An Introduction covering the overview of the organization selected.

The organization selected for this case study is 'Data Focus LTD'. It is a company offering
management consultancy services in accounting, finance, payroll, and taxation services.

The company has 30 employees distributed in all the four-business consultancy sections and
has a Human Resource Management department consisting of a manager and 4 other
personnel executing the operational tasks.

The department is responsible for planning labor force demands for the different consulting
functions, attracting the right skills needed, and recruiting and hiring them. It is also
responsible for employee appraisals and administering the reward system in place.

2. Explain the different functions of HRM applicable to planning and resourcing.

Human resource planning (HRP) involves analyzing the available labor supply concerning
future labor force needs. It is aimed at reducing skills gaps and meeting the capacity needed at
any given time or in the foreseeable future (CIPD,2020). To avoid costs associated with
labor/skills shortages, the Human Resource Management (HRM) scrutinizes what they have
in the current skills supply, forecasts the future company needs, and does the necessary to
acquire the necessary talent and ensure the implementable business strategy is aligned with
the planned workforce. This ensures productivity and profitability of the business are not put
at stake by labor/skills shortage/unavailability.

Functions of HRM in HRP - Planning

Planning- After organizational objectives and goals are set and policies and procedures are
laid down, the HRM comes up with the job requirements in terms of the job description and
the suitable person for that position.

With the background knowledge of the job market and the organizational and human resource
department strategies, demand and supply forecast for every job requirement/category is made
to establish any skills gaps.

Labour supply analysis -Human Resource (HR) department scrutinizes the labor force
available in terms of the number, skills, experience, position, and performance levels to
establish the current and gaps.

Labor demand forecast – to come up with a comprehensive structure and outline of the future
company workforce needs, HR closely checks retirement, promotion, transfers, and layoff
plans based on employee data (CIPD,2020). A proactive HRM will also factor in other
external factors that may impact labor demand such as the dynamic technological advances
affecting HRM.

Matching labor demand with supply- After the specific labor needs are established, policies
and company strategy are used as the basis in coming up with a workable framework of
attracting and sourcing the right matches to the job requirements. This process entails
recruitment and selection which are the main HRM activities in labor resourcing.

Resourcing

To get the right fit for the anticipated or established gaps the HR departments usually need a
plan on how the recruitment will be done. This is usually in collaboration with the respective
departments and the experts in the area requiring recruits.

This entails developing job descriptions, publicizing the job advert, getting candidates pool,
conducting interviews, selection, negotiating salaries, and making the job offer (Pollard et
al,2015). This is usually followed by onboarding the hired candidates by inducting them and
conducting an on job 7 fresher training. Thereafter, the HRM department manages
remunerations, compensations, benefits, and professional development while conducting
periodical appraisals are and giving feedback for improvements.

3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
and critically evaluate them with appropriate examples across the businesses.

Recruitment can be defined as the process of accumulating a candidate's pool to fill a

vacancy. Selection, on the other hand, is the process of shortlisting and hiring the fittest
candidate from the available pool of candidates for the open position (Blakely,2021). These
processes can assume diverse approaches, but the approaches can majorly be categorized into
two: Internal sources and external sources. Some of the approaches and their evaluation based
on strengths and weaknesses are as follows.

Internal Sources

Referrals: This takes the form of a recommendation and may be from within the company or
from other external sources such as stakeholders or partners. It may also be through
promoting an existing employee or through personnel transfer. The advantage of this
approach is that no recruitment costs are incurred and since the recommended person or the
candidates are chosen are mostly known to be fit for the job description at hand, they are more
likely to remain in that position for long.

On the downside, recommendations may be biased, and the company may end up with a
wrong match for their vacancy. This is on top of the company missing out on getting more fit
and qualified employees from a possible candidate pool if other approaches were used. The
company in this case barely enjoys the benefits of new talent and culture, especially where the
chosen candidates are from the existing team.

Talent pooling:

External Sources

These are hiring leads emanating from without the company. Some of the approaches include:

External recruiter – Here, the company in need of a candidate for a specified job description
approaches a professional to look for them a perfect match. This is usually done at a pre-
agreed fee or commission.

The approach is, however, only suitable or recommendable if it is a senior-level vacancy

being sought to be filled otherwise for junior or mid-level positions it might prove expensive.

Advertisement - Here, an advert with the job specifications and requirements is publicized
with an invitation for the interested to apply. This approach can also take the form of inviting
unsolicited applications for future vacancies. This, according to Blakely (2021), can be done
through the company website homepages or the mainstream traditional media channels such
as newspapers.

From the applications received, a candidate pool is created before shortlisting, and interviews
are conducted to choose the most suitable.

The advantage of this approach is that the candidate's pool can be referred to in the future to
fill the same or related positions. The company also gets the chance to enjoy the influx of new
talent and to choose from a variety. Besides, the adverts, especially those done through the
company website, are part of employer branding and increases brand awareness.
The disadvantage of this approach is that it is costly to put up adverts in media especially if it
does not entail its company channels. Secondly, the hiring manager is required to dedicate a
lot of time to go through all the applications received and sort them.

Recruitment events – in this approach the employer organizes open house workshops or
organizes seminars intending to attract potential candidates to add to the available candidate
pool (Pollard et al, 2015). This approach is advantageous in that diverse skills and diverse
levels of experience can converge into one place making it cheap for organizers especially
also because costs of organizing can be shared by multiple companies. Secondly, the
employers get the chance to interact with the employees in person. On the negative side is that
it is hard to get experienced job seekers to convene in recruitment events and the candidates'
pool is restricted to one geographical area.

Online Social Recruitment – This entails posting a job on online platforms such as career
sites, professional platforms such the LinkedIn, or the company's social media platforms such
as Facebook. This is one of the innovative recruitment techniques and increases the visibility
of the posting hence attracting more applicants (Blackely,2021). This approach is also
allowing the employer to search for the right match based on skills, experience, and training
needed especially with premium features. In combination with people analytics and data tools,
the approach is the most modern and has high chances of matching the employer with the
right candidate without complicated processes. This approach reduces the recruitment budget
relatively and hence it is comparatively cost-effective. The weakness of this approach is that
the candidate's online profiles only present their qualifications and nothing about the personal
work profile character.

4. Explain the benefits of different HRM practices for employees as well as employers.
Evaluate how they help in improving productivity and contribute to the profits of the
organization.

Training and development. This entails organizing learning platforms where employees can
sharpen their skills. This not only addresses weaknesses affecting efficiency but also boosts
productivity and quality (O'riordan,2017). This is on top of improved quality standards, good
organization reputation, and improved morale/motivation which directly influences efficiency
and profits.

Implementation of reward and compensation system- continuous improvement should be core

to business operations and so should be the reward system based on employee appraisals and
reviews. Key performance indicators should be enacted for every employee and a fair
premium and bonus scheme of compensation put in place (O'riordan,2017). This boosts
productivity, revenues, employee retention, and quality.

Organizing: After goals and objectives are set, the HRM must avail and set up all the
infrastructure needed for performance. This encompasses grouping personnel into functional
units, setting operational requirements for each group, delegating authority over specific tasks
and responsibilities, and coordinating performance operations such that they are all aligned
with the set goals (Armstrong et al, 2020). This is important for smooth operation, clarity of
goals, and what is expected of every person and department in an organization.

Planning: Through planning different labor gaps and cycles can be noticed beforehand and
this saves employees work overload while on the other hand ensuring productivity is not
affected. It also helps in coming up with the best work processes and plans since deadlines
and activity levels are known beforehand.

Directing: This involves encouraging employees to work willingly and inefficient manner
(Armstrong et al, (2020). In return, the HRM should have devised ways catering to employee
welfare, motivating their staff, and developing healthy and productive relationships. This
ensures continuity of business in an environment where everyone's needs are catered for.

Controlling: This involves the activity of checking actual output against the plan or set
activities. In case discrepancies are noticed and the challenges identified, proper correction
and review measures are taken. This is a continuous development requirement, and it
improves both the quality of the processes, end products, employee skills, and performance
efficiency.

5. Analyse the importance of effective employee relations in HRM and evaluate the impact it
has upon the HRM decision-making.

Employee relations is used to denote how good or bad the interrelations between employees
and the employer are. Employee satisfaction, the level of engagement, productivity, and even
employee retention is directly influenced and correlated with how positive or negative the
employee/employer relations are. Due to this, modern human resources management practice
focuses on strategies aimed at improving workplace relationships and collaboration.
 How employee relations impact HRM decision-making.

Communication: For good employee relations to exist in an organization, agile, effective, and
transparent communication is key. This is especially important if the line managers are to
connect with the people they are supervising/leading. To achieve this, the decisions made
regarding communication are strategized such that they bring the desired results; employee
engagement and clear job processes understanding.

To achieve employee engagement, HRM should encourage systems promoting free

expression and sharing of thoughts (Ali et al,2018). Based on this, they can review and update
employee expectations and identify challenges being faced by their staff and act on them. This
influences decisions on the communication channels and modes employed.

Productivity: Good employee relations boost productivity. For this to happen, HRM needs to
ensure alignment of organizational needs and set objectives with the employee needs (Ali et
al,2018). Decisions regarding productivity, hence, must be engineered in a way that will keep
the employees motivated. These decisions include such factors as encouraging team spirit,
conducting employee appraisal, appreciation and recognition.

Involvement of employees and getting their input on matters is important too. According to
Armstrong et al, (2020), employees need to feel appreciated for their effort in the company's
success and through this, they get to own the objectives set as well as the results and hence
motivation which ultimately directly influences productivity.

Employee retention: In an environment where the workforce feels appreciated, understood

trusted, and enjoys self-development opportunities, they also tend to be loyal to the employer.
This reduces the costly labor turnover and hence promotes productivity on top of good brand
marketing (O'riordan, 2017). Decisions affecting employees should be progressive and create
a healthy environment such that even in conflicting situations amicable solutions can be
reached.

6. Identify the key elements of employment legislation and critically evaluate how good HRM
practices and employee legislation influence the decision-making in the organization with
relevant examples.

Businesses operate in an environment affected by external factors which greatly affect not
only their decisions but also dictates what must be done when and for what purpose. The legal
business environment puts forward laws, regulations, and provisions which must be adhered
to if the business is to operate legally. Some of the regulations made to regulate employer-
employee engagement affect the HRM function as well as decision making. Some of the
legislations affecting HRM decision making include:

Workplace discrimination: This legislation prohibits and protects against any form of
discrimination based on human differentiating factors such as race, religion, age, sex among
others (Famdale et al,2017). Opportunity should be given to all and any form of harassment
avoided at all costs. HRM must ensure that decisions made do not counter the provisions of
these regulations and that internally the company has policies and procedures on how to deal
with such situations in case any of the prohibited happens. Employees who feel they are
treated with the right dignity and respect despite the differentiating factors they are generally
happy and know they matter regardless of everything.

Wages, salaries, and performance laws: These are regulatory authority guidelines dictating
working conditions such as the maximum number of performance hours per set period, the
minimum payable monetary compensation, workplace standards, safety, and the reference
authorities in case conflicts occur (O'riordan, 2017). These are usually regulated by collective
agreements and in decision making the terms must be respected to the letter. This also
involves regulations on the treatment of overpayment, annual leave, and sick leave. Fair and
justifiable compensation and remuneration, as well as humane working expectations, breed
satisfied employees, and this in return reflects in the company's profitability.

Employment benefits: these laws regulate how much and what is payable where for the
benefit of the employee. This may range from how much percentage is to be remitted for
health insurance, social insurance, or pension scheme (CIPD,2020). Inactivity and budget
planning, the employer must factor in these costs as they are mandatory and transfer them in
time as per law requirements. Employees who are assured that their future is secured and who
do not have to worry about accessing basic needs concentrate more on their daily tasks.

Immigration/Economic area zone observation regulations: different governments may put in

place restrictions on who should enter their country's job market based on set criteria. This,
according to Ekwoaba et al, (2015) usually entails details of the types of careers based on
which an employer can 'import' labor, from which economic zones they can come from, and
what legal immigration papers are required for these people to work legally in their host
country. Companies providing support to their ex-pats in obtaining the legal documents and
having specific policies helping these categories of workers feel ' at home' have proven useful
in helping ex-pats settle down well into their new countries and roles.
Based on this, in case HRM are faced with decisions where they must import ex-pats, the
decisions made must follow the set criteria.

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