.

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

Job description for a team leader in Indian airlines may be like as the following
Job Title: Team Leader
Job Purpose: Manages and leads a team of employees in Indian Airlines. Communicating the
company’s goals, objectives, policies, and practices and procedures to the team. Motivating the
members of the team to improve the performance. Helping the company’s HRM to hire, train
and improve the employees to keep the team updated on performance. Linking between the
management and team members in assessing the performance.
Job Duties:
 Helping the managers and be the manager while the manager is absent.
 Keep the detailed records of management tasks.
 Help management hiring and training the new employees.
 Communicate with management and team members.
 Identify strategies to promote team member for achieving goals.
 Conduct team meetings for obtaining the overall performance.
 Supply quality customer services.
 Generates and shares the performance report to answer the questions of the
team members.
 Solve the problems of the fellowmen.

Skills and Qualifications:

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  Self-motivating.
 Attractive personality.

Person specification for a team leader in Indian airlines may be like as the following
Knowledge of
 An understanding of the companies’ principles and practices
including HRM and legislative perspective.
 An insight to work within the group.
 An understanding of the companies’ current and desired level of
performance.

Experience
 Experience of working with people of the relative group.
 Experience in hiring and training people.
 Experience in managing companies HR policies.
Academic requirements
 A recognized and relevant qualification on this type of perspective
with bright academic qualification.
 Degree in training and managing employees will be preferable.

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Belbin, R.M. (2012). Team roles at work. Routledge.

Christensen Hughes, J., and Rog, E. (2008). Talent management: A strategy for improving

employee recruitment, retention, and engagement within hospitality organizations.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20(7), pp.743-757.

Clark, K.B., and Wheelwright, S.C. (1992). Organizing and leading" heavyweight" development

teams. California management review, 34(3), pp.9-28.

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.

Edgar, F. and Geare, A. (2005). HRM practice and employee attitudes: different measures-

different results. Personnel review, 34(5), pp.534-549.

Kurz, R. and Bartram, D. (2002). Competency and individual performance: Modelling the world

of work. Organizational effectiveness: The role of psychology, pp.227-255.

Leana, C.R., and Van Buren, H.J. (1999). Organizational social capital and employment

practices. Academy of management review, 24(3), pp.538-555.

Meyer, J.P. and Smith, C.A. (2000). HRM practices and organizational commitment: Test of a

mediation model. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 17(4), p.319.

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Morgan, D. and Zeffane, R. (2003). Employee involvement, organizational change, and trust in

management. International journal of human resource management, 14(1), pp.55-75.

Roehling, M., Cavanaugh, M.A., Moynihan, L., and Boswell, W.R. (1998). The nature of the

new

employment relationship (s): A content analysis of the practitioner and academic

literatures.

Terpstra, D.E. and Rozell, E.J. (1993). The relationship of staffing practices to organizational

level measures of performance. Personnel Psychology, 46(1), pp.27-48.

Tzafrir, S.S., Baruch, Y. and Dolan, S.L. (2004). The consequences of emerging HRM practices

for employees' trust in their managers. Personnel Review, 33(6), pp.628-647.

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