Words: 2933
Employees enormously contribute for any company. So managing and motivating them in the manners which are most effective, efficient and feasible is a great concern of any top management in an organization. It is unmanageable for any company to maximize the profit without having a qualified workforce. So impasses are focusing more on HARM. Harrows is a large company who has almost 4000 employees and almost 3000 and 3500 other agency and additional workers.
So they focus on their human resource with a great concern and emphasizes on gaining competitive advantage by treating their employees in a feasible manner. P 1. 1 The Guest Model of HARM at Harrows In 1 987 David Guest explained a new model for I-J organizations which argues that the policies of any organization is directly connected to its human resource management policy and that the organization should practice policy that is commitment based and distinct from compliance based personnel management.
This model believes HARM of any organization should: Focus on the employees and consider them not as the input only rather value them as the asset of the organization. Emphasize on individual needs and requirements instead of emphasizing on group workforce. Be more flexible, work friendly and enable the employees to take important decisions. Empower the employees to improve their performance and create the opportunity for them to bring out their best. Motivate the employees so that they are committed to the organizational goals.
Strategic management should be directly connected with the human resource management. This model suggests that though personnel management will recruit and train the workforce but a distinguished approach is much needed that will link the high performance and commitment of the employees with the organ national culture, mission and vision rather than compliance. (Warehouse, n. D. ) Harrows always emphasize on critically linking up its strategic management with its human resource management.
To ensure the efficient and sustainable performance from the employees Harrows has adopted new human resource management system which is concern about 4000 employees with 3500 agency and additional employees. Sometimes Harrows prefer maintaining rules of personnel management particularly in case of decreased sales and problem oriented situation. But mostly they follow the system which involves a flatten hierarchy by reducing the hierarchical layers, empower employees so that they can take the responsibilities and decisions more flexibly and improve a better communication system among employers and employees.
While determining the organizational strategy they put their people first and take steps for adopting policies that are acceptable to the employees. P 1. 2 Difference between Storey Definitions of HARM, Personnel Management and IR Practices Observance of administrative record models that deal with founding and managing reasonable terms and conditions predominantly regarding employment is defined as Personnel management. The term ‘Human Resource Management’ was used by Peter Trucker and his team in sass’s which they used as a synonym of Personnel Management without deducting any other meaning.
The modern definition explains that Human Resource Management speaks of the method that integrates the traditional personnel management activities and functions to corporate goals and strategies and also involves performance that is people oriented and aims to improve and benefit the organization. On the other hand Industrial Relationship refers to the relationship between employers and employees specially when it comes to collective bargaining and employment laws. Personnel Management Human Resource Management Industrial Relationship The term and conditions of employees are the main concern of this traditional approach.
Everything that involves employers and employees of the organization is the concern of this modern concept. Industrial Relationship is a modern concept that focuses on the relationship among employers and employees. Personnel management compacts with managers. Human Resource management compacts with the people from top to bottom. It includes managers and the employees to emphasize on the relationship between them. The concern of this concept is attaining objectives and maximizing profit. The concern of this concept is efficiency of employees, environment and culture of the work place, productivity etc.
The concern of this concept is how to develop and benefit the relationship between the collective employers and employees. Employees are provided with less opportunity to develop themselves. Employees are provided with more opportunities to develop themselves. Employees are motivated by the managers to develop themselves and benefit the company. According to this concept employees are only the input to produce output. According to this concept employees are valued as the asset of the company. According to this concept employees are valuable and managers should maintain a profitable relationship with them.
The relationship between the employers and employees are rigid and very formal. The relationship between the employers and employees are flexible and informal to some extent. The relationship between the employers and employees are flexible, informal to some extent ND benefit able to the organization. Employees cannot take decisions very flexibly. Employees get the chance to take decisions more flexibly. Employees can discuss with the managers and tea decisions. (Manchuria, n. D. ) (rewrite. Co. UK, n. D. ) P 1. Assessment of the Implication of Line Managers and Employees of Developing a Strategic Approach Line manager refers to the individual who holds the direct responsibility to manage and supervise a particular employee is involved in the activities that influence the decisions of the company directly. Line managers are expert in managing people day-to-day by observing the performance. In Harrows managers keep themselves aware about each employee and the extent to which the workers are efficiently performing. That is how the line managers observe the collective workforce individually on a day to day grounded method.
Line managers have technical skills and they can apply that when necessary. In Harrows the line managers are recruited through a selective process which is concern about their technical knowledge and skills. It is important for the line manager to have this so that they can solve or evaluate the solutions of the problems technically and determine the feasibility. To determine the responsibilities and Rota properly. The line managers in Harrows are responsible for the work allocation to a great extent. Line managers are responsible for monitoring and measuring performance.
Harrows always encourages their line managers to be bias free while evaluating the performance. Operational cost is one of the greatest concerns of the organization. Line managers take the responsibility to manage the operational cost effectively. The line managers of Harrows are very concern about the operational cost. Line managers can directly communicate the customers. Since Harrows is a luxury shop and the customers expect premium services so the line managers have to be very careful about satisfying the customers. Line managers are responsible to handle and improve the quality.
Harrows encourages its line managers to be concerned about the quality. (Scribed, n. D. ) P 2. 1 Explanation of How a Model Flexibility Might Be Applied to Practice Flexibility in an organization is variously defined and depends on the culture Of that organization. Flexibility refers to the tractability to which an individual, working in an organization can response to the inevitable chances of the business. Any employee having the flexibility to take decisions should be proactive, reactive, multi-talented and adoptable to the unstable environment.
In modern concept it is believed that employees should be provided with enough flexibility so that they become capable of taking right step at right time effectively and efficiently. But it requires a committed and skilled workforce which can be achieved by recruiting employees with appropriate knowledge, skill and quality and train and motivates them to improve their performances. Investment should be conducted establish and sustain long term relationship with the employees and to connect with the establishment of the labor market and primary sector employment.
There are two different approaches that can be adopted regarding flexibility. Hard approach Soft approach Hard approach believes in less and strict limit of flexibility. The employees have to follow the order of the manager very strongly. On the other hand soft approach believes that employees should be provided the chance to take decisions and take responsibilities more flexibly. It will increase their commitment to the organization and help them to improve their performance. Harrows follow both the autocratic and democratic strategy for heir leadership.
In critical situation they adopt the autocratic strategy and the employees have to strictly follow the orders of their managers. But Harrows in their follow the democratic strategy where employees can discuss with their managers, take decisions, managers value their decisions. This results in increased empowerment and commitment of the employees. (Academia. Due, n. D. ) P 2. 2 Types of Flexibility That Can Be Developed by Harrows Harrows is a luxury shop and a brand that has it reputation all over the world. Harrows has been running its business for almost 1 60 years and has 4000 employees d additional 3500 agency and other employees.
So they have to maintain a feasible system of flexibility that motivates the employees and make them more committed to the organization. Harrows select different types of flexibility approach considering the condition, situation, resources, strategy and other factors. They have a hierarchical system which has been flatten to reduce the layers of managerial responsibility and to make the decision making easier. They have selective recruitment system that allows them to recruit employees who are eligible and who have the proper knowledge, skill and quality.
Adding to that Harrows has a strategy to take employees who are capable of taking responsibilities and decisions when needed in the crucial time. The employees are provided with development programs which are conducted by Harrows. These programs are flexible enough and designed to motivate the workforce to be more committed and to enhance the quality Of their performance. Harrows usually follow the strategy where senior managers create visions but ground level employees are delegated more leadership responsibilities. For example dealing with customers is an issue where the senior managers set the goals and basic leslies.
But the ground level employees are responsible for handling the customers and ensuring the customer satisfaction by considering the goals and objectives set by their subordinates. However sometimes Harrows adopt the hard approach, widely known as autocratic approach. In case of critical situation when a collective decision has to be taken the company orders it employees to follow their subordinates very strictly. The changed culture in Harrows has brought more efficiency in the workforce. Since this culture has built up a people oriented strategy the employees have been motivated to be ore committed and engage them in a better manner.
So Harrows should be looking forward to maintaining this soft approach in a more developed manner although it can adopt the hard approach when critical situation hampers their operations. (flexibility. Co. UK, n. D. ) P 2. 3 Assessment of the use of flexible working practice from Both the Employer and Employees Perspective In flexible working practice the programs are designed in a manner where employees get greater scheduling freedom in how they fulfill their obligations of their positions and are empowered t take the decisions more commonly.
Other common flexibility includes telecommunication, job sharing and compressed work weeks. From the perspective of an employee The flexibility working practice enhances the power of decision making. Consequently the employees get more committed to fulfill their obligation and work toward achieving the organizational goals in a well-developed manner. In this system employees get the chance to choose their starting and leaving times from a range of available working hours. Thus they can use the time efficiently and work with more enthusiasm.
Under this arrangement the standard work week is compressed into fewer days. By selecting the available days employees can enjoy more free time and also can involve themselves in other tasks. These arrangements offer employees a system where they can voluntarily share their tasks and duties of one full time position, with both salary and benefits that the company prorated between those two individuals. These programs are increasingly adopted by the companies so that they can avoid the lay-off. This system helps employees to improve their skills. Business, n. D. ) From the perspective of employer This system attracts the people who have proper ASK but do not want to allow a flexible time. By adopting this flexible system company can hire multi-talented employees and gain competitive advantages. The arrangement is an effective one to retain the employees in order to achieve organizational goals. Flexible working system motivates and energize the workforce easily which contributes a lot concerning managing the workers. It reduces accommodation cost. This system reduces the operational cost.
The arrangement is a very good option for improving business performance. (Careers, n. D. ) P 2. 4 Impact of Flexible Working Practice that Changed the Labor Market Labor market flexibility refers to the ability and willingness of the workforce to respond and react to the changes in different condition of the market which includes change in wage rate and demand for labor. Labor market factor plays an important role in the labor market functions and contributes as a significant element which influences the adjustment of the demand and supply of labor.
A major element of labor market flexibility is the flexibility of wages to adjust and bring about equilibrium between demand and supply. Relative wage flexibility adjusts the wage rates between different region and economic sectors. However Harrows has always taken the advantage of flexible wage arrangement which directed them to maximize the profit. From another point view if the difference between work and non-work reward is too small there may be little incentive to work. Therefore, excessively generous unemployment benefits may reduce labor market flexibility.
The amount of tax paid from wages can also affect flexibility via its effect on incentives. In Harrows multi-talented workers are able to adjust their working patterns on workloads to suit changing demand conditions. Training and other development programs similarly are able to prove market flexibility. Looking at the concept Of flexible working practice from the comma point of view Harrows has the greater freedom to hire people when the demand increases and fire them when the demand decreases.
In this arrangement, labors are more effectively informed about the job vacancies and opportunities for promotion. So the employees of Harrows can successfully respond to these chances. (Online, n. D. ) P 3. 1 The Forms of Discrimination That can Take Place Discrimination is defined as the denial of social participation or human right to categories of people that is based on prejudice. This refers to the unfair retirement one gets because of having the actual membership or perceived membership to a certain group or particular category.
Different types of discrimination can be observed in organizations specially in the one where people from various walks work together. Sex Discrimination Discriminating people on the ground of their gender is referred as sex discrimination. Harrows has been found accountable for sex discrimination. (guardian, n. D. ) Age Discrimination Discriminating an individual basing on his age without any valid reason is very much common in this sector though Harrows has succeeded to a great extent o set their business free from this kind of unfair treatment.
Marital Status Discrimination People frequently become the victim of biased treatment because of their marital status or being in a civil partnership. Harrows try to treat the employee fairly regardless their marital or relationship status. Racial Racial discrimination frequently takes place in country like I-J. In spite of some unexpected occurrence Harrows has managed to avoid this type of partial approach toward the employees. Pregnancy Discrimination Sometimes women are driven out from their job because of their pregnancy.
The top level managers of Harrows have implemented particular strategy for pregnant employees. Religious Discrimination Religious discrimination is strictly prohibited in the company’s strategy. Though sometimes ground level managers have been found discriminating among employees on the ground of their religion, the top management has always taken steps against it. Disability Discrimination Disability discrimination means treating the people unfairly who are physically challenged. Factorization Sometimes the victim is treated in a biased manner because of complaining against his subordinates. Rule, n. . ) (gob. UK, n. D. ) p 3. 2 The Practical Implications of Equal Opportunity Legislation Equal pay Act 1970: This act describes that employees will be paid according to their position, merit, responsibilities regardless sex, age, race, religion, marital status etc. Race Discrimination Act 1992: This act has been established to ensure the prevention of discrimination on the basis of race and related issues with race. Sex Discrimination Act 1995/7: This aims to prevent from any unlawful activities regarding sex discrimination. It also involves the discrimination that deals with marital status.
It emphasizes on employment, harassment, education, training, provision of goods and services. Disability Discrimination Act 1 995 and 2005: This act demands that physically challenged people will be provided with their rights and special treatment such as education, benefits, special transportation, job and other facilities etc. Employment Act 2008: This act as been established for ensuring rational payment as wages or salary, proper working hour, job security, selective hiring process, good work environment etc. Harrows strictly follows strategies that are abide by the rules and handles the legal issues wisely. Lamentation of these rules not only ensures the right of the employees but also supports the company to take steps against any kind of unethical behavior for the workers.