Human Resource Management Assignment: Theoretical Understanding Of HRM

Question

Task:
You are required to submit a 2500 word report on human resource management assignment demonstrating your theoretical understanding of the topics as well as your understanding of why this is important in organisations. You should choose three topics to focus on for this report. Your choice of topics can be based on a range of factors including those which are linked most closely to your future employability goals; those which you have enjoyed studying; or those which you think are most important in today’s organisations

Answer

Introduction
The theoretical understandings of human resource management are important to develop ideas about the importance of each factor. The key purpose of human resource management assignment is to reflect on the theoretical understandings of the module learnings. Among the ten topics of the module, three topics are selected for the report. The topics are learning and development, performance management and employee relations. Based on the three topics the report will be focused on, the theoretical lessons from the topics and their importance in an organizational context are also discussed. The importance of the three selected topics for my future employability is also discussed in the context. The report mainly includes three parts, and in each part, each selected topic is discussed. Based on the three selected topic, the important factors from the topics that are important for an organization are also discussed.

Learning and development
Learning and development are crucial things in an organization that aligns the goals and performance of the employees with the organizational goal. The learning and development cycle includes four steps that ensure effective design and implementation of the learning and development programme. The four steps are- training and learning need analysis, design and development of the related interventions, delivery of the interventions and evaluation of the interventions. The learning and development topic of the module provides crucial information about the importance of adequate learning and development approaches. The key theoretical models that are presented in the topic are key theoretical approaches to learning and development, Kolb's learning cycle, Honey & Mumford's learning style, and types of on the job and off-job training approaches. The role of technology to improve learning approaches is also discussed. The learning and development opportunities are beneficial for both employees and the organization. Training is a crucial part of learning and development, which is an opportunity for the employees to improve their knowledge. There are many benefits of effective learning and development opportunity for employees. . It improves the performance of the employees by providing them with a better understanding of the job role and responsibilities.

Effective learning and development opportunity allow the organization to address the weakness of the employees. For example, the learning and development cycle includes four stages, and the first stage is the need analysis of the employees, which includes the assessment of the employees about their strengths, weaknesses and skills. Based on the need analysis, the learning and development interventions are implemented, and the employees are provided with the necessary training. Effective training ensures the performance of the employees and reduces employee turnover. Overall, it improves the productivity of the employees as well as the organization . There are different types of training implemented for employees based on learning needs and performance efficiency. Career development opportunities are one of the crucial things that an employee looks for while working in an organization. Career development opportunity has a direct relation with the employees' retention as it allows the employees to learn more about their job responsibilities and helps them to carry out their activities effectively . Learning and development opportunity in an organization increases job satisfaction and assures the chance of employee retention.

The learning and development chapter of the module provides detailed information on certain theoretical models such as Honey and Mumford learning style, Kolb's learning style and other theoretical models related to learning style. The different theories related to learning stole provides crucial aspects about the different type of learners and the suitable approach that can be implemented to address their training needs. In the context of Kolb's learning cycle and styles, there are four types of learners- activists, theorists, reflectors and pragmatists. . The activists learn better from practical tasks rather than theories, so the best suitable learning activities for them are problem-solving simulations, games, challenging tasks, etc. The theorists learn from hand-outs that can help them to take away and study. The suitable activities for the reflectors are the activities where they can learn from observation, passive involvement, and interaction with others. The Pragmatists learns from shortcuts and tops that are related to their jobs, relatable to successful role model and the learning can be transferred to their jobs. The learning and development is important for current organizational scenario, in which lack of adequate training or improper training acts as a reason behind low job satisfaction and not able to meet the expected goals by the employees.

The questionnaire developed by Honey and Mumford reflects on the learning styles that are developed by an individual over the years, and it helps to find out the suitable learning style of the individual. The theoretical approaches and models related to learning and development help to come up with the best training solutions for the employees. The key on the job training that is implemented by organizations is instructions based training, self-directed learning, mentoring, coaching, self-directed learning and job rotation. On the other hand, the off job methods are role plays, seminars, outdoor training, workshops, and business simulations. The training programs are conducted based on the job role, organizational goals and learning needs of the employees.

Performance management
Performance management ensures better performance of employees, job retention, improvement of productivity, and ensures better team outcomes. The benefits of performance management can be classified into three types- benefits for employees, manager and organization. The learnings from performance management reflect on the importance of performance management and performance appraisal. Performance management and performance appraisal are crucial things that improve the performance of the employees and ensure job retention . There are severe things in performance management that ensures better performance of the employees, such as performance assessment, employee motivation, reward and recognition, appraisal system, and employee engagement. The effective training and motivation approach was undertaken by the organization to boost employee engagement that encourages the employees to work better and produces better results. Increasing employee engagement boosts productivity. Adequate performance management also provides crucial information about the employees, which are helpful for developing employee performance-related strategies.

The engagement of managers is important as the employees working under the managers follows the instructions of the managers or team leaders and expects their support and guidance for better results. If the managers are not properly involved in the development of the employees, then it may affect the performance of the individual or the group performance. The performance management chapter provides crucial reflections on performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is basically the periodic assessment of the employee performance, and the feedback is provided to the employees according to the performance. Based on the employee appraisal system in an organization, the bonuses, salary increase, promotion and termination related decisions are made. Performance appraisals are conducted semi-annual, annual or quarterly basis. Performance appraisal system ensures fair treatment to the employees based on their growth and development in the organization. Ineffective performance appraisal can cause major problems such as increasing employee turnover, poor performance, work burnout, less job satisfaction and conflict among employees. A good performance appraisal system allows the organization to assess the performance of the employees based on which future decisions are made. The UK employers are facing problems to recruit and the employees because finding the suitable candidate who can retain for long became an issue. The problem is mainly faced by the retail, hospitality and catering & leisure companies. There are severe issues that caused to this problem such as low payment, long working hours, slow career growth. Due to these reasons employees are leaving their jobs. To address this issue, the role of performance management is important.

The performance appraisal and job satisfaction are related to each other; if the employees are satisfied with the performance appraisal system, then there are less many chances of employee retention. Low employee retention causes more expenses in the training and recruitment activities. Hence, retaining employees is the best way to control the cost of recruitment and training. To retain the employees and create positive employee engagement, performance appraisal plays significant role . There are severe performance appraisal approaches that improve the performance of the employees. They are 360-degree feedback, management by objectives, assessment centre method, behaviorally anchored rating scale, psychological appraisals, etc. Each of the approaches works differently from the other. The approaches include both advantage and disadvantages. The implementation of the appraisal method should be based on the organizational goal and the way it aims to improve its employees’ performance.

Performance appraisal is important for employees as they can realize their strengths and weaknesses and can work on their skills. The performance appraisal results help to identify the gap between the expected and actual performance of the employees. In many organizations, the performance appraisals system is not adequate, and the employees are not rewarded, promoted or get benefits as per their hard work . In such a situation, there are chances of increasing work burnout, which leads to low retention of employees. Biased behaviour in the appraisal system also creates problems as the employees do not get the benefits that they are eligible for. Hence, an effective and fair appraisal system is important for better productivity and employee retention. The key things that should be focused on while developing appraisal based strategies are- feedback on the employees’ performance, development opportunities for the employees, rewards and benefits, and growth opportunities for the employees. While developing the strategies related to performance appraisal and implementation of the approaches, the current requirement of the organization needs to be assessed.

Employee relations
Effective employee relations increases the productivity of the organization, assures good relations between the employer and the employee, reduces the chance of conflicts and increases employee retention. Employee relation depends on the workplace culture and rules about how the organization treats their employees. . The employee relations chapter of the module is selected for the report as it is important for an organization to maintain better relationships with the employees. The employee relations chapter identifies key theories related to employee relation, factors affecting employee relation and the role of a trade union, ideas about positive and negative employee relations. Traditional employee relation theory indicates four types of employee-employer relation- pluralist, egoist, unitarist and critical. The pluralist type of relation means the employee and employer are always in competition, whereas the unitarist indicates the two parties have a common interest. The egoist relation is based on the competitive labour market, and critical means employment held unequal power of relationship. The employment relations based on four key factors, and they are employee communication, employee involvement, employee discipline and employee rights. The chapter is important as in the current context; organizations are failing to meet the needs of the employees due to which the employees are leaving their jobs. Hence, providing more flexible working condition and formalised career paths are the options to maintain positive employees’ relations. The organizations need to work more on building good relations with the employees.

Positive employee relations can ensure many benefits for the organization, such as increased productivity, little conflict, high retention of employees, strong recruitment, and increased volunteerism. On the other hand, negative employee relation decreases cross-collaboration, reduces productivity, causes lower morale of employees, high turnover, and increases conflicts . Strong employee relations can be maintained by severe ways such as motivating the employees, setting proper goals for them, increasing employee engagement and improving training methods. Harmonious employment relationship increases efficiency and leads to higher productivity. In this context, employee motivation and engagement plays a key role. If the employees are motivated towards their work and feel engaged with their workplace, then it will lead to positive outcomes. On the other hand, if the employees are not feel motivated with their work, then it will affect their performance as well as the productivity of the organization.

Good employee relations assures better job satisfaction of the employees and encourages them to work better in the existing organization, which reduces the chance of shifting jobs. Poor employee relations affect the overall productivity of the organization and create conflict between the employer and the employee. If the employees are really satisfied with their work and positively motivated for their work, it means there is more chance of creating loyal employees for the organization. The work environment also helps to develop positive employee relations. Positive employee relations are managed by employee engagement strategies, improving the workplace culture, learning and development opportunity for the employees and improving the growth opportunities for the employees. The key elements of positive employee relations are trust, good communications, ethical approach, clear expectations, belief and perception management and conflict resolution. Positive employee relations are a crucial thing that should be focused on by every organization to ensure better productivity and to retain the employees.

The employee relation is a crucial thing to understand by the managers and team leaders along with the organization. Employee engagement plays a key role in employee relations, so the managers and team leaders need to implement effective strategies that can engage the employees in work through various activities. Active participation and the role of an individual in the decision making also increase the engagement of the employees as they feel more prioritized by the organization. in many organizations, the employees are given various types of benefits apart from their base salary, which acts as a motivational factor and improves the performance of the employees . Such strategies can also be considered as a part of employee relation as it helps to maintain a positive relationship with the employees. Higher productivity lead by better employee relations increases the revenue of an organization, as the performance of the employee's increases due to good relation and engagement with the organization. There are five ways to boost workplace productivity through internal communications, and they are knowledge sharing, facilitation of innovation, focus on problem-solving, employee engagement and encouraging open discussions.

Conclusion
Based on the above discussions on the three topics, it can be said that learning and development, performance management and employee relations are important in the context of an organization. The reports reflect on the three topics and their importance based on the module learning, importance for organization and relevancy to my career. My career path is based on customers' service, where employee performance is a crucial thing. The learning and development of the employees play a significant role to provide better services to the customers. If the employees are satisfied with the work as well as the work environment, then the chance of employee retention is higher. Employee relation is another thing that is important for an organization, and it is related to the performance management and learning & development of the employees. In the skill framework attached in the appendix, the key knowledge gathered from the module learnings is discussed, and the relevancy of the three topics with my personal skills is also mentioned.

References
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Sheeba M, and Christopher P, 'EXPLORING THE ROLE OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN CREATING INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIORS AND ACCOMPLISHING NON-ROUTINE COGNITIVE JOBS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS' (Jcreview.com, 2020) accessed 10 May 2021

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Appendix
Personal Skills Framework