Report On HR Functions And Practices In A Contemporary Business Environment: Case Study On Southern Rail

IHRM4032 Introduction to Human Resource Management  

Task 1

The report helps in understanding the different functions of the human resource manager in the business environment that is contemporary in nature. The report will help in identifying the people management issues that is faced by GTR Company and the different strategies that can be implemented by the HR manager in order to manage the activities effectively as well as efficiently in nature. Proper identification of the sustainable HR planning is essential in nature as this will help in managing the issues related to the staffs in the entire organization.

The main aim and purpose of the report is to understand the developmental activity that will be employed by HR of the company to improve the practices as well as performance management in the organization. The proper analysis is required to be done as this will help in analyzing the employment legislation on the practices of HR in organization.

The structure of the report includes the different practices of HR along with the performance management of the HR in the company as well. The proper assessment has to be done on the planning of HR as this will help in bringing sustainable development in the entire organization.

Human Resource professionals play an essential role in the different organizations in order to help the companies achieve proper Corporate Social Responsibility (Marchington et al. 2016). The involvement of the employees is critical factor of success for the proper performance of Corporate Social Responsibility. The human resource managers have different tools as well as opportunities to leverage the commitment of the employees along with their engagement in the CSR strategy of the entire firm (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016). The two people management issues that has been faced by the organizations are regarding the payment issues along with contracted times of employment as well as numerical requirement strength of the staffs that is required for operational training as well.

There are different kinds of functions that have to be performed by the interim HR consultant in GTR that are as follows:

• It is the duty of the HR consultant to identify the different difficulties that are faced by the employees in the organization. It is essential to satisfy the employees in the organization as they are the essential asset of the company. The satisfaction of the employees is essential in nature in order to understand the difficult situations that are faced by them (Werner 2014).
• It is essential that the HR consultant of the respective organization GTR that there is involvement of employees in the workplace and participation of the employees in the workplace as this will help in achieving the corporate social responsibility objectives in the organization (Budhwar and Debrah 2013).
• It is the duty of the HR manager in the organization in preparation and adoption of the personnel policies and programs (Brewster et al. 2016). This will help in motivating the employees in the workplace and accomplish the goals of the organization as well. The HR consultant of the respective organization has to properly check the issues related to the payment as it is the duty of HR consultant to solve such issues by organizing meetings and implement change management in the organization as well (Renwick, Redman and Maguire 2013).
• Proper planning has to be done by HR manager as this will help in motivating the employees with proper evolution of different programs and policies. This will help the workers in the organization to accomplish the organizational goals as well.
• Proper training programs has to be adopted by the HR consultant in the organization as this will help in making the employees averse about the different other codes of conduct in the organization. The Hr consultant of the organization plays a critical role in the performances of the business organization. The HR department is accountable for the practices in the workforce management and this will help in improving the overall performance of the organization as well

The HR strategies has to be implemented by the organization as this will help in high performance of the employees as well as  proper training of employees as well. The strategies of the HR practices have to be implemented in such a way wherein this will help the HR managers and consultants in achieving the goals of the organization as well.

In order to improve as well as manage the staffing related issues in the organization, it is essential for GTR to implement a sustainable HR planning process that includes the following:

• Properly analysis of the plans of the organization is essential as this will help in analyzing the plans that are strategic in nature. The analysis will help in depicting the future course of action such as diversification and expansion plans. This is the internal review that has to be performed as this will help in understanding the requirement of manpower for the same as well.
• Proper formulation of the plans of HR is required with analysis of the organizational objectives as this will help the HR manager in matching the requirements of organizations with the abilities of the employees. The environmental scanning is essential in nature as this will provide better understanding for the decisions related to HR. the main of the HR consultant of GTR is to identify the different threats and opportunities that can be achieved and faced by the respective organization and modify the planning for human resource management accordingly as well (Miller and Gordon 2014).
• Proper forecasting demand for the human resource is the third step that can be followed by the respective company as this will depend on both external and internal factors (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang 2014). There are different factors that affects the demand for human resource management and the determinants are as follows:
• Trends of employment
• Changes in the productivity
• Expansion and Growth
• Absenteeism
• Needs for replacement
• Proper forecasting of the supply of the human resources is essential in nature as well as that includes availability of the resource in the organization. The particular step is significant in nature as this will help in conveying information about the current as well as projected competencies regarding the inventory (Brewster, Gollan and Wright 2013).
• Proper matching of the supply and demand forecasting is essential in nature as well as this will help the HR consultant of GTR is to analyze the gap and comparing the two as well (Brewster and Hegewisch 2017). The proper gap analysis is conducted to reconcile forecasts of labor supply as well as demand. The proper analysis is done regarding:
• HR demand is equal to HR supply (Mitchell, Obeidat and Bray 2013)
• HR demand is greater than HR supply (deficit or shortage)
• HR demand is lesser than HR supply (Surplus)
• Proper action programming and planning is required in nature as this will help in understanding the difference between supply and demand forecasts and this will help the HR consultant in taking proper steps in implementation of the gap analysis to minimize the gaps in the supply and demand. This will help the entire organization in meeting the organizational objectives efficiently without much wastage of resources as well (Cho et al. 2013).
• Proper monitoring and control is required on nature as this will help in proper effective evaluation of the monitoring system that has to be aid down. Proper allocation of human resource is essential in nature as this will help the organization in solving the grievances of the employees.

For example: The HR department of GTR can fix a meeting with the employees and understand the grievances carefully and make them understand that there are steps that can be followed in order to resolve such grievances with proper implementation of strategies. The HRIS can be utilized as this will help in saving time and support the entire decision making process of the organization as well.

Therefore, these are the different steps that can be implemented by the organization in gaining sustainability in the process of the management in the entire organization. This will help in solving the grievances of the organization as well as this will help in motivating the employees and understanding the grievances as well (Storey 2014).

Task 2

The developmental activity that GTR’s HR department can employ to effectively improve their employees’ performance. 

A proper performance management system has to be implemented by the respective company as this will help in improving the productivity and performance of the employees in the workplace (Kramar 2014). The Human Resource personnel are in charge of ensuring the different reviews on performance of the different employees in the organization (Nieves and Quintana 2016). The proper training has to be provided to the managers in the workplace as this will help in ensuring that the manager is able to utilize the entire system and rating each employee on the basis of the performance in the organization. Proper training is essential in nature as this will help the employees in the workplace to perform the tasks in a more effective manner and this will improve the productivity of the organization as well.

The performance management process is a valuable tool as this will support the employees’ development as well as improvement. Proper management of relationship between manager and employees is essential in nature as this will help in understanding the performance of the employees in the organization. Both employees and employer are equally responsible in improving the performance of the work that is performed by them and this will help in increasing the productivity of the organization as well.

There should be proper adoption of different performance review systems as this will help in a digital review system as this will help in assessing the performance of the employees. Proper ascertainments can be made in the organization as this will help the employer and employees in the organization in understanding the issues that are faced by the employees in the workplace (Slavi?, Berber and Lekovi? 2014).  Proper training has to be provided to the employees in the workplace as this will help in improving the performance of the employees and solve such grievances of the employees as well that will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the performance of work of employees.

There is a huge role of the HR managers in performance appraisal system in the organization. Proper designing of the system of appraisal is essential in nature as this will help in making the process simple and this will help in ensuring smooth performance in the organization as well. The entire team of HR has to sit with the reviewing authorities as this helps in ensuring appraisals are done properly and the employees are getting proper benefit from the works performed by them as well.

                                                             

                                                                    Figure 1: Performance Management system

                                                                                (Source: Created by author)

Task 3

In order to maintain proper competitive advantage, it is essential for the organization to establish objectives related to individual as well as group performance as this will provide satisfactory results and this will help in analyzing the issues properly as well. The analysis of job is essential in nature as this will help in analyzing the performance of job as well. The performance management system is required in the organization as this will help in improving the performance of the organization and employees as well (Bamberger, Biron and Meshoulam 2014).

With regards to the current strike action, discuss the significance of industry relevant employment legislation on GTR stance within:

a)Pay and wages is one sector wherein the payment and wages may get affected and this can have huge influence on the employees of the organization. According to the labor laws, it is necessary in nature to protect the employees from different unfair practices and other issues that are faced by them. The employees need to properly complain about the different issues that are faced by them as this will help them in solving the grievances and this will help in making the employees motivated as well. The payment and wages are essential part in the life of the employees and this is essential to provide them with different safety regulations as that are mandatory in nature.

b) Contracted working times is another employment legislation that is essential in nature as this will help in providing prevention from working for huge hours and receiving only a little amount of compensation. The labor act protects the employees from any kind of discrimination in the workplace and this can help the employees in complaining about the safety issues that are faced by them as well. The labor laws are essential in nature as this will help in clarifying the obligations of the employees that are faced by the employees. The working times has to be such that this will help the employees in working for the paid working hours and there will extra charges or extra wages for the time when the workers are working for more or extra hours.

The employment legislations are essential in nature as this will help the entire organization and employees in the workplace as this helps them in feeling secure about the different laws that will be applicable to them (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). Proper protection of employees is essential in nature as this helps them in performing their duties as they are working under the Fair Labor Standards Act and there is no discrimination among the employees as well as all the employees receives fair chance in performing the tasks (Azmi and Mushtaq 2015). Proper protection of employees is essential in nature as the rights of employees is an important aspect that has to be followed properly in the organization and this will encourage the employees in performing better in the organization as well.

There will be economic stability as the labor laws help in preserving the rights of the employees in the workplace (Gooderham et al. 2015). The labor law is crucial in nature as this helps in stabilizing the overall system of the organization along with the employees and this will help in making the employees aware about the different changes that are taking place in the system. Proper ascertainments has to be made as this will help in creating proper recognition of value as well as creating proper economic growth in the environment. The labor laws plays an essential role in the organization as this will help in understanding the different kind of grievances of the employees and this will help in solving such issues with proper implementation of strategies as well. There is huge influence of the employment legislations on the employees of the organization as this will help in understanding the issues that are faced by them and solve them accordingly as well with proper implementation of strategies.

Task 4

Conclusion 

Therefore, it can be inferred that proper human resource management is essential in the organization as this will help in improving the different conditions and grievances that are faced by the employees in the organization. This is essential to properly implement HR strategies and functions in the contemporary business environment as this will help in managing the different issues in the organization that are faced by the employees in the workplace. The HR department has to properly implement strategies that will proactively manage the issues in an effective manner.

Proper HR planning is essential for the organization as this will help in providing proper sustainable development in the HR practices. The performance management is essential in the organization as this will help in analyzing the issues that are faced by the employees and improve the performance of the employees as well. Lastly, the employment legislations have to be properly enhanced as this will help in improving the grievances of the employees.

References

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