Business Management with Marketing

Question: Describe about the Essay for Business Management with Marketing. Answer: Introduction With the course of time, human resource department has gained significant importance and it plays one of the major roles in developing the strategies of an organization along with handling the employee centric activities in the organization. Therefore, it can be stated that in present days highly competitive global scenario, it is almost impossible for any of the organizations to build a good team of the working professionals without managing the human resources carefully. Klarsfeld et al. (2014) have stated that the major functions of the human resources management takes into account recruiting the people, training them properly, looking on performance appraisals, motivating them as well as focusing on workplace communication, safety and some others. This specific research work would try to shed light understanding several perspectives of human resource management along with focusing on ways of developing flexibility within the workplace. In order to carry on the entire task, Virgin Group has been taken into consideration and the entire assignment would be analyzed accordingly. Along with that, focus would be shed on understanding the impact of equal opportunities within the workplace along with the approaches to human resource practices in the selected organization. However, it can be stated that debates are there regarding the importance of human resource management, as some employees regard HR as the policing, traumatizing and systematizing arm of the executive body. On the contrary, some regard HRs as the gatekeepers, people who hold interest in employee concerns. Understanding different perspectives of human resource management Guests model of HRM as applied to Virgin Group Guests model of HRM is based on the view that HRM is fundamentally different from the concept of Personnel management. His theory argues that HRM is commitment based as opposed to Personnel management which is compliance based. According to this theory HRM requires commitment on the part of the employees towards the objectives or an organization. HRM focusses on the needs of individual human resources instead of focusing on the needs of employees as a single block. This theory argues that human resources are the most valuable assets to an organization that needs to be empowered by the organization through positive reinforcements (Bratton and Gold 2012). Virgin Group is an organization that has embraced Guests model of Human Resource Management. The HRM policies of Virgin group are based on the trust between the employees and the organization. This organization believes in positive employee engagement as a factor of motivation. Virgin Group has a very distinctive recruitment and selection strategy that is based on the principle of Guests model of HRM. The organization believes that HRM can only be practiced if the employees are aligned with the objectives of the organization. This is why, Virgin group places much importance on hiring people who are attracted to the companys vision (Buller and McEvoy 2012). Another HR policy within Virgin group that is based on Guests principles is the decentralization that is an integral part of the organizations hierarchy. The employees at every management level at Virgin have much more independence and decision making power than their counterparts at other companies. Since the employees at Virgin believe in the organizational objectives of the company it is assumed that every employee should use their best judgment regarding how to achieve the organizational objectives (Clinton and Guest 2013). This also cultivates leadership qualities in the employees. Since the company believes that transparency and empowering the employees is at the very core of their HRM practices, Virgin group has also facilitated a number of ways of swift communication between the employees. There are employee forums, newsletters and periodicals that circulate within the employee circles where they talk about an array of things including how to make Virgin group a better workplace for the employees (Guest, Paauwe and Wright 2012). Differences between Storeys definition of HRM, personnel and IR practices as applied to Virgin Group The defining characteristics of Storeys definition of HRM are the concept of hard and soft HRM. According to Storey, Hard HRM is the practice of managing human resources so as to obtain value from them. Hard HRM is built around evaluation and performance management. The objective of hard HRM practices is the attainment of a competitive advantage in the form of a productive workforce. On the other hand, soft HRM places importance on the relation between the human resources of an organization. Under soft HRM practices the employees are treated as valuable assets of the company and the competitive advantage is drawn from the employees commitment to their organization. This is why soft HRM advocates for the treating human resources as valuable assets in order to cultivate commitment in them, which can be a source of competitive advantage for the organization (Marler and Fisher 2013). According to Storeys definition of personnel management, the focus is placed on making sure that the employees comply with the rules and regulations designed by the organization. It only addresses the traditional aspects of the employer-employee relationship such as hiring, firing, compensation and training. According to this theory, procedures are given the most importance in Personnel management. He viewed both Personnel Management as well as Industrial Relations as the same in concept as well as practice (Purce 2014). When the HR policies and practices at Virgin group are examined it is clear that to a great extent they are modelled after Storeys soft HRM theory. The employees at Virgin are provided with an environment that nurtures their capabilities so as to help them reach their maximum potential. The company also has a set of financial as well non-financial rewards for the employees on order to motivate them. The non-financial benefits such as promotion and recognition are designed after Storeys theory. These rewards enrich the relationship between the employees and the management of Virgin group. The employees at Virgin are also very involved in the direction of the company and the important decisions along the way are taken collectively by the employees. This is a clear example of employees contributing directly to the achievement of Virgins organizational objectives (Sanders, Shipton and Gomes 2014). Implications for line managers and employees of developing a strategic approach to HRM at virgin group First of all, the line managers at Virgin group have to understand the various concepts of HRM after which the HR policies of Virgin are to be designed. They have to breakdown the overall HR strategy into actionable policies that can be integrated into the HR practices. They will also need to help change the overall culture at the organization. Various policies that make up for the organizational culture within Virgin group should be evaluated to make sure they are in alignment with the HR strategy (Stone 2013). The line managers are tasked to work alongside functional managers such as the HR managers. Line managers need to have a deep understanding of what the HR strategies designed by the HR managers mean for the everyday practices within the company. This is why line managers have the responsibility to make sure that the HR strategies devised by the HR team do not harm the business operations of Virgin group. All the HR functions at Virgin are affected by the HR strategies. For example, the job evaluation techniques used within Virgin group have to be reexamined to make sure that the worth of a job is decided based on the contribution it makes to the overall objectives and goals of Virgin group. Performance management and appraisal will be based only on the actual performance of the employees and other factors such as the time spent on the job and seniority of the employees will not be taken into account (Van De Voorde et al. 2012). Understanding ways of developing flexibility within the workplace Explain how a model of flexibility might be applied in Virgin Group There are many type of flexibility that can be applied to Virgin Atlantic. Atkinsons model in particular comprises of 4 types of flexibility comprises functional, numerical, financial and temporal. This model of flexibility can be applied at Virgin Atlantic by dividing the employees into core and peripheral workforces. The core workforce could include the employee who carries out the core functionalities of the firm like piloting and attending to the guests. On the other hand, the peripheral workforce could include employees who do not carry out the core operations of the firm. These could include office assistants, drivers, data entry employees, book keepers, lawyers etc. The peripheral workforce can be recruited on a contractual basis (Stone 2013). The core workforce needs to be trained by the firm since they carry out the core operations of the firm that will ultimately decide its success. They should also have better prospects for career development. The peripheral workforce does not need to be trained by the company. The core workforce should also have better job security than the peripheral workforce (Guest, Paauwe and Wright 2012). Discuss the types of flexibility which may be developed by Virgin group Virgin Group can develop functional, numerical, distancing and temporal flexibility inside the organization. Functional flexibility is the firms ability to deploy the human resources based on tasks. This is achieved by training the employees in multiple skill sets so that they are able to perform the duties of traditionally different jobs. For example, Virgin group could train the flight attendants in customer service so that they can be used to attend to the needs of the passengers at the ground level (Guest, Paauwe and Wright 2012). Numerical flexibility is the firm ability to dramatically adjust (increase or decrease) the size of the workforce, depending on the demand for their product/services. Virgin group owns many businesses that are seasonal in nature, such as the Virgin holidays, galactic and cruises. By embracing numerical flexibility Virgin group will be able to deploy its employees to these different businesses based on the needs. For example, Virgin holidays will need more employee during the summer. Virgin group can achieve numerical flexibility through three different hiring strategies part time working, temporary contracting and sub-contracting (Buller and McEvoy 2012). Distancing flexibility is the use of third parties to undertake some of the peripheral activities of the business. Virgin group can practice distancing flexibility by hiring outside companies to carry out the non-core activities. For example, Virgin can hire outside companies to carry out the on-board catering on Virgin Atlantic flights (Hendry 2012). Temporal flexibility This is a variation of the numerical flexibility that can be applied at Virgin group. This usually involves using HR strategies such as overtime and flextime to meet the additional demand for the companys products and services. In temporal flexibility the existing employees are usually used to meet the demand instead of additional part-time workers (Zhu et al. 2013). Assess the use of flexible working practices from both the employee and the employer perspectives From the perspective of Virgin Group there are many advantages to adopting flexibility within the firm. First of all, having a flexible work environment makes Virgin group an attractive workplace to the potential recruits. Aside from recruitment, a flexible work environment also improves employee retention. Flexible workplaces also increases the employee motivation amd thus increases the workplace productivity. Since employees who have flexible working hours are able to balance work and personal life better, they are less prone to fatifue and stress. Flexible work environments are also great for the public image of the company. It also helps nurture a positive company culture. Since flexibility increases employee retention, it also reduces the cost the firm has to spend on training new employees. Since flexibly often involves employees sharing the company resources, it is possible to reduced operational overheads. Flexibility also uses automated solutions, which in turn reduces cost. The cost of recruitment and selection can be reduced since the need for hiring new core workforce employees is reduced. Workplace Flexibility is also an effective teambuilding strategy. It allows for employees to work together by complimenting each others skill sets (Mondy and Martocchio 2016). There are also certain disadvantages to flexible work environment from the point of view of the employer. For example, flexibility can lead to internal conflicts. If an employee is dissatisfied about his/her work schedule and prefers a schedule that was made available to a co-worker, this can lead to jealousy and more internal issues. There is also an argument to be made that flexible workplaces lead to less collaboration between employees. For example, the employees who work from remote locations will not get as many chances to work with co-workers as the employees who work in the same office (Bratton and Gold 2012). Employees of a company also have many benefits to working in a flexible work environment. Employees can balance work and personal lives better if they have flexible working conditions. It also helps reduce work-related stress. Employees also tend to be more satisfied under flexible working conditions (Purce 2014). Discuss the impacts that changes in the labour market have had on flexible working practices at Virgin Group The recent changes in the labor market have had major impacts on the flexible working practices at Virgin group. The factors that have contributed most to the changes in flexible working practices at the company are migration of workforce, collective bargaining, technological changes, increasing number of qualified/skilled workforce and demographic changes. Globalization and subsequent workforce migration have impacted the labor costs in the UK. Virgin Group has now access to a much wider group of skilled as well as unskilled laborers that they can use. This has allowed the company to be more flexible in term of the working hours. For non managerial jobs, Virgin group now uses part time workers. The new influx of laborers had made this happen (Bratton and Gold 2012). Technological changes have also helped the company in adopting flexibility. Many of the companys workers are now able to work from home in a virtual office. Collaborative tools such as slack, video chatting and others have made it possible for the employees to be able to work from different places. The internet has expanded the labor markets as well. Virgin group is now able to hire workers on a contractual basis for jobs that are not permanent. The company is now able to hire a team of employees for a few months overseas to complete tasks (Bratton and Gold 2012). The increased public access to higher education has increased the number of potential recruits in the job market. Well established companies like Virgin group now attracts more recruits, which in turn increases the quality of the workforce employed. Changes in the social environment have allowed more women to be part of the workforce. Virgin group is also able to have a much diverse workforce than before because of its ability to hire from more regions of the world (Zhu et al. 2013). Trade unions have seen a reduction in their influence, however the company has adopted collective bargaining for the workforce. Because of this the company has a more satisfied workforce. This has also encouraged the company to embrace flexibility at their workplace (Zhu et al. 2013). Understand the impact of equal opportunities within the workplace In recent years it has been found that employees are bringing charges against their employers related with discrimination at the workplace. It has been found that during the period of 2014 to 2015, there were 61,308. The highest sum awarded by the Employment Tribunal was 557, 039 (virgin.com, 2016). Hence, it has become important to discuss various forms of discrimination within a company (Virgin Group) and the practical implication equal opportunity legislation for Virgin Group (virgin.com, 2016). Different forms of discriminations that might take place in the workplace of Virgin Group There are various types of discrimination can be found in the workplace of the company Virgin Group. They are such as gender related discrimination, religion related discrimination, inequality in compensation, and age related discrimination and discrimination with disables (Coppock, Haydon and Richter, 2014). Gender related discrimination In the company Virgin group, there various types of gender discrimination can be found. It includes pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment and unequal payment for female employees (Barak, 2013). The management of the company needs to understand that sex discrimination or gender discrimination is a significant part of common civil right violation that needs to be prohibited. They need to develop equal payment scheme for both men and women in accordance to the Equal Pay Act 1963 (Kersley et al., 2013). Religion related discrimination It has been found that in company Virgin group, persons belong to Muslim religion have to face issues from the management and they are treated less favourably. (Elmuti et al. (2013) stated that, the incident of 9/11 has affected the organizational behaviour of Western companies. However, the company needs to understand that, the HR policy or management has to be natural for all religion. Holmes and Stubbe (2015) have mentioned that management or HR policy cannot force any employee to restrict religious activity or to abide by other beliefs. Inequality in compensation In addition, it has been found that the management of virgin group is partial to some employees in case of compensation. It decreases motivation level of employees at workplace and also decreases level of job satisfaction. Klarsfeld et al. (2014) have stated that, in order to improvise employee motivation, HR policies have to be developed in such a way that no discrimination has been occurred while judging the compensation rate of employees. Discrimination with disables The company treats disable peoples as less capable and talented than normal people. However, it has been found that there are many disable candidates who are more skilled and capable than normal employees. Hence, employers of Virgin group should not underestimate disable candidates during the process of recruitment (Vandello et al., 2013). Practical implications of equal opportunities legislations for the Virgin Group The equal opportunity policy of this Virgin Group endorses the equal treatment and the services it present irrespective of disability, color, race, cultural and national originality, marital status, sexual orientation and some other criterion. From the company profile, it can be seen that the there are four Advisory committees in Virgin Group that are responsible to look after by the EO department and they with the specified areas of potential discrimination. It can be said that the Equal Opportunities Department, as well as commerce with the work of these departments and being concerned in campaigning issues, provides good advices to the braches on equal opportunities concerns and arranges assistance in respect of nuisances well as unfairness (Akande, 2013). Apart from that, it can be stated that there is assistance available if the employees feel that they are experiencing bullying and harassment in the place of work. The assistance phone number is available for employees 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The concerned department of Virgin Group focus on these below mentioned points and these are as follows: Dignity and fair treatment Diversity and equal opportunity Purposeful leadership Fair pay and some lucrative benefits A highly positive workplace and the environment Global belonging, i.e. connecting with the regional and intercontinental communities and some other sectors Significant work and delivering proper purpose and joy (Chrobot-Mason and Aramovich, 2013) The team has always focused on being more human and thus, in the year 2015, they launched 100 experiments in the B Team corporations and the aim of the company is to make the workplace more human. From that company profile, it can be seen that they are more focused on sharing these new ways of working with the wider business community, so that the best practices can be easily scaled and replicated throughout the world (Boston and O'Grady, 2015). Comparing the approaches to manage equal opportunities and managing diversity Jonsen et al. (2013) have stated that one of the core differences among managing diversity and equal opportunity is concerned with the force of change. It can be stated that whereas external forces like governmental legislation, social fairness, human rights and ethical rights targets to drive equal opportunity, managing diversity seeks to be driven by internal factors within the administrative arrangement and is instantly associated with the bottom line. Apart from that, it can be mentioned that another difference between these two approaches are their goals. The goal of the equal opportunity has been mentioned as social justice and rectifying errors that have been made previously in the past, in order to correct an imbalance, an injustice and a mistake (Guillaume et al., 2013). Apart from that, it can be stated that managing diversity is regarded as a more integrated approach to put equality into practices and is properly demonstrated to be responsibility of all managers, whereas equal opportunity approaches are driven only by the human resource managers. In this part, the fundamental differences are between managing diversity and equal opportunity approaches have been mentioned here. Aspect Managing Diversity Equal opportunity Purpose Utilize potential of the employees to maximum advantage Reduce discrimination Case argued Business case- enhance profitability Moral and ethical Responsibility All the concerned managers Human Resource and the Personnel department Focus on management activities Managing Recruitment Remedies Changing the culture Changing systems as well as practices (Podsiadlowski et al., 2013) Wanrooy et al. (2013) have stated that the major opportunity strategies as well as practices at the organizational level have been recognized as a significant attempt to establish equality. For instance, it can be said that the creation of such a community or organization, where both female and male are dealt with same manner and they face no odd situation because of their sex. In contrary to this situation, the term managing diversity is there to point out the significance of difference and put forward a viewpoint where difference is welcomed. Moreover, this is considered as an advantage rather than a disadvantage to the concerned organization (Acker, 2012). Understand approaches to human resource practices in the Virgin Group Comparing various methods of performance management Kulik et al. (2014) have stated that performance management takes into account monitoring as well as scrutinizing performances of the concerned employees for recognizing specified places they are performing excellent service. This also sheds light on the areas that require additional enhancement along with those areas that are affecting a company detrimentally. At Virgin Group, performance management methods takes into account those that concentrate on the employee groups or teams, production lines, departments as well as company branches or the subsidies. However, it is required to mention that at Virgin Groups, performance management methods of performance management are similar, as they all help this organizations Human Resource Management to recognize actual level of performance of the employees (Lips, 2013). Another performance management procedure being used at Virgin Groups is flatter in the organizational structure that provided opportunities for the employees to rake more responsibilities that was not possible when there were high hierarchy structure in the organization. This particular step has led to enhanced job satisfaction of the employees. Therefore, it can be stated that this is a productive method to provide several chances to the employees in order to maximize their potential, without bureaucratic obstructions to assist the organization (Dychtwald, Erickson and Morison, 2013). The company has their own rewards for excellence and under this category, they rewards those employees who have performed well. For example, it can be stated that the top sales associates can be properly identified through the Virgin Groups 100 program or the Virgin Groups rewards for excellence that takes into account gala evening with an Oscar Style ceremony. Here, the employees are nominated regardless of their job type. From the company profile, it can be stated that there are 20 winners each season and this is the largest rave review within Virgin Group. The management of the company focuses on making things bigger and as a result of that, an internal survey result has explored that 91% employees are ready to go extra mile in order to deliver the customers in the best possible way. However, it is required to mention that it is proven fact that the people respond positively towards rewards, therefore, this performance is highly encouraging as well as motivating. Employees know th at when organization plans to reward their hard works, they tend to perform more and this lead to higher employee performance (Landy and Conte, 2016). Evaluating the approaches to the practice of managing employee welfare in Virgin Groups Properly managing the welfare of the employees in Virgin Group is one of the significant parts of the Human Resource Department roles. The Employee Relation team is one of the parts of the Human Resource management team. They have the responsibility to manage several issues that leave impact on general well-being of employees in order to make sure their performance and commitment are not negatively affected by kind of issues like grievance, policies, procedures and redundancy. In this part, it is required to mention that the employee relation team is responsible to generate pension scheme that is highly effective in meeting the general welfare of the employees after retirement from work. Therefore, it can be stated that the Human Resource Management Team always respond to several aspects of the employee welfare for both life and work by carefully handling the issues of workplace that might affect their concentration and commitment to the organization (Oswick and Noon, 2014). Moreover , it is required to add here that the responsible team support largely to plan the employees for their future through their pension scheme. Rubery and Rafferty (2013) have stated that the organizations proffer welfare in several effective ways through several types of programs. From the research works, it can be seen that personnel assistance programs aid the company personnel to manage the issues that are not related to work like family and personal issues. Thus, it aids them to reduce the level of stress that might affect their capabilities of productivity detrimentally. Kamerman and Kahn (2013) have stated that programs related to income protection supports the employees to achieve fiscal security both in the time of employment and in the retirement periods. Approaches of managing several welfare programs takes into account Blanket approach and Cafeteria approach. However, it can be stated that both these approaches are expensive in long-term perceptions, as it generally ends up making an organization to expend resources to individuals that do not need them. Thus, it is required to mention that the organizations must initially assess personal requirements before implementing any management approach (Correia, Dussault and Pontes, 2015). Discussing the implication of health and safety legislation on human resources practices Health and safety legislation has proper implications on the practices of human resource practices at Virgin Group, as they are under obligations. Therefore, they are abiding by them not only for the safety and well-being of the employees and the customers, but also for the general public. With the course of time, there could be increased expenditure of the company resources. For example, it can be stated that heath legislations like Health and Safety Act of 1974 generally demand that the employers have to institute relevant programs that would ensure acceptable health and safety legislation holds the companies responsible for the health and safety of the employees. Moreover, it can be stated that human resource managers have to make sure that both the employees and environment of the company comply with stated requirements (Maclaran, Stevens and Catterall, 2013). Moreover, this implies extra costs in training the employees on health and safety issues. It is regardless to mention that health and safety legislation affects normal human resource management practices since they form a significant factor even in their practices and policies. In order to assist Virgin Groups human resource management in their practices in relation to health and safety legislation, they have placed several other safety and security units like fire, health and safety teams, and uniformed security for both the female and the male employees. The job of the fire unit review fire precautions, conduct several training courses for the employees in safety related to the subjects like inductions, fire safety, first aid and manual handling. Evaluate the impact of one topical issue on human resource practices Correia, Dussault and Pontes (2015) have stated that numerous topical issues largely affect the human resource practices in different parts of the corporation. One such issue takes into account the labour supply of the organization. Labour supply can affect the human resource management practices through both under-supply and over-supply. Under-supply of labour takes place when a specific system is unable to proffer an adequate and constant supply of properly qualified labours for the companies. This happens because of the factors like wanting educational systems or lack of qualified teaching personnel. It has been found that this in general forces the human resource management department in the affected organizations to have to source the employees through some other effective means like exporting the labours and this is highly expensive in nature. On the other hand, it can be seen that over-supply incident takes place when a system or the existing economy churns out more qualified human resources than required. Correia, Dussault and Pontes (2015) have stated that this situation generally affects the human resource management practices during recruitment procedure since get more applications that required. Therefore, it is easily understood that the organization has to look at some additional means to assort human resources in pursuit of executing a proper and fair selection procedure that are not discriminatory in any manner. Apart from that, it has been seen that another major factor that leave impact on the human resource management practices in Virgin Group is culture. The culture at this organization is responsible to some extent to shape up the procedures of employee recruitment and selection procedure. Therefore, the entire procedure takes into account a wide range of activities like initial application, screening of CV, telephonic and video interview, assessment centre, resourcing interview and some other ways. Moreover, it can be stated that in search of the big talent, the team continually looks to evolve their advertising, selection methods and thus they use social media properly. Along with these points, it has been found that culture is one of the major factors that shape up the leadership style of the organization as well (Guillaume et al., 2013). At the end, it can be concluded that the human resource managers in Virgin Group implement effective communication with the employees in order to d evelop managerial skills, construct relationships and reinforce trust. Conclusion After completing the entire task, it can be said that the responsibility of establishing good public relationships lies with the human resource management to a great extent. It has been seen that this department of any organization helps in organizing business meetings, official gatherings on behalf of the organization in order to build up relationships with other business sectors. Apart from that, it has been seen that the human resource department often plays an active role in preparing the business as well as marketing plans for the organization. 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