Boots, therefore, will keep statistics on both minor accidents at work (i.e. ones however minor that involve some form of first aid) and accidents that have to be reported to the authorities under RIDDOR. Accident statistics relating to particular industries and organisations can then be collected nationally. In addition, Boots and other organisations will want to keep internal statistics to make sure that undesirable trends do not occur. In the course of time Boots will want to see accident rates falling.
Accident rates can be calculated simply as a number of accidents per year within a chosen unit (team, firm, industry etc). In calculating accident rates in a particular industry or firm, the most accurate method is to calculate the statistics according to each employee working in the industry. This is because some industries employ far more people than others and because the numbers employed change over time.
Statistics for age, skills and training
As earlier explained in the report, Boots 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 Boots in order to cover those who are leaving. The human resource planner will also want to make sure that skill levels are rising within Boots and that training programmes are devised to make sure people have the skills to meet the job requirements. If all of Boots’ skilled workers are just about to retire, then the company is quickly going to have to spend money on training to build up a new pool of expertise.
Succession
Succession is the way in which one person follows another into a particular job or role within a company. Boots needs to make sure it is grooming people to take on the responsibilities required. If it does not do this, it will suddenly find itself with a vacuum where it has not developed the appropriate positions of responsibility and the company will be missing the right people in key positions to hold the organisation together.
The external labour market
This is a market of potential employees for Boots or any particular organisation to choose from when recruiting more workers. The employees are usually listed locally, regionally or nationally whom have the skills and experience required at a particular time.
The national labour market
When Boots examine the supply of the labour market, a number of factors need to be taken into consideration:
- Trends in size/characteristics of the working population
- Competition for labour
- The overall level of economic activity
- Education and training opportunities
- The effect of government policies
Trends in the size/characteristics of the working population
The one factor that will definitely affect the human resource department of Boots is the changes in the age distribution of the UK population. To meet their human resource requirements, the company now have to look further afield when recruiting new staff, as there is now fewer school leavers and young workers available for employment. This may involve recruiting more women to balance out the organisations male to female ratio or more elderly employees to gain that further experience into the workforce.
Competition for labour
Persons of specific qualifications such as ICT may be offered more attractive wage packages than other members of Boots’ workforce, as the competition for recruiting these rare potential employees is high. In other words – Organisations compete with each other by offering potential employees with rare qualifications high wage packages.
The overall level of economic activity
The demand for employees can be determined by whether the economy is in a boom or recession period. If there is a high demand for goods and services Boots’ productivity will increase along with sales and profit. More demand for the products or services leads to a higher demand rate for employees. If the unemployment rate is at a low, the economy will be at a high. However, this factor can make it extremely difficult for human resource planners to recruit the right sorts of employees with the correct sorts of skills.
Education and training opportunities
With higher education opportunities evermore increasing – young people are seeking to gain more qualifications in order to advance to a higher paid occupation. Because over recent years the level of higher education opportunities has grown the level of skilled workers coming into the labour market has decreased. Young people appreciate the need for higher skill levels in order to compete in the job market.
The effect of government policies
Government legislation can affect the labour market in a number of ways. The government provides incentives to organisations to employ and train people. Where such incentives are available, they will reduce the costs of labour and therefore have implications for human resource planning.
The lifelong learning in this country (and in Europe) has meant the general skill levels of the working population have been improving. With new courses such as the AVCE (Advanced Vocational Certificates in Education) and NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) being taken by an increased amount of people has led to a rise in skill level in the economy. The reasons for this happening is that the curriculum in schools make it a necessity for pupils to attain the required grades in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills for the future of the economy.
By giving organisations incentives to recruit young people and the unemployed, the government has given the economy a high increase in the supply of labour.
Local employment
For Boots and many other organisations, the state of the local labour market is as significant as what is happening nationally or regionally. Boots need to know about the supply of labour in the locations where they are operating. The company needs to know about current and future supply trends.
A report published in December 2000 showed that it is a gross simplification to think of the UK simply in terms of north-south divide. The report showed that a more accurate picture is of a relatively prosperous south with pockets of poverty and a relatively less prosperous north with pockets of prosperity. In the jobs market the gaps between regional unemployment rates in 2001 were lower than they had been for over 20 years, but the south-east had far lower employment (3.7%) than the north-east (10.1%). The south-east also had the highest proportion of its working-age population in employment, the lowest proportion of the UK workforce with no qualifications and the lowest proportion claiming benefits.
These sorts of statistics are essential to a business organisation such as Boots in understanding local supply conditions, and are looked upon into more detail further on in the report. Further information is provided by local employment offices and job centres, which hold details of unemployment figures of their particular areas.
Local employment trends
Local employment levels give an indication of the general availability of labour and suggest whether it will be easy or difficult to recruit. It is also important to find out more about which organisations in a locality have been laying off workers. Often, 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 or transferable skills that could be applied to similar work.
A study of local 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.
Local skills shortages
Within any area at one time, 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. The wages of people in the skills shortages areas will be rising and there will be competition to recruit and retain these scarce employee.
Where a local shortage occurs, employers will often seek to advertise and recruit in other areas, regions or even countries. This is why, for example, there are many doctors from over seas working in both private practice and for the National Health Service in the UK.
Boots 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 local employers in the same industry to support local school, college and university courses that train people the skills required for these specific industries.
Competition for employees
Boots 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. See below:
Availability of labour
The amount of labour in a particular area 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 an organisation such as Boots may need to develop its own systems to make sure it is easier for people to undertake the journeys, e.g. a work bus. With 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 will depend on such factors as the age distribution of the local population (although this tends to follow national patterns), attitudes to women working and the extent to which young people stay on at school, college or go on to higher education.
How Boots would use local labour market information to recruit a supervisor
If Boots found that it needed to recruit an office supervisor externally, after finding that the company did not have the suitable candidate(s) internally, it would need to use relevant local labour market information. Boots would need to research the following:
- The size of the working population of the UK
- The size of the working population of Cumbria
- Age breakdown of Cumbria’s workforce
- Gender breakdown of Cumbria’s workforce
- Employment status of Cumbria’s workforce
- Unemployment trends within Cumbria and also Nationally
- Qualifications of suitable people within Cumbria
- Number of people staying on at school Nationally
- Skills shortages within Cumbria
- Wage rates within Cumbria and also Nationally
1. The size of the working population of the UK. Unfortunately this was unable to be found after much research.
2/3. The age structure of the population working age in Cumbria, from 1997 to 2010.
Source: Cambridge Econometrics, 1997
The current workforce of Cumbria is estimated to be 228,000. Cumbria’s workforce declined by an estimated 1,700 or -0.7% during the period 1991-1997. The male workforce declined during this period (-3,400 or –2.6%). Females economic activity grew during the same period (+1,600 or 1.6%).
4a. Male workforce change 1997 – 2010
Source: Cambridge Econometrics, 1997
4b. Female workforce change 1997 – 2010
Source: Cambridge Econometrics, 1997
5. Total employed in Cumbria broken down into full-time, part-time and self-employed workers.
Source: Cambridge Econometrics, 1997
Total employment in Cumbria is forecast to grow during the period up to 2010, full time employment male and female is expected to decline. This is largely a result of its concentration in manufacturing industries.
Total female employment is expected to rise largely as a result of its concentration on part-time employment. Part-time employment is expected to rise, growth will be based in service industries particularly retailing and hotel and catering. Self-employment is also expected to increase.
6a. Unemployment in the UK (000’s)
Unemployment levels have being decreasing steadily in the past 9 years as you can see in the chart and graph above. Unemployment in the United Kingdom has reached its lowest level in twenty years. This is good news for the economy and the prosperity of the workforce, but low employment brings with it the risk of skill shortages.
6b. Regional Unemployment
The levels of unemployment in each region change dramatically. Below you can see the percentage of people unemployed in each region of the UK.
Source: Labour force survey (June – August 2000)
The North East is the highest with mines and ship yards going out of business.
7. Qualifications of suitable people in Cumbria
In the above table shows what percentage of Cumbrians have the qualifications specified in the chart. The highlighted area shows what qualifications are needed to become an office supervisor.
8. Full-time and part-time pupils in school in the United Kingdom
From this chart you can see that the number of pupils in school has increased dramatically in the last ten years. This means there should be more young people with qualifications.
The number of students in full-time education (all ages) is 1,065 thousand. Below is a chart breaking this figure down into countries. You can see that England has by far the highest number of students in higher education. This is mainly because England has the largest population. The number of students staying on in higher education has increased.
This means that there are less young people available in the labour market. This means there will not be as many young people available for the Cumberland to employ.
9. Skills shortages
The table above shows the different types of occupations people of Cumbria have/had in 2000. The highlighted area indicates the percentage of Managers and administrators there were/are in Carlisle and Cumbria. This is the area Boots would look into when recruiting an Office supervisor. It is clear that there are skills shortages mainly in Technical and Professional occupations in Cumbria.
10. Annual earnings in Cumbria compared with other county’s/cities – 1999
Above shows the annual earnings of four major cities’ employees compared with Cumbria’s. It is highlighted how much an Office supervisor got paid in the year 1999. An Office supervisor in Cumbria was almost just as well paid as another Office supervisor in any of the other major cities except for London. However, in London the standard of living was and still is much higher than the standard in Cumbria.
Implications of Human Resource planning within Boots
Human resource planning will affect both the business and the employees that work in it. There are likely to be some benefits to workers but also some problems.
Motivation, training and support
Employers of Boots will attempt to motivate workers and make sure they are satisfied in the workplace. This may be in the form of rewards such as bonuses or other incentives or non-monetary incentives, such as job design.
Employers may also benefit from training and support. For example, ‘Marks & Spencer’ employ counsellors for employees, giving advise on areas such as how single parent families cope. Perhaps a learning curve for Boots to help increase competitive advantage?
Flexible work practices
Boots have always wanted workers to be flexible as possible. In the past this has meant paying overtime for extra hours worked, or higher rates ‘shift’ work.
Faced with competition, Boots are trying to use their existing employees more effectively. Sometimes this can benefit the employee. A single woman with a child may be able to work between the hours of 9am to 3pm each day while her child is at school. Working flexible hours could mean an employee may take time off for personal reasons and still work their required number of hours a week.
Training may also be given to workers so they become multi-skilled – able to switch from one job to another if needed. This example of job rotation may lead to the employee being more motivated. From Boots’ point of view, an employee that can change jobs may prevent the need to have temporary staff to cover for illnesses etc. and so to reduce labour costs.
A flexible workforce
Increasingly Boots are looking to make plans that allow the business to respond to changes. For example, if a large unexpected order arrives, Boots will need workers that can ‘get it out on time’. Using a flexible workforce will enable Boots to react effectively to changes that take place outside the business. Examples of workers that Boots may use are as follows:
- Part-time employees, such as cleaners, who only work a few hours a day
- Temporary employees, to deal with increases in demand
- Office temporary workers to cover for illness etc
- Self-employed workers, such as management consultants etc
- Job sharing, where two workers are employed to do a full-time job that may have been carried out by one person in the past
There are both benefits and disadvantages to these types of employee. On the one hand, a single mother may be able to find work at a convenient time and job sharing could mean employment for two people instead of unemployment for one of them. However, part time workers may be paid less and may be entitled to fewer employment rights than full-time workers. The position of flexible staff is often a source of industrial relations problems for Boots and other businesses and may lead to conflict with trade unions.
Recruitment, redundancy and redeployment
If Boots is aiming to expand production it may employ extra workers. However, when a plan calls for reduction in staff then redundancies often follow. Cuts in staff can be achieved in a number of ways.
- It may be possible to lose some workers through natural wastage. This simply means that employees that leave the business are not replaced.
- Boots may ask for voluntary redundancies where workers agree to leave the company and are compensated for their actions. The company could offer early retirement to workers close to the compulsory age (65 for men and 60 for women).
- Compulsory redundancies may take place, if there is no longer enough work for employees.
Workers may also be re-deployed within Boots. Although the worker will have to adjust to a new work environment, this should not be too difficult with induction and training. Redeployment to another part of the country, however, is more of a problem for employees.
Part 2 - Recruitment & Selection
Successful organisations such as Boots pay attention to accurate methods of selection and this helps to avoid them being swamped by unsuitable applicants each time a job is advertised. The whole process can be very time consuming and expensive unless it is carried out in a systematic way. The main steps in the process can be identified as:
Need for vacancy
Recruitment a process to attract suitably qualified candidates for vacant positions
Attraction
Reduction
Selection a process which uses the appropriate method to select, appoint induct effective employees
Selection
Induction
Transition
Each year people will voluntarily leave a firm and this number cannot be accurately
predicted. The human resource manager will look at an historical analysis of the last three years and estimate that similar numbers will leave again this year. To some extent this will give a reasonable assessment of the number of resignations likely to take place but it will not indicate the specific jobs that will be left vacant. In addition, the economic climate also affects these numbers.
- In times of affluence, people move around the job market freely, attracted by a new challenge or different benefits.
- In times of recession, people stay in jobs in order to maintain their lifestyle and level of income.
In either case, the wrong calibre of candidate may be attracted if the advertisement is not worded effectively and application documents are not prepared that sort out the most suitable candidates. The starting point of the process will be “Does this vacancy need to be filled?” and the answer to the question more times than not is “Yes”. If the answer is “Yes”, then the process can be proceed. Sometimes an analysis of current requirements will produce a ‘No’ response and the job will be lost from the departmental allocation.
Why recruit staff?
Boots will recruit staff for a number of reasons, which include:
- The growth of the business
- Changing roles within the business
- Filling vacancies created by resignation, retirement or dismissal
- Internal promotion
The growth of the business
When Boots grows in size it will probably need more people to carry out existing jobs and new jobs. When existing jobs are being expanded, human resource specialists simply need to copy existing practice on a larger scale. In creating new jobs more detailed thought is required, particularly if the jobs are quite different from those that already exist within the company.
Changing job roles within the business
In recent years Boots have changed their job structure. In particular, the country has seen the decline of many routine, standardised jobs. Increasingly, employers have sought to develop new jobs involving information and communications technology, and which involve ground-level employees taking more responsibility for decision-making through empowerment.
Developing new jobs requires considerable research, often by examining best practice in an industry or by looking at the development of new jobs in other countries, particularly the USA.
Filling vacancies created by resignation, retirement or dismissal
In many organisations people move on, and this is no exception with Boots. People get older, they hand in their notice or they are dismissed. In most cases it is necessary to replace the employee. However, the manager responsible for recruitment has to decide whether the firm wants a carbon copy of the previous job holder or whether the job has moved on, requiring new skills and competence’s.
Internal promotion
In Boots there will be opportunities for internal promotion. Internal promotion gives an employee something to aim for in the organisation, rather than looking elsewhere. When one person is promoted, it is often necessary to replace him or her.
Attracting potential employees
External changes in the environment can play a big part in the recruitment process for Boots.
The recruitment and maintenance of a flexible workforce is vital for Boots if it wants to stay competitive. In recent years, the general composition of the workforce has altered to create a demand for more flexible working practices, such as flexitime, multi-skilling (that is employees trained in a variety of tasks) and job sharing. (As discussed earlier).
A flexible workforce can be organised with core workers and periphery workers.
EXTERNAL EMPLOYEES
p
PERIPHERAL EMPLOYEES
CORE EMPLOYEES
The diagram above shows that a business can be split up into 3 sections of a circle. The outer rim of the circle represents the “external employees”. These workers are not employees of Boots but are, for example, agency temps, workers in contracted-out services and the self-employed.
The inner rim represents the “periphery workers”. These are the employees that are short-term temporary and part-time, who receive less favourable pay, conditions and benefits.
The centre circle represents the “core workers”. Core employees are ones who are multi-skilled (i.e. educated and trained to do a variety of job tasks), who work full time and who receive good pay, conditions and benefits.
Getting the recruitment process right
The recruitment process can be very costly. It takes a great deal of time to set up an effective recruitment process. This involves deciding on what the jobs that are to be recruited for will entail, advertising, sifting through applications, checking which applications best meet the criteria set down for the post, interviewing candidates and, finally, selecting the best candidate for the post.
Waste and inefficiency can be very costly to any organisation. If Boots were to advertise a job for a retail assistant and managed to get 100 applicants, by sifting through the application forms they may be in danger of choosing the wrong employee. The personnel of Boots would probably cut the 100 applicant forms down to 10 by eliminating, from their point of view, the most unsuitable employees for the job. But by doing this Boots could eliminate the best applicant, therefore, it is possible that the personnel may have to do the whole process all over again if that the applicant they do choose for the job is unsuitable.
Reasons for Boots to recruit more workers
The business may be expanding and more branches could be on the agenda in a new location.
One part of the business may be in need of new workers – employees may be leaving because of retirement, dismissal or resignation making way for more jobs.
Boots may need to be restructured or reorganised which will create many more jobs for people in the business.
The Boots company strategy in recruiting employees
The Boots company offers recruitment programmes for general entrance, and schemes focussed on school leavers and graduates. The company looks for various qualities in potential Boots employees. In addition to academic ability, it looks for people with extra-curricular abilities such as interpersonal ability and team-making skills.
In addition to the requirements of individual positions, the boots’ graduate scheme also requires applicants to fulfil three key criteria:
Leading the thinking – See the big picture no matter how complex; offer and stimulate new ideas and turn complex issues into clear strategies.
When have you looked for and found solutions beyond the obvious?
How radical have you been?
In what ways have you challenged received wisdom?
How do you manage ambiguity?
How logical are you in your approach?
Leading the pace – Understand and focus on the important, drive to deliver better performance and be decisive in a crisis.
Can you prioritise, focusing on the important issues and dispensing with others?
Do you regularly achieve standards that you set and which are beyond those expected by others?
When do others rely upon you to make things happen?
Leading the team – Act as a catalyst driving for results and restlessly to win.
Do people enjoy working with you, do you create a buzz?
How do you influence others even when the cause looks lost?
Have you been able to get good results from difficult people? How did you manage it?
The selection process relies on application forms, interviews and selection centres. The company now operates competency-based interviews. This is the process whereby applicants are asked to back up statements in interview with examples of personal experience, thus providing real evidence of their capabilities.
How would Boots recruit a part-time sales assistant?
The following information shows how Boots would externally recruit a “Part-time Sales Assistant”. These are the most vital aspects that the HRM of Boots have to analyse when recruiting and selecting a part-time sales assistant or any other employee:
- Job Analysis
- Job descriptions
- Person Specification
- Job advert
- Letter of application (received)
- Curriculum Vitae (received)
- Interview
- Job Evaluation
Job Analysis
This is the first stage for recruiting an employee. Information may be gathered by the managers of Boots by questioning the job holder (who will be retiring or resigning) or observing the job holder at work. The information gathered is carefully recorded and analysed. Further information might be obtained through discussions with the job holder’s manager or supervisor. The job analyst compiles a description of the main responsibilities of the job by asking:
- What are the main tasks of the job and how often do they need to be completed
- Are any specialist technological skills required to do the job
- What mental processes are required to do the job
- Is the job holder required to take decisions and use initiative
- What are the limits of the job holder’s authority
- Is the output from the job a part or a whole
- Does the job holder have to work with others, or control the work of others
- What are the required performance standards and how are they measured?
Job description
When the job analyst has gathered all the information from the job analysis then he/she can put it into a summary report setting out what the job entails. This summary report is usually known as a job description. It contains two types of information: it describes the tasks of the job and it describes the behaviour necessary to actually do these tasks satisfactorily.
A job description usually consists of:
- General information Job title
Position within the business
Job summary
- Job content information Tasks involved
Purpose of tasks
Methods involved
Other duties
Responsibilities
- Working conditions Physical environment
Social environment
Economic environment
- Performance information Criteria for measuring performance
The job description has several users:
- It can help Boots tell candidates for a job what is expected of them
- It helps personnel officers decide on the qualities the successful candidates must have
- Once a candidate has been appointed, it can be used to gauge whether an employee is doing his/her job properly
- Disputes about what work an employee has to do can also be settled by reference to the job description.
The job description allows the person interested know what is expected from him/her and allows the person to know whether he/she fits the criteria.
An example of a job description can be seen in the appendix.
Person specification
Sometimes known as a personnel profile – the person specification describes all of the attributes and skills required to do the job in hand to the satisfactory standards. For example, in Boots’ mission to require a part-time sales assistant, the HRM would need to specify clearly in the person specification whether or not the employee had to have special ICT qualifications in order to work a till. Boots would specify this sort of information in one of six categories shown in the person specification – as known as the six-point plan. Basically the six-point plan is listing the requirements under broad heading:
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Physical make-up. What should the job holder look and sound like
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Achievements. What education, qualifications or work experience should the applicant have
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Specific skills. What special skills and talents are needed by the applicants
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Interests. What kind of hobbies or past-times should be required of the applicant.
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Personality. What motivation and temperament and attitude should the applicant have
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Personal circumstances. What personal and domestic arrangements might the ideal person have?
An example of a person specification can be found in the appendix.
Job advert
Job advertisements form an important part of the recruitment process. Boots is able to communicate job vacancies to a selected audience by this means. Most job adverts are written (or at least checked) by the personnel department, task involving the same skill as marketing a product. Adverts must reach those people who have the qualities to fill the vacancy.
The nature of the advert will depend on the following:
- Who the target audience is – potential managing director, supervisor, operatives etc
- Where the advert will be placed – on a noticeboard within the workplace, in the Financial Times, at the local job centre etc
Job advertisements therefore take many forms, according to current requirements. Good adverts contain at least the following information:
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Job title. This should form the main heading, possibly in bold print.
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Job description. This should highlight the major requirements of the job in a concise format.
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Organisational activities and marketplace. There should be a brief description of the environment in which the organisation operates.
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Location. Applicants need to know the location of the organisation and the location of the job (which may be different).
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Salary expectation. Figures are not always necessary, but an indication of the salary level should always be given.
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Address and contact. This should appear, with a telephone number if appropriate.
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Qualifications. Certain jobs require a minimum entrance qualification, which should be clearly stated.
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Experience. This should be quantified, as it will have a bearing on the expected salary level.
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Fringe benefits. The advertiser may wish to mention a company car, a health insurance scheme and so on.
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Organisational identity. This may be in the form of a logo (or simply the name of the organisation).
A good job advert, while providing prospective candidates with helpful information, also helps to discourage applications from people who do not have the required qualifications for the job.
The presentation of the advert is very important as it gives prospective employees a first impression of the organisation.
Letter of application
The title pretty much speaks for itself when describing what a letter of application is. Basically, a letter of application is a letter that an applicant would send to an organisation when interested in a job on offer. In this case, the applicants for the part-time sales assistant would send their letters to Boots after seeing the advert for the job. Along with the letter of application the employees would send their Curriculum Vitae (CV).
An example of a letter of application can be found in the appendix.
Curriculum Vitae
A Curriculum Vitae (CV) shows a person’s achievements, hobbies, interests and past-times. A CV is a vital ingredient to recruiting the best employee – in this case the best part-time sales assistant. Below shows an example of a CV that could be sent with the letter of application to Boots’ HRM sent by an applicant enquiring about the job of a part-time sales assistant on offer.
Once Boots’ HRM have evaluated the letter of application of the applicant they can decide whether or not he/she is suitable for the job. If they are then a letter of an invitation to an interview will be sent to him. If he/she isn’t then a letter of consolation is sent by Boots’ HRM. But in this case let’s say the applicant does qualify for an interview, this is the next stage of the recruitment process.
An example of a CV can be found in the appendix.
Interviews
Interviews are the most vital stage of the recruitment process for Boots and the potential employee. This short time of contact with Boots can give the business representatives a lot of information about how the potential employee looks, behaves, talks and basically how well he or she comes across as a person. That’s why it is so important for the potential employee to dress appropriately and talk with confidence when answering any questions set to him/her by the interviewer(s).
Most people have had at least one experience of being interviewed prior to employment. Few people enjoy interviews either! Often this is because the interviewer comes across as being more interested in finding faults with you than finding out the good things. This is sometimes to see if the interviewee is sharp, intelligent and someone who can cope with pressure. Some of the interviewing techniques (used by the interviewer) will show which applicant is the most strong minded out of all the potential employees. For example, the interviewer may decide to ask the applicant to take a message from a person on the phone pretending to be a business consultant of the company or an upset customer. This sort of technique can indicate to the interviewer how well spoken or articulate the interviewee is, how well he/she copes under pressure and whether he/she deals with the “phone call” in the appropriate manner expected by the organisations standards.
The personnel department of Boots is usually involved in interviewing, both in carrying them out and helping managers to adopt good interview practice. By following certain guidelines, the business hopes to employ the ‘right’ person for the job. It also aims to carry out the interview in a way that is fair to all candidates. These guidelines might include the following:
The interview should allow information to be collected from candidates, which can be used to predict whether they can perform the job. This can be done by comparing replies with the criteria that successful applicants should have.
Boots should give candidates full details about the job and the organisation. This will help them decide whether the job would suit them.
The interview should be conducted so that the candidates can say that they have had a fair hearing. The interview, has however, been criticised as not always being an effective ‘tool’. Some of the main criticisms are:
- Interviewers often decide to accept or reject a candidate within the first three or four minutes of the interview, and then spend the rest of the time finding evidence to confirm their decision.
- Interviews seldom change the initial opinion formed by the interviewer seeing the application form and the appearance of the candidate.
- Interviewers place more stress on evidence that is unfavourable than the evidence that is favourable.
- When the interviewers have made up their minds on the candidate very early in the interview then their behaviour betrays their decision to the candidate.
- The problems with these criticisms are that they do not solve the problems, only identify them. No matter what other means of selection there may be, the interview is crucial. If it is thought to be unreliable, it should not be discarded. Boots must simply make sure they carry it out properly.
Carrying out the interview
There are a number of factors, which would be taken into account when carrying out the interview. The interview should be conducted around a simple plan and be based on a number of questions against which all candidates will be assessed. It is also considered good practice to prepare suitable place for the interview, such as a warm, quiet, ventilated room. The interviewer should also ensure that the candidates have a friendly reception and are informed of what is expected of them.
The average interview usually takes around thirty minutes. The interview plan organises the time to cover the important aspects in assessing applicants. The plan must be flexible enough to allow the interviewer to explore areas that may come up during the interview.
Boots can follow a simple strategy of what the interviewer should do and what the interviewer shouldn’t do before and during the interview. The interviewer should always try and make the applicant comfortable by maybe asking him/her whether they had an easy journey to the building or whether they are warm enough in the interview room. This sort of behaviour can put the interviewee at ease in order of seeing the real side of them.
Listed below are some of the ‘do’s’ that an interviewer representing Boots should adopt:
- Introduce yourself to the candidate
- Adopt a suitable manner, show respect to the interviewee and be friendly
- Make sure the interview is not interrupted
- Conduct the interview at an unhurried pace
- Have a list of questions that need to be asked
- Encourage the candidate to talk by using ’open’ questions such as;
- “Tell me about your present or past job”
- “Do you believe that………”
- Concentrate on those areas not fully covered by the letter of application
- Be alert for clues in the candidate’s answer, problem where necessary, and be more specific in the questioning if you are not satisfied
- When the interview has ended, make sure the candidate ha no further questions and let the candidate know when the decision will be made
- Write up your assessment notes as soon as the interview has finished whilst the information is still ‘fresh’ in your mind
- Prepare for the next interview
The interviewer will have gained a great deal of information from the interview. It will help the interviewer to have a checklist of the criteria used when assessing candidates. Below shows two possible lists – “Rodger’s 7-point plan” or “Munro-Fraser’s 5-point plan”.
The interviewer can make notes about candidates next to each criterion of the lists and compare the information with the person specification after the interview, to decide if the applicant is suitable.
Rodger’s 7-point plan Munro-Frasor’s 5-point plan
Physical make up Impact on others
Attainments Qualifications
General intelligence Innate abilities
Special aptitude Motivation
Interests Emotional adjustment
Disposition
Circumstances
Job evaluation
This is the part where Boots’ HRM will evaluate each and every one of the job applicants. It will evaluate how well the applicant spoke, dressed and came across in the job interview. Also letters of application and Curriculum Vitae’s (CVs) will be evaluated on how well the applicant can write and by looking at the CV the HRM can see which applicant has the best qualifications and most ideal interests, hobbies, and past-times for the job.
Boots would be able to tell whether the chosen candidate for the job was the correct selection by assessing whether the company’s aim had been achieved. However, selection can be very costly to Boots. For example, if Boots were to send out application forms to candidates the cost of postage has to be paid for and Boots may have to pay for travel expenses for candidates’ journeys to interviews.
Staff will also have to give up time to carry out the interviews. For example, if 10 people were interviewed for three posts by Boots, but only one applicant was suitable, selection may not have been effective. In this case Boots would have to re-advertise and interview other candidates as two posts would be unfilled. Boots’ Human resource department’s role would be to check all stages of selection to find out where problems had arisen. For example, when short-listing, a suitable candidate may have been ‘left out’. At an interview a possible candidate may have been rushed, so he/she was not given the chance to do their best.
In the appendix shows forms that Boots would use when assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each applicant:
Legal factors
It is now illegal for Boots or any other organisation to specify sex, marital status, colour, race, nationality or disability in any job advertisement. These laws were brought in by the government due to the Sex Discrimination Act (1975 and 1986), the Race Relations Act (1970), and the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). An Industrial Tribunal is available for people who feel that they have been discriminated against by any organisation, for example, during an interview. This Industrial Tribunal can award damages if it feels that a person has a fair case of being discriminated against by an organisation.
Another “Act” that can be looked upon as discrimination by an organisation is the Equal Pay Act (1970). This implies that men and women must receive equal pay if the work that they do is the same or similar.
Boots have always followed the laws of the Sex, Race Relations, Equal Pay, and Disability Discrimination Act’s so not to cause a confrontation between the company itself, the person(s) discriminated against and the Industrial Tribunal. They always deploy a system where by such discrimination acts are followed.
Evaluation of recruitment documents
Unfortunately it was not possible to gain any recruitment documents from Boots. After many contacts via telephone and e-mails the examples of documentation was not sent and therefore is not available to evaluate. In the appendix shows examples of all documentation that Boots’ HRM would use to recruit and select candidates.
Strengths and weaknesses of the recruitment documents
Strengths:
Allows the applicant to understand what is required from him/her
This type of document helps the applicant realise if he/she is suitable for the job.
Allows the applicant to understand what is from him/her
This type of document helps the applicant realise if he/she is suitable for the job.
Helps the business obtain a well qualified candidate
Enables the business to find out the weaknesses of the applicant. It also helps the business find out the strengths of the applicant. This will help the business make a decision efficiently.
Good method of assessment allows the business to find out more details of the applicant.
Weaknesses:
An applicant might cover all of the requirements but one requirement, because he/she does not cover certain factors such as age, whether single, married or whether mobile or not. This might let the applicant feel that they can not fill the position required. Therefore this document should cover necessary and unnecessary requirement next to each requirement so the applicant will understand which requirement is essential and not essential.
The job description does not state any matter about if they are able to take disabled people. This is because if the applicant is interested in the job position and later on finds out that this person is not suitable for the disabled, then the applicant can be disappointed.
This form of assessment should be given back to the applicant so that the applicant can find out where he/she did not do well.
Part 3 - Training and Development
What is training?
Training includes all forms of planned learning experiences and activities designed to make positive changes to performance and other behaviour. Learning is generally defined as a ‘relatively permanent change to behaviour that occurs as a result of practice or experience’.
Below show all the different types of training:
Traditional training. Training to promote learning of specific facts and content, which enable improvements in job performance, such as technical skills training.
Education. The act or process of acquiring knowledge, skills and understanding, usually in school, college or university.
Vocational education. Somewhere between educational training and traditional training (e.g. apprentice training).
Management training. Activities designed to improve managerial competence.
Organisational development. Activities designed to change the way in which individuals operate within an organisation (e.g. to help them to work better with the changing culture of the organisation, perhaps through teamwork development).
What is development?
Development approaches the individual and his or her motivation from a different angle from that of training. While training is typically concerned with enabling the individual to contribute to meeting the objectives of Boots better, personal development is more concerned with enabling individuals to develop themselves in the way that best suits individual needs. The two, it is hoped, will come together. By helping individuals to develop themselves, they will be more inclined and better able to contribute to helping Boots meet its objectives. Below shows a diagram to represent this:
Boots
Objectives
The individuals
Training
Planned learning experience to enhance the individuals motivation
Development
Identifying & helping the individual to meet their own need & requirements
Why adopt training and development?
Boots organise training and development programmes for many reasons. For example, training and development programmes may be introduced to:
- Motivate employees and increase job satisfaction, thereby reducing absenteeism and labour turnover
- Reduce wastage and accident rates by creating a consistent performance across the workforce
- Develop the skills of existing employees to cope with labour shortages
- Establish the most effective and efficient working methods in order to maximise productivity and remain competitive
- Reduce employee’s resistance to change, perhaps deriving from the introduction of new equipment and the application of new technology.
The resources devoted to Boots’ 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 the Boots employees that have received training should be compared with the standard of performance it was hoped to achieve.
Employees of Boots are encouraged to make the best possible use of opportunities for training and development, which may arise at work, in training activities and in further education. Boots encourage movement across business and functional boundaries within the company, to develop breadth and depth of experience, and offer opportunities for career development.
Induction training
An induction programme was introduced to the business many years ago when it realised that around 15% of employees who had just began working there decided to leave after the first few weeks because they felt that the job wasn’t for them. This induction programme enables Boots to introduce new employees to the business and take an insight into the many establishments and procedures it has produced over the years. The induction programme is supposed to make the new employee feel more aware of the different functions of the business as a whole instead of the specific job he/she has to take on in the future. The induction usually contains information about:
- The organisation’s policies and objectives
- Future career opportunities
- Pay, training and fringe benefits
- Health and safety
- The organisational structure and layout
- The requirements of the job
- Colleagues and managers.
Good induction programmes successfully balance the amount of information that needs to be conveyed with the length of time employees can sustain their concentration. Boots makes the vast amount of information it needs to convey more digestible by varying the means by which it is communicated. It can develop an imaginative programme by using a combination of videos, OHPs, face-to-face discussions and printed matter such as company handbooks.
Mentoring
Mentoring involves a trainee being ‘paired’ with a more experienced employee. The trainee carries out the job but uses the ‘mentor’ to discuss problems that may occur and how best to solve them.
This approach is used in many lines of work. For example, it is common practice for trainee teachers to work with a mentor who is responsible for their early training and development. The student teacher will watch the mentor teach before starting his/her own teaching. The mentor will then give an ongoing guidance to the student teacher on how best to improve his/her performance. The mentee will take any problems and difficulties he/she is facing to the mentor to seek advice.
Coaching
Coaching involves providing individuals with personal coaches in the workplace. The person who is going to take on the coaching role will need, first, to develop coaching skills and will also need to have the time slots for the coaching to take place. The coach and the individual being coached will need to identify development opportunities they can work on together – ways of tackling jobs, ways of improving performance etc. The coach will provide continuous feedback on performance and how this is progressing
Apprenticeships
One of the great strengths of the British industrial system was the existence of a range of apprenticeship schemes, many of which no longer exist. With the apprenticeship scheme, the apprenticeship learnt by working for a more skilled craftsperson. They learnt on the job by learning from their ‘master’ or ‘master craftsperson’. The apprentices have to work for a number of years to master the trades.
In–house training and external training
In-house training is where an organisation such as Boots has its own training department. External training is where employees are sent on other external courses, or are trained in other ways, away from the organisation. In-house training can take place on the job or off the job within the company, but external training always takes place off the job.
On-the-job training (OJT) takes place when employees are trained while they are carrying out an activity, often at their place of work.
Off-the-job training, as its name suggests, takes place away from the job. This can be either internally within the company or externally using outside trainers. Many companies will engage in a great deal of internal off-the-job training.
Part 4 – Performance Management
What is Performance Management?
All members of staff within Boots take a keen interest in the methods used by the organisation to reward them for loyalty and hard work. It is generally recognised that the majority of people go to work for a range of reasons but predominant among these is a need to earn a living wage. To an employee, this means being able to pay bills on time, provide the family with a home and sufficient food to follow a healthy diet, and afford luxuries such as cars, holidays and regular entertainment.
In the quest for efficiency, a comprehensive process of performance measurement will be central to the fair distribution of rewards. A number of stages will be set up and part of the recruitment procedure will be to gain staff with a high level of commitment to the aims and objectives of Boots. These will be determined by the senior management team and will reflect the nature of the business activity carried out by the firm. From this, the mission statement will be identified and all staff will be encouraged to meet and exceed the levels of the service described by it.
From the framework of Boots’ mission statement, the human resource manager(s) will set up strategies to assist departmental managers to measure their staff performance levels. Each department will identify its own aims and objectives to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the company. The departmental objectives will be directly linked to the activity carried out within it and will then be cascaded down to each member of staff. In some cases, this will at team level where several employees will be expected to make a contribution. Training may be provided to assist individual and team members to achieve their goals.
If employees of Boots are to meet their targets, theses targets must be realistic and achievable and the organisation must provide suitable resources to enable them to complete tasks satisfactorily. Boots’ staff can easily complete tasks they are competent in performing but, to aid motivation, new tasks can be added to the existing skills and an allowance must be made when this occurs. The human resource department of Boots will use a method of creating fair individual or team goals and this could be done by the ‘SMART Model’:
Specific use clear language to describe exactly what is required
Measurable identify numerical targets and outputs which can be counted and assessed
Agreed agree these with the employees so that they take responsibility for their own output
Realistic set targets that are attainable for each individual, according to their skills and competencies
Time-related state specific dates when targets must be achieved and will be measured
By discussing these objectives with each employee, Boots’ departmental manager(s) will be able to make small adjustments to match individual employee capabilities. The aim is to keep motivation levels high so that staff feel able to concentrate their energies on achieving their particular targets. If these are unrealistic, this will lead to demoralised staff who know they will not be able to meet targets and this will lead to unnecessary absences, placing the employee in an even worse situation.
Part of the monitoring process will be to see how close Boots’ staff have come to meeting their targets and analysing the reasons for non-achievement. This can be done more frequently for staff who are falling behind the set target figures and it will be up to Boots’ departmental manager(s) to give encouragement and assistance to the slower members of staff. Confrontation helps no one and it will inevitably lead to resignations and poor performance levels for that particular department.
Boots use the appraisal interview on a regular basis as a good source of finding out whether or where employees require help. If a member of staff has not been able to achieve set targets, it could be due to a lack of skills. Boots easily remedy this by giving training and there are many methods available, depending on the nature of the ability to be improved. For example:
- Limited use of IT software, communication skills and teambuilding can all be improved through in-house courses
- Management abilities and accountancy can be improved by attending external sources
Specific abilities related to job content can be assisted by ‘on-the-job’ instruction (as mentioned in part 3).
When Boots feel that its own courses are inadequate of improving individuals motivation it may bring in outside consultants to help improve the situation. Some staff will be encouraged to join college courses, which will be attended after work or an allowance of one afternoon or one evening will be given.
Once a training course is finished, the progress of the attendees will be monitored by Boots’ managers/supervisors to see if they are applying the new skills satisfactorily. Boots realise that at this stage encouragement and extra help are needed for these newly trained employees, otherwise the training received can be lost if the employees do not fully understand what they have just learnt. Being offered training is a method of motivation in itself and Boots’ claim that staff take advantage of this additional facility.
How motivational theories influence Boots’ approach to management
The ability to motivate employees is central to the role of Boots’ supervisors and managers. This is needed both for individual members of staff and, more frequently, for teams in the current working environment where team activities play an important part in departmental operations. The ability to motivate people comes from a greater awareness and understanding of individual behaviour patterns. It is also aided or hindered by the style of management used within Boots as well as the structural parameters designed by the senior management of the organisation.
The notion of motivation has been developed over a century of business practice and this has been studied by many theorists in an attempt to discover the perfect solution keeping staff motivated. Boots know that there is no such thing as a perfect solution, of course, because the managers are dealing with human beings, each of whom has a completely unique personality. This means that one solution would not suit all employees and so Boots encourage managers to use a variety of techniques to motivate all kinds of staff.
The senior management of Boots assists managers in their duties by providing a series of benefits and rewards for consistent levels of motivation for two reasons:
- To allow the manager discretion in the treatment of staff at different levels
- To encourage high standards from staff who will be rewarded for their efforts.
In addition, if it is recognised that not all employees are willing workers then a series of disciplinary procedures will be agreed for those employees who fail to respond to the encouragement given by the management of Boots.
The ideas of several major theorists have contributed to the change in approach taken towards people as human resources within Boots. Theories develop as a result of the weaknesses pinpointed in existing ideas. These are then incorporated into new theories and used as guidance mechanisms for senior management to establish good practice within their operations.
Many theories have been established within the last 100 years and it is not possible to consider each one of these. What is important in the study of motivation are the key names that have influenced, not only Boots’ approach to management, but also the majority of other organisations. Four major theories have remained at the forefront motivational techniques and each one is linked to a different style of management. They are:
- Frederick Winslow Taylor
- Douglas McGregor
- Abraham Maslow
- Frederick Herzberg.
Taylor’s Principles
Frederick Taylor in his 1911 work – “Principles of Scientific Management” advanced the view that employees are basically motivated by money. The job of management was to provide formal order and control in the working environment. Management did the planning and provided the support to show the workforce how best to do the job. Taylor felt that, with this clear line and staff organisational structure, productivity would increase because the employee would recognise that a higher output rate would lead to higher pay. Obviously, this approach tends to address what are perceived to be lower level needs and, by its very nature is far more relevant to labour intensive industries.
Taylor’s principles would support the use of these three pay systems.
Performance-related pay (PRP) is a scheme, which links output and performance to pay. Employees receive bonuses, which are dependent on their ability to reach specific targets. PRP rewards are good performance, so it should motivate employees to work harder. However, some critics argue that factors beyond an employee’s control, such as the breakdown of machinery, could effect their performance. Critics also argue that PRP categorises employees as good or bad performers and this can have a demotivating consequence on upon those who fail to achieve their targets. To overcome problems, managers need to consult with employees and ensure the targets they set are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.
Piece rates provide employees with a variable income; payment is directly linked to output. Employees are encouraged to produce as much output as possible and maximise productivity. Although productivity is increased in this method, the standards of the product may decrease as employees strive to gain rewards.
Commission-based pay is often used when for sales staff and employees are paid a percentage of the value of the goods they sell. Commission-based pay motivates employees because their own performance and ability to sell the company’s products determine the level of their salary.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
The motivation of employees is normally the responsibility of the manager. He or she makes assumptions about an employee’s basic needs when deciding on a suitable motivation method. Douglas McGregor’s 1960 study – “The Human Side of Management”, suggests that two types of employee exist, each possessing different needs. McGregor argues that the type of employee a person becomes is influenced by management style.
Theory X conveys a negative view of human nature, portraying employees as lazy, unambitious people who dislike work and need to be controlled through punishment. McGregor argues that if a manager treats employees as if they are naturally inclined to be idle and disinterested and believes that they do not want responsibility, then they will fulfil this role. It is self-fulfilling prophecy.
Theory Y argues that employees are not money motivated but gain reward from the job itself. Theory Y presents employees as self-disciplined, work appreciative people who crave responsibility and creative fulfilment. McGregor’s Theory Y is significant because it suggests that given the right conditions and management style employees can be motivated to work efficiently and productively.
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 the 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.
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s theories of motivation have been popular since the 1950s and are based on meeting people’s needs in the workplace. The theory suggests that unsatisfied needs can lead to dissatisfaction.
Self - actualisation
Esteem
Love
Safety & security
Basic
Maslow identified a range of needs that were largely hierarchical in nature:
Basic needs are for reasonable standards of food, shelter and clothing in order to survive. This level of need will typically be met in workplaces by the receipt of money in exchange for work done.
Security needs are also concerned with physical survival. In the workplace these security needs could include physical safety, security of employment, adequate rest periods, pension and sick schemes.
Group needs are concerned with an individual’s need for affection and love. Most people want to belong to a group. As organisations grow, individuals can lose their identity, becoming just another number or face in the crowd. Organisations therefore need to find ways of building individuals into groups and teams.
Self-esteem needs are based on an individual’s desire for self-respect and the respect for others. Employees have a need to be recognised as individuals and to feel important. This is where giving status to individuals and recognising their achievements is important.
Self-actualisation needs are concerned with personal development and individual creativity to achieve one’s full potential. In order to meet these needs at work, individuals need to be provided with the opportunity to use their creative talents and abilities to the full.
Frederick Herzberg’s two factor theory
Frederick Herzberg carried out some important research into motivation. He identified a range of dissatisfiers associated with the context and satisfiers associated with the content of jobs.
Dissatisfiers include the following:
- Autocratic or arbitrary company policy and administration.
- Low pay.
- Poor working conditions.
- Antagonistic relations between different levels of employees.
- Unfriendly relationships within the hierarchy.
- Unfair management and supervisory practices.
- Unfair treatment of employees.
- Feelings of inadequacy.
- Impossibility of growth and development.
Herzberg suggested that the existence of the above, to any great extent, would cause dissatisfaction which would, in turn, lead to absenteeism, poor levels of output, resistance to change and negativity in the workplace.
In contrast, Herzberg identified a range of the satisfiers associated with the content of the work that would encourage motivation:
These are:
- Recognition of effort and performance.
- The nature of the job itself – does it provide the employee with the appropriate degree of challenge?
- Sense of achievement.
- Assumption of responsibility.
- Opportunity for promotion and responsibility.
The ways in which the employees of Boots are motivated
The Boots company offers pay and working conditions which are both highly competitive and above average. Boots are committed to an open and honest management system, which enables all employees to be well informed and to understand issues affecting the business. The company has progressive and competitive policies on performance and reward, designed to recruit, motivate, develop and retain high quality people. Such theories like Herzberg’s outlines the management style within Boots today. Boots realise that the style of management adopted within the organisation affects general behaviour patterns and that is why the Human Resources Department does all it can to introduce new ways of motivating its staff. An example of how Boots do this is by rewarding employees who have reached certain targets with hygiene factors such as incentives as well as motivators such as the delegation of responsibility or praise.
The Potential for Conflict in Boots’ Human Resource Management
Unfortunately, it was forbidden by Boots to give me particular information about the potential for conflict in its human resource management. This is because; other competitors may be able to use such details to withstand a greater chance of attracting more customers in the same market. However, in any large organisation conflict is inevitable. Basically, the resources that can be devoted to this area are limited and everyone wants a large share of them.
The following shows the main areas for conflict:
Recruitment & Selection – This area of Boots is in a great position to reward employees with better jobs and more attractive salaries. In making decisions, the department is unlikely to please everybody. This can cause many problems within the business. For example – if Boots were recruiting internally for a sales representative and came up with five strong candidates it would mean satisfying one of them and dissatisfying four. This sort of method could quite easily cause conflict within the business, which is why external recruitment is sometimes the best but also, a more expensive procedure.
Trade Union – is an organisation of workers that join together to further their own interests. One of the interests of the trade union is to maximise and ensure the best conditions for employees. Boots’ human resource department has to ensure it can attract the best calibre of workers by offering them a fair but not too expensive salary. In order to do this the salary must be at a minimum. Boots are always “on top of things” when it comes to handing out fair wages to employees, therefore in the past it has never had a problem with trade unions and industrial relations. However, when each side is attempting to achieve the maximum, the potential for conflict is always there.
Theory X and Theory Y – The managers of Boots are at the forefront of potential conflict within the business. Many managers of any organisation may wish to believe that Douglas McGregor’s Theory X is the correct one to go by but others may argue that Theory Y is. This can cause managers to argue whether the employees of the business should be given more responsibility or whether they should be told what to do, how to do it and to do it in a certain amount of time.
Appraisal – This is the most common cause of conflict in any large or medium sized business including that of Boots. Employees sometimes wish to be left alone to get on with their job instead of being told how good they are at doing it (they may feel like they have someone behind their shoulder keeping an eye on
them all the time). Therefore such employees will be against the idea of an appraisal system in the organisation.
There is always the potential for conflict in Boots whether an appraisal system is in use at the company. Employees may feel that they are working much harder than what the manger(s) recognises and may feel like they deserve more appraisal causing disputes and disagreements. Also other kinds of disputes may tend towards that of favouritism or victimisation. Staff workers of Boots could be jealous of those who may look to be favoured by the employer(s) and could feel victimised due to a lack of attention.
Departmental rivalry – The managers of Boots’ human resource department have the extremely difficult job of deciding which areas of the business gets the benefits of staff training and development. But these benefits for the different departments of Boots are limited therefore some departments miss out thus causing major conflict between all the departmental managers.
Evaluation of the HRM within Boots
Human Resource Management is a very important aspect to the way in which Boots compete against other organisations. The way that Boots compete is mainly down to the staff it employs and the training, developing and motivating it gives to staff contributes to how the entire business succeeds. Although Human Resource Management is time-consuming and expensive it has helped and will carry on helping Boots keep its competitive advantage over other firms in the same market, e.g. Superdrug.
Each aspect of Human Resource Management is used to its full potential when Boots deal with current and future staff:
- Human Resource planning
- Recruitment & Selection
- Training & Development
- Performance management
Human Resource Planning enables Boots to consider the future of the well being of the firm in years to come. For example, by analysing the current workforce Boots can predict what skill shortages the company will have and in which areas of the organisation these skill shortages will take place. By analysing the current workforce Boots can now look at different methods to adopt so to train and develop the staff that need to form the skills they lack. This may be time-consuming but it is less time-consuming and less expensive than the recruitment and selection process, which would be used to find employees who already have the skills Boots require.
Although this can be the case, Boots still use the recruitment and selection process to contribute to current departments of the business or to replace ex-employees. It is a process that enables Boots to find the right person, with the correct skills and the right attitude to help the firm reach its goals and keep its competitive advantage. The recruitment and selection process does accumulate much documentation throughout but it is this that enables Boots to pick the best candidate. The job description and person specification helps the personnel dealing with this process eliminate the candidates least suitable for the job on offer leaving the candidates who are best suited for the job to be interviewed. However, if Boots were to eliminate some candidates who were actually best suited for the job and pick the wrong ones for interviewing then they would soon find themselves doing the process all over again. This can be even more costly for Boots in terms of money as well as time so to prevent such a thing happening Boots’ personnel should use all of the documentation effectively, and the time and money wisely.
Training and developing staff is a key factor to help employees gain extra skills, which contributes to helping Boots compete at a higher level. Like the recruitment and selection process training and developing is time-consuming and expensive so it is important to invest the time and money in those that need the training most.
The reasons that Boots invest in training and development are as follows:
- It keeps employees motivated
- It helps employees in the future, whether they stay at Boots or move elsewhere
- It raises the morale of individuals, which contributes to team-building within the company
- It prevents the company having to recruit staff with the skills
- It costs less than recruitment and selection
- It raises the levels of productivity once the employees are trained.
Once the employees within Boots are trained and developed it adds to the value of products, which means the company keeps its competitive advantage over rival competitors.
In order of keeping this competitive advantage monitoring the performance of employees comes into play. Managers of Boots will make sure that the employees that were trained and developed maintain the skills they gained throughout the course they attended. This basically helps prevent employees having to retake such courses and it means more time and money do not need to be injected into the same process. By undertaking performance management Boots can check whether the employees are happy in their job, this contributes to the motivating aspects of employees. If Boots were to find that certain employees were not happy in their job then it is the job of the manager(s) to motivate these employees by encountering the reasons why this is. By this they can identify the strengths of the employees and also the weaknesses and it is upto the manager(s) to build on the strengths and cancel out the weaknesses.
Motivation is an important factor of the performance of employees. Without motivation the individuals would find themselves in a hole that they need to be dug out of by the management or supervisors. To dig the employees out of this hole then managers must use motivational tactics to maintain a high work rate from the employees, this contributes to productivity levels and in turn maintains Boots’ competitive advantage.
