Advanced Level Qualification Human Resource Management in Context

Task 1

An important area, skill, and knowledge in human resources management (HRM) is to understand how to perform an environmental scan. One of the areas that I learned from the course materials is that environmental scanning is vital in making informed decisions and strategic planning. Some of the tools that I have learnt are SWOT, PESTELE, and Porter’s five forces. Applying the PESTELE analysis in Brdgefield’s case, the following points are essential in providing the advantages and disadvantages of relocating the organisation in the area.

Political: Bridgefield is governed by the town council and demonstrate the high level of democracy. This is shown in the local people welcoming opportunity for new work and accepting the changes to the landscape, whilst the local politicians feel the need for attracting new money and growth. Also, the City Council has a history of championing diversity and inclusivity. Besides, the Town Council has been unanimous in the commitment to a strategy that secures new funding, attracting skilled workers and professionals.

Economic: Bridgefield is characterised by low average income of 32,000 pounds that is below the national average, there is continuous development, an increase in the business activities and opportunities due to expansion, and two cash injections. There are also attractive business factors including free occupancy at the business park and discounted rents. The importance of these economic factors is to demonstrate the supportive economic surrounding for the new business and particularly those involving technology and use of the internet.

Social: Social-cultural factors at Bridgefield include the dominance by the Whites race although there are also other origins, including Asians and Blacks, high unemployment level of 6%, and low level of the highly skilled professions. Notably, the majority of the young and highly skilled professions work in the IT sector and the demand exceeds the supply. These factors demonstrate that the organisation may have a challenge hiring competent IT individuals.

Technological: Brdgefield’s economic environment is supportive of the IT-related firms and employees and attracts various businesses including electronics and engineering. The internet-based retain is dominated by two global firms, which are taking advantage of remote working and 24-hour activity. The implications of these factors is that Bridgefield may face fierce competition in the internet retail.

Environmental: Bridgefield is characterised by acknowledging the environmental policies and protection. All the activities and development, including the Business Park are high-standard and eco-friendly. The implications of these factors to the organisation is acknowledging the environmental friendliness of the businesses being developed in the region.

Legal: The City Council is responsible for ensuring all activities and development strategies are developed within the legal constructs, which are essential for the organisation to observe. This is demonstrated by the planning permissions given to the housing program.

Ethical: All activities are conducted in respect to the ethical aspects, including respect, beneficence, autonomy, and equality. This is reflected in the City Council championing for diversity and inclusivity. This is essential in ensuring that every individual has an equal chance in the decision making process and working opportunity regardless of their diversity affiliation.

Drawing from the above analysis, the advantages and disadvantages of relocating the organisation to Bridgefield include;

Advantages

·      The area is open to new investments.

·      The area provides a supportive environment for new business particularly the IT-related ones.

·      The area is supportive of democracy, inclusivity, and diversity, particularly in providing equal opportunity to both individuals and organisations.

·      There are attractive new offices where the organisation can set its offices, which are also high standard and eco-friendly.

·      There are attractive business rates at the Business Park, which the organisation can exploit, including first year of occupancy being free.

·      There is also a collaborative IT training initiative, which the business can exploit.

·      There is a growing market, characterised by the new housing and growing businesses.

On the other hand, there are significant issues that affect the organisation setting up at Bridgefield including;

·      There is an influx of internet-based retail organisations, which presents a competitive environment for the organisation.

·      The area is dominated by two global organisations with two strengths of no geographic boundaries and differing time-zones. This also provides stiff competition to the organisation.

·      There is less population of the skilled IT professionals, thus the organisation may find it challenging to hire the individuals.

Task 2

The organisation’s growth is centred on its ability to address the fierce competition being brought by the two dominating organisations and the increasing internet-based retail companies. Also, it is important for the company to address the issue of the employees and the skilled professionals. Therefore, the following four recommendations are essential for current success, future growth, and aligning with the firm’s plan to lower cost.

i.               The organisation should explore the Business Park offices and use them for their operations. The recommendation is centred on the offices being free of the business rates and three years at 50%. This will help the company in saving the rental fees.

ii.              In the marketing strategy, the organisation should invest in the digital approaches. The area is characterised by a high number of internet-retail organisations, which implies that the population has access to digital content. The organisation can therefore save the marketing costs by exploring the digital advertisement approaches.

iii.             One of the main weaknesses of Bridgefield is the lack of a large professionals’ population, particularly the IT-skilled individuals. This may affect the company’s success and efficiency since it has to spend more resources in hiring the skilled individuals. Therefore, prior to completing the business shift to the region, it is essential for the organisation to invest in training its own personnel to ensure it is adequately staffed to steer its objective.

iv.            The organisation should explore the flexible working option and strategy. Benchmarking on the two dominating organisations, it is apparent that remote working is an important approach in saving costs and increasing efficiency. For the white collar jobs, remote working is important. This will help address the travelling allowances and reduce the costs for renting the physical place in the future.

Task 3

According to the CIPD Profession Map, among the main values characterising the HR professional is the ability to make informed decisions that are guided by qualitative and quantitative data. This is important in ensuring that the selected approach or strategy meets the organisational needs. The main challenge facing the organisation is the stiff competition at Bridgefield from the two dominant organisations and the retail ones. Therefore, an effective decision making process is critical in ensuring that the company has a high market share and is competitive. In my organisation, for instance, expansion strategies are usually carefully considered and require sufficient research to make strategic entries. There are five main strategies that the organisational leaders and the HR function can apply.

i.               Primarily, it is essential for the leaders to understand the market dynamics and their preferences, which will inform the strategic plans and decisions. Taking an example of Swanstaff Recruitment organisation, its penetration in a region involves a vast research about the market and the population’s preferences. This information is important in identifying areas of focus on how the services can be made unique. At Bridgefield, it is critical for the organisational leaders to ensure adequate information about the market and projections for the future growth. This will help in making informed decisions about its strategies.

ii.              The organisation needs to develop a strategic plan for penetrating Bridgefield. Presently, the area is dominated by two global organisations and several other internet-based retail firms. Therefore, a strategic plan that acknowledges all the environmental factors is essential for use in setting up the business. For instance, in my organisation, before penetrating an area, an environmental scan is essential, which helps in understanding the social, economic, political, legal, and technological factors that should be applied in the decision making process.

iii.             The organisation should effectively segment its target market, including the demographics and interests to understand their preferences and develop a plan on how their needs can be achieved. Potential markets include the new businesses opening and the residential areas. Besides, there is an opportunity to explore other markets outside Bridgefield. Segmenting the market will be essential in determining the most appropriate approach, particularly in marketing the business. Taking an example of global companies, including Amazon, Google, and Apple, they segment their customers according to behavioural, geographic, and demographics. These insights are essential in developing marketing strategies.

iv.            The company needs to perform a comprehensive research about the existing businesses including the two dominating ones and the numerous retail ones. The research may include aspects such as the prices, marketing strategies, and the specific products. This information will be essential in developing a unique approach, products, and services. Besides, the insights will be essential in making informed decisions about the 4P’s marketing mix. Effective HR strategies informed by this information include competitive and value-based pricing.

v.              The organisation should plan on implementing advanced technology in its approach and strategies. Bridgefield’s internet-retail business is dominated by companies that are competitive, efficient, and are characterised by complex warehousing operations globally. For the middle-sized business, investing adequate resources in the cutting edge technologies is essential in enhancing its competitiveness. This will ensue a large market share, particularly the new businesses and the houses.

During this course and preparation of this exam, a key issue in HR is the people professionalism. This involves the ability by the HR to work with different individuals regardless of their diversity affiliation. However, effective working with employees further involves respecting and acknowledging their representing bodies, particularly the trade unions. The argument and opinion that the working life has become better for the HR as one does not have to worry about trade union interference is misguided. Trade unions are still relevant in the contemporary working environment. Although there are those that may argue that lack of trade unions makes the HR role easy, lack of the trade unions may present a challenging situation for the HR, particularly in instances that the employees are uncontrollable, during the grievances and disciplinary issues, and effecting changes at the workplace, where there is potential resistance from the employees. Three reasons why the trade unions are still relevant include;

a.    Negotiating the reward packages and dynamics in the conditions and pay: One of the long standing roles of the trade union is to discuss the pay and conditions of employment with the company for the employees. The trade unions also play an essential role in negotiating agreements. Although trade unions mainly focus on protecting the rights of the employees and ensuring that they are rewarded according to their performance, they also provide an opportunity for stable agreements and structure for the pay and the working conditions. For employees that are not under any trade union, they may have a high attrition rate from the organisation and they are potential of raising various demands, where some may be impossible for the company. The importance of trade unions is to provide a stable ground for negotiating these conditions and pay and effecting them. Recently, for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in most companies reducing the employees’ salaries to cope with the economic impacts. Trade unions played an important role in communicating and advocating these changes, which prevented industrial actions. Besides, trade unions are essential in levelling the employment grounds, preventing huge disparities in pay.

b.    Discussing significant changes at the workplace, including redundancy and dismissals: The working environment dynamics may prompt organisations to make significant changes. Two approaches that characterise these changes are redundancies and dismissals. During these processes, the organisation is required to engage various stakeholders, including the trade unions. COVID-19 resulted in transformation of various businesses. Using the example of Marks and Spencer, an organisation I am familiar with the operations, the transition from the physical stores to online resulted in the closure of hundreds of several stores. Although M&S had planned to absorb these individuals in other areas, it was challenging and the majority had to be made redundant and dismissal. Engaging trade unions was essential in strengthening the decision and avoiding legal risks arising from the decisions.

c.     Discussing the workforce concerns and issues with the organisation, which averts issues, such as strikes: Trade unions play an important role in the employees reporting their concerns. This is essential in organisations preventing employees’ actions, such as sabotage and strikes, which may significantly affect the firm’s performance. Trade unions provide the employees with a platform to share their concerns without fear of discrimination. This is achieved through sharing with the trade union representatives. In my organisation, for instance, employees can share their concerns in various ways if they want to maintain anonymity. These include suggestion box and through the trade union representatives. Organisations can then work on these suggestions and concerns. This prevents the possibility of strikes and other industrial actions.