Human Resource Management Concepts

Answer

Human Resource Management Concepts

Task 1: Application of Human Resource Management concepts

Nike Inc. is one of the American Multinational Corporation that has embraced human resource management initiatives to achieve its goals. Nike Inc. was founded on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Philip Knight and Bill Bower and became officially Nike, Inc. in 1978. Nike Inc., is based in Beaveron, Oregon dealing in various brands including Nike, Converse, Jordan and Hurley (Nike Inc., 2018). Nike Inc., is the world-leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment. Currently, Nike Inc., employs more than 73,000 employees across the world (Nike Inc., 2018). The organization works closely with its multiple suppliers who supply merchandise under contractual plans.

In reference to the Atkinson’s flexible firm model, at Nike Inc., employees are categorized into two segments, the core and the peripheral groups (Sharma, 2011). The core segment includes employees with specialized training and skills employed on permanent basis, as they possess specialist skills, hence difficult to replace. At the peripheral level, employees include low-level employees with less skill, hence usually employed on temporary basis and on the need basis.

 The HR department is one of the departments in the Company’s organizational structure providing roles and responsibilities related to HR functions. The major roles and responsibilities include staffing, employee development, compensation, safety and health and employee and labour relations. For instance, in staffing, the HR department engages in hiring new full and part time employees, hiring contractors, and terminating contracts. Figure 1 below shows HR roles and responsibilities at Nike Inc.

Figure 1. Diagrammatical representation of HR roles and responsibilities at NIKE INC.

Nike Inc Organizational Structure

Source: Thompson (2018).

The HR approach at Nike Inc. is focused at ensuring that the suppliers embrace strong human resource policies to build an engaged workforce. The company has developed guidance and tools that suppliers can use to improve their Human Resources Management (HRM).   It offers its support in predictive, agile, resilient and integrated HRM capabilities based on emphasis to invest in HR professionals, processes and systems to enable suppliers to recruit right people with the right skills. In reference to the strategic human resource management model proposed by Nankervis et al (2014) all HR functions are undertaken by the HR team in Nike Inc. The company uses its own teams to ensure that HR functions are undertaken through integrated working schemes.

At strategic level, the HR roles performed include, formulation of HR policies, while at operational level, the HR teams ensure that they undertake various HR roles including recruiting, carrying out trainings, payment of salaries and benefits and handling of labor issues. At the functional level, the HR department works closely with the various suppliers through training and coaching to ensure that they perform as per the expected standards.

Task 2: Retention and Development

Option 2

Recently, I used to work with a hospitality industry and I observed high rate or employee turnover.  In the hospitality industry, most workers are on the front line when it comes to customer service.  One of the reasons that contributes or relates to poor retention is poor leadership, especially poor supervision. Employees in front line handle huge number of customers, which is a stressful undertaking. The level of exhaustion is very high among such employees, a factor that prompt many of them to quit their jobs and looks elsewhere. Similarly, the low level of wages that such employees earn which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates  to be $15.40 per hour is little and a reason for high number of  staffs quitting the job (Wells, 2018). According to Putti (2015), employees require motivation in terms of good remunerations. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory, the human needs are classified into five categories, which are sort after for fulfillment (BPP Learning Media (Firm), 2013). At the basement of the pyramid are the physiological needs, then, safety needs (love), recognition, and self-actualization (work that is personally fulfilling). Therefore, with low wages, employees are prone to quit and look for greener pastures because of   low level of motivation. Hospitality industry has a responsibility to ensure that staffs welfare is well catered to reduce high level of turnover. Similarly, poor management caused high level of turnover and poor retention. Henry Fayol, an efficiency theorist argued that workers function more efficiently when management is more efficient (Chopra, 2017). Management has to expedite its four functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling to ensure that the work is executed more effectively and efficiently (Chopra, 2017).

Task 3: Performance management

This performance management plan is for a Human Resource Assistant for the Marriott International.

Brief Overview of the Company

Marriott International is a hospitality company that has been in operation for over nine decades.  The company headquarter is located in Maryland, USA, with over 4500 classy properties in over 90 countries (Marriott, 2018). The company is recognized as one of the best career progression plan and training schemes in the hospitality industry. The company has a turnover of close to $15 billion.

Most Suitable Type of Performance Review Method

The organization uses management by objectives performance appraisal method to appraise its employees. The organization sets the objectives of the job upon which performance is measured against. The question asked during the appraisal is whether the objectives set are achieved by employees and to what extent. This review method is the most suitable because it provides insights on the performance of the employees hence allowing for appropriate recommendation to improve on the performance level in future (Strategic Human Resource.com. 2018). It is also a convenience method of reviewing the performance of employees even though it is favorite and appropriate for assessing managers (Bacal, 2018).