The Maintenance of the Employee Engagement at Harrods

Question: Discuss the theories of motivation and engagement, application of the motivation theory and strategic HRM process undertaken by Harrods? Answer: Introduction The concept of the employee engagement signifies the commitments and contributions of the employees that serve for the organisational benefits. The dedication and the involvement of such skilled employees determine the loyalty level towards the organisation (Hendry 2012). The human resource management is considered as the driving for engaging such employees and providing them the comfortable environment within the organisation. The study aims to generate the ideas of the structured HRM process as per the case study. The study is reflecting the case study based on the maintenance of the employee engagement at Harrods, which is a renowned retail departmental store in London (Harrodscareers.com 2016). The application of the theory based analysis for determining the motivational factors that are necessary to engage the employees will be associated in this study. The usefulness of the strategic human resource process will also be discussed. Based on the analysis of such segments, the just ified recommendation will be established. Theories of Motivation and Engagement According to Armstrong and Taylor (2014), the effective performance level of the employees ensures the progressive attributes of an organisation. The human resource management has been playing the major role in recruiting, motivating and retaining the skilled employees that can be beneficial for the organisation (Bratton and Gold 2012). It is important for the human resource faculty to ensure the motivational factors that can enhance their performance level and provide them the comfortable scenario that can retain them for the future prospects (Mone and London 2014). As per the case study, the human resource management of Harrods has considered few of the aspects for motivating the employees and retaining them for future. Application of the Motivation Theory McGregors Theory X and Theory Y: In keeping concentration on the employee motivational aspect, Douglas McGregor introduced the theory X and theory Y. The application of theory X considers the likings and disliking of the employees while they have been working under an organisation (Arslan and Staub 2013). In such cases, the human resource management needs to concentrate on the needs and the requirements of the employees and the managers monitor the works of the employees more frequently. As per this theoretical perspective, it can be stated that the managers of theory X provide the employees rewards or even can give punishments for the discrepancy. On the other hand, the managers of theory Y are focusing on providing the employees the comfortable scenario that can bring efficiency to their performance level. Since, the workers or the employees are considered as the important asset of the organisation, it is important to provide them the suitable scenario that can bring efficiency to their performance level. Moreover, providing them the comfortable scenario is even effective enough to retain them for the future prospects. Russ (2013) implied that the employees extract the satisfaction from both their mental and physical works. If the employees can feel the importance of their presence within the organisation, it helps them in motivating for the better performance attributes. The discussion of the motivational theory is associated with the employee engagement factors. While working within an organisation, different employee can oft for different benefits. Hence, sometimes it is difficult to fulfil their demands as per their concerns (Liem and Martin 2012). However, the proper motivational aspect would thus be significant enough in fulfilling their requirements and engaging them into the organisational activities. It is to be indicated that if the human resource management can provide the employees the enough motivation, the employees will get the interest to stay and bring out the effective performance skills. As per the case study, the human resource management of Harrods has been arranging the communication session or meetings to interact with the employees and receiving their feedbacks. The employees can raise their concerns during these sessions. The senior managers of Harrods have even set the foundation where the talent of the employees will be reco gnised (Wigfield and Guthrie 2013). The evaluation of such events is quite encouraging for the employees that can contribute the skilled performance for achieving the business goals. Even the retail head will meet the employees once in a month. During that time, the employees can resolve their queries about any of the concerns. Moreover, the participation of the employees during the organisational decision making process is also helpful for engaging the employees for the future prospects. Strategic HRM Process undertaken by Harrods Madhavan (2012) explained that the strategic human resource management is describing the planning of the business procedures for reaching to the pre-determined business goals. The human resource capital is the major requirement for achieving the competitive advantage. Another aspect of the strategic human resource concentrates on the people who are engaged with the activities for implementing plans. The final aspect is considering the systematic approach, which is adopted for defining the achievements of the organisation as per the planning process (Monks et al. 2013). The description of the resource based approach is relevant for defining the theoretical practices of strategic human resource management. In keeping concentration on the strategic human resource management process, the evaluation of the training and development session is necessary. According to Sanders, Shipton and Gomes (2014), the training and development process is concerned as the function of enhancing the performance skills of the employees within an organisation. The training and development session is mainly including three basic segments. The first segment is the training process, which has been focusing on the particular job that is allocated to the individual. The next segment is education, which determines the future aspects that can be beneficial for performing those jobs (Ehrnrooth and Bjrkman 2012). The final segmentation is the suggested activities for the betterment of the future performance. The attempt of improving the performance level is mainly needed while undertaking the session of training and development. Moreover, the strategic human resource management is concentrating on the communicational process, which is the most required field for the betterment of the employees performance level. If the management can frequently communicate with the employees, it helps in understanding their requirements and perceptions regarding their working styles (Alfes et al. 2013). Moreover, the management can convey the organisational needs to achieve the pre-determined goals. Hence, it can be stated that the establishment of the proper communicational strategy will be effective enough in enhancing the performance level of the employees and engaging them with the organisational activities. In keeping focus on the human resource strategy undertaken by Harrods, it has been seen that the management is mainly focusing on the improvement of the communication level (Harrodscareers.com 2016). The line managers used the tools to communicate with the employees informally and understand their specific requirements. The employees even were benefitted, as they can easily recognise the complexities underlying the decision-making process (Downey et al. 2015). The communication channels established by the line managers are thus linking the employees with the organisational process. The establishment of the communication channel describes the major areas of the employees performance that need rectifications and association of the training and development process (Thurgood and Barrick 2015). It has been seen that many of the employees in Harrods are quite efficient in performing their tasks and even they appreciated the managers efforts to monitor or coach their activities. Moreover, t he line manager even is very helpful and ego-less. The manager concentrates on the opinion of the employees during the decision-making process. Therefore, the communication strategy used by the managers in Harrods is much efficient for the betterment of the employees performance level. Recommendation for improvising the HRM and HRD Practices at Harrods It is to be noted that the human resource management is specified as the process of the developing the employees performance level and providing them enough values. The human resource management process is mainly focusing on the three major aspects, such as recruitment and selection, performance level, and development procedures. In case of Harrods, it has been seen that the managers have been much concerned about the development of communication skills with the employees. However, the major issues have been identified in analysing dichotomy between the staff experience and the customer experience. For the short span of time, the company needs to build the trust among the staffs by presenting their efforts and quality level in front of the customers. The development of the organisational culture is also quite effective in such cases. The employee behaviour is needed to be more trained and it will be helpful enough in dealing with the better customer service. Recognition of the different requirements for different departments is also needed to be ensured by the management of Harrods. Therefore, shaping such differences by achieving the initial segmentation can contribute benefits to the organisational process. Minimising the turnover rate is also very much necessary for the manager in Harrods. The arrangements of the effective training process for the beginner are essential. Through the development of the training and education process, the company will be able to identify the skills and talent of the employees. The maintenance of the persistence ethos of Harrods would be beneficial to achieve the success. The maintenance of the communication process is one of the major aspects. The human resource management in Harrods specifically tries to maintain the transparency while communicating with the employees. In such cases, they will be able to share the strategic information with the employees. Even, the wider participation can bring out man y of the innovative ideas. Another major responsibility that the human resource management of Harrods needs to ensure is the proper training and development session. Since, the organisation has been concentrating on exploring bright ideas, it is important to understand the performance skills. Moreover, while engaging the employees within the organisational activities, the management needs to pay attention on the learning factors. Educating the employees about the technologies and the business process will be helpful in increasing their performance level. In fact, the employees can even develop their personal and professional skills through such training and development process. Maintenance of the responsibilities is the most necessary segment for the human resource management. The management should be aware of their proper responsibilities while dealing with the employees and the internal organisational scenario. Providing the employees enough motivational aspect is beneficial. The maintenance of the comfortable scenario helps in enhancing the productivity of the employees performance. Accordingly, the employees skills help in determining effective customer base. Even paying attention to the internal conflicts and fixing those issues are also necessary concerns. The arrangements of the meetings and presenting reports help in measuring the performance analysis. As per the performance analysis report, the human resource management can identify the areas that require improvements. The employees can be engaged with more activities that will serve as the improvisation of organisational performance. Conclusion The study indicates the performance of the human resource management in Harrods. The study includes the skilled procedures of maintaining the responsibilities by the human resource management. In the first section of the study, the association of the theoretical practices have been incorporated. Application of the motivational theory is highlighting the requirements of the employees. In focusing on such requirements, the human resource management has been paying attention to the fulfilment of the employees demand. Engaging the employees for the betterment of organisational performance is necessary. Hence, the human resource management needs to focus on the efficient practices for the betterment of the employees performance. Scheduling or arranging the monthly meeting helps in deriving the feedbacks of the employees. Along with the feedback report, the performance report is also needed to be presented. The measurement of the performance analysis report identifies the areas of improvem ents. In keeping the focus on the result, the human resource management of Harrods need to provide the employees proper training and development session for enhancing the performance skills. In fact, employees can even participate in the decision-making process, which serves as one of the motivational aspects. The concentration on these requirements would help the human resource management in improvising the key practices. References Alfes, K., Truss, C., Soane, E.C., Rees, C. and Gatenby, M., 2013. The relationship between line manager behavior, perceived HRM practices, and individual performance: Examining the mediating role of engagement.Human resource management,52(6), pp.839-859. Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. 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