HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT

APRIL 5, 2020
AISHWARYA.R
1935F0360
 HR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES OF AMAZON.UK

Amazon.co.uk is an online retail company. It is a leading retail company that informs, inspire
and educate the customers about the products that they sell for various firms. The company
works together with Amazon.com and have established several stores in different major
countries such as United States, Germany, France, Canada, and Japan (Ritala, Golnam, &
Wegmann, 2014). The company operates virtually, and this gives it the opportunity to offer a
wide variety of products including books and music titles among others. The company allows
their customers do their products listing on their website. They are required to use the correct
title and subject information concerning their products. The search engine of the Amazon
Co.Uk then posts the results of the subject information based on their popularity and
availability. Besides, they also post the results concerning the relevance of the subject
information. For those who want to post songs, they are required to key in the correct keyword
of the artist and the subject information. Moreover, the company also uses various search tools
to assist the clients in their hunt for different items. Amazon co.uk works with several
companies, interest groups, studios, and magazines so as to make their products available
online (Ritala, Golnam, & Wegmann, 2014). Amazon co.ke assists their partners in selling and
promoting their products to the clients. They package and dispatch the products on behalf of
their partners. Besides, they do the billing and perform customer service duties on behalf of
their partners after which they provide a weekly report.
THE PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT
AMAZON CO. UK

Human resource management plays a major role in the success of any organization. Amazon
co.ke understands the importance of having the right talents to perform various duties and
responsibilities for the success of the organization (Ritala, Golnam, & Wegmann, 2014). The
human resource management function at the company aligns the strategic goals of the company
to the strategic objectives of the HR. The organization understands that employees are the
greatest contributing factor towards their success. In this case, it is committed to improving the
skills of its staff through efficient training and development programs. This will enhance job
satisfaction and self-actualization among its staff members. The primary functions of the HR
at the company include recruitment and selection, compensation management, training, and
development, ensuring legal compliance and maintaining relations among employees. These
functions promote productive workplace environment where employees can perform to their
potential. The HR functions at the company have allowed employees to maintain good moral
standards within the organization. The purpose of HRM at Amazon Inc. is to promote self-
respect cordial working relationships with the employees. The HRM managers work towards
satisfying the individual needs of the employees by providing a harmonious working
environment. The workplace environment should promote personal and group performance
within the organization.

THE WORKFORCE PLANNING AT AMAZON INC

Workforce planning refers to a set of procedures used by the Human Resource Management to
manage the employees and obtain the best from them. The primary objective of workforce
planning at the company is to ensure the long-term success of the organization and realize
maximum profits from its operations. Amazon Inc utilizes both strategic and operational
workforce planning to achieve both its short term and long term goals (Ritala, Golnam, &
Wegmann, 2014). The strategic workforce planning allows the company to forecast and plan
for its employees to ensure that it hires the right talents at the appropriate time to perform the
right to achieve organizational goals and objectives. The company utilizes strategic workforce
planning so as to respond to the future changes in the workforce. Besides, it enables the
company to respond to the global human resources requirements and to provide an appropriate
replacement for the aging staffs. Strategic workforce planning addresses the current and future
staffing needs of the organization. Amazon Inc also utilizes operational workforce planning
where it maps the deficiencies that occur in the various levels of operations. In this case, the
organization has been able to absorb the right talents to address the current operational
challenges the organization is facing. Effective workforce planning has enabled Amazon Inc
to manage its organizational culture and anticipate future managerial risks. Besides, the
workforce planning of the company has allowed it to develop various policies that address its
core business activities. However, the company has not done much to address the future global
staffing needs. The company has its major headquarters in the most developed countries in the
world. It should aim at developing a workforce plan that addresses the global staff requirements
to enable it to expand its market operations in other parts of the world. The workforce plan of
the company should also address succession programs to allow the company to replace the
outgoing workforce without hindering the current operations of the enterprise. Moreover, better
strategies should be put in place to promote retention of talented employees by implementing
effective compensation and reward strategies.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION AT AMAZON INC

Efficient recruitment and selection play a significant role in the performance and success of the
organization. A company that implements appropriate recruitment and selection strategies
stands a better chance of attracting the rights talents to fill the vacant positions. There are
various recruitment strategies that firms can utilize to hire staff to fill various positions. A
company may decide to use either external or internal recruitment to fill vacant positions.
Besides, an organization can utilize both internal and external recruitment concurrently to hire
competent and skilled staff to take up the vacancies. Amazon Inc. understands the contribution
of employees towards organizational success. In this case, they utilize both internal and
external recruitment methods to hire staff to fill various positions. External recruitment enables
the organization to attract talents who have the requisite skills to take different positions.
During the external recruitment, the company is presented with the opportunity to select the
best candidate among the applicants. The HR scrutinizes the applications of various candidates
and selects the most suitable candidate to fill the vacant position. On the other hand, Amazon
Inc utilizes internal recruitment where employees who have demonstrated outstanding
performance are given the opportunity to take up roles with more responsibilities. This gives
them the opportunity to advance in their career. It is also a strategy which aims at promoting
employee retention and rewarding those who have shown excellent performance. Despite the
procedures utilized by the company to attract the right talents, it has failed to address gender
and racial balance in recruiting its staff members. Besides, it has not embraced racial balance
in its recruitment strategies.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training and development is an essential function of the HR. It forms part of the strategic
objective of an organization. Training provides employees with the requisite skills required for
the job. It promotes the performance of the organization and at the same time improves
organizational productivity. Amazon Inc has put in place efficient training and development
methods that are aimed towards improving the skills and knowledge of the employees in
various areas of operations. However, it should implement training policies that allow staff to
adapt to the international workplace environment.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND REWARD SYSTEMS

The performance management of the Amazon Inc is tailored towards its specific needs. Its
performance management strategies focus on aligning the performance with the essential goals
and objectives. The company utilizes performance management strategies that promote
desirable behavior among the employees. The policies are flexible and provide the necessary
support to the employees to enable them to achieve organizational goals and objectives. On the
other hand, the reward management systems utilized by Amazon Inc enhances employee
motivation, retention, and improved performance. The company provides bonuses, pension
benefits, and health insurance cover to motivate their staff. However, in the year 2008, there
were media reports that company was treating the staff harshly. The media excited this
allegation, but the company responded appropriately. The company should establish a structure
where employees are democratically represented. This will promote the cordial relationship
between the management and the employees.

Effective HR decisions should always complement the strategic objectives of the organization.
However, various internal and external factors affect the human resources decisions at
Amazon. Co. Uk. The company operates virtually and conducts most of its businesses online.
In this case, it has to comply with various regulations that control virtual business operations.
Besides, the labor laws also influence the reward and compensation strategies utilized by the
organization (Armstrong, & Taylor, 2014). The company has to comply with the labor laws
while designing the compensation and reward for its staff. Most of the employees of the
Amazon Inc are people who have done technical courses. As such, the company is obliged to
review and evaluate its compensation structure continually to ensure that it remains competitive
and attract the best talents to perform organizational duties. The company has to conduct a
survey and determine what its competitors pay to its employees. The compensation structure
is also influenced by the geographical location of the business. In this case, it will design it
compensation structure so as to fit in the labor laws of different countries such as Japan, United
Kingdom, and the United States. The human resources decisions concerning the compensations
structure should be designed in such as a way that it complies with the labor laws of different
countries. This will enable the company to attract talented staff from various countries where
it operates.

Competition is an external factor that influences the human resource decisions. The major
competitors of Amazon Inc are Google Inc, PC Connection, Insight Enterprises and Vishop
Holdings among others. These are renowned international corporations which operate in
various countries in the world. The level of competition that Amazon experiences from its
competitors will influence its recruitment and selection decisions. For instance, Amazon Inc
must implement effective reward and compensation strategies to attract the best talents in the
labor market. The human management should, therefore, focus on developing recruitment
materials that make the employees get interested in the company. Besides, the company has to
develop effective strategies to retain staff. This will allow the Amazon Inc to attract the best
talents that would enable it to compete effectively in the market.

Amazon Inc operates in different countries that have different legislations. Therefore, the
human decisions concerning recruitment and selection should adhere to legislations of
particular countries. For instance, the legislation of United States outlines the duration that an
employee is expected to work for an organization. Moreover, it also describes the types of data
that employers are supposed to keep. They are expected to ensure that such information
concerning an employee is kept confidential. The legislations that regulate employment in the
United States include Americans with Disabilities Act and Genetic Information and Non-
Discrimination Act among others. The legislations of various countries where Amazon
operates will influence how it keeps the records and the data of the employees. This is an issue
that the organization should address while doing its restructuring.

The international policies concerning employee relations also vary from one country to another.
This is a policy which is likely to influence the human resource decisions. The policies will
affect the decisions that the HR will make concerning training and development, promotion
and retirement. For instance, employees retire at the age of 65 in most developed countries.
Therefore, the HR will have to consider the existing policies on retirement and promotion in
different countries where Amazon Inc operates.