HRM Functions and Practices Sample Assignment
Final Project
HRM Functions and Practices
Function
Any organization must attract and select human resources who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities required in the organization. If the organization is able to make the right type of hiring, then this supports the organizational strategy in a huge way. Organizations need to plan about what they want to achieve in what time frame and aligning HRM functions with strategic planning will help in doing just that. In other words, we can say that HR functions should be aligned with strategic plans because this will help the organization in making sure that they have the right people with the right skills working in their respective places at the right time. (Hunter, Saunders, & Constance, 2016)
Global Conditions
The global conditions of the organization do indeed impact HRM practices on a huge deal. Keeping in mind the fact that Maersk is a multinational organization, the HR department of the organization must be aware of the factors that are affecting the company on a global level. If the organization is responsive to the current global conditions, only then can the company attract and retain their employees. Maersk also has to adapt to the change in the global conditions to avoid stagnant policies. This will help them in reducing employee turnover, which is one of the biggest problems they face today.
Human resource can prepare the organizations that can manage the global conditions of the business but human resources face a supply and demand of the talent that can have diversities in cultures, languages and social backgrounds. But the businesses are appealing to this distinct headhunting that acknowledge the value of having the rights of their workers in the organization and can contribute to the strategic plans of the company.
Staffing
Recruit
Maersk used to hire untrained and fresh candidates who would then be trained and given jobs in other countries. Over the years, the organization had developed a family atmosphere where employees would stay with the organization for as long as 50 years. Due to the family atmosphere, the management teams were unable to fire the underperforming employees, which aligned the employees to the organization’s vision and goals over the years. This problem seemed big in the beginning, but over time, the company was benefited by its homogenous company focused culture. (Iriyama, Kishore, & Talukdar, 2016).Maersk Group learn the strategic planning that is relied on the training of the inexperienced individuals to move the company ahead. But the company is experiencing growth and need the professionals and managers who can run the organizations. In addition, the company focus on the entry level training for the individuals for the two years that is sent to them oversees that can run the operations of the company. After having the experience of lack of return on the employees and the cost to train them, so this program was closed (Maersk Group, 2017)
Internal vs External Candidates
Internal recruitment is the process of recruiting applicants who are already working in the organization. This process is quicker than recruiting external candidates and is a much cost-effective process. Internal recruitment is mostly done by transferring, promoting, or referencing already working employees to the new job. (Dany & Torchy, 2017)
On the contrary, external recruitment is the process of recruiting candidates from outside the organization. This process is time-consuming and costly as it requires training and use of advertising different methods to attract potential candidates. But it does come with a benefit which is that this process provides an unlimited choice of candidates so we can make sure that we are hiring the best.
Training
Needs Assessment
Training needs assessment (TNA), as the name suggests, is the method of determining if the need for training subsists and what kind of training is required to remove that loophole. TNA holds immense value in an organization. It helps in identifying the performance requirements and the solution needed to fulfill the requirements. The most significant benefit of TNA is that it allows the effective allocation of resources to maximize productivity. This also helps in identifying the gaps that need to be filled to maximize profits. (Lakshminarayanan, Pai, & Ramaprasad, 2016).
A need assessment is the first step in the planning training that is basis for the development of the learning objectives for an organizations. All the professional development in the organization can be derived from the needs assessment and the human resources that can find what learners want.
Learning Activities
It is crucial for any organization to develop learning activities if they want to be productive and grow as an organization. In the case of Maersk Customer Service- Care Business Partner training program, these activities will give the workers an idea of what they will be doing once they are done with the training. It will also help the employees grow and be better at whatever their job is. Moreover, the adult learners utilize the experiential learning strategies that can stresses the hands on and the personal experience in creating the knowledge. Hands on method require the employee to actively involve the leaning which is: on the job training, apprenticeship and self-directed learning. Hands on learning can give the initiative to the learner to fully understand the associated outcomes.
Value of Need Assessment
There are specific components of need assessment which should be kept in mind while doing the need assessment in an organization. The first component would be to identify the type of training requirements of customer service at Maersk. It could be done by doing an organizational analysis. This would also help in explaining what the company would be offering to their potential candidates. The second step would be the task analysis which involves the process of identifying the on job needs and then preparing specific training programs to address those needs. The third and final step would be the individual analysis of the employees. This would help in determining which of the employees need training and which employees do not.
SMART
SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely) goal setting, create the goals and objectives is considered as the first step in the process of planning for the organizational training. So it is important for the human resource to set the AMRT goals because the system will get the clear idea for the organization that focus on the organization.
SMART is a standard followed all around the world, which helps in setting the standard and quantifiable goals. There is immense importance of setting SMART goals for a training plan because it offers benefits like giving a sense direction and pushing the employees forward towards their goals. It also helps in organizing and reaching goals and prevents the training team from setting unrealistic goals for its employees which is perhaps the most significant benefit. (Guetterman, 2017)
Compensation
Compensation Philosophy
The philosophy of compensation can be described as the official and unique statement that can describe the position of a company from the viewpoint of an individual. This philosophy helps the organization see the employees from an individual perspective. If we talk about the philosophy of compensation of Maersk, we can see that the company’s objectives are determined by the general purposes of the organization. The organization’s compensation strategy is determined by the general business objectives of the organization. In the case of Maersk, the philosophy associated with compensation is majorly relied on the performance of its employees. The focus of the company is on the employees more than their board of directors because they are given fixed amounts. This compensation philosophy helps the company in being better than their rivals and have a competitive edge in the market (Yang, 2017).
The company present fair monetary benefits which leads to great business. If the company is not paying handsome amount then the people will look for the better salary proposal. On the other side if the company pays more like over compensate the employees it will be burden on the payroll and strategic outlook the profits that will undergo the hardship. Companies need to be competitive in the job market in order to keep the potential top talent in the market. The Maersk Group is a family owned company that take care of their employees. Being a global employer the company offer the discretionary benefits that can tailor to the countries that has operations to recruit more employees.
Salary Surveys
As name suggests, the salary surveys are the surveys which are conducted generally by human resource managers to decide a fair salary for their employees. Salary surveys hold immense importance for an organization as they create value for the organization. As the salary surveys help the employers decide a fair salary for a job, it also helps the employers to attract, support, and retain employees. As this survey helps create a fair culture in the organization, companies are more likely to attract talented and highly skilled individuals (Morris, 2015).
Discretionary benefits are the employment benefits that the organization offers which are not authorized by law. Like instance the discretionary benefits are health insurance, paid vacations, retirement plans, and medical insurances. If we go through the case study again, we can see that one of the biggest challenges that Maersk is facing is about employee retention. Offering discretionary benefits to the employees could not only help in reducing the benefits, but they can also be beneficial in attracting new employees. Some of the benefits which Maersk could get from offering discretionary benefits to its employees are building positive relationships, having competitive job benefits, boosting productivity, and reducing employee turnover. (Jones, 2017)
Evaluation
Performance Management
HRM plays an immense role in the performance management process. In the modern technological world, human resource managers have much more responsibilities than they had a few decades back. At this particular point in time, human resource managers play an active role in the performance management process by making sure that the employee performance system is accurate and fair for all employees. Similarly, the manager also makes sure that there is a healthy environment for the employees in the organization so that they can work to their full potential. Another critical role that performance managers play would be recording performance reviews and monitoring the employee development process.
This process aligns with the organization’s strategic plan by setting goals that maximize profitability and then monitoring if the project is going by the organizational strategic goals. Strategic planning needs a direction in which the organization can move in; HRM can provide the guidance and head the organization on the right path. (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2017)
Performance Appraisal
Having an effective performance appraisal system in the organization is important because it helps in keeping the employees motivated. If we talk about the trait-based performance appraisal system, then we can say that it can be used as a standard in the appraisal systems. Traits can be defined as the characteristics that are possessed by the employees. Its example can be the scenario in which employees are requested to be ethical in business activities.
The behavioral appraisal system is different because the behavior defines the actions of the employees. In this appraisal system, the employees are appraised on the basis of their organizational behavior. Its example can be appraising employees who have the least number of leaves and report to duty on time. (Paauwe & Boon, 2018)
The result based performance appraisal system as the name suggests rewards employees based on their performance. Its example can be rewarding employees with the best sale record at the end of the year.
Best Suited Appraisals
The best-suited appraisal for Maersk Customer Service-CARE business partner would be trait performance appraisal. The reason behind this decision is the fact that the employees are affiliated with the organization for a long time, and by this time, they must know what works best for the organization. Using this appraisal system would also help in making sure that the organization has chosen the right people for the right job.
Performance Scales
There are quite a few types of scales which the organization can use for rating their performance. The most commonly used scales are graphical scales, letter scales, and numeric scales. If we talk about the graphic rating scale, then we can say that it is among the most effective rating scales. In this rating scale, the most required scales are listed out, and then employees are rated against that scale. It is much easier as compared to other scales. Similarly, the letter scale rating method is no different from the rating scale commonly seen in educational institutes. There is a percentage grade set in the beginning, and then employees are rated letter scales on the basis of their performance. Another great scaling method is the numeric scaling method, which quantitatively symbolizes an attribute required for the job. Each employee is then rated against that attribute. (Marler & Parry, 2016)
Performance scales can be beneficial to the company. These scales allow the business that can indicate the progress of the employees and grasp the strategies. These scales might be in terms of numbers or may contain alphabets. Like exceptional = 5 or fair = C.
Bibliography
Dany, F., & Torchy, V. (2017). Recruitment and selection in Europe Policies, practices and methods . In Policy and practice in European human resource management, 68-88.
Hunter, I., Saunders, J., & Constance, S. (2016). HR business partners. Routledge.
Iriyama, A., Kishore, R., & Talukdar, D. (2016). Playing dirty or building capability? Corruption and HR training as competitive actions to threats from informal and foreign firm rivals. Strategic management journal, 2152-2173.
Marler, J. H., & Parry, E. (2016). Human resource management, strategic involvement and e-HRM technology. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2233-2253.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Paauwe, J., & Boon, C. (2018). Strategic HRM: A critical review. In Human Resource Management (pp. 49-73). Routledge.
Maersk Group. (2017, March 28). Incentive Pay Guidelines. [PDF file]. Annual General Meeting of A.P Møller - Mærsk A/S. Retrieved from http://investor.maersk.com/guidelines.cfm.
Maersk Line Limited. Maersk Group, (2017). Benefits. Retrieved from http://www.maersklinelimited.com/working-with-mll/careers/benefits/.
