An accurate description of the responsibilities covered by Shoppers Paradise's human resources function and an explanation of the importance of these activities to the business.
PART 1
TASK 1
.1.1
An accurate description of the responsibilities covered by Shoppers Paradise's human resources function and an explanation of the importance of these activities to the business. (E1)
Shoppers Paradise's Human Resources Department
Shoppers Paradise regards staff as the most important resource. The human resources function is concerned with the employees who work for Shoppers Paradise. Other resources include capital, equipment, buildings, land and materials. If the employees are keen to do their best, are well trained and committed to the aims of Shoppers Paradise, then Shoppers Paradise will be successful. This is why the employees or human resources are so important.
The aim of the human resources department is to maximise the contribution of employees to Shoppers Paradise. Not only they involve recruitment and training, but induction programmes as well. High levels of motivation help to plan the careers of employees. This is to ensure that suitable people are elected for the post.
Shoppers Paradise's human resources department as a whole can be clearly defined in the following statement:
"The most valuable resource in any business organisation is its people, or human resources. There is a direct relationship between the quality of the workforce and business success".
(Source: Moynihan, D. & Titley, B. Vocational A Level Advanced Business Second Edition. Oxford University Press. 2001)
One of the main functions of the human resources department is to make sure that staff motivation is maintained. Shoppers Paradise being a well-known large superstore group means that they employ more than 30,000 people, including part-timers, which in this case has a relatively large human resources department. All of the departments in Shoppers Paradise rely on the human resources department. This is because the human resources department takes charge of all employees working for Shoppers Paradise.
Shoppers Paradise's human resources department carries out many functions and responsibilities. These include the following:
> To attract and retain good, high-quality staff
> To train and develop all staff to enable them to reach their maximum potential
> To ensure that Shoppers Paradise avoids unlawful or unfair discrimination
> To ensure that Shoppers Paradise operates within the law in relation to employment and health and safety
> Recruitment and selection processing according to job descriptions
> Providing helpful advice to members of staff
> Providing information required for new recruits; for example, the terms and conditions of the workplace, health and safety laws and regulations of Shoppers Paradise
> All functions and duties are connected to employees directly and indirectly
> Human resources planning strategy, for example, recruitment, retention, utilisation, improvement and disposal
> Building industrial relationships; for example, dealing with discipline, appeals, grievance procedures and liase with trade unions and staff associations.
The Activities of Shoppers Paradise's Human Resources Function
To fulfil its purpose, human resources staff are involved in specific activities. These include:
> Recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff
> Training, development and promotion of staff
> Monitoring and maintenance of good working conditions
> Health and safety regulations
> Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions
> Staff performance appraisal
> Wage and salary administration
> Team motivation
> Workforce planning, for example, having the right workforce to make sure that there are adequate for the right calibre
> Carrying out staff procedures
> Record keeping
> Providing staff with quality working conditions
> Looking after the welfare of staff on day-to-day administration.
.2.1
An explanation of how external labour market information is used to plan human resources within the business. (E2)
Shoppers Paradise's External Labour Market
The external labour market for Shoppers Paradise is made up of potential employees, locally, regionally or nationally; who have the skills and experience required at a particular time. Shoppers Paradise need to know whether they can find the right sort of people locally to employ. Decisions have to be made on whether to recruit relatively inexperienced staff at fairly low salaries and then invest in considerable training, or recruit people who are sufficiently experienced and qualified. If so, there will be a higher salary bill, but investment in staff training will be reduced and employees will be able to work efficiently and effectively from the start.
Shoppers Paradise have to consider how much effort to put into attracting the right sort of people. If there are local skills shortages and many other businesses competing for the same people, more attractive packages of salaries, benefits and working conditions need to be considered. However, if there is an oversupply of property qualified and experienced people, these packages can be reduced.
Shoppers Paradise's Human Resource Planning
Shoppers Paradise have to plan carefully to ensure they have the right number of suitable employees for their needs. To do this, they need a good understanding of the long-term aims, the sort of workforce they will need in order to achieve its aims and the labour market in Central London in which they operate. The effects of the following labour market factors for human resource planning in Shoppers Paradise include the following:
> Local Employment Trends - local unemployment levels give an indication of the general availability of labour and suggest whether it will be easy or difficult to recruit at Shoppers Paradise. It is also important to find out more about Shoppers Paradise's locality. When a major employer closes down or discards labour, this provides an opportunity for another local company, which may be able to employ the workers who have been made redundant. These employees might have the right sorts of occupational skills or transferable skills, which could be applied to similar work at Shoppers Paradise.
A study of employment trends will give an idea of whether demand for certain types of work is rising or falling. Where demand increases, this will lead to shortages and also to rising wages at Shoppers Paradise.
> Local Skills Shortages - within any area at any time in Central London, there will be jobs that are going into decline because the skills required for those jobs are becoming redundant. At the same time, new skills and capabilities will be emerging and demand for these will be rising faster than supply. As a result, skills shortages will arise and these will cause considerable frustration for local employers at Shoppers Paradise. The wages of people in the skills shortages areas will be rising and there will be competition to recruit and retain these employees working at Shoppers Paradise.
Where a local shortage occurs, employers will often seek to advertise and recruit in other areas or regions and from other countries. Shoppers Paradise need to be aware of local skills shortages, so they can develop their own training programmes to make sure there are enough people coming through with the skills required. They will also work together with other local employers in the same industry that train people in the skills required for these specific industries, relating to the service sector.
> Competition for Employees - Shoppers Paradise will be interested to know whether its competitors are expanding and, therefore, increasing the demand for labour, or whether local redundancies mean labour is more readily available.
> Availability of Labour - The amount of labour in London depends on the number of people available for work. With modern transport systems, it is usually quite easy for people to travel to work, but Shoppers Paradise may need to develop its own systems to make it easier for people to undertake the journeys, for example, Shoppers Paradise can hire a work bus for employees. With many modern employers locating on the outskirts of towns, the issue of getting the right numbers of the right sorts of people to work is an important one.
The availability of labour at Shoppers Paradise will depend on factors, such as the age distribution of the local population, attitudes to women working and the extent to which young people stay on at school, college or go on to further education.
Human resource planning also involves looking at how labour is organised within Shoppers Paradise. Shoppers Paradise must take account of factors when making decisions about their internal staffing. The factors include:
> labour turnover, including stability index and wastage rate
> sickness and accident rates
> statistics for age, skills and training
> succession.
Human resource planning attempts to anticipate demand for staff and to match this to the supply. It is important to get this right because if Shoppers Paradise has too many staff or are over-manning, it will be inefficient. If it has too few or under-manning, it will not be effective. The stages to be considered for Shoppers Paradise's human resource planning can therefore be shown as the following:
(Source: Lewis, R. & Trevitt, R. Business for Vocational A Level 3rd Edition. Stanley Thornes Publishers Ltd. 2000)
Statistics and information need to be collected on employees already within Shoppers Paradise. This will cover the following main areas:
> The Number of Employees in Particular Job Categories - this figure will give a broad overview of the numbers in Shoppers Paradise.
> The Skills Available - it may be helpful to identify the current skills held by the labour force at Shoppers Paradise and to see how many of these are transferable. A skill used in one particular job may be transferable to another job.
> Skills Analysis - Shoppers Paradise needs to be sure it has the right number of people available at the right time, but also with the right skills. Shoppers Paradise, therefore, need to assess their present supply of skills across their workforces and to identify the sorts of skills they will require in the future.
Shoppers Paradise will have a range of employees who have worked for different lengths of time and who have different levels of skills and training. The human resource planner will seek to have a balance of new people entering Shoppers Paradise in order to cover those who are leaving. The human resource planner will also want to make sure that skill levels are raising within Shoppers Paradise and that training programmes are devised to make sure people have the skills to meet Shoppers Paradise's job requirements. If all of Shoppers Paradise's skilled people are just about to retire, Shoppers Paradise are quickly going to have to spend money on training to build up a new pool of expertise.
.3.1
An analysis provided of how relevant labour market and internal staffing information is essential for creating a plan for human resources at Shoppers Paradise. (C1)
.4.1
Using the analysis of staffing, an identification of how Shoppers Paradise can relate staffing within the business to the external labour market and how they can make the best use of available labour. (A1)
Creating Shoppers Paradise's Human Resources Plan
In order to create a human resource plan, Shoppers Paradise will need a large amount of data. Some of this will be available internally and some externally.
Shoppers Paradise's Internal Staffing Information
Internal staffing information should be available for labour turnover, the rate at which people leave and are replaced, the average length of time staff stay with Shoppers Paradise and reasons for staff wastage. Other factors include staff absence, including sickness and accident rates, ages of staff, skills and experience, training and qualifications and succession and promotion of staff. Also, flexibility of staff, for example, whether they are on part-time, full-time, and permanent or fixed-term contracts.
Shoppers Paradise's Labour Market Information
Shoppers Paradise's unemployment rates inside the Central London region are clearly shown in the following data tables below:
Employment and Unemployment by Region
Region
Employment
Rate
Quarterly Change
London
3,412,000
71.2%
37,000
Region
ILO Unemployment
Rate
Quarterly Change
London
254,000
6.9%
-13,000
ILO Unemployment Rates by Spring Quarter of Each Year
Region
998
999
2000
2001
2002
London
8.2%
7.6%
7.1%
6.0%
6.6%
ILO Unemployment Rates by Age, 2001-2002
6 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 49
Males 50 to 64, Females 50 to 59
All ILO Unemployed of Working Age (Thousands)
London
4.8%
5.3%
5.3%
4.9%
249
(Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics: www.ons.gov.uk)
Labour Market Statistics
Employment and Unemployment Figures
London
Employment
Rate: 69.9%
Figures: 7.1%
ILO Unemployment
Rate: 7.1%
Figures: 260,000
(Source: Labour Market Statistics: www.statistics.gov.uk)
According to the data tables shown above, the majority of unemployed people are aged between 16-24. This is happening because many young men and women are unqualified school leavers. Younger staff may lack experience and need training. On the other hand they may be receptive to new ideas and experiences, be cheaper to employ and can be engaged on flexible contracts of employment. The proportion of 16-24 year olds is growing in Central London, but falling elsewhere. This is because Central London, as a major city, attracts immigration from abroad and from other parts of the country, especially young people. Central London attracts young people, so the age problem may not be as obvious as elsewhere. These factors tend to give Central London a younger population and lead to frictional unemployment.
People between the 25-34 and 35-49 age group are experiencing equal unemployment rates. This is likely to be the case because mainly women aged between 25-34 are now full-time mothers and are receiving maternity benefit and supply other members of staff to cover absences. In order to keep these staff, Shoppers Paradise may need to offer more incentives, such as extra maternity benefits, which are additional to a legal minimum. Also, school holiday flexibility, flexitime and work-based crèche may be incentives. This will enable Shoppers Paradise's employees to vary the time that they start and finish work, without any limits, as long as they work the total hours agreed each week or month. Usually there is a 'core time' from 10am to 4pm, which everyone must work. The 25-29 sector shows similar growth in both areas.
There are obvious advantages to Shoppers Paradise's employees, who can vary the working day to suit personal arrangements. It becomes possible to avoid the rush hour and so perhaps get quicker and cheaper travel as a result. Shoppers Paradise's employer gains from staff satisfaction and motivation, it is also possible for Shoppers Paradise's staff to make up work at the end of each working day.
Term-time working can also be designed for people with school-aged children and incorporates some form of job share or flexi-time. Schools, colleges and universities are more likely to offer this, as they have different staffing requirements during the term.
On the other hand, male people aged between 25 and 34 need sufficient facilities inside their working environments. These include a gym, swimming pool, fitness centre and social facilities, as those types of men will become strongly ambitious. Shoppers Paradise needs to offer more challenges and career opportunities to paths of succession and promotion to staff.
Older staff aged 50+ may have a longer service and available pool of local labour at Shoppers Paradise. This is the stage where they are fast approaching retirement and will need replacing. They will be more expensive to employ; their length of service may also make them more expensive to make redundant. They may be protected on contracts written some time ago, which do not allow for flexibility. On the other hand, they are likely to have valuable experience and transferable skills, but Shoppers Paradise may find it quite difficult to retrain them, particularly with new technologies.
The 60+ sector is falling in Central London because older people may move out when they retire.
The following pie chart demonstrates the percentage of people in Shoppers Paradise, who will be employed in the retailing and distribution sector of industry by 2008:
(Source: SLIMS/Cambridge Econometrics Forecasts)
As you can see, the above chart clearly identifies that the majority of people working in Shoppers Paradise are one of the many service industries. This is because computers and other new technologies now do many of the simple, routine tasks, which were once done by people. This means that many low skilled jobs at Shoppers Paradise have been replaced by a smaller number of more highly skilled ones. Where jobs at Shoppers Paradise cannot be computerised, the number of jobs has stayed steady or increased.
The availability of skills in Central London demonstrates that unemployment is down in every sector. This is the case because there is a pool of unskilled labour with highest unemployment amongst those with experience of elementary occupations or clerical work or no work experience at all. Health professionals are in demand with few vacancies and there are few vacancies in agriculture, forestry and fishing, but people seeking such work will not go to Central London.
However, firms such as Shoppers Paradise may have problems finding suitably qualified people, as living costs and especially house prices tend to be high. There are currently problems in attracting teachers and nurses.
Shoppers Paradise's Availability of Labour and Changes in the Labour Market
Shoppers Paradise in Central London does not look at the labour market trends in as much depth. This is mainly because they use the unemployment figures to help them recruit and select the areas they wish to employ from. Their decision is also influenced by the pay rate. The main place Shoppers Paradise recruit their staff are from the main branch in Central London. They also recruit people from application forms filled out from the Shoppers Paradise website on the Internet. There has not been a great difficulty finding new recruits from the Central London branch. This could be because of the young applicants who seek to find a post in a well known and string business. This is a reason why the information on the age can be looked at because they are the ones who are likely to stay on working for a long period of time. The advantage of this to Shoppers Paradise is that it can also shape the young recruits the way they wish by training them the way they want.
The human resources plan shows that labour will need to be recruited from outside Shoppers Paradise, and then accurate labour market data will be needed to provide details of the pool of external labour available.
Human resource planners need to know whether the skills they need are likely to be available when they are needed. Suggestions may include advertising further afield and relocation, if Central London costs make it difficult.
Local organisations other than Shoppers Paradise will compete for the available labour, so that skills shortages may not only present difficulties in recruitment, but also pose the threat of losing existing skilled employees to competitors.
Alternatively, poaching employees may fill senior posts with proven ability from other firms. A firm of headhunters may be used to find out who is suitable and to make a tempting offer.
Shoppers Paradise's Changes in Working Patterns
New working patterns and arrangements include the growth in part-time work and increased numbers of women in the UK workforce. These can be clearly illustrated in the following tables and graphs shown on the next two pages:
Percentages (Spring 1999)
Males Females All Employees
Full-Time Employees
Flexible working hours 8.4 13.3 10.2
Other ...
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Alternatively, poaching employees may fill senior posts with proven ability from other firms. A firm of headhunters may be used to find out who is suitable and to make a tempting offer.
Shoppers Paradise's Changes in Working Patterns
New working patterns and arrangements include the growth in part-time work and increased numbers of women in the UK workforce. These can be clearly illustrated in the following tables and graphs shown on the next two pages:
Percentages (Spring 1999)
Males Females All Employees
Full-Time Employees
Flexible working hours 8.4 13.3 10.2
Other flexible working patterns 7.1 12.2 8.1
(e.g. term-time working only)
Total
5.5
23.5
8.3
Part-Time Employees
Flexible working hours 5.9 8.1 7.7
Other flexible working hours 9.2 16.1 14.9
(e.g. term-time working only)
Total
5.1
24.2
22.6
(Source: Office for National Statistics: www.ons.gov.uk)
Shoppers Paradise's Changes in Full -Time and Part -Time Employment
United Kingdom
15
Males in full-time employment
10
Females in full-time employment
Millions
5
Females in part-time employment
0 Males in part-time employment
1990 1993 1996 1999
Year
Part and full-time employment
(Source: Office for National Statistics: www.ons.gov.uk)
Shoppers Paradise's Changes in Age of the Labour Force
100 100
90 75+ 90
80 60-74 80
70 70
60 45-59 60
50 Median age 50
40 30-44 40
30 30
20 15-29 20
10 10
0 0-14 0
1998 2008 2018 2028 2038
Year
Projected age distribution, UK 1998-2038
(Source: Office for National Statistics: www.ons.gov.uk)
Shoppers Paradise has a more flexible and cheaper labour force, but they must now provide the same conditions of employment as for full-time staff. An ageing workforce may result in greater absenteeism through illness and may prove less flexible and may need further retraining to update skills.
Shoppers Paradise adopts 'family-friendly' or 'work-life balance' policies, such as job-sharing and shift swap in order that they can accommodate people, mainly women, with young families in their workforce plan. Measures to improve work-life balance are seen as important and can improve attendance and productivity.
For the employee, part-time and flexible work may suit family needs, but also makes it more difficult to plan or budget for the longer term.
Changing working patterns can make communication more difficult for both parties, for example, with part-time employees and full-time staff working from home.
Shoppers Paradise have made a recovery and growth prospects are good. Staff are encouraged to stay at Shoppers Paradise and are given promotional opportunities within the company, for example reducing staff turnover. In view of potential growth and natural wastage, for example death, retirement and people moving away, Shoppers Paradise will have to aim to recruit at least 10% of new staff every year. The present workforce is largely composed of part-time workers and this is appropriate both to the company, as more staff can be used at certain times when stores are busy for the community. It also means Shoppers Paradise are able to recruit staff from a large pool of potential labour, for example mothers returning to work. This is useful, as there is low local unemployment.
TASK 2
2.1.1
An identification of the features of key recruitment documents used by Shoppers Paradise and a description of the factors that need to be considered when planning to fill a vacancy and carry out interviews. (E3)
2.2.1
An analysis of the key recruitment documents and an evaluation of the quality of information in relation to the purpose of each. (C2)
Shoppers Paradise's Recruitment and Selection Process
The recruitment process can be very costly, in terms of resources devoted to the process and costs associated with recruiting poor performing staff. Therefore, it is important to accurately select people for interview.
Shoppers Paradise need to be very clear about the requirements of the job and about the kind of person they are looking for. The ways in which they do this is through:
> preparing job descriptions and person specifications
> carefully planning how and when to advertise
> identifying the strengths and weaknesses of job applications, curriculum vitae and letters of application
> shortlisting candidates.
Shoppers Paradise's recruitment and selection process can be clearly illustrated in the following diagram shown below:
(Source: Bywaters, R.G. Evans-Pritchard, J.E. Gillman, L.F. Glaser, A.J. & Mayer, E.Z. Vocational A Level Business Compulsory Units. Pearson Education Ltd. 2000)
Shoppers Paradise's Key Recruitment Documents and the Factors Considered when Planning to Fill a Vacancy and Carrying Out Interviews
Some of Shoppers Paradise's key recruitment documents and factors considered when planning to fill a vacancy and carrying out interviews include the following:
> Job Description - this document tells candidates about Shoppers Paradise, the job role and what it involves. It also shows the applicant what the vacancy is and what is required of them. The information on this document consists of the job title, to whom the applicant has to be responsible to, location of work, hours of work, purpose of post and main duties and responsibilities. Job descriptions can also be used by Shoppers Paradise to provide information for use in drafting situations of vacant advertisements and for briefing interviewers.
Shoppers Paradise also have a job description when they advertise their vacancies. The job description contains vital information of the task the applicant has to fill. On the document there is the title of the job, for example a human resources adviser, the location of where the vacancy is open, for example, Central London. Also, whom to contact to find and receive information or to book an appointment for an interview, for example, the human resources manager of recruiting office. Also, the number of hours the applicant has to work, for example 24 hours per week, what the functions and responsibilities of the job the applicant will be, for example help and advice to improve the human resources manager and the department. It might also state the functions and duties the applicant might need to perform.
> Person Specification - this document finds out about what the candidates are like and if they are the right people to work for Shoppers Paradise. It shows the skills, qualifications, aptitudes and abilities that a person will require to successfully perform the purchasing supervisor job in Shoppers Paradise. It is usually divided into essential requirements and desirable ones. Both should be included inside the purchasing supervisor's advertisement. A person specification often goes beyond a simple description of the job by highlighting or specifying the mental and physical attributes required for the job holder. The personnel department may therefore set out, for its own use, a person specification, using a professional and formal layout.
When filling in a vacancy at Shoppers Paradise, a person specification is made. This shows the applicant what skills are required from them. This document shows what past work or experience the applicant must have and also what past education and skills they have to apply for the job.
> Job Application Form - the aim of this document is to find out about candidates, by asking for information in a structured way. It also obtains relevant information about the applicant and to enable Shoppers Paradise to compare applicants quickly and check that they are meeting the person criteria. The information required normally includes personal details, medical details, education and qualifications, work experience or employment history, references, declaration of a criminal record and other information. A major advantage is that the information is captured in this way can be processed conveniently. Since the right questions are asked, the relevant information will be there.
When interviewing candidates, Shoppers Paradise will need to check candidates' qualifications by showing copies of certificates, for example, GCSE, AS and A2 level. They also have to look at candidates work experience by calling in referees. Another factor includes personal attributes by answering questions, for example if applicants claim that they are good at working under pressure, Shoppers Paradise could give them a timed task or ask for an example of a situation where they have to work under pressure.
2.1.1
The supervisor asks to create the following documents for the new post. (E3)
The attached documentation will be of assistance:
> a job description
> a person specification.
An Example of Shoppers Paradise's Job Description
Job Title: Purchasing Supervisor
Department: Purchasing
Hours of Work: 37 per week
Responsible To: Purchasing Manager (Section head)
Responsible For: Not applicable
Location of Work: Central London Branch
Job Purpose: To assist Shoppers Paradise's Branch Manager of Central London to achieve a successful level of sales and meet customers' needs. The candidate will be answerable to Shoppers Paradise's section head.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
> Dealing with suppliers
> Ordering goods
> Receiving goods
> Displaying goods
> Chasing up non-deliveries
> Negotiate and develop partnering arrangements
> Carrying out customer research
> Keeping records
> Attending management meetings to present performance reports
> Suggesting ways of meeting targets and reducing costs
> To assist and advise customers in the selection of equipment
> To maintain Shoppers Paradise's image at all times
> To carry out any other duties assigned by Shoppers Paradise's branch manager
> To notify head office of any outstanding problems
> To arrange for faulty equipment to be repaired or replaced
> To use and keep up-to-date the current stock control system.
An Example of Shoppers Paradise's Person Specification
JOB ROLE: Purchasing Supervisor
Attributes
> Physical
> Qualifications
> Work experience
> Training
> Special knowledge
> Personal circumstances
> Attitudes
> Practical and intellectual skills.
Essential
> Good communication and interpersonal skills
> Smart, clean and business like appearance
> Calm and polite manner
> Medical certificate from doctor certifying physical fitness for work, including lifting duties
> Creativity and design flair
> Reliable and trustworthy
> Ability to meeting targets and deadlines.
Desirable
> Previous managerial or supervisory experience of working in retail environment
> Obtained IT skills in word processing, spreadsheets and databases
> 3 GCSEs or equivalent at grade C or above, including English and Mathematics
> The ability of being a good team player
> Technical skills
> Decision making skills.
An Example of Shoppers Paradise's Job Application Form
Job applied for: (e.g. Purchasing Supervisor)
Where did you hear of this vacancy?
Personal Details
Date of Birth
(Delete as necessary) Home Telephone No.
Office Telephone No.
Can we ring you at work?
Do you have a valid driving licence?
Do y
Medical Details
Do you suffer from any illness which may affect your work?
(If Yes please give details above)
Education and Qualifications
Please give details of your education and qualifications obtained
Schools/Colleges etc
From
To
Examinations Passed/Qualifications Obtained
Details of any further qualifications obtained or relevant courses attended
Current Employment
(Or if now employed, details of last employment)
From: To: Present Salary: Job Title:
Please give a brief description of the job and your responsibilities.
Please give your reasons for seeking new employment
Employment History
Please give details of your previous employment (start with the most recent)
Name and Address
From
To
Salary
Brief Description of Business and your Job
References
Please give the names and addresses of two people to whom we may apply for references.
Reference 1 (present or last employer) Reference 2
May we approach the above individuals without reference to you? Yes ? No ?
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence, which is not 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974? Yes ? No ?
Availability
When are you free for interview?
When would you be free to take up a new appointment?
Other Information
Please use this space to explain why you are interested in this position and why you feel able to do the job. We are interested in the type of person you are as well as your experience and qualifications.
Declaration
I declare that the information provided in this application is to the best of knowledge correct. I also declare that I am not related to an existing employee of Shoppers Paradise.
Signed Date
Shoppers Paradise
777 Winter Park
Central London
CN3 5HQ
(Source: Lewis, R. & Trevitt, R. Business for Vocational A Level 3rd Edition. Stanley Thornes Publishers Ltd. 2000)
An additional key recruitment document for Shoppers Paradise can also be designed for the purchasing supervisor role. The equal opportunities policy can be structured out as a simple and straightforward questionnaire, indicating age category, gender and type of disability the employee may have. The legal and ethical responsibilities relating to equal opportunities are vital for employers at Shoppers Paradise. They are bound both by law and by the requirement to operate in a moral way, which is a question of ethics, in terms of their employment policies. Shoppers Paradise have to work within the law, failure to comply will lead to court cases, possible fines and advertise publicity. However, it should be expected that Shoppers Paradise would do more than is legally required; they will seek to do what is right or ethical.
If Shoppers Paradise does not operate in an ethical way, they are likely to be unpopular with employees and other stakeholders, who may then use some of their power to force changes in Shoppers Paradise.
2.1.1
From the attached candidate's notes, the job description and person specification created, a selection of the candidate most suitable for the position, giving reasons for each choice. (E3)
From each of the three candidates' interview simulations, an indication will be made about which essential and desirable criteria matched Shoppers Paradise's job description and person specification and a summary of each of them. Then a selection will be made of the possible candidate and definite candidate most suitable for the position of being a purchasing supervisor at Shoppers Paradise. The information can be illustrated in the following table clearly shown below:
Candidate
Essential
Desirable
Summary of Candidate's Interview Simulation
A
> Calm and persistent person
> Polite-mannered person
> Reliable and trustworthy
> The ability of being a good team player
> Previous experience working inside the retail environment
This candidate has not achieved any qualifications whatsoever because of serious health problems. Although this candidate gained experience and training from a small company store, he/she then became redundant, due to fierce competition from big national supermarkets. The major concern for this candidate was that he/she is the only child and has experienced bereavement from the family.
B
> Good communication and interpersonal skills
> Reliable and trustworthy
> The ability to meeting targets and deadlines
> Creativity and design flair
> Previous experience working inside the retail environment
> Obtained IT skills in word processing
> The ability of being a good team player
> 3 GCSEs equivalent at grade C or above, including English and Mathematics
This candidate has achieved 3 O Levels and has got him/her into working at Barclays Bank as a junior cashier. He/she has then applied for the post of purchasing and supplies assistant and was successful in completing work. This includes being in regular contact with all departments in writing and over the telephone, having a thorough knowledge and understanding of Shoppers Paradise. He/she has also got many qualities, such as delegating responsibility for himself and enjoying drafting letters, by taking pride in expressing themselves clearly and in good English.
C
> Good communication and interpersonal skills
> Reliable and trustworthy
> Creativity and design flair
> The ability to meeting targets and deadlines
> Previous experience working inside the retail environment
> Obtained IT skills in word processing
> The ability of being a good team player
This candidate has achieved 8 O Levels and chose an appointment as a management trainee and two years later was appointed supervisor. Then, he/she was promoted to a 'plum job', meaning managed by two supervisors. However, within six years, the candidate's partner became extremely ill and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He/she felt that more time must be spent on looking after his/her partner.
After looking through the job description and person specification, a review of all the three candidate's interview simulations have been mentioned and decided about which type of person is the most suitable for the position of being a purchasing supervisor at Shoppers Paradise.
Overall, candidate B is the most suitable candidate to be selected for the position of being a purchasing supervisor at Shoppers Paradise. This is the case because the candidate has attained and met the majority of the essential criteria mentioned above. Also, this candidate has the potential skills and qualities required, in order to perform the purchasing supervisor role effectively.
The candidate also has specific and relevant experiences for the position being applied for and their present job of a purchasing and supplies assistant. In this job, the candidate is dealing with suppliers and this is one of the main purposes of the job that was mentioned in the job description. This has been clearly proven that the candidate has got the experience.
The candidate would have to perform supervisory responsibility effectively and this type of position would give the candidate the opportunity to have exactly that. This candidate has also proven to be hard working and responsible and this has been indicated through their references. The candidate also does not have many distractions that may keep him/her from work.
However, candidate C is likely to carry out the purchasing supervisor role successfully. This is a possibility because the candidate has achieved the second highest essential criteria, but has mostly obtained the desirable ones. This candidate also lacks creativity, since it was promoted a 'plum job'. Also, the candidate's partner has suffered from a serious health problem, which will highly affect the individual performance and concentration of carrying out the supervisor job.
Candidate A will definitely struggle in performing the supervisor role. This is because he or she does not have any qualifications and has suffered from a family crisis.
From the key recruitment documents mentioned previously, an analysis will be made on each one of them, by stating its purpose and evaluating the quality of information for the purpose of recruitment and selection likely to be generated by each. This piece of information can be clearly presented in the following table shown below:
Type of Key Recruitment Document
Purpose of Key Recruitment Document
An Evaluation of the Quality of Information for the Purpose of Recruitment and Selection Likely to be Generated by Each
Job Description
This is used to find the right applicant for the post. This shows the applicant what they are applying to. This will show the applicant what the job requires. It also demonstrates what the duties are and what work experience is needed to applying for the job. Also, it will usually be prepared or revised when the purchasing supervisor vacancy is created and before this is advertised.
This type of document is extremely important to the applicant to Shoppers Paradise. This is because the purpose of the document is to find out the right applicant for the post. Also, it will usually be prepared or revised when the purchasing supervisor vacancy is created and before this is advertised. The purchasing supervisor applications can be assessed more easily for suitability and will help decide a fair salary for the job, in relation to pay rates for other employees. The applicant can see exactly what the job entails and there is less chance of unsuitable applicants applying.
Person Specification
This identifies the skills and abilities required of the job holder. It also makes sure the job advertisement conveys the qualities prospective candidates should have. In addition, it checks candidates for the purchasing supervisor job to have the right qualities. This will be concerned with identifying those people who have the right qualities to fit the purchasing supervisor jobs being offered.
This type of document is a benefit, particularly to the job applicant and Shoppers Paradise. This is the case because when employers are writing the documents, it means that greater thought is given to the best type of person for the job. Also, the purchasing supervisor advertisement is highly likely to identify essential and desirable qualities more easily and training needed for the newly appointed person can be more easily identified.
Job Application Form
This is one of the most important documents. This is the document that is used to decide who to interview. This document is used to find out more about the applicant. This also consists of questions asking about personal things of the applicants. It also asks for some information that might be found in a C.V. of the applicant.
This is a very useful document. This is because it allows Shoppers Paradise to check the information on the C.V. with the information on the application form. This allows Shoppers Paradise to eliminate the applicants who are found lying or finding information not matching. This makes the interviewer's job easier because some of the people are removed from the interview list. It also allows Shoppers Paradise to check how the applicants construct their words. This reduces the amount of applicants trying to apply for the post.
PART 2
TASK 3
3.1.1
In order to assess the importance of staff training and performance management at Shoppers Paradise, it is asked for an identification of the key aspects of the business's training and development programme and an explanation of its importance to the performance of the business. (E4)
TASK 4
4.1.1
An explanation of the purpose of performance management and a description of how the business's approach may be influenced by motivational theory. (E5)
4.2.1
Once identifying the importance and purpose of staff training and performance management, it will need an identification and analysis of the relationships between Shoppers Paradise's training and development programme and its management of performance, and an explanation of how these two functions may be influenced by different motivational theories. (C3)
Shoppers Paradise's Training and Development Programme
Training and development may motivate and enhance the performance of employees and the need for Shoppers Paradise to invest resources in training and development programmes.
An important part of manpower planning is the continual review, identification and update of training and development programmes. Factors such as the introduction of new technology or new working methods create training needs that have to be met if Shoppers Paradise is to remain competitive.
Staff training is essential if people are to continue to be efficient members of Shoppers Paradise. It will help employees achieve maximum efficiency in their current jobs and will help Shoppers Paradise meet its targets for developing and keeping people with the right skills to meet future needs, and balance the needs of the individual with those of Shoppers Paradise.
Many people will move to other jobs, through promotion, redundancy and into new employment. As a result, employees will need to continually update their skills.
Shoppers Paradise's training performance is revealed as a diagram on the next page:
Actual performance Desired performance
Current level of skill Required level of skill
Current level of knowledge Required level of knowledge
Training is aimed at bridging the skills gap
(Source: Marcousé, I. Gillespie, A. Martin, B. Surridge, M. & Wall, N. Business Studies for AS Second Edition. Hodder and Stoughton. 2001)
Shoppers Paradise's personal development can also be illustrated in the following flow diagram shown below:
(Source: Needham, D. & Dransfield, R. Advanced Business. Heinemann Educational Publishers. 2000)
An example of Shoppers Paradise's training and development programme from its Excel Training Pack is clearly laid out on the following two pages:
(Source: Lewis, R. & Trevitt, R. Business for Vocational A Level 3rd Edition. Stanley Thornes Publishers Ltd. 2000)
Shoppers Paradise's Training Methods and Activities
Examples of the following training methods and activities used by Shoppers Paradise are:
> Induction Training - employers use induction training as a means of introducing new employees to Shoppers Paradise and ensuring that they have the necessary information and skills to perform their tasks to the required standard. Induction training can help Shoppers Paradise minimise labour turnover among new recruits by ensuring that they are made to feel welcome and are fully aware of what the job entails. Induction training provides new employees with information about Shoppers Paradise's policies and objectives, future career opportunities and pay, training and fringe benefits. It also includes health and safety, Shoppers Paradise's structure and layout, the requirements of the job and colleagues and managers.
Good induction training programmes successfully balance the amount of information that needs to be conveyed with the length of time employees can sustain their concentration. Shoppers Paradise makes the vast amount of information it needs to convey more digestible by varying the means in which it is communicated. It can develop an imaginative programme by using a combination of face-to-face discussions and printed material, such as Shoppers Paradise's handbooks.
> Mentoring - this involves a trainee being 'paired' with a more experienced employee and Shoppers Paradise both develop good working relationships between employees and to provide employees with the opportunity to learn new skills. The trainee carries out the job but uses the 'mentor' to discuss problems that may occur and how best to solve them. Employees are allocated with a mentor, usually an older or more experienced existing employee, whose role is to advise and answer their concerns. The employee benefits from advice on issues, such as career development and managing change. The mentor benefits from an increased sense of responsibility and the opportunity to pass on their personal knowledge.
Mentoring is regarded as a cost-effective and less time-consuming training method because external trainers are not usually required. Mentoring schemes are less disruptive than off-the-job training method because employees continue to perform their everyday tasks as they learn.
> Coaching - this involves regular informal meetings between a manager and an employee, which allow discussion of the employee's performance in relation to the achievement of any objectives or targets. These informal performance assessment sessions enable a manager to identify an employee's strengths and weaknesses.
Managers should not use coaching solely as a means of criticising employees for their lack of progress or mistakes. Coaching sessions should be positive and employees should be encouraged to discuss any current problems with their manager. During the coaching session managers and employees should work together to identify potential solutions to any problems. Employees should be encouraged to explain the reasoning behind any solutions that they propose to use and managers should offer advice on possible implementation of the solutions. The employee and manager should work together to formulate a plan of action for the employee's future development.
Coaching provides managers with a means of both assessing an employee's suitability for promotion and analysing the way an employee has coped with any additional responsibility of extra authority. In order to be effective, coaching sessions should be properly structured. The manager's counselling and coaching skills clearly affect the success of any coaching programme and managers should be encouraged to develop their skills if necessary. In order to maximise employee motivation and confidence, the manager should not simply issue instructions and make decisions on behalf of employees. Instead, the manager should fully explain any proposals they make and they should encourage employee participation.
> In-House Training - this is where Shoppers Paradise has its own training department and takes place when employees are trained while they are carrying out an activity, often at their place of work called on-the-job training. It also provides employees with training and development using resources within Shoppers Paradise. In-house training is used to when the skills that an employee needs to acquire or the nature of the task that needs to be performed are not too complex. The trainee is placed in the actual working environment and uses the same materials and equipment that they will be required to use once the training has been completed. On-the-job training is beneficial to Shoppers Paradise because the trainee is not being taught in the environment of a training establishment and then expected top perform the same tasks and use the skills they have developed on different machinery and equipment in the real working environment.
The success of in-house training is dependent upon the teaching skills of the instructors. These may be supervisors or experienced employees. Instructors need to possess good communication skills and be able to break down by explaining and prioritising each section of a particular task. It is vital that instructors are able to devote a sufficient amount of time to the training programme and that they do not appear bored with their job role. Instructors should offer trainees encouragement and practical criticism to keep them motivated.
> External Training - this is where employees are sent on external courses or are trained in other ways, away from Shoppers Paradise. It always takes place off the job. This can be internally within Shoppers Paradise or externally using outside trainers. Shoppers Paradise engages in a great deal of internal off-the-job training.
Explanations of the Importance of Performance to Shoppers Paradise
Once an applicant has passed all the stages of being interviewed and short-listed, they get hired. They need to understand the rules and regulations of the workplace. The applicant might need to undergo training. The training and development programme is a very important process for Shoppers Paradise. This is because Shoppers Paradise is increasing the number of skilled workers and this in turn will make Shoppers Paradise have a more efficient workforce. A skilled workforce also means a more knowledgeable workforce. This is because the workers have more knowledge of what they are doing and they have been trained appropriately, according to their tasks.
Over time, these employees will work faster and their attitude towards work will change, as they are more familiar and faster with the tasks they have to carry out. This will be shown as a result of their ability to sell the products and manage the departments, for example, Shoppers Paradise's customer service department can be improved and an effect of this could be more loyal customers who enjoy the service provided before and after sales.
Different types of training methods, including induction, refresher courses, on going on the job and off the job are all important because without good continuous training, performance will suffer. The management of performance is helped through record keeping of employee needs and skill weaknesses, which will enable managers to devise a relevant training programme to improve performance.
Training is important to Shoppers Paradise because they want efficient and effective staff that are competent. If they are not competent, Shoppers Paradise will incur complaints from customers and other staff. Costs will become higher if they leave or are fired and need to be replaced.
Training can also help staff to make them more efficient at their jobs and also adapt any changes that might occur to Shoppers Paradise, as a result of a change in products, the law and terms and conditions.
Managers fulfilling specific training needs with the view to increase levels of performance put training programmes into place. For example, during appraisals, employees should be encouraged to identify their own training needs as a way of managing their own performance.
Shoppers Paradise organise training and development for many reasons. It allows employees to achieve and reach new targets. It keeps employees motivated and feel valued, so there are more better to do a job and are less likely to look for employment, which would reduce costs for Shoppers Paradise, in terms of recruitment and high staff turnover. A training and development programme is introduced at Shoppers Paradise because it motivates employees and increase job satisfaction, thereby reducing staff absenteeism and turnover. This results in employees being better trained and skills being improved so output and quality can be increased. It reduces wastage and accident rates by creating a consistent performance across the workforce and develops the skills of existing employees, which puts Shoppers Paradise in a better position to cope with labour shortages. It also establishes the most effective and efficient working methods, in order to maximise productivity and remain competitive and reduces employees' resistance to change, deriving from the introduction of new equipment and the application of new technology.
On the other hand, there are costs to providing Shoppers Paradise's training and development programme. This is because it is very expensive to train people. It is also time consuming because people have to go and get trained. This will disrupt the schedule of the existing and trained employees. This might make Shoppers Paradise short of staff on a particular time. This is why Shoppers Paradise's training and development programme needs to be effective and efficient.
The resources devoted to training can create substantial costs. It is important that training needs are correctly identified and the desired standard of skill is established. The training programme needs to be administered efficiently and evaluated. The results achieved by employees that have received training should be compared with the standard of performance it was hoped to achieve.
Shoppers Paradise's Purpose of Performance Management
Shoppers Paradise needs to manage the performance of its employees effectively if it is to remain competitive. It also needs to ensure that its employees are performing effectively. It will wish to identify areas that are unsatisfactory and it may wish to find areas where employees need to be trained and developed. It may also wish to encourage and reward good performance with performance-related pay in the form of bonuses or pay increases. This means that there must be effective management control exercised at both individual and organisational level. Shoppers Paradise's performance management explains how they could improve and what more they could do by using some skills and talents they are not currently using.
A range of processes and techniques need to be in place, which allow individual employees to know how well they are doing and for managers to be able to monitor how well their subordinates are performing. Performance monitoring provides information, which is of value for identifying future training or promotion opportunities and areas where insufficient skills or knowledge could be deemed a threat to an employee's efficiency.
Shoppers Paradise's performance management process can be presented as a circular diagram shown below:
(Source: Glew, M. Watts, M. Surridge, M. & Merrills, S. Business for Vocational A Level Second Edition. Harper Collins Publishers. 2000)
Ways of Checking Shoppers Paradise's Performance
> Raising Employee Motivation - Motivation describes the extent to which an individual makes an effort to do something. Shoppers Paradise are likely to improve performance, in terms of productivity, attendance rates, cooperation and quality, if they can find ways of increasing the willingness of their employees to make even greater efforts at work. This may be achieved through a variety of ways, which are all aimed at increasing an individual's job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction is achieved through the working environment and is influenced by factors, such as target setting, responsibility, independence, teamwork, interaction and achievement. Motivation may be generated by a pay increase, by promotion or simply by the status and satisfaction associated with possessing new skills and using the most up-to-date machinery and equipment. Managers at Shoppers Paradise use both financial and non-financial means to motivate employees. In doing so, they hope to minimise labour turnover, attract new recruits and create an effective, productive working environment.
Employee satisfaction can be clearly summarised in the following process:
(Source: Glew, M. Watts, M. Surridge, M. & Merrills, S. Business for Vocational A Level Second Edition. Harper Collins Publishers. 2000)
Employee satisfaction can also be satisfied by an individual's needs:
The employee may Set up discussion with The employee feels The employee may be
need to be involved in management about goals as if their opinion and willing to work longer
decisions to feel wanted and working practices. contribution is valuable. hours or take more
and recognised as responsibility.
important to Shoppers
Paradise.
(Source: Setton, A. Class Notes. 2003)
> Performance Reviews and Appraisals - an increasingly important way of getting feedback on employee performance is through appraisal. Appraisal may be closed, in which the report remains confidential. More usually the process is open, in which case the appraisee takes an active part in the review process and discusses the results.
The appraisal essentially looks at what an employee's job is, how well it is being performed and at what action should be taken for the future. An example of Shoppers Paradise's staff appraisal form is shown below:
SHOPPERS PARADISE'S STAFF APPRAISAL FORM
Name:
Your next appraisal will take place on: Date: Time:
The purpose of the appraisal is to enable you to discuss your job performance and future with your manager. It will aim to establish:
> main purpose of your job in the coming year
> agreement on your objectives and tasks
> your training needs and future prospects.
What have you accomplished over and above the minimum requirements of your job description in the last 12 months?
List any difficulties you have in carrying out your work. Were there any obstacles outside your control which means you could not do your work effectively?
How is your:
> timekeeping?
> Absence rate through sickness?
> Dress code?
What parts of the job do you:
> Do best?
> Do less well?
> Have difficulty with?
> Not enjoy?
How do you think you relate with:
> Other staff?
> Other senior staff?
> Your employer?
Have your skills, knowledge or abilities not being used fully in your job?
What are they and how can we use them?
What training have you had this year?
What aspects of this training have you been able to apply to your job?
What training needs do you have which would enable you to do you job better?
How do you see your career progressing?
Action agreed with targets and dates
Signed Supervisor
Signed Member of staff
Date
(Source: Setton, A. Class Notes. 2003)
Linking Performance Reviews and Evaluations of Training and Development
It is important to stress that the process of appraisal and other forms of evaluation should be closely linked to training and development. This is a two-way process.
If Shoppers Paradise is to achieve its objectives, it is essential to train and develop its people so they are best able to support Shoppers Paradise in working towards objectives. At the same time the individual needs to have the opportunity to be able to communicate his or her own personal development needs to Shoppers Paradise through appraisal or personal development planning schemes.
Ways of Improving Shoppers Paradise's Performance through Motivation Theories in Practice
A number of management theories have been put forward in an attempt to explain the nature of motivation and suggest ways in which it may be improved. The influences of the following motivation theories and ideas on the way in which Shoppers Paradise manage their employees can be clearly identified. These include:
Abraham Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs'
Maslow suggested that classes of needs could be placed into a hierarchy. The hierarchy is normally presented as a pyramid, with each level consisting of a certain class of needs. He believed that motivation comes from a desire to satisfy needs. He placed these in a hierarchy with basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid and higher needs at the top. The lower order needs are satisfied before higher order needs come into play, for example hunger is satisfied before social needs.
Maslow's theory consisted of two parts. The first is concerned with classification of needs. The second is concerned how these classes are related to each other.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs was illustrated in the following pyramid structure shown on the next page:
SAFETY NEEDS
(clothing, shelter, protection from physical discomfort)
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
(satisfying the basic needs of hunger and thirst)
(Source: Lewis, R. & Trevitt, R. Business for Vocational A Level 3rd Edition. Stanley Thornes Publishers Ltd. 2000)
Maslow identified the needs mentioned above. Maslow believed that human beings need satisfaction to motivate them. These are the stages that the humans go through to satisfy and motivate them to meet their needs.
Shoppers Paradise's performance management can explain what training needs and ambitions they have, for example promotion and transfer. Maslow's motivational theory explains this because staff need to feel valued with self-esteem, feel part of a community and need to develop their full potential with self-actualisation.
The following table shown on the next page clearly indicates the meaning of each of the stages in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the relevance to Shoppers Paradise:
Meaning of Each Stage
Relevance to Shoppers Paradise
> The Need of Meeting and Wanting to Achieve their Purpose
The employers are giving empowerment to the staff to work as they wish and how they wish to carry out their tasks. Employees are given job challenges and are being promoted and given more responsibility. They are also able to achieve their full potential by getting promoted to a higher position, as they can manage and aspire to something new.
> The Feeling of being Wanted
The employers provide employees rewards when they have completed a project or task given to them. Some types of rewards could be a raise in their salary, or a promotion in the workplace. This makes employees being given recognition for doing a job well. It also makes them feel valued that they are doing something worthwhile and using their abilities and talents effectively.
> The Feeling of Love and Belonging
The employees are working together with other colleagues that support them at work in teams. These include social outings or events and sport facilities. This makes them feel part of a greater community with common values and ethos and also feel wanted by coming to work the next day.
> The Need of Safety and Security
This is what makes the employees feel safe and secure at work. This ensures that the employers have a good and safe job. This is providing protection at work, job security, health and safety procedures and security of employment.
> The Need of Primary Needs
This is providing food in the canteen, warmth by heating and shelter by providing a safe working environment indoors. It allows employees wages to be high enough to meet weekly bills and receive breaks from work. Money is needed to provide employees with a decent standard of living as a basic need.
Frederick Herzberg's 'Two-Factor Theory' and its Relationship to Maslow
Shoppers Paradise can also be related to Herzberg's two-factor theories. These two factors are hygiene factors and motivators. The motivators consist of reasonable pay, satisfactory working conditions, achievement trusted with responsibility and benefit packages such as sick pay and pension schemes. Without these, people are dissatisfied, but they alone do not lead to job satisfaction or provide motivation. The second factor is hygiene, which consists of responsibility, challenge, self-improvement and rules and regulations. These provide job satisfaction and minimise dissatisfaction of employees.
Shoppers Paradise's policies can be directly related to Herzberg's theory of motivation factors. This is because all the staff are given individual tasks. This gives them a sense of achievement. Shoppers Paradise also have a policy of giving rewards to staff when they have done an excellent job or tackled difficult tasks. This means receiving recognition for excellent work and the effort they put into their work. They also make the work challenging and interesting. One way of achieving this is by having mystery shoppers. This is when the directors of Shoppers Paradise send unknown employees to judge how the staff respond and cope with a problem or a customer who is a problem maker.
All staff in Shoppers Paradise are trusted and have the responsibility of looking after finances. This could be by operating the till or transporting money from the shop floor.
Shoppers Paradise have many job fairs. This is extremely helpful to all staff because it gives employees an opportunity to see what promotion opportunities are available.
Shoppers Paradise also takes account of Herzberg's theory of hygiene factors. All staff in Shoppers Paradise are given rules and regulations that must be met on induction day. The wages and salary level of employees are a bit higher than the average pay. This is because Shoppers Paradise wants to attract students to work inside the superstore. The reason for this could be because they are less expensive than graduates and adults and most of the students are under 18 years of age, so they receive £4.50, as the employees over 18 are paid £5.00 per hour. As Shoppers Paradise is a large and well-known superstore, there are many applicants who are under 18 and are trying to earn some money as they are working.
Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation factors and hygiene factors was illustrated in the following diagram on the next page:
Sense of achievement
Chance of promotion
Chance of improvement
Recognition of effort
Motivators Factors which
motivate Responsibility
Nature of job itself
Pay
Conditions
Company policy
Hygiene Relationships with higher
Factors Factors which need levels of the hierarchy,
to be met to prevent such as management
dissatisfaction. Will
not motivate in themselves Treatment at work
Inability to develop
Feelings of inadequacy
(Source: Setton, A. Class Notes. 2003)
By looking at Maslow's and Herzberg's motivation theories, Herzberg's theory is the main motivation theorist, which can be directly related to Shoppers Paradise. The main reason for this is because Shoppers Paradise offer employees rewards by giving them discount vouchers, gifts, promotions and bonuses. These are some of the motivation factors of Herzberg. Maslow's hierarchy of needs can also be used in relation to Shoppers Paradise. This is because they treat employees as individuals, not the same.
Maslow's lower order needs correspond with the hygiene factors in Herzberg's two-factor theory. The higher order needs of esteem and self-actualisation correspond to Herzberg's motivators.
The Relationship Between Shoppers Paradise's Training and Development Programme and its Management Performance
Douglas McGregor's 'Theory X and Theory Y'
Shoppers Paradise provides training to all its employees whether they are on the shop floor or not. This training is usually given when employees are first recruited. Shoppers Paradise provides tasks and instructions to individuals or groups if they are needed. This is then assessed to see how tasks are handled and where staff can improve for the future. This is also a type of assessment and training for employees. This can directly be linked to McGregor's Theory of Management Style X and Y.
The two dimensions identified by McGregor are clearly shown in the following table shown below:
Theory X
Theory Y
> The average person is lazy and has an inbuilt dislike of work.
> Work is a natural activity and can be enjoyable.
> Most people have to be persuaded, controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to achieve goals.
> People will willingly apply their skills if committed to organisational objectives.
> Security of environment is important.
> Their commitment should be recognised and rewarded.
> The average person will avoid any form of responsibility and needs good supervision to carry out work satisfactorily.
> Personal development is very important and additional responsibility will be welcome.
(Source: Bywaters, R.G. Evans-Pritchard, J.E. Gillman, L.F. Glaser, A.J. & Mayer, E.Z. Vocational A Level Business Compulsory Units. Pearson Education Ltd. 2000)
If the applicants are trained to work hard and they do not get praised or do not feel any love and belonging, then the management style is similar to McGregor Theory X. This is also similar to the hygiene factors and if these are poor, the motivating factors would not work. This is why Shoppers Paradise tries to become a Theory Y manager, instead of being a Theory X manager. This is what will make the workers work harder.
If employees have Theory X attitudes but their managers expect Theory Y attitudes, the resulting delegation and involvement is likely to produce poor quality output and misdirected effort. Managers who use Theory X approaches with groups wanting to operate on a Theory Y basis will find that output and morale will again be badly affected.
Clearly, Theory X and Theory Y workers will react in contrasting ways to different management attempts to increase motivation. The manager's role is to determine which approach and style should be adopted, in order to satisfy the needs of workers. For example, the Theory X employee is more likely to respond to financial inducements, the Theory Y employee would be stimulated by job enrichment. Job enlargement, job rotation and quality control circles.
Training and development helps to increase performance by increasing employee skills and levels of motivation. Managers can assess employees' performance against targets set through training activities and can include further training if necessary into individual training programmes.
As Shoppers Paradise has a well-structured training and development programme, the way Shoppers Paradise develop their staff is by making them more understanding and more aware of what is happening around them. This is completed to make sure Shoppers Paradise's aims and objectives are fully met. For example, when a sales person from the shop floor is trained at helping the customers in finding exactly what they want and making a sale, they have to make sure that staff know what is inside the superstore, such as the latest food labels and fashion trends. This is performed so that they have a positive effort and attitude towards their work.
TASK 5
> Human Resource Planning
> Recruitment and Selection
> Training and Development
> Performance Management
5.1.1
From the four HR functions listed above, it will require an exploration of one function in depth, giving effective examples of how the work is carried out and how its contribution to the activities of Shoppers Paradise is evaluated. (E6)
Shoppers Paradise's Recruitment and Selection Function
As Shoppers Paradise's head office do most of the recruiting, Shoppers Paradise does not have much responsibility on recruiting people.
Recruitment and selection at Shoppers Paradise is a very important process of finding and choosing from a wide possible selection of applicants. This is carried out to find out the best people to meet the task for Shoppers Paradise. The way Shoppers Paradise advertises for the correct staff with the correct qualifications and work at the right place at the right time. This is achieved by advertising on newspapers and their website. If Shoppers Paradise are recruiting internally then they put the advert on the staff noticeboard or even word-of-mouth.
Shoppers Paradise's recruitment and selection process can be clearly illustrated in the following stages shown below:
(Source: Moynihan, D. & Titley, B. Vocational A Level Advanced Business Second Edition. Oxford UniversityPress. 2001)
When Shoppers Paradise are recruiting, they have to plan and make sure that they find the right person for the job. This can be a very costly process occurring to the post being offered. If there is a post open for a shop floor sales person who sell products on the shop floor, then the cost of this would not be as much as a person who is wanted to fill the post of a general manager. This would also cost more than the other post. This is because a general manager has more responsibility and they need to be more experienced and have more knowledge of what they are doing. This process would cost from approximately £100 to £10,000, according to the post being offered.
If an unsuitable applicant is taken aboard the team, this can disrupt the whole of that department or even affect other departments in a higher position. If a person is employed to fill the post of a performance manager and the applicant is not able to do the job and carry out the tasks needed, then this would again disrupt other departments and cost Shoppers Paradise a large sum of money. If the performance manager does not help to maintain the performance of Shoppers Paradise, then this can heavily affect the training and development function. This is because the performance of Shoppers Paradise will drop dramatically and the training and development department will be affected. Another reason for this is that they would need to work harder to train the employee and some of the employees at medium or high position posts might decide to resign from Shoppers Paradise.
If this happens, the recruitment and selection team would be under pressure to find a new experienced and well-suited person to fill that post. This can be an extremely long process to carry out. This will also cost Shoppers Paradise money, which would have been avoided if they found and recruited the right person for the job.
The recruitment process can vary according to the post open. Shoppers Paradise must be aware of internal and external conditions and constraints, such as the potential labour pool, to recruit members of staff. There are many advantages and disadvantages for employing internally or externally at Shoppers Paradise.
When Shoppers Paradise wants to fill a vacancy they create a job description. This document consists of a job title, job location, duties and responsibilities and who they report to.
If Shoppers Paradise are not recruiting internally then they will prepare a job advertisement. This may appear on newspapers and the Internet. A great deal of effort is put in to designing a job advertisement. This is because it is particularly important that the correct conditions are adhered to when applying for the job. The advertisement includes a job title, type of work involved, job location, qualifications and experience required and working hours. When designing the advertisement has finished, Shoppers Paradise must advertise the job that is being offered.
In addition, Shoppers Paradise can advertise internally on the staff noticeboard. A member of existing staff can fill in the job details. The advantage of this to Shoppers Paradise is that they will be fully aware of the employee's capacity and ability. This will become cheaper and a faster method of filling in a vacancy.
However, if Shoppers Paradise does not find a suitable candidate for the job internally, then they will have to advertise externally to the general public. Shoppers Paradise use various methods and places to advertise jobs, such as newspapers and their Internet website. Once they have completed this process, the applicant has to fill out an application form and send a C.V. after reading the advertisement. If the job is being offered internally, an interview is carried out. The advantages of an application form for Shoppers Paradise are that it gives a good idea of the individual applicant and demonstrates how suitable the candidate is for the job. It is also a form of personal record and it can be a legal importance in the contract of employment.
The next phase is to choose a suitable candidate for the job by carrying out an interview. Some of the applicants would not be called for an interview because their application form or C.V. is written badly, the applicant's qualifications and work experience may not have been suitable for the job.
On the other hand, if candidates are successful and qualified for an interview, they will be called in. If the interviewers are happy then they will arrange for that specific candidate to be short-listed and he or she will be called back again for another interview.
The second interview allows Shoppers Paradise to make judgments on the applicant's personality and how well the applicant communicates. This is also used for checking the information with the application form, by what the applicant is saying. This also allows the applicant a chance to find out more about Shoppers Paradise. For example, they can ask questions about working conditions, working hours, pay and training methods.
After all the interviews have been completed, a decision needs to be made on whom to select for the job. The interviewers must compare the information obtained from each applicant and decide on the most suitable person for the job. In the interview, there is one person who is from the human resources department and the department the job was open for. The interviewers must compare their notes before they decide to appoint a person for the job.
The next stage is for successful applicants receiving a contract of employment. Once an applicant has been suited for a job, he or she is sent a letter to confirm the appointment. This is what sets out the employee's statutory legal rights and regulations of Shoppers Paradise superstore. The conditions will cover aspects such as name and address of the employer and employee, date employment began, job description and job title, level of pay and when they will receive their pay and holiday entitlement.
The final step is employees benefiting from induction training. This is because a new employee needs to have been introduced to their new working environment. This is prepared to make the employer more familiar with new surroundings. The employees are introduced and welcomed to their new work colleagues. They are told how Shoppers Paradise is organised and are given discussion talks by relevant departmental managers and are also taken on a guided tour of the store to clearly identify where fire exits, staff canteens and toilets are situated.
5.2.1
To help management understand the essential role of HR to Shoppers Paradise, it has been asked for a coherent explanation of the contribution that effective HR management can make to improving the competitiveness of the business. (A2)
The human resources department is a support function. This is the most important support function in Shoppers Paradise. This is because without this department Shoppers Paradise would not be able to exist. This department is used to make great improvement and help Shoppers Paradise be competitive by controlling the employees within Shoppers Paradise, as everyone knows that the employees make Shoppers Paradise. By providing training to the staff they can improve their customer service, which is able to help the customers of Shoppers Paradise. As one of the main aims of Shoppers Paradise is to provide the best possible customer service as they possibly can, this allows Shoppers Paradise to become more competitive.
The importance of workforce planning at Shoppers Paradise is that it will need an overall workforce or human resources strategy. In achieving this, human resource management works very closely with other departments to ensure that Shoppers Paradise is employing people with the right skills at the right time. The workforce plan information can be used to evaluate the likely effects on labour turnover, the implications for recruitment, expected training requirements for existing and anticipated new staff and the probable effects on morale and labour relations. Effective human resource management emphasises that people are Shoppers Paradise's key resource due to their flexibility, creativity and commitment. Human resource planning can therefore improve the competitiveness of Shoppers Paradise.
Effective human resource management can become cost-effective by training or monitoring performance and providing opportunities for employers to develop skills and knowledge have costs of courses, training and materials or resources. This also includes staff absence or time away from regular workplace, which can result in staff cover. This needs to be cost-effective. This means that the benefits need to outweigh the costs. The potential benefits needed for effective human resource management are a better-motivated workforce, which reduces staff turnover and less costs of recruiting and training new staff. For example, before targeting staff turnover of 20%, after training turnover of 10% mean that this would be measurable and quantifiable success. This results in an increase in profits and Shoppers Paradise becoming more competitive. Other benefits include good working relationships, which increases goodwill and loyalty and a more productive workforce, which results in increased outputs and profits, enabling Shoppers Paradise to become more competitive.
Effective training will improve the competitiveness of Shoppers Paradise, as well as improving its productivity and service to customers. Training costs less in the long run than recruiting fully trained workers from outside Shoppers Paradise. Recruited, fully trained employees tend to leave much sooner than employees Shoppers Paradise has trained itself. Training creates the 'right attitude' in employees and 'attitudes' are often just as important as knowledge and skills. The long-term benefits of training outweigh the short-run costs for all sorts of reasons, such as higher morale, higher skill and knowledge levels, lower labour turnover and reduced recruitment costs. Improved efficiency results from savings from material costs due to reduced wastage, improved delivery performance, improved quality, reliability and range of products or services to customers and a more flexible workforce. Many employees are keen to encourage in training because they see it as adding to their own motivation and enjoyment of work.
Labour productivity is a major influence in improving Shoppers Paradise's competitiveness and one way of avoiding recruiting additional staff is to get more from the existing workforce. Although human resource management argues that to Shoppers Paradise, people will be concerned with improving the workforce's cost-effectiveness, which they do by measuring its productivity. This is an important factor of Shoppers Paradise's improvements of competitiveness. The more productive Shoppers Paradise is, the lower its unit costs and the more price-competitive it will be. The faster productivity grows, the less need there will be to appoint new staff, therefore saving substantial costs.
Effective management of people can mean different things in different circumstances. Decisive leadership is a key factor of effective human resource management. At other times careful planning and good organisation are other key factors. Effective management of people comes from a boss who has the experience, the foresight and the skills to ensue that staff feel confident and prove competent or better in their day-to-day tasks.
5.3.1
An evaluation of the potential conflicts which may occur between the different HR management activities within Shoppers Paradise's business. (A3)
There are many potential conflicts happening inside the workplace at Shoppers Paradise. One major conflict is performance-related pay (PRP). This can cause a great deal of discontent amongst the workforce because despite the enthusiasm employees have shown for it; employers have rarely been able to provide evidence of the benefits of performance related pay.
The Institute of Personnel Management concluded in a report that:
"It was not unusual to find that organisations, which had introduced merit pay some years ago were less certain now of its continued value... it was time to move to something more closely reflecting team achievement and how the organisation as a whole was faring."
(Source: Marcousé, I. Gillespie, A. Martin, B. Surridge M. & Wall, N. Business Studies for AS Second Edition. Hodder and Stoughton. 2001)
This quotation has pointed to a basic problem with performance-related pay. Rewarding individuals does nothing to promote teamwork. Furthermore, it might create unhealthy rivalry between managers, each going for the same merit pay spot.
Among other problems for performance-related pay systems are whether the incentives are large enough to motivate and keep costs down. Noticeable fairness or unfairness affects staff because they often suspect that those awarded the maximum are being rewarded not for performance but out of favouritism. This may damage working relations and team spirit at Shoppers Paradise. Another major problem with performance-related pay might depend whether staff have a sound basis in different human resource management activities and that performance can sometimes be difficult to measure. This is especially true in parts of the service sector. Some critics argue that factors beyond an employee's control, such as the breakdown of machinery, could affect their performance. Critics also argue that performance-related pay categorises employees as good or bad performers and this can have a de-motivating effect upon those who fail to achieve their targets.
However, the point illustrated above is a key assumption behind performance-related pay in that the chance to be paid a bit more than other employees will result in a change of individual behaviour and increased motivation to work. There are possible reasons why Shoppers Paradise could continue to follow performance-related pay systems. It makes it easier for managers to manage and control their staff and managers see financial incentives as a good way to motivate employees. Performance-related pay is also a highly attractive system for encouraging staff to work towards Shoppers Paradise's objectives. This is a usual method to establish targets for each member of staff and management at an appraisal interview and at the end of the year discuss the individual's achievements against those targets. Those with outstanding achievements are given a pay rise or bonus. Performance-related pay rewards good performance, so it should motivate employees to work harder.
In evaluating the potential conflict of performance-related pay, it can lead Shoppers Paradise's sales staff to oversell goods or services, which may cause customers huge difficulties later on, such as questionable investments. Also, within the workplace, serious problems can arise. Bullying to 'motivate' staff into working harder or creating a culture of overwork, which leads to stress.
Its effects are not always clear. If it is not appropriate for all situations, it can be difficult to assess performance and it can be decisive. It seems that assessing overall performance and sharing the rewards motivates people more.
An example of Shoppers Paradise's performance-related pay can be expressed in the following table clearly shown below, by identifying guidance to managers:
Review Grade Awarded
Pay Increase (Per Cent)
Outstanding
2
Superior
8
Standard
5
Learning
2
(Source: Needham, D. & Dransfield, R. Advanced Business. Heinemann Educational Publishers. 2000)
The scale of percentage increase might vary according to the employees' current position in the pay scale, which is larger for those at the bottom end of the scale and smaller for those nearer the top. The reward for those already at the top of their salary band should be promotion. If that is not possible, they might be awarded a lump sum, for example a bonus that, unlike other financial rewards, is not part of their salary.
To overcome these problems, managers need to consult with employees and ensure the targets they set are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. This is commonly known as SMART objectives.
Another potential conflict affecting the workplace at Shoppers Paradise is motivation. This seems to affect employees' personalities because people start abusing work inside the workplace and often people who get promoted and exercised by this are not dealing with their job role properly. Challenging senior management can also cause conflict. Conflict can be a negative aspect, depending on the employees you have and issues within the workforce. For example, when two teams are competing against each other head to head and win, it is wonderful for Shoppers Paradise, but by becoming a competitive business, enough money is not given to Shoppers Paradise. This starts causing conflict inside the workplace at Shoppers Paradise.
On the other hand, the point mentioned above will allow people to keep alert and eager for them to perform well in competition with other countries. Another factor of overcoming conflict on motivation is that by more employees moving up more levels in the hierarchy will mean that they will progress to giving authority to the workforce. Lower levels in the workforce are the most important people in Shoppers Paradise because they have customer contact, so it is important that they are well motivated and fee they can start progressing up the scale. The middle tier includes supervisors and middle managers, which makes Shoppers Paradise's organisational structure more organised.
This will result in fewer people at the top dealing with day-to-day management issues than people under them. Senior managers will be able to concentrate on strategic planning, rather than tactical planning. It will also allow employees to have a 'feel good factor', which will enable them extending their job roles and people who are eager to obtain new jobs to get further promotion. Shoppers Paradise's human resources management try to exercise and stabilise the workforce by performance management activities, such as assessing people and keeping them motivated every time.
In evaluating the conflict of motivation, most managers assume they understand human motivation, but they have never studied it. As a result, they may underestimate the potential within their own staff or unthinkingly cause resentments that worsen.
The process of managing people takes place in every part of Shoppers Paradise. By contrast, fewer people need to know the financial concept of gearing in their working lives, so a lack of knowledge of gearing is not vital. However, lack of knowledge in motivation has exceptionally widespread effects. In some cases, ignorance leads managers to ignore motivation altogether. They tell themselves that control and Shoppers Paradise are their only concerns. Other managers may see motivation as important, but fail to understand its subtleties.
Fortunately, Shoppers Paradise's management of motivation is treated with respect. Shoppers Paradise knows that quick fixes are not the answer. Successful motivation in the long term is a result of careful job design, employee training and development, honesty and trust. It may be possible to supplement this with an attractive financial reward scheme, but money will never be a substitute for motivation.
Although motivation can cause some conflicts, it can also be healthy and desirable because it creates competition and can encourage creativity and encourage better management decisions.
Areas of conflict can also arise from training in the workplace at Shoppers Paradise. This is because training might not be delivered in most effective ways, by not being fairly carried out amongst employees. This can result in equal opportunities not always being carried out effectively, due to specific cases. Also, over-skilled training given to employees may not be sufficient at required level and existing employees are carrying out training at basic standards. Training can become extremely boring and monotonous for employees who already know the job role quite well. Employees working part-time may feel that training wastes valuable time and is very time-consuming. This is the case because there is high staff turnover for part-timers, which leads to employees not benefiting for them and they will feel unhappy with their jobs, therefore will not want training.
Employees being trained in another way where Shoppers Paradise deals with it differently can also cause conflict. This will lead to not enough training being given and insufficient training given for the job. If training is given, it could become difficult by making the person feel undervalued and not coping very well with the level of work being delivered. Poor working relationships with the trainer and trainee can become a key difficulty and if there is too much demand on the employee performing well, it puts a lot of pressure on the employee.
If Shoppers Paradise chooses not to train its workforce it will be faced with additional recruitment costs. This is because when new skills are required existing employees will have to be made redundant and new people employed with the right skills or experience.
Untrained staff will not be as productive or as well motivated, as those who are trained. They will be unable to deal with change because their skills are specific to the present situation. There may be more accidents in the workplace if the workforce is unskilled. In addition, employees are less likely to know and work towards achieving Shoppers Paradise's aims and objectives.
Managing people effectively is the single most common factor that links Shoppers Paradise. Once managers start to think of people as 'human resources', they are on a slippery slope towards hiring and firing staff as casually as they might buy or sell raw materials or shares. In Shoppers Paradise the staff feel that human resource management are 'them', not 'us'. This is because human resource managers may have been responsible for contracting work to outside suppliers, causing redundancies or they may have set up performance-related pay systems that force staff to do tasks they do not wish to do or even disapprove of.
Sunir Pindoria
Human Resources Coursework
