Integrative Case Study Part 1

Matriculation Number: 40075315

CASESTUDY CAFÉ CO

PART 1

Questions 1-5

Introduction to Human Resource Management

Fiona Duncan

Submitted by Franziska Detert


1. Applying your knowledge of academic models of HRM (for example HRM/PM; Hard and Soft HRM or the Guest or Harvard model) explain the main similarities and differences between the approaches to people management at Café Co before and after the review (250)

Within Human Resource Management Storey (2007) identified two approaches called “Hard” and “Soft” HRM. Hard HRM is also known as the Michigan model which regards employees as resource to achieve goals of a company (Bloisi, 2007). Price (2007) identifies HR as source of controlled, intellectual capital which is used to achieve certain goals.

Soft HRM, based on the Harvard model focuses on communication, leadership and commitment (Banfield & Kay, 2008). Motivation is a key factor in order to achieve the business goals. The assumption is that the business benefits if the satisfaction, the well-being and the development of the employees are enhanced (Bloisi, 2007).

The previous HRM approach at Café Co can be related to Storey’s hard model of HRM. Employees are regarded as a “key asset” and HRM is implemented to maintain staff loyalty and to fulfil legal requirements. Areas such as communication or employee engagement were disregarded whereas tasks improving performance was highly regarded. The hard HRM considers rewards as an important factor to achieve a company’s goals whereas in the soft model of HRM rewards are an important component to encourage employees. Kim Patel wants to improve the compensation of store managers as strongly believes that the commitment of the staff will bring the company ahead.

In addition to demonstrate the high priority of people management the HR director now is a member of the management board. Kim wants to focus on key areas of (soft) HRM: resourcing and retention, learning and development, talent management, employee involvement, communication and compensation and benefits. Line managers will have the full responsibility for recruitment.

Despite the differences, the approaches have in common that both focus on long-term goals and try to work cost-effective.

273 words

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2. Kim, the HR manager, is trying to convince line managers that taking more responsibility for HR activities such as recruitment is ‘in the best interest of the organisation and employees as well as the line managers themselves.’ What would you say to the line manager to convince them of the benefits of devolving HR responsibility to line managers? (150)

Line managers have been complaining about HR managers whom they consider to be out of touch with the commercial reality (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005). Transferring the responsibility for recruitment to line managers who perfectly understand local conditions and the needs of the staff will counter this complaint.

Passing control and decision-making power to line managers will increase their autonomy. The decision process concerning recruitment is improved as line managers can act immediately (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005).

The line managers’ task should be named “people management” to distinguish it from “HR”. This naming avoids confusion and misunderstanding and distinguishes the responsibilities of HR and line management (Dalziel & Strange, 2007).

Furthermore line managers can really experience the effects of their work. By doing the recruitment line managers search the candidates best suited for the jobs. This enhances the quality of employees which line managers can realize in their daily work (Anon, 2005).

The delegation of the work will give HR more time to focus on strategic activities instead of doing routine work. This finally will be a benefit for the company.

166 words

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3. Discuss how each of Ulrich’s HR roles could help the HR manager solve some of the problems in Café Co. (400)

In his model Ulrich identified five roles which an HR manager needs to master. These roles are: Employee Advocate, Functional Expert, Human Capital Developer, Strategic Partner and Leader of the HR function (Ulrich, 2007).

An HR manager needs to adapt the role of an employee advocate who ensures that the employer-employee relationship is valuable to both sides (Ulrich, 2007). Presently the relationship is not very good. The staff has a low working morale and is often poached by competitors. Thus it is very important that the HR managers is able to see through employees’ eyes as well as employers’ ones to ensure a mutual beneficial collaboration.

In addition HR managers should be human capital developers who build the workforce of the future (Ulrich, 2007; Wilton, 2011). The areas of talent management, learning and development belong to this role and are an essential part of Kim’s business strategy. For example the staff has a low working morale because of a high staff turnover due to minimum wages paid and to international employees who work on short-term contracts. It is the HR manager’s job to organize staff trainings to achieve a good performance of the staff in their work.

A main problem at Café Co is it that the company lost its first mover advantage to competitors because they offer a better “coffee drinking experience”, a greater variety of coffee and a better level of customer service. Therefore HR managers need to be functional experts as well and design and deliver HR practices (Ulrich, 2007). HR needs to research and create a workable leadership for the future to restore the company’s competitiveness.

Additionally HR managers need to perform as strategic partners (Ulrich, 2007). The combination of “business expert, change agent, strategic HR planner, knowledge manager and consultant” (Armstrong, 2009: 116) allow HR managers to accomplish organizational goals and support line managers to achieve their goals. Kim attaches importance to the “advisory function” where support and guidance is provided to line managers. If the responsibility for recruitment is passed to line managers HR professionals will have to support them to make sure that the recruitment process is efficient and that line managers receive the right training.

The coffee business is a very competitive business. Thus HR managers need to be genuine leaders within the HR functions as well as outside (Ulrich, 2007).

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Cafè Co can impose company values and a mission. The HR manager’s job will be to integrate the developed values into all business units and provide training to HR staff as well as to line managers.

409 words

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4. Write a report which suggests a new recruitment and selection process for baristas in Café Co:-

a) Outline to Kim Patel the likely reasons why Café Co are not consistently successful in selecting suitable baristas.

b) Addressing those issues that you have identified, recommend a strategy for improving the recruitment and selection process for baristas. Justify this strategy and include examples to illustrate your points (approx. 1000 words for parts a) and b)).

“Recruitment is the process of having the right person, in the right place, at the right time.” (CIPD, 2011: n.p.)

Successful businesses have realized that their workforce is one of their major competitive advantages. Therefore the development of a strong, capable workforce demands a recruitment and selection process that identifies appropriate candidates inside the company as well as outside (Acevedo, n.d.).

Today’s economy is highly competitive therefore a company needs to attract, recruit and retain qualified employees. (Cooper, Robertson & Tinline, 2003) Personal competencies differentiate between a company and its competitors. The nature of the workforce is changing constantly and skilled labour is progressively lacking which increases the need for efficient and effective recruitment and selection (Cooper, Robertson & Tinline, 2003).´

For Café Co especially the recruitment and selection of the right candidates for the job of the barista is very relevant as the barista is the most important factor in selling the „coffee drinking experience”. Hence the barista is a key source and crucial to the company’s success and competitive advantage.

Whereas, the current recruitment and selection approach is “fairly standard” and lacks any company-wide guidelines. This can cause problems if a discrimination cause is submitted to a court (CIPD, 2011). Special attention should be paid here as managers were looking for people who are “not too old”, as this is against the “age discrimination regulation” which was released 2006 in the UK (Bloisi, 2007).

Vacancies are advertised in the local paper and applicants encouraged to send a CV. CVs bear the risks that additional, irrelevant material is included which makes it harder for the person in charge to assess consistently (CIPD, 2011). Additionally

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there are many more efficient ways to reach a boarder mass than advertising in local papers (Armstrong, 2007).

The adequacy of a person for the job of a barista depends on knowledge, skills and abilities. These are not tested in the Café Co’s recruitment process and subjective elements such as references, education at a better school and a well presented CV are the criterions for selection. Store managers who are conducting the interviews received a basic training but no follow-up one due to a lack of interest. As follows the interviews were unstructured thus neither quality information is gained nor does the applicant get a favourable impression from the company (CIPD, 2011).

Considering the fact that interviews are a poor method of predicting future performance (CIPD, 2011a) it is not surprising that many candidates did not fulfil the expectations. The whole selection and recruitment process is very subjective.

The following process has been designed for the selection of barista considering to overcome the issues referred to above and to meet the strategic objectives of the company.

First the company should develop company-wide guidelines which define a unitary, objective recruitment and selection process. These guidelines will help to structure and to harmonise the recruitment and selection process. Armstrong (2007) divides the process in 3 stages which are 1) defining requirements 2) attracting candidates and 3) selecting candidates.

The first stage includes a job analysis and assessing the conditions of employment (Armstrong, 2007).

Job analysis is a technique to collect information about the tasks people perform in organisations (Searle, 2003). A good job analysis is the basis for the following selection process as selection tools can adjusted to the specific job demands. Furthermore a job analysis can supply data in case of a legal argument and make sure that the selection process can be defended in court (Searle, 2003). The techniques for a job analysis are based on costs and convenience as well as acceptability to the staff involved. The job analysis method should be chosen in relation to the job (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2008). Café Co could develop a structured questionnaire dedicated to job-holders and customers to find out the attributes expected from a good barista. Based on the results observation can be carried out. Observation is simple, relatively cheap and straightforward and with a

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well-trained analyst one of the more accurate methods (Bloisi, 2007). The combination of the two techniques will account for a clearer analysis.

Based on the job analysis a job description which outlines the job’s scope and responsibilities can be done (Bloisi, 2007). E.g. as the barista is a key element in delivering the ‘coffee drinking experience’, he needs to honour every customer by providing excellent customer service.

If an explicit definition of the work to be done is given, a person specification can be deviated. Thus the “education, training, qualifications and experience” (Armstrong, 2007: 410) can be defined that a person needs to master a given job (Plumbley, 1989). For a barista this might be e.g. knowledge of the service industry, good communicate skills, working well in a team etc.

Although job descriptions have been broadly criticised as being inflexible and outmoded, they provide essential information about the company and give applicants a realistic job preview (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2008).

The second stage is considered with identifying, evaluating and making use of most adequate sources of applicants (Armstrong, 2007).

The attracting stage determines the quality of applicants therefore it is important that the company points out the opportunities it has to offer. As highlighted before Café Co lacks to attract a broad mass as they only advertise their vacancies in local papers or make use of “word of mouth” recruitment. To achieve an ideal result different recruitment practices should be combined.

It is important to consider the internal talent pool. Since a company provides opportunities for development and career progression to its employees the engagement of those tends to rise (CIPD, 2011).

In addition to newspaper advertising Café Co could improve its publicity by using e.g. in-store advertising, the company’s website or social media (Armstrong, 2007). Organisations are increasingly using e-recruitment techniques. The main benefits stated by firms are the cost reduction, a greater number of applicants and a simplified administration process (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2008). 89 per cent of graduates are only searching for jobs online (Rees & French, 2010). Café Co will lose competitiveness if they do not adapt to the new circumstances.

Furthermore Café Co could shift from CVs to application forms as they offer a structured basis due to a standardized format. These forms should contain various questions which aim to get information about the characteristics identified in the job

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analysis. Additionally the request for a cover letter can be made to give applicants the chance to personalise the application and show their incentive.

The third stage - selection – covers two main processes. The shortlisting and the assessing of applicants to decide whom the company will offer a job. To choose the right selection method it is necessary that the requirements of the job are set out in advance (Cooper, Robertson & Tinline, 2003).

The selection decisions should be based on the usage of different tools which are adequate to the time and resources available (CIPD, 2011a). The techniques used should be relevant to the job and the organisational goals as well as validated, fair and reliable (Searle, 2003).

The current selection process is based on personal, but unstructured interviews. Interviews are popular because they provide information to predict performance as well as give the parties the opportunity to meet face to face. (CIPD, 2011a)

However, a more comprehensive approach is the introduction of assessment centres. These offer a wide range of techniques (Searle, 2003). ACs focus on work-related behaviour and reconstruct key dimensions of the job with the help of role plays and group exercises. Furthermore structured interviews or presentations can be added (Armstrong, 2007). Yet the realisation of ACs enforces an excellent and specific training of the assessors and a good understanding of the job requirements by the line managers (CIPD, 2011a). This will cost time and money but it is necessary as Kim states that it is important to develop a new approach with innovative methods hence ACs are a perfect method.

1099 words

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5. Discuss how you would evaluate the success of your new approach to recruitment and selection and why it would be important to do so (approx. 200 words)

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Reference List

Armstrong, M. (2007). Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management

Practice. 10th Edition. London: Kogan Page.



Banfield, P., and Kay, R., (2008). Introduction to Human Resource Management.

New York: Oxford University Press.

Bloisi, W. (2007). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. Berkshire:

McGraw Hill Education.

Cooper, D., Robertson, I. and Tinline, G. (2003). A framework for Success. 4th

Edition. London: Thomson Learning.

Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2008). Human Resource Management at Work.

4th Edition. London: CIPD.

Plumbley, P. (1989). Recruitment & Selection. 4th Edition. London: Institute of

Personnel Management.

Price, A. (2007). Human Resource Management in a Business Context. 3rd Edition.

London: Thomson Learning.

Rees, G. and French, R. (2010). Managing and Developing People. 3rd Edition. London: CIPD.

Searle, R. (2003). Selection & Recruitment. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Storey, J., (2007). Human Resource Management. 3rd Edition. London: Thomson

Learning.

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Ulrich, D. (2005). HR the Value Proposition. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Wilton, N. (2011). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd.

Internet sources

Acevedo (n.d.). How to Evaluate the Recruitment & Selection Process. Available

from: http://www.ehow.com/how_5898419_evaluate-recruitment-selection-

process.html [accessed 2nd March 2012]

Anon (2005). HR devolving down the line. Available from: http://www.hcamag.com/-

news/domestic/hr-devolving-down-the-line/111429/ [accessed 2nd February 2012].

CIPD (2011). Recruitment: an overview. Available from: http://www.cipd.co.uk/-

subjects/recruitmen/general/recruitmt.htm [accessed 24th February 2012].

CIPD (2011a). Selection methods. Available from:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/-subjects/recruitmen/selectn/selgcndts.htm?IsSrchRes=1

[accessed 26th February 2012].

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Bibliography



Banfield, P. and Kay, R. (2008). Introduction to Human Resource Management. New

York: Oxford University Press.

Bloisi, W. (2007). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. Berkshire:

McGraw Hill Education.

Cooper, D., Robertson, I. and Tinline, G. (2003). A framework for Success. 4th

Edition. London: Thomson Learning.

Ludlow, R. and Panton, F. (1991). The Essence of Successful Staff Selection.

Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International.

Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2008). Human Resource Management at Work.

4th Edition. London: CIPD.

Plumbley, P. (1989). Recruitment & Selection. 4th Edition. London: Institute of

Personnel Management.

Price, A. (2007). Human Resource Management in a Business Context. 3rd Edition.

London: Thomson Learning.

Rees, G. and French, R. (2010). Managing and Developing People. 3rd Edition. London: CIPD.

Searle, R. (2003). Selection & Recruitment. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Storey, J., (2007). Human Resource Management. 3rd Edition. London: Thomson

Learning.

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Torrington, D., Hall, L. and Taylor, S. (2002). Human Resource Management. 5th

Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Ulrich, D. (2005). HR the Value Proposition. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Wilton, N. (2011). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd.

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