POWER, INFLUENCE AND CONTROL:
- Who do HR report to
POWER, INFLUENCE AND CONTROL:
- Who does HR report to
HR, reports directly to the Chief Executive of the company as opposed to Finance or an Administrative Function as shown in appendix A and C, so it has more control and influence. As the HR Director sits on the management board HR is on everyone’s agenda.
The HR function is also influenced by external factors, as identified by the PESTLE analysis (see appendix D).
- Who are the Stakeholders
With reference to the stakeholder map in appendix E, both external and internal stakeholders are seen as having a stake in HR’s time and activities. Internal stakeholders such as directors, shareholders, management, employees and customers have an important influence on what the HR function should be doing and how it should be doing it.
ROLES OF HR:
HR’s different roles include taking an Executive and Advisory role by making decisions, taking appropriate action, advising managers and employees on the disciplinary, capability, performance and employment law issues and being Educational by passing on HR expertise.
According to Martin and Jackson (2005) HR’s administrative role “consists of maintaining procedures and operating systems” (Martin & Jackson, 2005, p.20) to deliver administrative efficiency in the way work is organised and implemented.
Armstrong (2006) states HR’s role is to provide services covering all aspects of human resource management to all employees which includes employee relations, employee reward, staff welfare company benefits, health and safety,.
HR acts as an auditor by monitoring equal opportunities are available to all individuals, policies and procedures comply with legislation and are carried out consistently and correctly by line managers (Armstrong, 2006).
HR works closely with the business to make change happen by facilitating the process. According to Ulrich (1997 cited in Armstrong, 2006, p 55) “one of the key roles of HR professionals is to act as change agents, delivering organisational transformation and culture change”.
HR acts as a mediator between management and its employees to settle disputes, resolve issues and reconciling differences.
HR represents management in negotiating and bargaining with the union, with employees when implementing policies, introducing new working practices (Gennard and Judge, 2002 cited in Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005) and with companies administering staff benefits.
Another role of HR is to be seen as a co-equal professional, being proactive in leading new initiatives by delivering business improvement through people, and in delivering training and coaching sessions.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF HR:
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Corporate planning/strategy/direction/policy/organisation design/human resource planning
The above responsibilities are executed at head office in order to take the organisation forward and support the company’s objectives of securing a competitive advantage. This involves the HR
Director and senior HR mangers in planning and devising its strategies closely in the direction of the business plan for the next 5 - 10 years. Policies are regulated and put in place to meet statutory requirements and then rolled out across the HR departments in the different trading divisions. HR works with management in redesigning the organisation to maximize its effectiveness to the business.
- Recruitment and selection of staff of the right calibre
HR assists departments in the recruitment and selection process ensuring they comply with best practice and statutory regulations. This includes interviewing, job descriptions, advertising, tests, and referencing.
- Health, Safety/Welfare/Employee Services - improving quality of working life
HR uses external companies to provide health, safety and welfare activities and employee services such as counseling via the employee assistant programme, occupational health services, VDU eye care vouchers, pension scheme, flexible and affinity staff benefits. HR also organises Christmas/retirement parties and staff well being days.
- Remuneration/pay administration/queries
HR provides payroll which is based at head office with all remuneration data that includes P45/P46, bank details for new starters and sick pay calculations before payroll deadline for employees to be paid on time. All inputting of employee’s details and changes to the HR database are done by payroll. HR submits changes through an electronic form via the HR intranet for payroll to make amendments. HR would deal with all pay queries for its employees. HR conducts the annual salary review process and benchmarking exercises.
- Financial control of wage costs and budgets
Head office HR has financial control of wage costs and budgets. HR compiles statistical reports on a monthly basis, which indicates headcount and costs for department managers to review.
HR keeps employee details on the HR database “Trent” which includes employee’s basic details, previous employment history, qualifications, membership with professional bodies, emergency contact details, sickness and absence records. The same records are kept on file as a hard copy with their CV and interview notes on site in the HR department. Employee letters etc are also saved on the computer and a hard copy in their personal files as well.
All corporate HR communication comes from head office and is forwarded by HR to the employees of its trading division. In addition, HR sends out relevant employee communication as required with the approval of the RAH Director. All HR policies and procedures are on the HR intranet and accessible to all employees.
- Employee relations/union negotiations
HR provides advice to employees and line managers regarding employee relations and acts as a mediator and facilitator. Senior HR Manager’s at head office deal with all union negotiations and tribunals.
- Performance Management- appraisal
HR guides managers on performance management and the appraisal system. Managers conduct the appraisal system, which is linked to the annual bonus and salary rise, and submit their final scores every January to HR. This is signed off by head office senior HR manager for payroll to process in March.
- Handling employee discipline/Handling complaints and grievances
HR advises employees/managers on company policies with regards to disciplinary, complaints and grievance procedures. HR acts a mediator and assists in the process to ensure managers comply with company policy and statutory requirements. For advice and guidance HR uses ACAS, CIPD and Croner’s helpline numbers and consults senior HR managers as well.
- Dealing with termination of employment through employee resignations, retirements, redundancies and dismissal
HR deals with calculating retirement, redundancy, holidays, any loans owed such as season ticket loan and final pay. This information is submitted via a leaver form to payroll. HR writes to confirm the termination in writing advising employees of their final day, pay, P45 etc.
- Providing employment advice and information (legal expertise)
HR provides only basic advice and information on employment law. For legal expertise/advice company lawyers and external employment lawyers are consulted.
- Providing terms and conditions of employment to new employees
HR provides new starter packs to new employees, which includes the terms and conditions of their employment, which state the offer is subject to satisfactory reference, medical, passport check and the employee signing the contract agreeing to the terms and conditions within 14 days.
- Managing changes in working arrangements
HR gives advice to employees on changing working arrangements. All requests need to be authorised by their line managers before HR submits the relevant revision form and issues the contract amendment letter.
- Handling staff promotions and transfers
HR advises managers on handling staff promotions, transfers and secondments. HR submits the form to notify payroll of the changes and issues contract amendment letters to notify the employee in writing regarding their promotion, transfer and secondment which they need to sign and return a copy to HR.
- Planning, designing, delivering and evaluating Induction and Training
Head office training and development team plans, designs, delivers and evaluates all corporate training courses, for which HR is responsible for submitting training nomination forms for employees. RAH Training department plans, designs, delivers and evaluates induction and training programme for their new starters which includes HR giving a new starter information presentation, followed by Health and Safety talk by Facilities and an introduction to the company presentation by management.
CONCLUSION:
This investigation shows HR complies in most areas and has a professional HR function in place. The report concluded all the statutory requirements are being met and best practice is being followed. However, HR falls short in delivering regular HR workshops, coaching sessions and in conducting exits interviews. The department is in need of a comprehensive HR operating procedure manual for consistency in how different tasks are performed
There appears to be duplication on how and what HR keep on employee records, which leads to inefficiency of time and costs. As argued by Ulrich (1998, cited in Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005, p 134) ”improving efficiency will build HR’s credibility which, in turn, will open the door for it to become a partner in executing strategy”.
HR should be more involved in recruitment and should not just assist departments in recruitment and selection activities. The current recruitment and selection methods need to be evaluated as staff turnover statistics reveal failure in bringing in the right calibre of people in the call centre.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The above investigation has highlighted the following recommendations to improve the HR function.
1) Integrated electronic filing system
Moving towards a paperless filing system by having an integrated electronic staff filing system linked to the HR database will reduce time, costs and duplication of record keeping. Electronic staff folders for each individual can be created on the computer and additional employee documents can be scanned and saved on the employee’s electronic files.
2) Delivering regular HR workshops and coaching sessions
Due to limited resources in the department, currently this is not feasible. Authorisation for an additional part-time staff needs to be gained for the team to deliver regular HR workshops and coaching sessions.
3) HR Guide Manual
HR guide manual will prove beneficial for new and existing HR staff as they can make references to the manual to achieve a more consistent approach.
4) Conducting exit interviews
HR conducting exit interviews will give the employee an opportunity to express their views and real concerns in a confidential arena with HR. This will help in understanding the reasons for employees leaving
5) HR being more involved in recruitment and selections activities
Departments need to authorise recruitment and selections activities with HR first. HR to coach management on best practice for recruitment, selection and interviewing techniques to ensure the correct candidate is selected. Call Centre Recruitment Coordinator’s reporting lines need to be changed to report directly into HR so HR can influence the recruitment and selection process.
Hence, for HR to provide a good quality service which meets its employees and business needs it needs to proactively design cost effective, well-constructed processes, cross-train HR team and establish better methods of running the service.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES:
Allianz (2008) ‘Allianz Insurance plc – About Us’: Allianz [online]. Available from: <http://www.allianz.co.uk/aboutus/index.htm> [Accessed on 18th October 2008]
Armstrong, M. (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. (10th Edition) London: Kogan Page
Dessler, G. (1999) A Framework for Human Resource Management. (3rd Edition) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hannan, A. (2008) ‘Managing the Personnel Function’, BAP0603FRUA2T: HR plans and HR context [online]. Available from: <> [Accessed on 6th October 2008]
Hannan, A. (2008) ‘The HR function and the business context’, BAP0603FRUA2T: HR plans and HR context [online]. Available from: <> [Accessed on 18th October 2008]
Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2005) Human resource management at work: people management and development. (3rd Edition) London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Martin, M. and Jackson, T. (2005) Personnel Practice. (4th Edition) London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.