BangerChata: Term Paper on “HR practices of Marks &Spencer, Selfridges, Primark, and Sainsbury’s”

http://static.onthehub.com/production/attachments/15/2bfe67c5-2678-e011-969d-0030487d8897/46f5b6ce-3ea8-47ed-8444-80b87ed980cd.png

North South University

School of Business

Fall 2014

EMBA-602

Term Paper on “HR practices of Marks &Spencer, Selfridges, Primark, and Sainsbury’s”

Prepared for

Prof. Dr. Md. Mahmodul Hasan

Faculty of Business Administration

EMBA – Program, North South University

Prepared by

Date of submission

December 20, 2014

North South University

School of Business

Fall 2014

EMBA-602

Term Paper on “HR practices of Marks &Spencer, Selfridges, Primark, and Sainsbury’s”

Prepared for

Prof. Dr. Md. Mahmodul Hasan

Faculty of Business Administration

EMBA – Program, North South University

Prepared by

Name	ID
Md. Ariful Islam	1420917090
Asif Faisal Rumy	1411406690
Sayeeda Rubaiya Sultana	1421831690
Nu Mohammad Rumi	1420746090

Date of submission

December 20, 2014

Professor Dr. M. Mahmodul Hasan

School of Business

North South University

Dhaka-1209

Subject: Submission of term paper on HR Practices of M&S, Selfridges, Primark and Sainsbury.

Dear Sir

We are very much gratified and appreciative to you for having such a prospect to make a report on Human Resource Management. Our topic was “HR Practices of M&S, Selfridges, Primark, and Sainsbury”. This paper assists us to congregate convenient and very significant knowledge about the HR Practices of M&S, Selfridges, Primark and Sainsbury. We served our excellence to make this report informative and sensible. To make it exquisite we have contended to provide supplementary illumination concerning stipulation. We would be reverent to submit this report to you. Your compassion is our esteem if you do recognize this report and accredited at.

Sincerely yours,

Group: Banger Chata

Md. Ariful Islam ID # 1420917090 _____________________

Asif Faisal Rumy ID # 1411406690 _____________________

Sayeeda Rubaiya Sultana ID # 1421831690 _____________________

Nu Mohammad Rumi ID # 1420746090 _____________________

Acknowledgement

The success of this report depends on the contribution of number of people specially those who have shared their thoughtful guidance and suggestions to complete this report.

First, we express our sincere gratitude to our honorable faculty Professor Dr. M. Mahmodul Hasan for his valuable contribution to the preparation of this report. He has been gracious enough to spare time out from his busy schedule for giving us all the necessary assistance throughout the entire period of the semester and the report writing time. Without his help this report might not have been a comprehensive one.

We are also thankful to those people, who helped by participating in the research work and provided us valuable and necessary information. It is our great pleasure that, we get heartily cooperation from all of them. Without their cooperation and information we could not able to complete our survey and also the term paper.

It would be incomplete if we do not consider the contribution of our study partner and friends inside and outside of the classroom. We also like to thank them for their cooperation and doing the right job at the right time.

Executive Summary

Human resource management (HRM) is a subset of the study of management that focuses on how to attract, hire, train, motivate, and maintain employees. For getting practical information we have to research on M&S, Selfridges, Primark and Sainsbury. This report explains about the HR practice of the four leading retail company whom has large amount of market share in the industry. In this report we have given the description of their HR policy ,their selection process and how technology affect them in their selection process, training program, paying employee market value, decentralized their work site etc. We also describe in this report how company is taking their recruitment test via online. Technology has had a positive effect on internal operations for organizations, but it also has changed the way human resource manager’s work. In this report we describe the mark &Spencer, Primark, Sainsbury, and Selfridges, HR policy, their financial HR budget, their recruitment process, and how they are using technology in their selection and recruitment process. We found that to apply in the four companies’ job everyone needs to register in their e-recruitment system. After registering they provide a reference number. An applicant needs to sit for online assessment test. Then successful candidate are called for interview. After successful completion of interview they offer the job. Wherever you are you can apply in any job of the four companies if you have qualification they want. They practice the equal employer opportunity. They feel it's vital that their people are well rewarded. So when you say yes, they’ll give an access to a highly competitive total reward package that’s proven to attract, motivate and retain the best people. They’re constantly reviewing the details of the package to make sure it’s got everything their people want in a benefits scheme. The provide different types of benefits and rewards to the employee beside the basic salary such as Pay, holidays, bonus, pension, life insurance, discounts etc. In this report we also describe the compensation policy of the four companies and compare and contrast it with each other. Finally we give some suggestion and recommendation how they can improve their HR practices.

Table of Content

Serial No.	Content	Page No.
1.	Definition of HRM	01
2.	HR practice of Marks & Spencer	02
	HR Management in the 21st Century: Challenges for the Future	03
	The Impact of Information Technology on HR Management: Opportunities & Challenges	03
	Recruitment & Selection Process	04
	Performance & Reward Systems	05
	Career Development & Training & Development Program	06
	Financial Budget of HR	07
	Health & Safety Issues & HR Ethics	08
	Recommendation	09
3.	HR practice of Selfridges	10
	HR Management in the 21st Century: Challenges for the Future	11
	The Impact of Information Technology on HR Management: Opportunities & Challenges	11
	Recruitment & Selection Process	12
	Performance & Reward Systems	12
	Career Development & Training & Development Program	13
	Financial Budget of HR	13
	Health & Safety Issues & HR Ethics	14
	Recommendation	15
4.	HR practice of Primark	16
	HR Management in the 21st Century: Challenges for the Future	17
	The Impact of Information Technology on HR Management: Opportunities & Challenges	18
	Recruitment & Selection Process	19
	Performance & Reward Systems	20
	Career Development & Training & Development Program	22
	Financial Budget of HR	24
	Health & Safety Issues & HR Ethics	24
	Recommendation	26
5.	HR practice of Sainsbury	27
	HR Management in the 21st Century: Challenges for the Future	28
	The Impact of Information Technology on HR Management: Opportunities & Challenges	28
	Recruitment & Selection Process	30
	Performance & Reward Systems	32
	Career Development & Training & Development Program	34
	Financial Budget of HR	36
	Health & Safety Issues & HR Ethics	38
	Recommendation	38
6.	Compare & Contrast HR practices among Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Primark & Sainsbury	39
7.	Conclusion	40
8.	References	41

Human Resource Management (HRM)

http://www.managementguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/hrm-1.jpg

Human resource management is a function in organizations designed to maximize employee performance in service of their employer’s strategic objectives.HR is primarily concerned with how people are managed within organizations, focusing on policies and systems. HR departments and units in organizations are typically responsible for a number of activities, including employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and rewarding. HR is also concerned with industrial relations, that is, the balancing of organizational practices with regulations arising from collective bargaining and governmental laws.

According to Decenzo and Robbins:

"Human resource management is a process consisting of four functions-acquisition, development, motivation and maintenance of human resources."

According to Gary Dressler:

"Human resource management refers to the policies and practices one needs to carry out the people or human resource aspects of management position including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding and appraising."

Chapter- 1: HR Practices on (a)

HR management in the 21st Century: (Challenges for the future)

Today the success of individuals and organizations are measured by their adaptability to change. Organizations have abandoned the traditional thinking of what work is and how people work. Employment now means more than having a job.

Resource, in its organizational context is defined as, “anything that could be thought of as a strength or weakness of a given firm” including tangible and intangible assets.

HRM is not just new improved personnel management, as it is evident from the points above HRM is a strategic function. However, it is getting difficult to effectively planned HR because it is becoming increasingly blurred when work begins and where it ends.

There are probably countless factors that affect employee commitment and motivation, but no matter what the situation is, HR practitioners need to be in control of their carrots and sticks. HR management need to understand that what motivates employees, what employees value most and what employee think is fair.

The Impact of Information technology on HR management: (opportunities and challenges)

Driving customer innovation

Marks & Spencer’s - a growing group, with Stein (IT head) partway through recruiting 60 staff to join the firm this year. The team also delivered 191 large digital "inspiration screens" that carry editorial-style content about products and trends across 110 locations. M&S also has equipped 1,500 of its customer assistants with iPads to enable staff to demonstrate the retailer's full range of products to customers, as well as checking size and availability.

Focus on big data

A key area of attention for Stein is what can be done with the vast amounts of information that M&S gathers about customer buying behavior. M&S's technology team is creating a big data strategy in partnership with other business divisions to work out what areas the retailer will focus on first.

Leaving Amazon

Other important back-end projects that have a direct impact on M&S's bottom line include moving the retailer's multi-channel systems, currently hosted by AWS, to a new platform. While the move is underway, M&S also has to develop skills in the IT department to carry out tasks that were previously done by Amazon, such as security and IT operations.

Warehouse management

Another key deliverable of the IT team is the roll-out of a new warehouse management system from Red Prairie. The platform will support a significant milestone for M&S's logistics - its warehouse set-up, currently spread across the north of the UK, will be consolidated in one 900,000ft² central distribution center in Castle Donington from next quarter. Fast approaching seven years of service at Marks & Spencer, Stein (IT Head M & S) is busier than ever, but satisfied with the current position of IT as a key part of the business strategy - as opposed to the back-office function it was in the past.

Recruitment and Selection process:

Marks and Spencer is an international retail and food chain, with over 700 stores in the UK. They go with both Internal & external search for fill the vacant positions.

INTERNAL vacancies are advertised on the:

§ Staff notice board

§ company intranet [although a lot of shop floor staff still do not use this]

§ Monthly newsletter

§ EXTERNAL vacancies are advertised via:

§ Newspapers – for local jobs it will be in the local newspaper such as the Bristol Evening Post on Wednesday night. For higher level jobs it will appear in national newspapers such as The Times or The Guardian.

The Marks and Spencer online recruitment process is as follows:
1) Search through their website under the careers section for the job role you are interested in according to the department as the company has a large range of job roles available
2) The search will show all the job roles within the store across the various branches in the UK. The Marks and Spencer recruitment of employees is conducted through the Marks and Spencer website or their hotline.
3) Click on the job role with the most suitable location to you. An FAQ page is available before you apply to answer any potential queries.
4) This will require you to create a login as a registered user. A confirmation email will be sent to you to validate the account for the Marks and Spencer recruitment process.
5) Once you submit the application form, an email receipt will be sent to your given email address. Their recruitment process is easy to track, you can revisit the site to to track the progress of your application for a job, and edit your personal details.
6) Marks and Spencer recruitment process takes into consideration if you have any disability or learning difficulty, a number is provided to give assistance to those individuals.
7) Once you apply for a job through the Marks and Spencer recruitment process, you cannot re-apply for a position within the next 6 months due to high demand.

Performance and Reward System

Performance management is a joint process that involves both the supervisor and the employee, who identify common goals, which are linked to the goals of the organization. This process results with the establishment of written performance exceptions later used as measures for feedback and performance evaluation.

An appraisal system is carried out every 12 months at Marks and Spencer's. An appraisal system is when discussions are made with members of staff about what is going well, what can be improved and how they would which to develop and other suggestions form workers. These meetings are done by manager of M&S for the employees and are confidential.

Performance-related pay
Marks and Spencer’s have three-month bonus periods in which if a store makes a higher profit than what is predicted they will receive a bonus. Marks and Spencer's also gives gift vouchers for hard work, staff discount scheme of 20%.

Holidays

Entitled to a minimum of 28 days’ statutory holiday per year. For part-time worker this will be pro-rated.

Shares save

This is a way to save and share in the future success of M&S. By joining employees can save any amount between £5 and £250 each month for 3 years. At the end of 3 years you can get your money back or buy shares at an exclusive 20% discounted price, which is set at the start of the scheme.

Salary Sacrifice

By Joining Salary Sacrifice schemes, covering childcare vouchers, holiday buying, car leasing and cycle to work and employees could save money on tax and National Insurance.

Heath & Well-being

At M&S wellbeing is a big priority, and they want employees to be the best they can be. That’s why M&S offer discounted healthcare products and a wellbeing website with top tips and health guides, to keep employees fighting fit.

Career development and training and development program

Mark and spencer began by highlighting the recruitment drive in the media of each country. Marks and Spencer uses a structured behavioral interviewing format. Tjis means that interviewers seek evidence of predetermined selection criteria. At the initial stage , these are :

1. Leadership

2. Planning and organizing

3. Assertiveness

4. Analytical Consideration

5. Job motivation

The next stage of selection process is assessment center; this was new concept for applicants for some countries. Assessment center measures candidates against all seven selections criteria.

Financial budget of HR

Everyone budgets to a greater or lesser extent. A budget is a financial plan developed for the future. Budgeting is an important control mechanism for every organization and helps to predict what the organization thinks will happen over the next accounting period.

The forecast financial plan or budget for each store is known as the forecast profit and loss account. At the beginning of each year, the management team for each store will look back at the previous year’s sales and targets/objectives of the whole organization to predict their sales for the store for the following year.

The profit and loss account will also take into account controllable costs. They are locally based costs on which the Management Team of each store can have impact. They include staffing costs ,cost of refunds, lighting and gas costs stationary costs, staff uniforms, as well as any other costs related to each store.

Rumination Policy table

Executive Directors’ Remuneration

Health And Safety Issues and HR ethics

The policy of Marks and Spencer’s on health and safety and its implementation is directed by:

The fire health and safety committee Advises on fire, health and safety policy monitors its effectiveness and reviews key performance measures on a quarterly basis.

The Store/Site Manager is accountable and responsible for ensuring in conjunction with their Fire, Health & Safety Officer that Company Health & Safety Policy is implemented.

Occupational Health Services provide advice and support to line managers on managing the impact of work on health, and health on work.

Business Involvement Groups (BIGs) represent all employees in two way communication.

Retail Finance and Operations and its Trading, Safely and Legally Team are responsible

for determining and monitoring risk assessments, work practices and enforcement measures.

Property Development and Facilities Management are responsible work practices and enforcement measures.

The Fire, Health & Safety Officer (FHSO) assists the Store Manager in promoting and

improving the FHS culture in stores, ensuring a consistently safe, secure and healthy environment for all staff.

All employees must be aware of their individual responsibility for maintaining the

health & safety of themselves and all those affected by their actions at work.

Recommendation

1) Use of scientific change management model

2) Effective leadership

3) Utilize technological advantages to the changing market

4) Use of micromanagement in the changing process

5) New strategies in the payment of pension funds to avoid internal conflict.

Chapter- 2: HR Practices on (b)

HR Management in the 21st century: Challenges for the Future

Selfridges is a chain of high end department stores which is the second largest shop in the UK. The HR Management in Selfridges understands that, only through a happy and motivated employee comes a happy and friendly service, only then the customers can be happy. By understanding this, the prime motive for them is to provide a happy and friendly environment to the employees and staffs to work in, and thus reinventing themselves more as a service oriented organization or customer oriented organization than a profit oriented organization. Thus HR Management plays a very important role in shaping up a successful organization, by motivating and bringing out the full potential out of staffs in order to work for a common goal and achieve success.

The biggest challenges for the HR Management of Selfridge are the long working hours, poor work life balance, corruption at higher level etc. Selfridges advanced training and development creates difference between the competitors. Selfridges should use flexible training program. Online recruitment as organizational need help to hire the most efficient employee .large number of candidate could be assessed within short period of time.

The Impact of Information Technology on HR Management: Opportunities and Challenges

At Selfridge, Technology has changed the way human resource manager’s work. By the use of technology HRM professionals have become the primary source of information. HR Management can circulate important Information & policies quickly and easily via company Web sites and intranets, e-mail, and messaging. Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) allow HRM professionals to better facilitate human resource plans, make decisions faster, clearly define jobs, evaluate performance, and provide cost effective benefits that employees want. Technology helps to strengthen communications with both the external community and employees.

As we found, Selfridges & Co. is already using web-based questionnaires for initial screening of applicants, they are already reaping the benefit of technology. This can be further enhanced by implementing a process which will direct the short listed candidates to a face-to-face interview through a completely automated way.

Technology also made it possible for Selfridge’s HR professionals to simply print the forms that are needed for employees. Printing on demand eliminates the need to dig through an endless number of files in the file cabinet to find what is needed and at the same time increasing productivity.

Recruitment & Selection Process

http://managementation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/recruitment.png

Preliminary screening is done through online assessment through Selfridge’s job portal website. Then prospective selected candidates are called for interview for the applied position. Selfridge is an equal employment organization. The selection is done based on the required competencies and criteria required to perform the applied job. Selfridges put high importance on the applicant’s passion on work and reasons for choosing Selfridges. Based on the position, they structure the interview questions to find out the insights about the applicants that are relevant to the applied job. On request of the applicant, Selfridges also provide feedback on his/her interview for future development need of the applicant.

Performance & Reward Systems

Selfridges upholds a culture where deserving employees gets acknowledged and rewarded. Following are a few examples of the reward and benefits:

q Generous holiday entitlement (which increases the longer you stay with us)

q Extremely generous discount throughout the whole store

q Contributory pension scheme

q Life cover

Long service awards

q Performance related incentives

q For all other roles, bonus potential of 5-40% of base salary (dependent on the role and area you work in)

q Season Ticket Loan (London & Birmingham only)

q Healthcare (senior management roles only)

Career Development and Training & Development Program

Learning and Development team works with all business areas to ensure that everyone is given the full opportunity and encouragement for their talents to flourish.

Selfridges wants to get the most out of each employee’s role because they want to make the most of every employee’s abilities. Selfridges provides three months' induction and continuous on-the-job training through which one can take advantage of a broad range of programs and workshops, designed to help develop employees’ particular sales, management or technical skills.

Financial Budget of HR

Information is required to prepare an HR budget:

q Expected annual turnover of the company.

q Projected cost increment for employee benefits.

q Number of employees slated to increase in the next financial year.

q Plans for fresh programs or benefits.

q Real cost to the company in the present fiscal year.

q Various other alterations in the company policy, its strategy, rules and regulations that may, in turn, affect the company’s cash flow.

Selfridges paid an £87m dividend to its owner Galen Weston, the Canadian billionaire who bought the store in 2003. This payout was more than double the £40m it paid the year before, according to accounts just filed at Companies House.

Sales at Selfridges, based on London’s Oxford Street, rose 5 per cent to £487.5m. But an increase in operating costs weighed on the group’s earnings, meaning that pre-tax profits fell 8.7 per cent to £73.5m for the year to February 2 2013.

Selfridges has reported its strongest ever financial results thanks to growth across all its retail channels and the rapid development of its online business.

Gross sales climbed 10.4% to £1.2bn, while operating profit rose 12.3% to a record £150m.

Health & Safety Issues and HR Ethics

Selfridges’ HR, like all other businesses, has a safety policy. This is a legal obligation that they must follow. The policy states in simple terms what the goals of Selfridges are in relation to health and safety of employees. It also consists of actions that are to be carried out by the key staff members. The policy includes planning for coverage of training and instruction, company rules and preparations for unpredictable scenario. This will be signed by the senior manager; it is revised regularly to be kept up to date. Selfridges’ HR has a unique code of practice. It states what employees should do in an event of an emergency, such as a fire, earthquake etc. It elaborates how to contact a first-aider, how to find a medical room, how to call a doctor and so on. Selfridges’s HR has a health and safety office in all their stores; they are responsible for all health and safety policies and training. All accidents, including the nearly missed ones, are recorded in an accident book so they can see where improvements need to be made.

One need to consult health and safety legislation on a variety of issues, including but not limited to:

q Refusal to work because of unsafe conditions

q Violence in the workplace

q Dangerous equipment/material

q Emergency procedures

q Lifting heavy objects

q First aid skills requirements

Recommendation

Some recommendations for Selfridges are:

q Periodical staff/management meetings including collective team-feedback -rather than individual one- would be a big plus.

q Very poor cross-department communication, concession partners treated poorly, long hours that change with little notice, poor work life balance are some common cons that need to be concentrated and the authority should take necessary steps to prevent these.

q Adequate training for every staff is mandatory as it is related with selling luxury goods.

q There should be an equal opportunity for every employee and the workplace has to be favorable with them.

q Listening to own staff and learning from them are other important prerequisites for Selfridges.

q The integrity and honesty from the authority is a must.

q Long working hours is another drawback for Selfridges which needs to be solved efficiently.

q Because of its tremendous goodwill, it can create more market segmentation rather than just holding with the one and only Retailing.

Chapter- 3: HR Practices on (c)

HR Management in 21^st Century & Challenges Future Challenge

As we enter the twenty-first century, experts continue to validate that it is the human asset, not the fixed asset that will make the difference for successful organizations. While it has historically been HR’s job to “own” those assets, the overall enterprise must take a more active role in the workforce experience. HR must continue to gain ground as the chief people strategist by providing attraction and retention techniques that create an employer of-choice environment. Simultaneously HR must demonstrate a measurable ROI on human capital.

Being the Employer of Choice

Becoming and remaining an employer of choice is the top-ranking HR-related challenge organizations face today. Establishing employer-of-choice status is HR’s responsibility, and if HR does this well, all other practices become subordinate to this goal. The most important objective on the people side of the business is establishing a place where individuals want to work and remain working. HR should be concerned with providing potential, current and even past employees with this environment.

Delineating the Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is a dramatic force behind every employer of choice. Unique to each organization, culture has many drivers, such as the organization’s leadership or the product or service produced. At the very least, HR should be the designated keeper of the corporate culture.

Using Branding to Promote Culture

Branding promotes culture. In the past branding was assigned to public relations or marketing, but it is indeed an HR function because of its power to attract and retain employees. Working together with marketing, HR must develop a compelling brand image for the workforce. Staying Attuned to Changing Demographics .The workforce has changed and will continue to do so. Employers of choice recognize and understand the dynamics of the “new workforce,” where for the first time four distinct groups of workers labor together under one virtual roof.

Winning the War for Talent

An employer of choice has already come a long way toward winning the war for talent, which is another significant HR challenge. There is no truce in this war, regardless of economic conditions.

Understanding the Workforce

Statistics show that the size of the workforce is diminishing —when the economy comes back, there will be fewer candidates from which to choose. Although there is an economic slowdown now, in the next 10 years demand will outstrip the supply. During a downturn, if companies that are not hiring eliminate their focus on recruitment, they can miss golden opportunities to secure the high performers who might be instrumental in the future.

Leveraging an Indispensable Player: Technology

Meeting today’s HR challenges would be impossible without technology, a critical practice in and of itself. Most people want to work for companies that have good technology.

The impact of information technology in HR Management

The use of information technology in human resource management can be seen visibly in the mode and operation of human resource management. Today, the training and selection method is done via the use of information technology and this is fast making the overall process more effective than ever as a whole. Information technology brings enormous opportunities in every aspect of business. Particularly to HRM, it can contribute by minimizing lot of redundant works and achieving efficiency through extensive use of technology. Human Resource Information System shortly known as HRIS is an integral part of any progressive organization which is in place in Primark’s as well.

In time and labor management, the use of information technology can’t be ignored because it is advantageous. IT enables the gathering and application of employee time and work information. It enables the tracking of employee in a scientific way that allows for easy analysis. It also enable human resource managers or senior personnel to know which employee is actually performing and the ones that are not performing and show improvement.

The use of the technology oriented processes in an organization is affected by various factors, which are highlighted as follows:

q Employee orientation-The employees of the organization needs to be convinced by the fact the use of technology in the processes will help in generating better and improved results compared to the existing processes.

q Work Culture-Work culture also affects the acceptance of the implementation of new system in an organization. The dimensions of better results can be timely and accurate information, ease of use and completion of work in lesser time.

q Security Concerns-A system or technique designed for one country may not be effective in other country. Implementation issues across boundaries come with the challenges of data privacy and data movement across boundaries.

q Cost factor- Cost is an important factor to be taken into consideration before implementation of the e- systems. The companies must priorities and take the decisions of acceptance and implementation of E-Systems on the basis of vital, essential and desirable operations.

q Training and learning- The process of training and adaptation to the new system be a cumbersome and time consuming process. It may be challenging for the users if they do not find it user friendly.

q Technical limitation- An organization cannot depend on technological websites or software completely to handle every issues related to HR. A website cannot ever replace a skilled professional. Employees may not be able to make senses of choice from the website and may need to discuss the issues personally with HR experts or professionals, in case of doubts, faced by them.

Recruitment and selection process

Primark Stores has a multi-dimensional recruitment and selection process a few years ago and job vacancies were advertised through multiple ways, including in store postings, Job Centre advertisement and advertisement of vacancies over the internet. Although we know that Primark Stores has not been focused more on internet related issues in the past and there was no other way available for the people a part from going to job centre’s and Primark Stores itself asking about the vacancies.

With the current passage of success, Primark Stores has made the recruitment process more transparent and easier to access. Primark Stores have now got an Online- Recruitment System and vacancies are displayed onto the website immediately.

Online recruitment process (short hierarchy)

Recruitment Process for Retail Operatives & Recruitment for Management Positions

The current recruitment process of Primark Stores consists of the following key stages. Candidate needs to fill an online application form to get register with the online recruitment system. At next stage, candidate needs to answer a set of online questions regarding the customer services and retail business environment. On Successful completion of this stage, candidates are invited for a personal interview. A job is offered after a successful completion of assessment centre and going through a rigorous activity of group tasks and presentation.

Performance and reward system

Primark Stores rewards its staff through different ways. In house promotions is a major source of motivation for staff, staff is also provided opportunities of training at various Stores of Primark.

Primark provides salaries that are competitive and subject to annual review. Other benefits includes,:

Structured training and development programmers
Promotional opportunities for everyone
Contributory pension scheme
Childcare Voucher scheme

Primark offers a variety of benefits, which we will discuss with you at your interview in further detail,

Competitive annual leave entitlement
Health insurance (dependant on the role/level/function)
Bonus scheme (dependant on the role/level/function)
Flexi-time scheme for certain head office functions
Variety of shift patterns available to suit your lifestyle

Work Life Balance

Primark provides the opportunity to staff members to work either full time or part- time or they can work on weekends. This flexibility of work availability is very handy and it gives a chance to the staff members to balance their day to day life and work.

Douglas Macgregor - Theory X and Theory Y practice in Primark

Macgregor said that many managers generalized the people that worked for them. They would put all of their employees into either a theory x category or a theory y category and then manage their company using the appropriate management style.

In Primark with reward and benefit package it seems “theory Y” practice is a cause of employee motivation.

Career development and Training and development program

Training and Development programs

Providing first class training to every staff member is a top priority of Primark Stores Ltd. Staff members are providing opportunities for career growth through different in-house promotions and training activities. Primark Stores Ltd has always paid immense amount of attention towards the development & training of staff. Primark Stores Ltd is providing valuable information on ethical trading to its staff and workers related to its suppliers. Primark has been quite active in raising awareness on child labor issues in these countries and has always promoted the values of ethical trading. This ethical training staffs is the focus of problem solving issues with the suppliers.

Support for New Starters

As mentioned earlier that Primark considers training very important as part of future development of its staff. A thorough induction day is conducted for every new staff member giving him / her opportunity to know about the business and working environment. At the same time Staff members are familiarized with health & safety issues, fire hazards, emergency evacuation procedures and basic customer services skills.

Competencies, competence

Competencies refer to behavior – Whiddett and Hollyfore (1999).The competence in an employee means the special or specific characteristic of an employee who with effective or excellent performance in the job he does. – Boyatzis (1982) Behavioral competencies are appreciated as important method in the HR process but issues with it are backward and not forward looking, and are limiting and misleading some time if it is used alone. – Hayes et.al (2000).

Leadership development

Leadership is a role occupied by the higher level management people in the organization in which an individual influences other group members towards the attainment of group or team’s targets. – Shackleton, (1995).

Directing Low relationship behaviour, high task behaviour, followers are unable and unwilling or insecure.	Coaching High relationship behaviour, high task behaviour, followers are unable, but willing or confident.
Supportive High relationship behaviour, low task behaviour, followers are able, but unwilling or insecure.	Delegation Low relationship behaviour, low task behaviour, followers are both able and willing or confident

Primark is highly concern on leadership development of its employees. So they arrange leadership develop program to create future leaders for the organization.

Learning and career development

While doing his work employee will learn things from the experienced managers and he understands how to deal with things in his work – Kolb et al. (1984). Honey and Mumford (1989) described four stages in the learning they are activity, reflectors, theory building, and pragmatists. The people who are trying something out without a preparation, they are eager to do role play tasks and easy to take risk on their work in other words people having a go are called as Activists. Reflectors are the people who have keen eye on analyzing what happened and why and they are good in listening and observing. Theorists are those whose strength is in building a concept or theory on their analysis. Their learning will start by reading a referred topic. Pragmatists are those who are very keen to use whatever they learn and how it will work out when they apply it in real situation. They will plan everything before they get into act.

Career development

Career development is first concern for all the employees who are in whatever position they are, and they will update them self in both skills and general knowledge to overcome career setbacks. Most of the organization in this modern world will advice there , support, and encourage in individual career planning and management by giving them he career grids, feedbacks, opportunities for employee career exploration. Primark use this as a image for their organization.

Financial budget of HR

George Weston, the boss of Primark owner Associated British Foods, has banked a 23% pay rise to £7.15m thanks to bonuses linked to the food and fashion group’s achievements in previous years. The company said in the annual report: “We are satisfied that pay outcomes for the financial year 2013/14 reflect overall business performance.” It said that with the exception of its sugar business underlying operating profit increased in all divisions, particularly in agriculture and Primark, which it said was “well positioned to maintain its growth momentum.” It added that the performance resulted in a short-term incentive payment slightly above the mid-level of what was possible.

Directors’ remuneration

Health and safety issues and HR ethics

The issue of worker safety has always been a priority for Primark and forms an important part of our factory inspections. In some countries where awareness of workplace safety (particularly fire safety) is limited, Primark local teams provide training and awareness programs for factory managers and workers. In Bangladesh, Primark also work with industry experts, other retailers, and international organizations to ensure the factories we use are structurally safe and meet international safety standards. We are a member of the Bangladesh Accord on Building & Fire Safety, and were the first UK retailer to sign the Accord. Over 150 retailers are now members, along with trade unions and worker rights organizations.

Safety program

Our fire safety programs for suppliers in Bangladesh have been in place since 2010. It includes dedicated fire safety inspections, and training for suppliers and workers. In 2012 we launched a new initiative to create a set of practical fire safety guides. Health and safety experts, worker rights organizations, our suppliers, and a former senior member of the Bangladesh Fire Service, are working with us to create the guides. Following the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in April 2013, we began a program of structural building surveys. The surveys are conducted to the highest international standards by an expert team of structural and civil engineers from a specialist engineering and architectural firm.

Rana Plaza Tragedy

Primark announced that we would contribute a further payment of $1 million to workers who produced garments for other retailers. This money was paid into the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund. This is in addition to the $2 million which we have already distributed to these workers or their families through our short-term financial assistance programme. Together, this brings our total aid payments to $12 million.

The assistance programs are

Emergency food aid Primark gave emergency food parcels to over 1265 households for five weeks in partnership with a local NGO. E

Short-term financial assistance Primark provided short-term financial assistance equivalent to nine months' salary for 3639 workers and their families.

Long-term compensation Primark worked with international organisations and local experts to provide long-term financial compensation to the 625 workers and their families.

Medical support Primark provided support for workers who remained in hospital or were receiving medical treatment, working with the United Federation of Garment Workers, a trade union body.

Building safety Primark conducted structural surveys in Bangladesh on buildings that contained factories producing Primark clothing. The surveys were conducted to the highest international standards by an expert team of structural and civil engineers.

HR Ethics

Legal requirements are very important as part o the HR Planning process and HR team ensures that they are fulfilling all legal requirement during the recruitment & selection process. Staffs members are informed about different legal sides of the business and how legally Primark protects its employees in case of any incident or injury during work. These all things are very important and should be reviewed on a regular basis as they not only ensure the safety of the employees but at the same time keeps the organization on a right track which maximizes its chances of business growth.

Recommendations

To deliver more value, the human resources function needs to spend more time accelerating operational improvement and less time on its traditional administrative and compliance activities. Focus on Whole Systems and Integrated Solutions: It is clear that HRM has become increasingly systematic during their evolutions. With the strategic proactive role of HRM, the challenge for Primark is to continue to develop innovative systems by focusing on the integrated functions and systems of organization. Primark should also play a strategic role by contributing to the strategy formulation process. The HR practices should be designed consistent with the strategies of Primark taking into consideration the essential HR needs.

In my view change in the recruitment procedure has been quite positive but a delay in different recruitment activities is an issue of major concern and it should be sorted out. As we know that people are the major assets of Primark stores and these induction practices ensure that people know about their responsibilities as part of the company and how to deal with situations arising during the course of work. Legal side is very important and staff should be familiarized with the basics of HR and employment law and health & safety at work. These things not only protect employees during work but at the same time, it protects the employers from getting involved in lengthy legal proceedings in case of an incident.

Chapter- 4: HR Practices on (d)

HR Management in the 21st Century: Challenges for the Future

Sainsbury’s was founded in 1869 and today operates over 1,200 supermarkets and convenience stores and employs around 161,000 colleagues.

Sainsbury’s HR team has won top honors at “the HR Excellence Awards 2010”. HR is now seen as part of the business team, playing a crucial part in the overall turnaround. Major HR initiatives include simplification of the staff scheduling process - resulting in a benefit delivery of £8 million a year; the introduction of HR shared services in Manchester, which has freed up HR teams to focus on the value-adding side of their role; online recruitment - producing a saving of over £1.6 million in costs; and the new Oracle Colleague Administration HR payroll system.

Sainsbury provide 50,000 new UK job opportunities in the UK and at least half of them has received externally accredited training. It has 10,000 people under age of 25 employed in the last year. Over 27,000 colleagues working & 2,809 colleagues receive job-related qualifications in 2013/14. Only UK supermarket to achieve and retain Gold standard accreditation from Investors in People. In November 2007, Sainsbury centralized its HR department, which was initially trialed to deal with Recruitment in Scotland and was later rolled out to the whole country.

The Impact of Information Technology on HR Management: Opportunities and Challenges

In Sainsbury PLC there are multiple business units. With a centralized Management Information system that is not affected by geographical boundaries and similar restrictions, MIS helps in tracking employee related functions. With an integrated database of personnel, it keeps a track of salary and benefits structures, supports planning and recruiting and also simplifies the payroll function of the HR department.

Information Technology influences the Human Resource department at Sainsbury through:

1) Human Resource Planning

Information Technology at Sainsbury ensures the right number and type of workers to achieve its objectives. Planning is important so that vacancies are filled as staff leave. Sainsbury will work out its labor requirements, its demand and make sure that an appropriate supply is planned. All staff information and records are entered so that less experienced staffs can be identified and further training can be given to the right staff. IT can also help with planning the staff shifting system and schedule effectively, avoiding the problem of miss-arrangement.

2) Recruitment and Selection

In November 2007, Sainsbury's became the first major British employer to introduce an "internet only" staff recruitment system.

Opportunities:

ü The move saved the company £4million a year in administration costs.

ü More than 80% of the adult population had internet access.

ü Will provide competitive advantage

Challenges:

ü The hiring pipeline (screening, interviewing, etc.) is often fairly unreliable at separating the good candidates from the bad.

ü Mismatch between hiring schedule of employers and candidates means that often when good candidates are available, job vacancies aren't.

3) Training and Development

With the use of IT, Sainsbury identify the training needs analysis, training cost-benefit analysis, promotion analysis etc. This will help to equip employees with the skills required now and in the future.

4) Performance Management

IT helps in evaluating performance appraisal analysis, attitude survey, attendance management analysis, productivity analysis and help to motivate staffs to ensure high performance for the firm. This would also enhance the output by the employees as they will be motivated.

5) Compensation management

IT helps in assessing personnel cost analysis and compensation structure analysis for better compensation management. Introduction of new Oracle Colleague Administration HR payroll system.

Recruitment & Selection Process

Sainsbury offers large numbers of job opportunities that are available in different stores. They look for people with good customer skills and job is available in clerical, stockroom and technical. Flexible contract, term time contracts and dual contracts offer colleagues to work on hours basic. Job opportunities are advertised on in-store job board, in local newspaper and at job center plus. When Sainsbury open new supermarkets and local and central stores in many towns that creates job vacancies in advance, Sainsbury recruit staff two or more months before in order to allow staff training.

Sainsbury follows the following recruitment & selection process:

Job Analysis & Vacancy Announcement

Sainsbury HR team analysis the job and thus from the requirements of different units it develop job requirements. Based on that job requirements it announce the vacancies to its own websites and also some other online job portals.

Completing the Application form

To apply for Sainsbury’s announced jobs in their websites the applicants has to sign up by completing the application form provided by the company.

Employment Tests & Comprehensive Interview

After completing the application form now the applicant has to answer some questions which involves the intelligence, aptitude, ability and interest tests of the applicants and also some combination of Behavioral Interviews & RJPs. Questions are set in such a way that it will judge both the job related efficiency along with some other aspects such as humanitarian aspects, intelligence level etc. After successfully completion of the question & answer section will only proceed to the following sections.

Background investigation

After the Employment test & Comprehensive interviews Sainsbury used to verify all the information provided by the applicant.

Job Offers

Suitable person who best suit according to the company requirements will be selected for the job.

Sources of Recruitment:

External Sources:

On-Campus/ College Hiring:

Sainsbury is focusing on hiring top knotch graduates/ talents though it’s graduate scheme called '2020 Leaders'. Graduates can choose from three areas to develop into: Commercial, People or Logistics and Supply. The scheme was listed in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2013 and The Job Crowd Top Companies for Graduates to Work For 2013. Sainsbury are now planning to expand their graduate recruitment programmes substantially – by an average of 8.7% in 2014, the highest annual increase in graduate vacancies for four years. Youth Can programme promoting employment to young people Sharing success.

Online only recruitment

In November 2007, Sainsbury's became the first major British employer to introduce an "internet only" staff recruitment system & it mostly recruits through its online recruiting system. Online recruitment - producing a saving of over £1.6 million in costs

Internal Sources:

Succession planning

Focusing on Succession planning by New apprentice scheme announced with 400 places available, developing future team leaders Long service

Performance & Reward Systems

Appraisal process:

Sainsbury has created a single, common performance management system to unite goal setting, performance appraisal, and development for ensuring employee’s performance that will support the company’s strategic aims. By this Performance management, Sainsbury measures the employee’s training, set the standards, performance appraisal, and feedback relative to how the employee’s performance should be and is contributing to achieving the company’s goals.

In Sainsbury Performance management is a joint process that involves both the supervisor and the employee, who identify common goals, which are linked to the goals of the organization. This process results with the establishment of written performance exceptions later used as measures for feedback and performance evaluation. An appraisal system is carried out every 12 months at Sainsbury.

Sainsbury use various methods to know how well individual employees are doing their responsibility and to know how well the managers are able to carrying out the employees. Sainsbury conducts Performance monitoring. It offers information which is of value for identifying future training or promotion opportunities and it also identify the areas where inadequate skills or knowledge could be judged as a threat to an employee’s efficiency. Managers of the Sainsbury control organization and individual level through development by planning objectives and targets, performance value creation, perceiving actual performance, compare actual performance with standards and adjusting mistakes and taking any necessary corrective action. Sainsbury frequently measure the goals of management in which the performance of the individual against objectives and targets which have been fixed by managers and employees.

Other benefits:

Sainsbury's runs a wide variety of payroll 'extras' for colleagues, the main being a percentage bonus on a store by store basis for successful customer and availability scores throughout the year. Other optional extras include contributory pension schemes, investment in shares, loans for public transport tickets and grants for bicycle purchase.

Employee satisfaction is on high as 3% points increase in colleagues who say they would recommend Sainsbury’s as a great place to work.

Investing in the people:

It was the first-ever food retailer to receive a Gold accreditation for its commitment to improve business by investing in employees. So employees are very motivated.

Outcome of Performance & Reward System:

Career Development and Training & Development Program

Career Development:

Processes are also in place to identify talent and actively manage succession planning throughout the business. Ongoing reviews are performed to understand the nature of capability and specific skill sets required to deliver objectives. This is supported by embracing new ways of attracting talent and its corporate value ‘A great place to work’ reinforces its commitment to giving people the opportunity to be the best they can be. A plan is in place to manage the leadership transition and the methods described above will continue to be employed to understand and maintain colleague engagement during this period. Developing future leaders through “New apprentice scheme”. Sainsbury announced with 400 places available.

Training & Development:

· Sainsbury arranges in house training such as City and Guild qualifications in its 7 food colleges & 27,000 colleagues have been trained at these venues so far.

· Sainsbury’s Continued emphasis on colleague engagement championed by its Great Place to Work groups and through their “Annual colleague survey”

· Sainsbury opened new Convenience Training College in Brixton this year to train team leaders and store managers in a range of technical and behavioral skills which gives us a clear idea that its training program focuses on not only improving technical skills but also behavioral skills. Future Builder.

· Diversity Champion programme trained 158 store managers and HR managers on the needs of customers and colleagues with disabilities.

Training & Development Outcome

Sainsbury’s value	Commitments	2011 /12	2012/13	2013/14
Training & Development Outcome	Jobs and skills	12,000 colleagues trained in Food Colleges since 2010	20,000 colleagues trained in Food Colleges since 2010	27,000 colleagues trained in Food Colleges since 2010

So we can see that, at Sainsbury the training & development, performance management & compensation is very much linked with one another.

Financial Budget of HR [Salary + Bonus + Increments + others]

There is a direct link between performance and remuneration which is ensured by the remuneration committee. The Group’s employment policies and remuneration and benefits packages are regularly reviewed and are designed to be competitive with other companies, as well as providing colleagues with fulfilling career opportunities. Colleague surveys, performance reviews, Communications with trade unions and regular communication of business activities are some of the methods the Group uses to understand and respond to colleagues’ needs.

Employee Costs

Employee costs for the Group during the year amounted to:	2014(£m)	2013(£m)
Wages and salaries, including bonus and termination benefits	2150	2051
Social security costs	141	133
Pension costs – defined contribution schemes	77	44
Pension costs – defined benefit schemes	34	59
Share-based payments expense	33	33
Total	2435	2320

Bonus

Annual bonus – Colleagues shared over £90 million+ record bonuses in 2014/15 and £620 million paid in bonuses over the last 10 years.

Others:

Deferred Share Award – following the delivery of strong financial, strategic and relative performance during the year, awards were made at 80 per cent of the maximum (compared to 83 per cent last year). Over 10,000 colleagues shared £26 million through the Share save schemes and colleagues saw an average 25 per cent increase on original savings

Value Builder – in May 2014, the sixth cycle of Value Builder, in which over 230 managers participate, will mature at a performance multiplier of 1.6 times (40 per cent of the maximum), reflecting its performance over the previous three years.

Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘LTIP’) – Future Builder: Recognizes and rewards for delivery of Company performance and shareholder value over the longer term. Awards of conditional share awards (or equivalent) with vesting dependent on performance measured over a period of at least three financial years. The Committee reviews the metrics, targets and weightings prior to each grant to ensure that they remain appropriate. Recovery provisions apply. Maximum award of up to 250 per cent of salary per annum under the rules of the plan in respect of any financial year. Awards structured as core award (up to 62.5 per cent per annum) with a performance multiplier of up to 4 times.

Health & Safety Issues and HR Ethics

Sainsbury is a great place to work as it has 20,000 colleagues who have reached 20 years’ service & Increase the number of colleagues with shares in the business by 25%. Moreover, a survey report shows that Sainsbury HR was being fair to all its employees.

Prevention of injury or loss of life for both colleagues & customers is being provided very importance.

Clear policies and procedures are in place detailing the controls required to manage health and safety and product safety risks across the business and comply with all applicable regulations. These cover the end-to-end operation, from the auditing and vetting of construction contractors, to the health and safety processes in place in its depots, stores and offices, to the controls in place to ensure people and product safety and integrity.

In addition, established product testing programmes are also in place to support rigorous monitoring of product traceability and provide assurance over product safety and integrity. Supplier terms and conditions and product specifications set clear standards for product/ raw material safety and quality which suppliers are expected to comply with. Process compliance is supported by external accreditation and internal training programmes, which are aligned to both health and safety laws and Sainsbury’s internal policies. In addition, resource is dedicated to manage the risk effectively, in the form of the Group Safety Committee and specialist teams including Convenience Risk Managers and Logistics and Commercial Safety Specialists.

Recommendation

q Since the pay structure is very much competitive & a lot of other facilities are being provided to the employees, the HR department may motivate & retain best employees through job rotation & job enrichment.

q 25% of one month’s basic salary maybe provided to the employees who maintains 100% attendance record.

q As most of the organizations are competing globally for their best reputation, the HR department of Sainsbury should also arrange some cultural training for the employees and also the skills need to perform in the global arena.

q Some cultural events can be arranged on a regular basis to remove the boredom and also make the employees feel much better.

Compare and Contrast HR Practices among-

M&S recruitment and selection process recruit most potential candidate in the past also their performance appraisal is also been effective. They formulate new strategy to cope with the market, investing on ecommerce bring competitive advantage. Different training and career development programs offered to employee. M&S provide 360 training program but short on advanced level training alike Selfridges. Development needed on management models, payment funds and market analysis over HR practice.

Primark human resources function mostly focused on traditional administrative and compliance activities rather to operational improvement. It is clear that HRM has become increasingly systematic during their evolutions. The challenge for Primark is to continue to develop innovative systems by focusing on the integrated functions and systems of organization. HR practices of Primark like recruitment, performance appraisal reward system matched with the market beta. Considering corporate strategy before planning can lead them to a new height.

Selfridges advanced training and development creates difference between all four of them. Selfridges should use flexible training program. Online recruitment as organizational need help to hire the most efficient employee .large number of candidate could be assessed within short period of time.

At Sainsbury’s, human resources management is the most important department. They control the workforce and overlook how the employees perform. Working in team is important for Sainsbury’s as it creates friendly environment which can increase company’s profit. Rivals may look for Sainsbury’s existing employees by offering them better pay and promotion. Sainsbury’s should be more attentive of such problems and may offer their employees more pay and promotion in order to keep existing employees satisfied. HR planning is lacking part from other three.

Conclusion

The most important work by the HR is to develop sound organizational structure with strong interpersonal skill to employees and also to train employees by introducing them the concept of globalize human resource management to perform better in the global organization’s context. The HR manager has a responsibility to manage all the issues and challenges like work force diversity, leadership development, change management, organizational effectiveness, globalization, e- commerce, succession planning and compensation etc, when they will work with HR practices, such as rigid recruitment and selection policy, division of jobs, empowerment, encouraging diversity in the workplace, training and development of the work force, fostering innovation, proper assigning of duties and responsibilities, managing knowledge and other functions as are shown. When the HR of four companies like Marks & Spencer, Primark, Sainsbury and Selfridge works enthusiastically with all modern HR practices, competitive advantages can be accomplished, organization efficiency can be enhanced, and the organization will be sustained to survive long time against competitors. The fundamental role of HRM for the four company like Marks & Spencer, Primark, Sainsbury and Selfridge should be strengthen the organization's capability and maximize everyone's potential right across the business. They should focus employee development strategy which is associated to convey the business goals. In every organization, proper recruitment and selection plays a major role to select right person for the right job. The new technology will give the way on how employers recruit and select staff. The four companies like Marks & Spencer, Primark, Sainsbury and Selfridge should use the process of talent acquisition to discover the sources of manpower to meet necessities of the staffing program. These companies should always conduct training and development strategy to improve the employee skills and knowledge so that they perform their responsibility effectively. The companies can employ diversity at workplace to motivate all employees to perform to their highest ability resulting in higher productivity and profit. Performance management is very essential for these companies to meet business strategy needs.

References

q http://cibmp.org/Papers/Paper519.pdf

q http://www.siop.org/tip/backissues/tipjan98/may.aspx

q http://smallbusiness.chron.com/technology-impact-hr-practices-37912.html

q http://researchtrend.net/ijet42/6%20KAMAL%20F.pdf

q http://www.scribd.com/doc/31203174/HRM-and-Organisational-Turnaround-Selfridges-Co

q http://selfridgescareers.com/head-office/training-and-development

q http://work.chron.com/major-trends-human-resources-21st-century-20735.html

q http://www.ukessays.com/essays/commerce/strategic-human-resource-planning-in-business-commerce-essay.php

q http://www.ripublication.com/gjmbs_spl/gjmbsv3n4_15.pdf

q http://www.primark.com/en/careers/come-join-us

q http://www.abf.co.uk/documents/pdfs/2013/2013_abf_annual_report_and_accounts.pdf