A good job advert, while providing prospective candidates with helpful information, also helps to discourage applications from people who do not have the required qualifications for the job. The presentation of the advert is very important as it gives prospective employees a first impression of the organisation. Letter of application The title pretty much speaks for itself when describing what a letter of application is. Basically, a letter of application is a letter that an applicant would send to an organisation when interested in a job on offer.
In this case, the applicants for the part-time sales assistant would send their letters to Boots after seeing the advert for the job. Along with the letter of application the employees would send their Curriculum Vitae (CV). An example of a letter of application can be found in the appendix. Curriculum Vitae A Curriculum Vitae (CV) shows a person’s achievements, hobbies, interests and past-times. A CV is a vital ingredient to recruiting the best employee – in this case the best part-time sales assistant.
Below shows an example of a CV that could be sent with the letter of application to Marks and Spencer’ HRM sent by an applicant enquiring about the job of a part-time sales assistant on offer. Once Marks and Spencer’ HRM have evaluated the letter of application of the applicant they can decide whether or not he/she is suitable for the job. If they are then a letter of an invitation to an interview will be sent to him. If he/she isn’t then a letter of consolation is sent by Boots’ HRM. But in this case let’s say the applicant does qualify for an interview, this is the next stage of the recruitment process.
An example of a CV can be found in the appendix. Interviews Interviews are the most vital stage of the recruitment process for Marks and Spencer and the potential employee. This short time of contact with Marks and Spencer can give the business representatives a lot of information about how the potential employee looks, behaves, talks and basically how well he or she comes across as a person. That’s why it is so important for the potential employee to dress appropriately and talk with confidence when answering any questions set to him/her by the interviewer(s).
Most people have had at least one experience of being interviewed prior to employment. Few people enjoy interviews either! Often this is because the interviewer comes across as being more interested in finding faults with you than finding out the good things. This is sometimes to see if the interviewee is sharp, intelligent and someone who can cope with pressure. Some of the interviewing techniques (used by the interviewer) will show which applicant is the most strong minded out of all the potential employees.
For example, the interviewer may decide to ask the applicant to take a message from a person on the phone pretending to be a business consultant of the company or an upset customer. This sort of technique can indicate to the interviewer how well spoken or articulate the interviewee is, how well he/she copes under pressure and whether he/she deals with the “phone call” in the appropriate manner expected by the organisations standards. The personnel department of Marks and Spencer is usually involved in interviewing, both in carrying them out and helping managers to adopt good interview practice.
By following certain guidelines, the business hopes to employ the ‘right’ person for the job. It also aims to carry out the interview in a way that is fair to all candidates. These guidelines might include the following: The interview should allow information to be collected from candidates, which can be used to predict whether they can perform the job. This can be done by comparing replies with the criteria that successful applicants should have. Marks and Spencer should give candidates full details about the job and the organisation. This will help them decide whether the job would suit them.
The interview should be conducted so that the candidates can say that they have had a fair hearing. The interview, has however, been criticised as not always being an effective ‘tool’. Some of the main criticisms are: 1. Interviewers often decide to accept or reject a candidate within the first three or four minutes of the interview, and then spend the rest of the time finding evidence to confirm their decision. 2. Interviews seldom change the initial opinion formed by the interviewer seeing the application form and the appearance of the candidate.
Interviewers place more stress on evidence that is unfavourable than the evidence that is favourable. 4. When the interviewers have made up their minds on the candidate very early in the interview then their behaviour betrays their decision to the candidate. 5. The problems with these criticisms are that they do not solve the problems, only identify them. No matter what other means of selection there may be, the interview is crucial. If it is thought to be unreliable, it should not be discarded. Marks and Spencer must simply make sure they carry it out properly.
Carrying out the interview There are a number of factors, which would be taken into account when carrying out the interview. The interview should be conducted around a simple plan and be based on a number of questions against which all candidates will be assessed. It is also considered good practice to prepare suitable place for the interview, such as a warm, quiet, ventilated room. The interviewer should also ensure that the candidates have a friendly reception and are informed of what is expected of them. The average interview usually takes around thirty minutes.
The interview plan organises the time to cover the important aspects in assessing applicants. The plan must be flexible enough to allow the interviewer to explore areas that may come up during the interview. Marks and Spencer can follow a simple strategy of what the interviewer should do and what the interviewer shouldn’t do before and during the interview. The interviewer should always try and make the applicant comfortable by maybe asking him/her whether they had an easy journey to the building or whether they are warm enough in the interview room.
This sort of behaviour can put the interviewee at ease in order of seeing the real side of them. This is the part where Marks and Spencer’ HRM will evaluate each and every one of the job applicants. It will evaluate how well the applicant spoke, dressed and came across in the job interview. Also letters of application and Curriculum Vitae’s (CVs) will be evaluated on how well the applicant can write and by looking at the CV the HRM can see which applicant has the best qualifications and most ideal interests, hobbies, and past-times for the job.
Marks and Spencer would be able to tell whether the chosen candidate for the job was the correct selection by assessing whether the company’s aim had been achieved. However, selection can be very costly to Marks and Spencer. For example, if Marks and Spencer were to send out application forms to candidates the cost of postage has to be paid for and Boots may have to pay for travel expenses for candidates’ journeys to interviews. Staff will also have to give up time to carry out the interviews.
For example, if 10 people were interviewed for three posts by Marks and Spencer, but only one applicant was suitable, selection may not have been effective. In this case Marks and Spencer would have to re-advertise and interview other candidates as two posts would be unfilled. Marks and Spencer’ Human resource department’s role would be to check all stages of selection to find out where problems had arisen. For example, when short-listing, a suitable candidate may have been ‘left out’. At an interview a possible candidate may have been rushed, so he/she was not given the chance to do their best.
In the appendix shows forms that Marks and Spencer would use when assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each applicant: Legal factors It is now illegal for Marks and Spencer or any other organisation to specify sex, marital status, colour, race, nationality or disability in any job advertisement. These laws were brought in by the government due to the Sex Discrimination Act (1975 and 1986), the Race Relations Act (1970), and the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). An Industrial Tribunal is available for people who feel that they have been discriminated against by any organisation, for example, during an interview.
This Industrial Tribunal can award damages if it feels that a person has a fair case of being discriminated against by an organisation. Another “Act” that can be looked upon as discrimination by an organisation is the Equal Pay Act (1970). This implies that men and women must receive equal pay if the work that they do is the same or similar. Boots have always followed the laws of the Sex, Race Relations, Equal Pay, and Disability Discrimination Act’s so not to cause a confrontation between the company itself, the person(s) discriminated against and the Industrial Tribunal.
They always deploy a system where by such discrimination acts are followed. 3. 1 The function of key recruitment process The Human Resources department is usually responsible for recruiting new staff and for training them to do their job. When job vacancies arise, it draws up documents for specific purposes, organises and runs interviews. The Human Resources department has to follow certain procedures before a job can be advertised. This page will explain these different stages in detail. The resources devoted to Marks ; Spencer’ training can create substantial costs.
It is important that training needs are correctly identified and the desired standard of skill is established. The training programme needs to be administered efficiently and evaluated – the results achieved by the Marks & Spencer employees that have received training should be compared with the standard of performance it was hoped to achieve. Employees of Marks & Spencer are encouraged to make the best possible use of opportunities for training and development, which may arise at work, in training activities and in further education.
Marks & Spencer encourage movement across business and functional boundaries within the company, to develop breadth and depth of experience, and offer opportunities for career development. 5. 0 Possible areas of conflict in the human resources function This information it not available to any one outside the business, this is confidential to the business of Marks and Spencer, the reasons why this information is not given out is because other business will know the conflicts of this business and use it to their advantage.
In Marks and Spencer the human resources may have conflicts with the finance function because they are not providing enough money to be spent on training staff and also equipment. When visiting Marks and Spencer, I found out some conflicts that had been taken place from a friend that I knew who worked In Marks and Spencer. When the store is busy sometimes more shopping tills have to be opened. The manager may appoint a staff that it not so busy such as a sales assistance, to carry out a job of cashier. The sales assistance my not like filling the role of a cashier because they feel they would rather serve customers in a different department.
The sales assistance may have a conflict with the manager arguing over why they had to cover someone else position. They can also be conflicts between staff who where waiting to be promoted as a supervisor. In Marks and Spencer if staff perform well they may be given the chance to have promotion if they have been with Marks and Spencer for a long period of time. Here a case where two staff John and David where both working in Marks and Spencer for long period John worked for 2 years and David worked for 3 years. Both staffs were waiting for a promotion as a supervisor, but there was only one position available.
The promotion was given to John, John was really happy to be promoted as he was work hard and well for 2 years. David felt he should have had a promotion because he worked for 3 years and worked well during the time. There was big conflict between the manger and David he was very angry he had not been given the promotion; the manger said they didn’t think he would be ready for the supervisor position. Because this conflict between the manager and David. The manger decided to refer David to a different branch. In some circumstances staff may be given the chance to be transferred to different branches and working in different department.
5. 1 Evaluation of the potential conflicts between different human resources management Marks and Spencer is a successful business. I think the way they managed conflicts within the business is a good. Some businesses that have conflict between different human resources management may sack staff if there is a big conflict. In Marks and Spencer there may be a conflict between a new employee, who may complain he made to work to hard, he may make a complain about the manager because he feels he has been pick on to work harder than other workers.
How this has happened is the employee feels angry about working harder than others work in Marks and Spencer. Conflicts sometimes can be used to benefits the business, because if the conflicts have solved, then the business of Marks and Spencer can prevent any possible conflicts in the future. When the human resources function decides to employ someone, they will only employ people who have the most potential and fit their job description. People may cause a conflict between, the interviewers, because they may see them self-being better than the person who was employed by the business.
6. 0 Performance Management This is to Performance Management has been produced and published by the Human Resources Department Marks and Spencer. It is intended for anyone who manages the performance of others. Whether you are a first-time work leader or an experienced supervisor, manager, program director or department chair, this Guide will provide you with useful information and step-by-step guidelines about the performance management process in Marks and Spencer. They are involved in performance management when you:
The evolution of the concept of performance management as a new Human Resource Management model reflects a change of emphasis in Marks and Spencer away from command-and-control toward a facilitation model of leadership. This change has been accompanied by recognition of the importance to the employee and the institution of relating work performance to the strategic or long-term and overarching mission of the organisation as a whole. Employees’ goals and objectives are derived from their departments, which in turn support the mission and goals of the University.
The performance management process provides an opportunity for the employee and performance manager to discuss development goals and jointly create a plan for achieving those goals. Development plans should contribute to organisational goals and the professional growth of the employee. The planning process must also involve consideration of the emerging University environment. The changing University environment is characterised in the Sustaining Excellence in the 21st Century: a Vision and Strategies for the University of California’s Administration task group report.
Demographic change, increased enrolment pressures, competition for faculty, pressures to constrain administrative costs, regulatory and policy pressures, higher transaction volumes and services expectations, and greater influence of customers or constituents all have a part in changing the way that we do our work. 6. 3 The Sustaining Excellence . . . report suggests a number of ways in which the University can adapt to the new environment. The report emphasises the necessity of making the transition from a bureaucracy to a network organisation.
The new organisational model emphasises a focus on decision-making and accountability at the level where the work is done, development of a service culture that rewards team performance, and integration of operations. Critical to the success of this new model is the adoption of a customer service orientation, a flexible attitude in the face of constant change, and streamlined business processes supported by networked administrative systems. 6. 4 For performance managers, in Marks and Spencer this changing environment offers many new challenges and opportunities.
Performance managers and their employees are increasingly being asked to become generalists who step outside of traditional narrowly defined job descriptions in support of team objectives and goals. These changes are resulting in the development of new approaches to human resource management. 6. 5 The Proposed Human Resource Management Initiatives conceptual framework also underscores the vital role of education, training and development in the envisioned network organisation.
In this organisation, continuous learning is a prerequisite to successful job performance and organisational effectiveness. Employees must be able to learn work, developing effective technical and people skills in order to assume new responsibilities, and keep pace with and anticipate the changing nature of work and our workplace. For performance managers and employees alike, responding to these changes requires the ability to learn, adapt to change, solve problems creatively, and communicate effectively in diverse groups.
In addition, employees must take personal and proactive responsibility for their careers to ensure future employability and advancement. The realities of the contemporary workplace will continue to challenge existing paradigms and should be considered in managing the performance of employees in a dynamic working environment. Here is a list that employees will Receive from their boss. 6. 6 Observation and Feedback Observing work performance and providing feedback about it should be a routine part of the performance management process.
Feedback should be based on observed and/or verifiable work-related behaviours, actions, statements, and results. This type of feedback is called behavioural feedback. Effective feedback helps the employee sustain good performance, to develop new skills and to improve performance when necessary. For additional information about observation and feedback, Observing employee performance and offering feedback about what you see should be a routine part of the way you manage employee performance.
Feedback is most effective in reinforcing or improving work performance when the employee has confidence in the basis of that feedback. And you, as the performance manager, will be more confident when giving feedback based on information that you can support. 6. 7 Observing Employee Performance From the standpoint of performance management, observation involves noticing specific facts, events, or behaviours related to work performance and the results of work performance. Observations are the raw data upon which effective performance feedback may be based.
The purpose of observing employee behaviour and the results of work performance is to identify and describe it in order to help the employee be successful and continue to develop his or her skills, knowledge, and experience. When you make observations about the results of employee performance, the output employees generate and the impact of their work, you gather additional information to make both praise and constructive feedback more effective. Observations should be the basis for feedback, and may also suggest actions, which might be taken to support, develop or improve performance.
Feedback based on observed or verifiable data is more likely to influence employee behaviour than feedback, which cannot be supported by firsthand information. It is not always possible to observe employees at work, but you should build occasions to observe their performance into your workday. In that way, you provide opportunities to understand what they do, to talk with and get feedback from them, to see employees as they perform at their best and to recognise areas in which their performance could be improved.
