Unit 21 Strategic Human Resource

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Unit 21 Strategic Human Resource Management
Assignment Copy
Program Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title Unit 21 Strategic Human Resource management
QFC Level Level 5

Introduction:
Strategic human resource is the foundation of any business. It has to be managed in terms of
getting efficient results. This unit focuses on all such activities that have their impact on the
practices of Strategic Human Resource management. The strategic human resource management
initiates with the discussion of the HRM model proposed by Guest. The implications of the
strategic approach to HRM on line managers and employees have also been discussed. The unit
continues with the description of flexibility at the workplace and various practices of flexibility
that help the employees to manage work life balance. Further, it focuses on the role of HR in
managing the diversity and implementing the approaches of equal opportunities in the
organisation. Last section of the report argues about the health and safety legislation in UK and
their impact on the HR practices.
Task 1:
1.1 Explain Guest Model of HRM.
Guest model of HRM was introduced by David Guest in 1987. This model argues about
integration of soft and hard approaches of HRM. According to this model, four crucial elements
affect the organisational functions. These elements have been discussed below:

Strategic integration: This refers to alignment of the HR strategy with the business strategy. It
is considered as the hard approach of HRM as it treats human resource as any other resources of
the organisation. (Alleyne, 2016)
Flexibility: Flexibility here means open for all the changes. The organisational internal and
external environment is very dynamic in nature. It is essential for the organizations to be ready
for accepting the changes to withstand in this environment. Flexibility can be considered as hard
as well as soft approach. Hard approach is related to the numeric flexibility. If the organisation
hire employees only at the time of need and fire them if they are not needed than this falls under
hard approach. On the other hand, soft approach can be implemented by treating employees
fairly in every sense.
Commitment:It is believed thathuman resource mainly makes a difference in the production.
This is the reason commitment of the employees is very much needed to enhance the
productivity of the organisation. This commitment can be attained only when human resource
has been treated as the asset.
Strategic quality: HRM should be a concern for top management, as it also requires strategic
approach. Many organisational believe in attaining competitive advantage with their employees.
(Drago, 2007)
Guest focuses on the HRM in UK and observed that the development of HR in UK is very slow.
To overcome this problem, Guest proposed this model concerning organizations based at UK.
Unilever is the company that implemented this model in framing its HR policies. It has been
observed that the model facilitates the organisation to achieve:
  Improved performance: Incorporation of Guest Model in framing the Hr policies of the
firm supports the firm like Unilever to work with flexibility. Flexible working environment
allow the employees to work effectively hence, it somehow improve the performance of the
employees as well as the organisation.
 Enhanced problem solving capacity:Guest Model in HRM of the firm allows the firm to
develop its information and knowledge. Therefore, capacity of solving the problem has
enhanced.
 Reduced employee turnover: The employee turnover rate in Unilever is very low as
compared to other companies in the industry. This is because of the flexible working
environment of the workplace.
 Example: Unilever provide a friendly environment to its employees so that they can work
in an open culture with free mindset. Employees working in this environment are easy to
mould according to the changing situations. (UK & Ireland, 2016)

1.2 Compare the differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM,

personnel and IR practices.
HRM Personnel management Industrial relations
In general, Human resource
management involves the Industrial relations approach is
practices that focus on Personnel management focuses also known as employee
managing the staff in such a only on the aspect of people ns relations. This is because it
way that results in fulfilment of their relation with the firm. focuses on study of employee
organisational as well as relations.
individual goals.
It deals with the administration
Storey focuses on attaining the
part of managing the people in It aims at maintain the
competitive advantage with the
the organisation. It also gives relationship between the staff,
strategic approach of hiring
attention to use of personnel to managers and government.
committed employees.
achieve productivity targets.
Unilever focuses on
Unilever applies strategic Unilever provides training to maintaining relations between
approach to HRM in order to the employees to enhance the the staff and top management
align the goals of organisation productivity. It also focuses on by removing the
with employee goals. It also applying opportunities of communication barriers. The
focuses on introducing the gathering experience that company to make coordination
health and well being programs somehow affect the between the labour unions and
for the employees like productivity of the employees the management has used this
lamplighter. in positive manner. broader concept of industrial
relation.

1.3 Asess the implications for line managers and employees of developing
a strategic approach to HRM.
HRM process not only affects the human resource department but its practices affect all the other
operational department of the organisation. Application of strategic approach to HRM refers to
planning and implementation of the methods that help all the departments to accept the changes
taking place in the environment. (Morley et al., 2006) Many HR practices need to be strategized
in order to enhance the productivity of the organisations. These practices require the involvement
of line managers also as they are the mediators between the HR department and the staff in
operational department.
Some of the HR activities that many have impact on line mangers and the employees of Unilever
are as follows:

 Recruitment: It is the practice that is under the control of HR department. Unilever is the
company that allows the line mangers to give input to this activity in order to hire
employees that are more efficient to their department.
 Training:Training is also the hard-core practice of HR department but it involves the input
of line mangers as well in Unilever. Strategic approach to Training and development results
in identifying the need of training in every department by the line mangers. Provision of
training by involvement of line managers provides better results as they better know about
the needs and performance of their employees rather than the HR department. (Ravazzani,
2016)
 Motivation: Motivational factors in the organisation results in better performance of the
employees. Human resources development department focuses on motivating the
employees by some of the monetary of non-monetary rewards. These rewards inspire and
stimulate employees to work efficiently.

For performing these duties, line managers need to increase the range of their responsibilities, as
they need to practice these duties simultaneously with their operational duties. It also helps the
employees to communicate because it is easy for them to interact with their line manager for any
issue rather than communicating with the HR department. It is the duty of Hr managers to
provide support and guidance to the line managers in order to perform the HR related duties for
their department.
Example: Unilever has a line manager portal that discusses about the roles of line mangers in
supporting the colleagues. The portal talks about three stages that is, on leave, pre leave and
return to work section. Pre leave is about guiding the employees and making straightforward
process for the whole team. On leave is about ways to minimise the effect of transition of the
employee on the team and the last one id return to work section that is about helping the
employees and colleagues to re-integrate again with the work.

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Task 2:
2.1 Explain how a model of flexibility might be applied in practice.
It is very important for the employees to maintain the work life balance. This balance is
necessary for them to a live a satisfactory personal and professional life. Flexibility is one of the
elements of work life balance. In general, flexibility can be referred to as the modification in the
structure of the organisation according to the situation. Unilever can also implement some of the
strategies that can create a flexible environment in the organisation. There is a systematic process
that needs to be followed in order to make the organisation flexible. Many decisions need to be
taken so that flexibility norms can be added to the HR policy of Unilever. (Svendsen, 2010)
Atkinson model of flexibility:

.
This Model suggests that there are two types of workforce:

 Core workforce: This section of workforce focuses on the functional employees that
perform all the operational work of the firm.
 Periphery workforce: This section does not perform any operational task but participates
in managing the activities and framing the policies for the firm.

The policy makers need to analyse the needs of the employees in terms of flexibility in the
organisation and have to match up with what manager’s want as well as to the goal completion
of the organisation. Policy of flexibility cannot be made on the cost of organisational
productivity. It is critical to align the flexibility policy with the already existing organisational
culture and structure. This can be implemented in Unilever by following process:
Process:

 Be clear with the eligibility: It is very essential to be clear about who is eligible for the
policy and who is not. Policy should be made according to the roles and responsibilities of
the people and it should be applied according to the situations.
  Understanding the flexibility options: There are many variations in the flexibility options.
Flexibility can be applied in two terms, schedule and location. Schedule flexibility is the
modification and the relaxation related to the working hours of the organisation. Scheduled
flexibility is of various types:
 Compressed workweek: Employees to work full time hours in fewer than 5 days per week.
 Flexi-working hours: Employees can start and finish their work according to their comfort
without any standards.
 Sharing job: Single job can be allowed to share by two people so that there is less
responsibility on one shoulder and they can complete the task more effectively.
 Part time work: Some of the employees are allowed to work part time with very little
working hours according to the need. (Trullen et al., 2016) Location based flexibility is the
relaxation of the place of work. According to this policy, employees can be allowed to work
from the place other than office.
 Telecommuting: It is the practice of working from home or from remote locations in office
hours.
 Guidelines: General guidelines need to be set according to the HR policies related to
flexibility that can be understood by all the employees. Every guideline should be clear in
the minds of the supervisors as well as the mangers who are taking the responsibility of
implementing flexibility policies in the organisation. Designing request forum: Request
forum should be designed in the organisation to opt for the flexibility option available for
the employees.
 Risk reduction: it is mandatory to reduce the risk associated with the flexible facilities. If
an employee is working from home than organisation needs to ensure that he is still be
connected with the operations department he is working with. (Warner, 2013)

2.2 Discuss the types of flexibility that may be developed in an

organisation.
Flexibility can be termed as the capability of an organisation to modify its policies according to
the situation. It can also be defined as the ability to accept the changes of the environment.
Flexibility needs to be introduced in the organisations like Unilever to make their employees
balance their personal and professional life. There are various types of flexibility that may be
developed in Unilever. Some of them are discussed below:
  Functional flexibility:Under this approach, employees can be shifted from one position to
another in the same department or in different department. This requires coordination
between the departments and training to the employees shifting their jobs.
 Peripheral numerical flexibility:This flexibility process allows organisation hire the
employees on contract basis according to the production need. (Bondarouk et al., 2011)
 Financial flexibility:It can be related to the variation in the salary of the employees.
Compensation and rewards can be given to the employees according to their performance.
This flexibility approach motivates the employees to perform well.
 Temporal flexibility: This facility refers to the adjustments of the working hours according
to the production required. Working hours can be reduced or increased according to the
situation. Overtime is the example of this practice. People are paid according to the time
they spent working in the organisation behaviour. Schedule and location based working are
also the types of the flexibility that may be developed in the organisation. These types have
already been discussed in the above section.
 Example:Temporal flexibility is the method that has been used in Unilever. The company
value believes in sustainable living for the employees. The employees of the company are
allowed to work from anywhere and for as many working hours according to the work.
(Christensen et al., 2010)

2.3 Assess the use of flexible working practices from both the employee
and the employer perspective.
Various methods can be used as flexible working practices in the organisation. Employees and
employers may have different or same perspective for these practices.
Method Employee perspective Employer perspective
Part time: It is the practice Employees who work for part Employer can hire more part
under which, an employee works time have the facility to time employees as they work
less than normal working hours manage other sort of works for less hours and hence paid
of the office. simultaneously with their job. less.
Less liability and responsibility
Job sharing: Responsibilities Employer gets the advantage
with less burden of work. This
can be shared between the of getting work done early
also reduced the per-head work
employees. with double efforts and inputs.
compensation.
Employers are also not
dependent on the worker but it
Zero hour contract: Nobody is Employees have the power to
may be hectic for them in
bounded in the timeframe to choose for the task they want
urgent situation to find an
perform the task. to perform.
employee to work on a
particular task.
Employers need to ensure that
Tele working: employees can Employees can work from
they have a good connection
work from remote locations. wherever they want without
facility to connect with the
They can be connected with the their physical presence in the
employees working at remote
company with telecom facility. office.
locations.
Employers provide freedom to
Compressedworkhours:Eloyee This facilitates them to enjoy employees hence motivate
s are allowed to work for fixed the full days by working more them to perform better and
hours per week. hours on working days. coordinate with the
organisation.
Discuss the impact that changes in labor market have had on flexible working practices.
It is essential for the management of an organisation to hire most appropriate labour for the
same. This is because choice of labour directly affects the productivity of the organisation.
Change in the labour market affects the internal change in the strategies of the organisation.
Work life balance has become an integral part of the employees these days and the policies
related to work life balance also gets affected with the change in the labour market condition.
(Paauwe et al., 2013)

 Demography in labour market: Trends in the labour market affect the flexibility pattern
of the businesses. If there is decrease in the birth rate, it automatically reduced the supply of
young labour and hence organisations need to change their policies according to that. More
involvement of women in work and employment also affect the composition of the
workforce in the organisations. These demographic factors bring change in the market of
labour. Therefore, organisation need to make changes in their flexibility policies according
to that.
 Types of market:The flexibility policies of the organisation changes with the change in the
market they depend upon. If the organisation is fully dependent on local labour market, than
it needs to change its policies according to the supply of local labour. If there is less, supply
of local labour than market fails to fulfil the demands of the organisation and hence it
results in poor and reduced productivity. Therefore, organisations need to frame its
 flexibility policies in such a way so that there is availability of labour from local, regional
as well as from national market if required. (Sanders et al., 2014)
 Example:Advancement in women rights and inclusion in business led companies like
Unilever to engage more and more women workers in the company. Most of the customers
of Unilever are women and thus the company focuses on employing women. The
economically empowered women create ripple effect on families, communities and
economies.

Task 3:
3.1 Explain the forms of discrimination that can take place in the work
place.
Discrimination refers to difference in concern with some of the factors. Discrimination in the
society also affects the same practices at workplace. The practice of discrimination at workplace
is a wrong practice to be done. This violates the law of equal opportunity for all. Discrimination
is based on race, colour, caste, origin, religion etc. Practice of discrimination in the firm affects
its image in the market and hence its business as well. (Alleyne, 2016)

 Age discrimination: While assessing the performance of an individual, management

should not consider his age. They should evaluate the performance strictly in concern with
their work and nothing else. Involvement of age and experience factors in determining the
performance of an employee is an act of discrimination.
 Religion discrimination: Diversity in workforce allows many employees of different
religion to come and work under same roof. It is a wrongful act to discriminate of give
preferences to the employees of particular religion. This act is against the law and results in
legal action against the management of the company.
 Disability: Pay of an employee should be strictly based on his or her performance. Any
physical disability should not be considered as the factor to determine the pay of an
employee. This is considered as the discrimination practice and subjected to punishment by
law.
 Sex discrimination: There should be no discrimination between male and female. The
performance of the employees should be judged according to their skills and work. Oracle
Corporation UK lost a tribunal case filed by an employee. She was suffered from sex
discrimination by her boss and filed a case against the management in tribunal court. She
got the compensation of some amount for sex discrimination, injustice and injury to her
feelings. (Drago, 2007)

For example, the recent case of Dyslexic employee at Starbucks is the case of discrimination on
grounds of disability. Starbucks lost the case as they filed the charge of fraud on the dyslexic
employee. This suggests that organizations should consider the disability and should make some
of the training policies for such employees with disability. (Weaver, 2016)

3.2 Discuss the practical implications of equal opportunities legislation for

an organisation.
Equal opportunities in the organisation are the practice that provides and treats all the employees
at same level. There is no discrimination based on caste, race, colour etc. Provision of legal
opportunities at the workplace is a legal act and the management can be subjected to legal action
against them if they violate the act. Many practices can be involved in implementing the equal
opportunity approach in the organisation. Opportunity 2000 was one of the main initiatives in
UK in terms of providing equal opportunity to women at workplace. This practices aims at
maintaining the work life balance in the life of women so that they can manage their activities in
personal and professional life. (Cipd.co.uk, 2016)
Many companies like Ford Motor take initiatives to practice this in their firm in order to provide
equal opportunity to the employees. The company believes that bit is very important to
implement the changes practically. There is no sense making the written policies of equality
rather they should be practiced in order to improve the working environment of the workplace.
Practice of equal opportunity provides the company to manage the diversity at work as it is the
most critical issue these days. Many big employers like M&S and Royal Bank of Scotland takes
part in the initiative called The Think Act that inspires the companies to think about the
provision of equal opportunities, this initiative bring about a big change in the mindset of the
organisations and hence changes in their policies. This act mainly focuses on gender equality
issue that needs to be resolved at high pace at the workplace in UK. Practical implication of
equal opportunity may involve following practices:

 Making written policy and communicate it to all the staff.

 Violating the policy should be an act of legal offense.
 Practicing the policies by motivating employees.
 Equality among staff o the basis of rewards, compensation and salary.
 Equal treatment to every staff member.

3.4 Compare the approaches to managing equal opportunities and

managing diversity.
Managing equal opportunities refers to provision of equal opportunity and treatment to the
employees working in an organisation. It is an external issue as legal affairs are involved in this
case. On the other hand, managing diversity refers to management if the workforce with different
background working under the same roof. (UK & Ireland, 2016) It is an internal affair and
management needs to do practice it according to their organisational culture. Bothe the
approaches have some of the differences and similarities. Comparison of the approaches
provides the clear understanding of the topic.
Managing equal opportunities Managing diversity
It is the implementation of such practices that
It is the implementation of the such practices
helps the management to manage the
that do not discriminate between the employees
differences in the working patterns and skills of
on the basis of race, caste, colour etc.
the employees from diverse culture.
It is an external affair as government and legal
It is an internal affair of the organisation.
Acts are involved.
 No external body relates the practices;
The Equality and Human Rights Commission
organisational management frames the policies
regulates the practices.
regarding the issue.
It focuses on removal of discrimination. It focuses on managing the differences.
Example:Unilever is the organisation that manages the diversity of the workforce by providing
the inclusive working environment to the people from different cultural background and mange
the equality by providing equal opportunities to all the people regardless of their caste, race,
religion etc. P&G is the organisation that focuses on individual talents of diverse workforce so
that they can be placed at the right position in order to take full advantage of their talent. They
conduct all of their process with legal consideration so that they would not breach any of the
legislation or law regarding discrimination. This is done to maintain the equality in the
organisation. (Us.pg.com, 2016)

Task 4:
4.1 Compare different methods of performance management.
Performance management is the practice in the organisation that facilitates to evaluate and
mange the individual performance of the employees working there. It is necessary to practice
such approaches in the organisation because performance of an individual affects the
performance and the productivity of the whole organisation. Many practices or methods can be
used to evaluate and mange the performance of the employees. Some of them are discussed
below in brief. These practices are used by Unilever for performance management purpose.

 360-degree appraisal: This method allows the evaluator to value the performance of an
employee by contacting with all the possible associations. Reports from manager, peer
groups, staff, top management etc is involved on the final judgement of the performance.
All these associated people provide the feedback for the performance of that particular
employee and then the final evaluation takes place. (Morley et al., 2006)
 Management by objective:It is most well known technique of performance appraisal. This
method is based on the objectives that have been set for the employees. In this method,
some of the objectives have been set for a particular duration by the involvement of that
employee as well as management. Level of achievement of those objectives under given
timeframe decides the appraisal of the employee/.
 Physiological appraisal:This method provides best results. In this method, skills and
performance of the employee has been evaluated by placing him at the role or in a particular
situation. (Ravazzani, 2016)
 Assessment centres: This is the place away from the original workplace. All the mangers
and the employees went there for being assessed by some of the trainers and observers. This
technique is very useful and efficient as it is free from biasness.

4.2 Assess the approaches used to manage the employee welfare.

According to CIPD, well being and welfare of the employees is not restricted to health but ahs
five domains that needs to be considered. There five domains are health, work, values, social and
personal growth. The entire organisation these days pays attention to the issue of practicing the
approaches for the welfare of the employees. Unilever is the organisation that focuses on
implementing the policies that help their employees to grow individually as well as in society.
Many practices have been introduced that safeguards the employees or workers from harmful
effects of the working environment. (Svendsen, 2010)
Unilever in employee welfare: Unilever is the company that serves the UK market with fast
moving consumer goods. Health and wellbeing is the basis of the business. It not only considers
the welfare of the customers but also concerned about the welfare o their employees. The health
fair practice by Unilever is the initiative to provide well being to the employees. Survey
determined that employees of the firm are very much satisfied and observed to have high morale
after attending the fair. The company has their health and welfare staffs that assist the health
advisors at each site to deliver a fit business program to the employees at quarterly basis. The
health fair practice increases the morale of the employee and re-energises them to work more
efficiently and safely. More and more staff engagement has been encouraged by top management
so that more employees can attend the fair like this and increase their morale and well-being as a
whole. (Business in the community, 2016)

 Welfare of the employees in the organisation has several goals.

 To provide better quality of working and personal life to the employees
 Provide them with secure and safe working environment and experience
 Improve their skills and development of the employees at personal and societal level

4.3 Discuss the implication of Health and safety legislation on Human

resource practices.
The standards of the workplace health have been regulated by occupational health and safety
legislations. The main aim of these legislations is to maintain the safety of the employees and to
prevent them from the accidents and the injuries that may takes place during the working hours.
HR plays a very important role in maintaining and preventing the employees. The legislation
argues about the responsibility of the HR and the employer to implement the practices in the
organisation that safeguards the employees from accident. (Warner, 2013)
It is the responsibility of the HR of the organisation to instigate the top management regarding
the safety issue so that they can work for the safety of the employees. HR needs to coordinate the
activities and act as the mediator between the employees and the management to communicate
the safety issues prevailing in the organisation. HR is also responsible for communicating the
rights of the employees to them so that they can claim for the compensation if they are subjected
to any risk of accident. HSWA 1974 is the Act by UK government that argues about the
legislations, laws, structure and authority of health and safety all over the UK workplace. HR
department of Unilever focuses on maintaining the health and well being of the employees by
providing them with health diet, workplace and environment.

4.4 Evaluate the impact of another topical issue on human resource

practices.
When an organisaton like Unilever brings about the changes in the policies for the sake of the
employee welfare, HR practices get affected. Many issues have been raised that have their
impact on the practices of HR in the organisation. Some of the topical issues that have their
impact on the HR practices have been discussed below:
E-recruitment:It refers to the practice of recruiting the people online. The method supported the
HR department to recruit more and more people from a single medium. This medium helps the
HR department to reach up to large masses of candidates and results in more number of
recruitments. (Drago, 2007)
E learning: This practice reduces the cost of trainers and the arrangements for the training
sessions. E learning allows the employees to learn at their desk without much movement. It saves
the time and money of the organisation and reduces the work of HR.
Work life balance: It is also the duty of HR maintain the work life balance of the employees.
HR needs to come up with new practices time to time that help the employees to maintain their
processional as well as their personal life. (Cipd.co.uk, 2016) Some other issues that have their
impact on Hr practices are changes the pension schemes, voice of the employees, safety issues
etc.
Example:Agile working and flexible working hours at Unilever provide maintaining the work
life balance of the employees. The company believes in supporting the employees to maintain
the balance between their professional and personal life. This is because most of the women
workers in the company need the same. Employee reviews of the company suggests that they are
very happy working there as they are free to work according to their comfort.

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Conclusion:
Human resource management is the integral part of the organisation. Many models have been
discussed by many theorists regarding the subject that needs to be researched in order to gain the
in-depth knowledge of the subject. Flexibility at workplace is the need of hour. Many methods
have been used at the organisation to provide flexibility to the employees. Many safety and
health regulation have also been implemented to safeguard the safety rights of the employees.

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