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Centre name: ICS Learn

Candidate name:
CIPD Membership ICS student
Number: number:
Qualification title: Home Course for CIPD Level 5 Certificate in HRM (R42-
L5CEROL2)
Unit title(s): Managing and coordinating the Unit code(s): R49-
Human resources Function 5HRFOLG2
Assessment number 5HRF/04

*Online Class Date 30.03.2020 *Tutor Name Rachel

Cooper
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Classroom – all details must be filled in above before your work will be marked.

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Managing and Coordinating the Human Resources Function

Introduction
Human resource is an important department in an organization that handles matters
concerning employees. The human resource helps a business to hire competent employees,
retain them, and support their development. It's tasked with building a good relationship
between an employee and an employer. HR creates a focused and engaged workforce. The
main goals of HR are to help an organization achieve its goals and objectives.
1.1 The main organizational objectives of human resource functions
The human resource develops and administers programs in an organization that helps
to improve its effectiveness, performance, and productivity. It includes the entire segment of
managing employer-employee relations. Human resources are focused on five main areas
namely: recruiting, training and development, employee relations, organizational
development, and compensations. Other functions of HR include improving the management
and contribution of change and improving the capabilities of the organization.
a) Improve the recruitment process
Recruitment is the main function of human resources. Human resource devices for
ways of attracting qualified candidates. For an effective recruitment process, the human
resource does several things. First, they integrate job advertising with job descriptions. In the
job advertisement database, HR professionals describe the job vacancies to make it easy for
the candidate. HR also simplifies the recruitment process to attract more potential candidates.
HR displays a job advertisement on the organization website. This can also be done on
advertising websites. Therefore, human resource ensures that the recruitment process is
smooth and leads to employing the best employees for the task.
a) Improve the compensation process
Human resource takes care of the salaries and benefits of employees. This involves
identifying ways of compensating employees based on their performance, role in the
organizations, and legal requirements. Activities in compensation include setting levels that
match the market needs and using benchmarks like industry standards for a given work
function. HR negotiates matters concerning health insurance, retirement plans, and other
employee benefits with the providers (Lussier & Hendon, 2017). HR also holds discussions
concerning salary increase or decrease of employees. HR also ensures that employee
compensation is aligned with legal and cultural expectations.
b) Improve employee relations
Human resources defend the rights of employees, coordinates with trade unions for
the benefit of the employees, and mediates during disagreements between the organization
and employees. Employee relations are therefore measures done to protect the welfare of
employees. Activities of employee relations include discussing employee rights with trade
unions and employer, mediating disagreements involving employees, and acting as the voice
of employees and the organization.
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c) Improve development and training programs

The human resource provides training programs for employees to improve their skills,
knowledge, and behavior. This is a very key investment for any organization. The training
programs enable employees to be up to date with the changing aspects of their professions.
Through the installation of training programs, HR is ultimately improving the performance of
an organization.
d) Improve organizational development
Organizational development is another key function of human resources. The
development of an organization increases the capacity of change and effectiveness by
reinforcing and improving. This effectiveness is done in recruitment, the satisfaction of
employees and customers, improved performance in finances, employee engagement, and
other areas. In the development of an organization, human resources are involved in applying
strategy during changes for an effective change process.
1.1 Evolution of Human Resource functions
Due to the ever growth of the business world, human resources will also grow and
change. Therefore, an organization grows as HR grows. Human resource functions have
evolved in three different stages. HR department started as a business function, it then grew
into a business partner and it is now a strategic partner of an organization. In each of these
three stages, the roles and functions of human resources are changing and becoming more of
a strategy than just a partner or department. When a human resource department in any
organization has matured or grown tremendously, there will be optimal leadership potentials
and the sustainability of the business will be long-term (Johnson, Lukaszewski, & Stone,
2016). HR as a function involved being responsible for activities like recruitment, employee
relations, payrolls, and employee attendance. This is called an administrative role. As a
partner, HR is responsible for improving the competency levels in areas like recruitment,
compensation, and development of employees. HR as a strategic partner means that an
organization views HR as a strategic business partner. At this level, the function of HR is at
maturity level and aims at attaining good leadership positions rather than organizational
growth.
1.2 Managing HR in an ethical manner
This means that human resource carries out their functions in a way that upholds the
values of the organizations at all levels. Ethics guides HR in making decisions and
determining how activities will be carried out. Upholding ethical values of an organization
builds trust and confidence between HR and employees and therefore strengthens the
relationship between employer and employee. CIPD Code of Professional Conduct lie at the
moral heart of a business and are used as a guide in how activities are done, conflicts are
solved, and many more. Organizations that uphold ethical values or standards creates a
healthy and good working environment. For HR to manage their functions ethically, they first
must know and understand the values that govern the organization. Therefore, when an
employee is accountable for certain actions, they should make tough decisions that align with
ethical values. HR professionals need to be ethical leaders (Trevino & Nelson, 2016). This
means that they have ethical values and use them in their operations. Ethical values are
exercised during recruitment by being fair and treating every recruit equally, compensating
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every employee according to how they have performed or the hard work they put in their
work and many other ways. When HR ethically performs their duties, they motivate
employees to perform better and results are improved productivity and performance of the
organization as a whole.

2.1 Two ways human resource objectives are delivered

Two models describe how human resource objectives are delivered in an organization.
These models include the outsourcing model and the Ulrich model.
a) Ulrich model
This model is also called the three-legged model. The model is used by many
organizations to transform the functions of human resources. It is based on the principle of
separating three main roles of HR, making of policies, administration, and roles in a business
partner. The main goal of this model to change the main function of HR from administration
to strategy. It, therefore, gave hope of success to organizations that wanted to use it. The
model suggests that in large scale organizations, HR functions can be divided into three
sections. The first section is that shared operations should be done in a call center where there
is internet connectivity to aid the operations, give basic and administrative functions to other
parts of the HR department (Yusuf, Fidyawan & Wekke, 2017). The second section is that
there are business partners and they should work together with managers of an organization
on issues affecting the business. The business partners could be an individual or a group of
professionals. The last part is the center of expertise. The center is aimed at developing
policies and provide the support needed by organizational departments. HR professionals
need to understand this model for it to be of great impact to an organization. This model is
useful in helping an organization achieve its objectives. It leads to a better knowledge transfer
and understanding among employees which results in improved performances.
a) Outsourcing
Outsourcing means that an organization gets outside employees to perform tasks that
were already done by employees of the organization. This is normally done to reduce
operating costs. If the outside individuals have specialized in a certain task, he or she will be
employed to perform it in the organization at a reduced cost. The task is normally not
strategically important. Other than reduced costs, outsourcing leads to improved quality of
work and supply reliability. An organization can decide to get a group of individuals to
perform specific human resource tasks and related operations. It, therefore, involves the use
of a third party. Examples of outsourcing in HR include recruitment, compensation, training
of employees, and selections (Patel et.al, 2019). These activities are very time-consuming and
intensive and therefore it sometimes best if they are handled by a third party who will deliver
quality results saving money, extra efforts, and time. Outsourcing of human resources enables
an organization to focus more on internal resources and improve time efficiencies.
2.2 How HR function varies between organizations in different sectors and sizes.
The size of an organization depends on several factors like the number of employees
and gross income. HR functions vary depending on the size of the organization. HR
communicate differently in a small and large organization. In large organizations, electronic
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communication is mostly used to spread information to all departments and very fast. In
small organizations, face to face communication and staff meetings are done. Secondly, the
size of organizations determines the number of HR staff needed. Normally, for every 100
employees, one HR staff is needed. Therefore, depending on the number of employees in an
organization, the size of the HR staff will vary. Other than the size of employees, the
expertise of employees is also an important factor. If an organization employs HR experts,
they will not need a lot of HR staff. HR functions vary depending on the sector an
organization lies. In a private organization, HR aims are attracting potential candidates and
retaining them whereas, in public organizations, HR aims at retaining employees only to save
costs of recruiting and selecting. HR functions in charity sectors mainly involve employee
relations, ensuring that the organization complies with employment laws, health and safety of
employees, and compensation of employees.
Use of generalists and specialists- HR generalists are people that are experts in all
functions of human resources (Sanders & Yang, 2016). They are mostly used in small
organizations where there is no need of employing specialist due to high costs. HR
generalists have versatile skills. HR specialists are people that have specialized in a certain
HR function. They are mostly in large organizations. Occasionally, small organizations hire
human resource specialists for consultancy whereas large organizations employ HR
specialist’s full time.
HR consultancy- Use of a third party to provide advice and specialized services to
maximize the performance and efficiency of human resource functions. They are occasionally
used to solve certain problems or deficits involving auditing or policy implementation. HR
consultants are sued by both large and small organizations. They are valued people because
they bring a useful objective view of the situation.
3.1 Change models
There are several models developed by researchers focusing on change in an
organization. They include Lewin's Model, Kotter's 8-step model, and many more.
a) Lewin’s model
The model consists of three steps namely unfreezing, change, and freezing.
Unfreezing- This is the first stage of change in any organization. At this stage, every
employee has been informed that change is going to happen but they are reluctant to it. The
human resource department is developing ways of making employees understand the need for
change and embrace it positively. They also have clear communication with those employees
concerning all matters of the change to motivate them in understanding the change and need
of it.
Change- This is the second phase of change. All employees have accepted the need
for change. The actual change is taking place. This phase is done very fast to prevent some
employees form changing their minds and start resisting the change.
Freezing- At this stage, change has already taken place. HR is evaluating and
supervising the effects of change in the organization (Hussain et.al, 2018). Several standards
or criteria are set to guide human resources in determining the impact of change. For
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example, in the motor business, the organization will develop a method of measuring the
level of success brought by automation or employing or new employees.
This model is very useful because it gives extensive information about factors that
affect a business using data collected during evaluating the impact of change. It also provides
an opportunity for organizations to use the information obtained to evaluate factors that lead
to failure or success. However, Lewin's model is goals-driven which is not applicable in the
real world. Therefore, it only makes sense in theories. This model does not take into
considerations how employees feel about the change or how the change will affect them. This
is among the main reasons why employees resist change. The model requires full
participation but it will be ineffective if full participation is not given. The model is presented
below:

Figure 1: Lewins Model. Souced from (Hussain et. el, 2018)

a) Kotter's 8-step model

The model has eight steps that guide all organizations during change. Kotter argues
that for this change model to be successful, at least 75% of an organization needs to be on
board.
Creation of urgency- For change to happen in an organization, the human resource
must develop a sense of urgency around why change is necessary. This helps employees to
understand the need to change very quickly. It also motivates them to accept the need for
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change. For a sense of urgency to be developed, there needs to be clear communication about
the status of the organization in the market place and why change is needed.
Creation of a powerful coalition- This stage involves convincing employees. This
requires a strong leadership system that shows their support to employees. A strong
leadership system during the period will be formed by bringing together a team of individuals
working in the company to guide employees and convince them. The team developed will
have to work together to build urgency for change.
Creating a vision for change- The ideas and solutions that come with an organization
thinking about change need to be linked with the overall goals of the business and vision that
are easy for employees to understand and remember. A clear vision will help employees to
understand the need for change and adapt fast.
Communication of vision- HR needs to constantly and powerfully communicate the
vision and involve it in every stage of change.
Removal of obstacles- During any change process, obstacles will constantly be
experienced. HR needs to constantly check for any barriers and remove to prevent any
employee from backing out.
The creation of short-term wins-Creation of short-term targets leads to short-term
wins that encourage employees to proceed with the change process. The leadership team will
have to work very hard to create such targets and ways of achieving them (Boff & Cardwell,
2019).
Building on change- Kotter argues that most changes fail because of the short-term
wins. However, every success along the change process is a step to a greater win of the
overall change.
Anchoring changes to corporate culture- For change to stick, it needs to be made part
of the working culture. The corporate culture of every organization determines how
operations are done and needs to shows the vision of change in everyday operations.
Corporate cultures need to continuously ensure that changes are reflected in every aspect.
This gives change a solid place in the working culture. The figure below presents this model:
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Figure 2: Kotter's 8-step model, Sorced from: (Boff & Cardwell, 2019).
3.2 Differences and Use of change models
Lewin's change model is very simple to use because it only has three septs;
unfreezing, change, and freezing. The unfreezing change is mainly about changing the
organizational attitude towards change and lessening the forces resisting change. This stage
can be achieved by improving forces that encourage attitudes away from the status quo. A
status quo is an equilibrium condition where things want to be as they were. This is prevented
by communicating to employees the need for change and build their trust in the change
process. The change process involving developing new attitudes and behaviors. This can be
done by convincing employees that the status quo is not benefiting. The freezing step
involving solidifying the new state of affairs otherwise the organization may go back to olden
days.
Kotter's 8-step model is quite complex and lengthy. Employees must be convinced to
accept the need for a change after being convinced of its urgency by leaders. Although it is
time-consuming, it provides clear steps that guide the organization during change. It can also
lead to the frustration of some employees if their needs are not taken care of. Both of these
two models provide a clear insight into how a successful change can be implemented. In
some organizations, both Kotter's and Lewin's model are used.
4.1 Evaluating the contribution of HR functions
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There are many methods used to determine the contribution of HR functions and their
success rate. Although it is not always possible to observe how activities are done in our
organization, I will use reports of line managers of all departments to evaluate how
employees are performing because line managers are the link between HR and employees.
There are two types of indicators used during evaluation. These are modern and traditional
indicators. Traditional indicators used earning values mostly. Others are the return of
investment, sales return, and return on assets. These earnings are shows in terms of earning
before and after taxes, depreciation, interest, and also net income. The profitability indicator
shows the amount of profit that an organization has earned over a certain period compared
with opportunity cots. Modern indicators involve the use of added market value, shareholder
return, and many more. It focuses on the management of the value of an organization.
Use of balanced scorecard
This is a tool used to measure the performance of a certain activity, determining top
priorities and relating them to what they are delivering to the business. They are mainly used
in strategic planning to ensure that HR efforts are aligned with the goals and objectives of the
organization. Balances scorecard help in making better strategic planning. It also used in
reporting of performance of HR. Therefore, it helps human resources to remain focused on
important issues of an organization.
4.2 Benchmarking
There are two types of benchmarking namely internal and external benchmarking.
Benchmarking is the process of comparing the operations and practices of two similar
businesses. It is used to determine the best practices and success between the two
organizations. Before benchmarking, human resource develops data that will be used during
the comparison. Thereafter, HR develops a benchmarking system that must be reliable and
easy to use. Otherwise, there will waste time and resources. The data used are aligned with
the goals and objectives of the organization (Šimec, Lozić & Lidija, 2017). An effective
benchmarking process focuses on the best practices that the other organizations are doing.
Benchmarking provides useful and powerful information that is used to make an organization
better.
Internal benchmarking involves comparing practices, operations, and performance
between different departments in the same organization. In internal benchmarking, HR is
enlightened where gaps exist and how to close the gaps and how policies are working and
how to improve them. External benchmarking is sometimes called competitive
benchmarking. It involves comparing the performance of a similar business. In most cases,
the organization that is being benchmarked is a more competitive advantage. Both types of
benchmarking mainly compare three areas namely process, strategy, and performance. In
process benchmarking, a process in the same organization or another organization is
compared to improve it. In strategy benchmarking, HR strategies are compared and plans are
made to strengthen HR strategy. In performance, performances are compared and evaluated
for improvement. Benchmarking is very important because it helps an organization to remain
a competitive advantage in the market.
Evaluation of HR contribution is very crucial to an organization. First, it provides
information regarding how HR practices are performing and how this will be improved.
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Secondly, it supports the alignment of HR functions with the goals of the organization. In the
training and development of employees, HR evaluation helps to determine existing gaps and
close these gaps. These gaps are determined by surveying how employees are benefiting from
the training programs and their reviews. This leads to employee satisfaction that also results
in improved performance.
5.1 Link between HR practices and positive organizational outcomes
From Boxall and Purcell's article on human resource management, HRM is operations
and activities associated with work management and stakeholders of an organization. HR
operations involve managing work and employees. Works ranging from low jobs where line
managers or supervisors have a high level or strict supervisors to high automated jobs where
employees mostly supervisors themselves, there is a fundamental structure that governs how
HR practices are done. When work and employees are managed appropriately, there leads to
high performance and productivity of an individual employee and overall organization.
Employees' management is done through training, appraisal, retaining, and developing
employees. There is also consulting and negotiating with employees on disciplinary cases,
their termination, and employees downsizing. Such HR practices need to be conducted
carefully and intelligently to still maintain good organizational outcomes.
Another link between HR practices and good organizational outcomes according to
Boxall and Purcell involves line managers and specialist managers. HR practices are not
exclusive about HR only but it also involves line managers. Whether or not the organization
has Specialist HR, they all have line managers and strategies of the workforce. In large
organizations, HR specialists are employed, they provide specialized skills like the design of
the selection or recruitment process (Boxall & Purcell, 2016). Use of such people improve
practices of human resource. There is improved management of work and employees.
The third link is building employees and workforce performance. Human resources
practice mainly lies in employees; how to build them and their performance. On building
employees, HR practices involve motivating employees, improving abilities, and providing
employees with opportunities to perform. For HR to improve workforce performance, they
need to concentrate on motivation, opportunities, and abilities. For motivation, employees
will carry out their duties because they are encouraged and interested. For opportunities, the
employee will perform their duties because the structure of the organization and work
supports them. For abilities, employees will perform their duties because they have the skills
required. When HR focuses on these three elements, there will be maximum positive
outcomes like maximized performance, a good working environment, and many more.
I agree with this article on how HR practices are linked to good organizational
outcomes. This is because HR take care of employees who lie at the heart of an organization
and affect organizational outcomes.
5.2 High-performance working and human capital
Human capital refers to the skills and knowledge that employees out in their work.
How employees are committed to their work to determine their performance. When an
organization motivates its employees, their performance improves. It also improves the
productivity of employees. Moreover, employees can be encouraged to do better and more of
what is required of them. They can decide to innovate ways of making their work easier,
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faster, and more efficient. A positive working culture should be established to motivate
employees to have high performance. An organization can motivate employees through
monetary and non-monetary incentives. Non-monetary incentives last longer than monetary
incentives (Imran & Atiya, 2020). Therefore, organizations should strive to motivate
employees using non-monetary incentives like taking care of their wellbeing and creating a
good working environment. Employees lie at the heart of all organizations, therefore their
wellbeing must be of top priority at all times. When employees feel valued and important
elements, they perform between which ultimately improves the performance and productivity
of an organization as a whole. Skills, behavior, and attitude of employees a crucial factor in
their performance. When employees are skilled, they perform their duties well. The skills of
employees can be improved through training programs. Skilled employees have the
knowledge and good behavior to have a good capability of performing to their expectations
and are innovative in coming up with ways of solving problems and avoiding them. In
conclusion, there is a very strong link between employees and high performance working.

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Hussain, S. T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M. J., Hussain, S. H., & Ali, M. (2018). Kurt
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