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J Sainsbury plc J Sainsbury’s is one of the largest food retailing supermarkets in the UK with 502 supermarket and 290 convenience stores and Sainsbury’s bank. It has been focused on providing healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food to customers since the establishment of first store in 1869 and providing non food products to meet variety demand from customers.
Sainsbury’s commits to offer great good at fair prices, where the customers’ passion for healthy food is shared. Moreover, it also follows the trend, innovation and improvement on products to preserve its leading position in the market. It now serves over 18 million customers on weekly base with 16% of market shares. The well-built work force is essential to highlight the success of business with over 138,000 employees cross its stores. (J Sainsbury plc 2009a) What is Human Resource Management Human Resources Management (HRM) is the method of using human resources to perform organizational objectives.
The lacking effectiveness in human resources management will function improperly in organizations even though there are efficient financial capital, labour, information technology and other resources. HRM covers comprehensive aspects of managing people in the appropriate place to complete right tasks. HRM runs a variety of activities, it focus on deciding what kind of staffs are needed and where to find suitable candidates to implement the company’s tasks by recruiting and training employees, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring personnel policies and management practices conform with various legislations.
Employee’s benefits are protected under HRM by ensuring the right approach to employee’s wage, pension, employee records and personnel policies. The advanced HRM will guarantee high productivity and improve working environment. Recruitment Organizations usually recruit new employees when required tasks are failed to carry out due to the shortage of employees. It has been defined that “Recruiting is the process of generating a sufficiently large group of applicants from which to select qualified individuals for available jobs” (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner 1995;Zoller 1996).
Two main aspects are required to be considered before firms search for new employees, which are Job Description and the channels for job Advertisement. The employee turnover is high in large size companies such as Sainsbury’s. There are three main categories at Sainsbury’s recruitment section where are Store Roles, Store Management and Store Support Centre, and each of these categories have various positions are required to filling out. Therefore, a clear Job description is a vital guidance for job hunters. A Job description typically cover following parts: Job title, Position reports, general task, responsibilities of a position, job requirement and salary range(Business balls 2009)”. For example the responsibilities in the job description for a Sainsbury’s Customer Service Department Manager requires giving leadership and instructing colleagues, ensuring each employee is in right place at right time doing right tasks, and dealing the needs of customers. It requires potential candidates who have impressive planning skills, strong customer focus and ability to lead large team. J Sainsbury plc 2009b) Internal recruitments The advertisement of job description is the following step for recruiting new employees. Internal advertisement is one method to be used, where companies announce/advertise its job vacancies to its existing employees, which may represent promotions. Sainsbury’s usually places internal advertisement to select supervisor and internal staff transaction; they put advertisement at company’s notice board or make announcements at meetings cross stores within the region.
It will be easier for company to select suitable candidates because existing employees has more knowledge and cost less for the company. External recruitments External Advertisement is used for companies to attract talented applicants from external environment. Sainsbury’s usually attract managerial level of employees through external adverting at newspaper, magazine and informative advertising on media. They also advertise on Store Roles types of jobs at its local store notice board for external users.
Employment agency is another option for external recruitments. Companies can simply provide job description to agencies where vacancies will be introduced to people who are looking for jobs. Sainsbury’s also attends universities career fairs to promote the business and attract young and professional students to serve the company. It offers wide range of graduate schemes to students major Finance, Information Technology, Retail and other fields. It also provides decent benefits to its potential future employees.
Sainsbury’s also put career advertisement on its website to draw possible candidates. The website has comprehensive information about the company and job vacancies. Selection Selection is vital to a business’s success in the future operating. Any failures in selecting employees will occur costs to companies, in terms of shrinking productivity, training costs and opportunities costs of unselected suitable candidate. The selection process is more and more complicated and comprehensive from bottom to top positions within an organization.
Sainsbury’s usually focus on candidate’s an attitude, communication skills and ability to work with others when selecting a suitable candidate for Administration assistant. However, when selecting managerial level of employees, Sainsbury’s concentrate on specific personalities and experiences of applicants, as the one for Department Manager in customer Service described above. Human resource department will choose the suitable applicants whose experiences and personalities meet the requirements, and also the abilities to carry out required responsibilities.
Sainsbury’s will ask suitable candidates to submit their references to support their applications and reject unsuitable candidate. An interview will be given to suitable contenders and selection techniques will be applied to examine whether the candidates have value to the company. Job contenders may be required to work within a team and give presentations to examiners. The interviewees’ leadership, team work, ability to overcome difficulties will be examined. The company will make comparisons among suitable interviewees and choose the most qualified candidates.
A formal offer will be made to selected candidates. Sainsbury’s also conform to legislations when recruiting new employees and work closely under Employment Protection Act(1978), Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Race Relations Act(1976), Equal pay Act(1970), Disability Discrimination Act(1995) and other relevant Acts. The selected employee can reject the job and prosecute Sainsbury’s if the salary is lower than the payment to same position’s employee or lower than it promised according to Employment Protection Act.
It will also put the company in disadvantage when the candidate was rejected because of its race rather than their suitability. Retention Employee retention means how to keep company’s employees and prevent them from looking for other external job opportunities. It has become a challenge to businesses today, especially when it comes to desirable employees. The loss of employees are not simply mean scarifies of companies training expenditures, nonetheless these employees may reveal companies’ top information to its competitors and this could bring threat to the company.
Sainsbury’s Corporate Responsibility Report 2007 has stated that the number of non-management colleague leaving has dropped significantly with 10,500 per year since the start of retention programme in 2004. Sainsbury’s has implied retention strategies to keep its employees, and has introduced a slogan suggests “A great place to work. ” It focuses on the improvements of working environment. The rate of incidents has dropped from overall 14. 2% in 2004/2005 to just over3% in year 2006/07, is suggested that the company has spent time and paid attention in improving their workplace.
The supermarket colleague councils also have 800 pounds expenditures on engagement initiatives, such as improvement in restaurant where it provides new TVs, DVD players and comfortable sofas for employees to recharge during break time. Stores also hold entertaining events for staff and experience something new together. It offers flexible contract working hours to their employees, especially for those who are disable and who have kids. Sainsbury’s also makes diversified investments on staff developments and tries to explore the full potential of employees.
The leadership development programme –”Making Sainsbury’s Great Again” is a 1-day programme to line managers, and through subsequent learning and development activities to achieve personal developments. Employees can also be diversified by choose different types of jobs that they wish to do in the store based on their willingness to learn and their potential. Talkback is the channel through which the company can get feedbacks from its employees and Colleague Engagement index explains the level of colleagues engaged with the business.
The improvement in working environment and schemes implied will no dubitably attract their employees to stay within the business; moreover it also motives their staff to maximize their contributions to Sainsbury’s. Conclusion In conclusion, this assignment explained the importance of human resource management to cooperate. HRM is about how to manage employees in order to achieve the company’s target. One of the most important things in HRM is to select suitable candidates to carry out required tasks and how to retain its employees, where Sainsbury’s was used as an example for analyzing.
Job description and job advertisement requires company to make clear information for its vacancies and choose right channels for promotions. The more applicants will be attracted when job vacancies is detailed and well promoted. Selection is the process that a company accesses a suitable candidate through different procedures to test their abilities and personalities. The human capital is vital for today’s intensive business environment. Sainsbury’s has been using wide range of schemes and investments to make a better workplace for maintaining its employees.
Strong HRM supports businesses to meet their objectives and increase the productivity. References Buford, J. A. , Bedeian, & Lindner 1995, Management in Extension (3rd ed. ) Columbus, Ohio. Business balls. Job descriptions. 2009. Ref Type: Internet Communication J Sainsbury plc. J Sainsbury plc, Recruitment. 2009b. Ref Type: Internet Communication J Sainsbury plc. J Sainsbury plc Company Overview. 2009a. 20090a. Ref Type: Internet Communication Zoller, C. Filling a Position in a Small Business. 1996. Columbus. Ref Type: Generic