To critically analyze the performance of human resource ... · 2.4"Theories"of"HRM" ......

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To critically analyze the performance of human resource management of Sainsbury, UK

ABSTRACT

Human Resource Management (HRM) plays an important role in modern day business organizations. Part of HRM that deals with alignment of human resource with organizational objectives is termed ‘strategic HRM’ and this has become a vital cog in operations in large organizations. So this research critically analyses the performance of human resource management with a special focus on strategic HRM by taking the case of Sainsbury UK, one of the leading retail organizations in UK.

From the review of various studies related to HRM and organizational performance it was understood that HRM can be linked to organizational performance. Based on this understanding the researcher deduced a hypothesis. The validity of this hypothesis was tested in the present study. Moreover, the present research also studied the overall human resource strategies of Sainsbury along with the performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM. Lastly, the researcher also analysed effectiveness of HRM to meet the organizational objectives in Sainsbury.

Mixed research method involving both qualitative and quantitative data was used in this research. Both survey and interview methods were used to collect information for the study. Quantitative data was collected from 100 employees of Sainsbury while qualitative data was collected from 10 managers of Sainsbury. From the analysis of the data the researcher identified that HRM of Sainsbury improved organizational performance as it improved employee performance, customer service, customer satisfaction and organizational productiveness. Based on this result it was inferred that there was direct relationship between strategic human resource management and organisational performance which validated the hypothesis of the study. Moreover, the researcher also provided recommendations to Sainsbury for improving HRM practises of the organization.

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Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. 1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .................................................................... 5

1.0 Introduction to the project background ......................................................................... 5

1.1 Company background ..................................................................................................... 5

1.2 Aim of the research ......................................................................................................... 6

1.3 Objectives of the research .............................................................................................. 6

1.4 Research questions ......................................................................................................... 6

1.5 Rationale of the research ................................................................................................ 6

1.6 Research significance ...................................................................................................... 7

1.7 Research hypotheses ...................................................................................................... 7

1.8 Scope and limitation of the research .............................................................................. 7

1.9 Layout of dissertation ..................................................................................................... 8

Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................... 9

2.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 9

2.1 HRM practices ................................................................................................................. 9

2.2 Objectives of HRM ........................................................................................................ 11

2.3 Challenges of HRM ........................................................................................................ 12

2.4 Theories of HRM ........................................................................................................... 14

2.4.1 The Harvard Framework model ............................................................................. 15

2.4.2 Guest’s model of HRM ........................................................................................... 16

2.4.3 Storey’s Hard and Soft HRM ................................................................................... 17

2.4.4 Best Practice Model ............................................................................................... 17

2.4.5 Patterson’s model of HRM ..................................................................................... 18

2.4.6 Best Fit or Contingency model ............................................................................... 18

2.5 HR practice at Sainsbury ............................................................................................... 18

Chapter 3: Research Methodology ......................................................................................... 20

3.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 20

3.1 Research process .......................................................................................................... 20

3.2 Research philosophy ..................................................................................................... 20

3.2.1 Positivism philosophy ............................................................................................. 21

3.2.2 Interpretivism philosophy ...................................................................................... 21

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3.2.3 Realism philosophy ................................................................................................ 21

3.3 Types of research .......................................................................................................... 21

3.4 Research strategy .......................................................................................................... 22

3.4.1 Case study .............................................................................................................. 22

3.4.2 Survey ..................................................................................................................... 22

3.4.3 Interview ................................................................................................................ 22

3.5 Research approach ....................................................................................................... 23

3.5.1 Deductive approach ............................................................................................... 23

3.5.2 Inductive approach ................................................................................................. 23

3.6 Data collection methods ............................................................................................... 23

3.6.1 Primary data collection method ............................................................................. 24

3.6.2 Secondary data collection method ......................................................................... 24

3.7 Sampling techniques ..................................................................................................... 24

3.7.1 Probability sampling techniques ............................................................................ 24

3.7.2 Non probability sampling techniques ..................................................................... 24

3.8 Sample size ................................................................................................................... 25

3.9 Data analysis plan ......................................................................................................... 25

3.10 Reliability and validity ................................................................................................. 25

3.11 Ethics and limitations of research ............................................................................... 26

3.12 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 26

Chapter 4: Analysis, Discussion and Interpretation of Data ................................................... 27

4.0 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 27

4.1 Interview analysis ......................................................................................................... 27

4.2 Survey analysis .............................................................................................................. 32

4.3 Compilation of research findings .................................................................................. 47

4.4 Summary of research findings ...................................................................................... 51

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................... 53

5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 53

5.2 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 53

5.3 Limitations .................................................................................................................... 55

5.4 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 55

5.5 Recommendations for future works ............................................................................. 56

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Chapter 6: Personal Development ......................................................................................... 57

6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 57

6.2 Skills before research .................................................................................................... 57

6.3 Skills after research ....................................................................................................... 57

Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 62

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Chapter 1: Introduction and Background

1.0 Introduction to the project background According to Boxall and Purcell (2011), human resource management (HRM) is defined as a strategic approach to manage the employment relations that stresses on the fact that holding onto the capabilities of the employees is crucial to attain the sustainable competitive edge, which in turn is achieved through set of comprehensive practices, programmes and policies. Thus, this definition leads to the inference that HRM is not just about recruitment, acquitting and pay but also about maximizing the usage of the human resources of an organization in a more strategic angle. According to Kramar and Syed (2012), HRM has become an important partner of an organization as due to changing technologies in the current globalized era, there is requirement of different skill types and levels for an organization to be successful and HR strategies allow careful planning of the issues related to people, which aids the organization in achieving its strategic goals. Thus, this study aims to conduct an in-‐depth review into the HRM of an organization and for this purpose one of the UK’s leading supermarket ‘Sainsbury’ has been selected for the research.

1.1 Company background Retail sector in the United Kingdom is a very big and diversified sector for the UK’s economy and provides huge numbers of employment. Sainsbury is the second largest supermarket in UK holding a share of about 16.8% in the UK’s supermarket sector. The company was established by John James Sainsbury in 1869 and has three divisions, mainly Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd (offering wide range of products and services to customers), Sainsbury's Convenience Stores Ltd and Sainsbury's Bank.

It has about 161,000 employees with vast number of branches situated throughout UK offering wide range of items (Akter, 2012).In the view of Akter (2012), HRM plays an important role in the success of Sainsbury’s business. According to Miah and Hossan (2012), Sainsbury’s main objective is successfully meeting the demands of the customers and providing the stakeholders with good returns. For this, Sainsbury has a centralized human resources policy under which the top management takes all the decisions and seeks to ensure that all the employees have chances for enhancing their skills and are rewarded appropriately for their role in achieving the business objectives, states (Miah and Hossan, 2012). Akter (2012) opines that the HRM of Sainsbury mainly focuses on its functional areas such as recruitment, human resource planning, training and motivation of the employees, managing diversity and performance management.

However, there have been several reports about misconduct from Sainsbury’s employees and also employees complaining about the wrong treatment from the management. According to a report by Salkeld and Infante (2013), an employee at the checkout refused to serve a customer because the customer was on phone. As per the authors, this incident infuriated the customer and the customer decided to switch over to Waitrose in future. Straus (2012) reports about the wrong treatment with employees where in one case a loyal

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employee, who had been working for 11 years, was sacked from the job for leaving the store for about 2 minutes to fetch change for a coffee and in another case an employee complained about the misconduct from the newly appointed manager in terms of burden of work and refusal of leaves as per Sainsbury’s policy. These incidents seem to prove to be an obstacle for Sainsbury in achieving its organizational objective.

Thus, this research attempts to peek into the effectiveness of HRM of Sainsbury and suggest ways of improvement in the HRM performance of Sainsbury in terms of customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction, which will eventually lead to improving the service and quality of Sainsbury.

1.2 Aim of the research The prime aim of this research is to critically analyze the performance of human resource management of Sainsbury, UK

1.3 Objectives of the research • To achieve information about the overall human resource strategies of Sainsbury. • To achieve information on the performance of factors involved in the functioning of

HRM. • To attain information regarding the effectiveness of HRM to meet the organizational

objectives. • To provide suggestions to enhance the HRM performance of Sainsbury

1.4 Research questions 1. How does the strategic human resource management influence the employee

performance? 2. What are the challenges faced by HRM in improving the organizational performance

of Sainsbury, UK? 3. How effective is HRM in enhancing the performance of Sainsbury, UK?

1.5 Rationale of the research As stated by Straus (2012) the importance of Human resources management is gaining momentum day by day for maintaining organizational performances and for recruiting the employees and make them perform the best for the long term benefit of the company. Boxall and Purcell (2011) mentions that HRM plays significant role in attaining the goals and objectives of the organization with the combined effort of employees. So it is significant to investigate the effect of HRM practices on improving the organizational performances. This is the academic rationale of the research.

The concepts of HRM and organizational performances have always influenced the researcher and hence this forms the researcher’s rationale for the research.

Since the study is based on analysing the effect of HRM on organizational performances of retail sector, the findings of the study will be beneficial for the other sectors to evaluate the

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effect of various HRM practices for the long term benefit of the company. This study will be helpful for the chosen organization i.e. Sainsbury, UK to fill the gap identified in the existing HRM practices in the firm. The results obtained from the research will facilitate to understand the effectiveness of HRM in the big organization like Sainsbury and also it will facilitate to conduct further studies on the related topic. This is the industrial rationale of the research study.

1.6 Research significance The significance and importance of this study are explained below:

• Numerous HRM practices are contributed for the attainment of goals and objectives of the organization, especially in retail industry. The industrial significance of this study will enable the Sainsbury to understand various objectives of HRM practices and its outcomes on the performance of the company.

• As a result of economic fluctuations and increased competition, many rapid changes are occurring in the HRM practices of the organizations. The academic significance of the research concentrates on the challenges faced by HRM and the application of various theories will aid in providing solutions to the challenges faced by HRM.

• This study will be more significant for the author to study about the concept of HRM and its practices on the organizational performances. Moreover this study will aid the author to develop personal skills and personal strategy for future research.

1.7 Research hypotheses With respect to the concept on strategic human resource management and organisational performance following hypotheses have been deduced:

H0: There is no relationship between strategic human resource management and organisational performance

H1: There is a relationship between strategic human resource management and organisational performance

1.8 Scope and limitation of the research The main intention of this study is to explore the effectiveness of HRM in Sainsbury, UK. An in-‐depth analysis on the various aspect of HRM, such as industrial, welfare and personal aspects will be help to further understand the effect of these factors in achieving organizational objectives. With the help of this study the responsible executives concerned with the HRM can effectively coordinate their activities and can implement various innovative practices that will motivate and encourage the employees and workforce to perform their best for the long term benefit of the company. The important HRM objectives and various challenges associated with it can be revealed through this study and therefore appropriate measures to solve and face such challenges can be implemented effectively.

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Due to lack of time, only 10 managers of Sainsbury were interviewed and the researcher conducted survey of 100 employees of Sainsbury, UK. Since the sample size is relatively small, people with relevant points may be left out and hence the research doubts that the study may lack accuracy and preciseness considering the size of Sainsbury and its number of employees.

1.9 Layout of dissertation The pattern of dissertation chosen by the researcher is briefed below:

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The introduction chapter provides an overview of the research aims objectives, questions and rationale of the research. This chapter also provides a brief introduction on the chosen organization.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE

REVIEW

The literature or secondary research associated with the study is provided in this topic. The primary aspect of this research is to analyse the performance of HRM in Sainsbury, UK. This chapter further discusses about various HRM practices, objectives and challenges associated with it.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This segment of research describes various tools, techniques and sampling methods utilized for collecting data required for the study.

CHAPTER 4

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The data collected for carrying out study is analysed in this chapter. Bar charts and pie charts are employed in this study for presenting the findings and conclusion. In this chapter various finding gathered from data analysis is scrutinized to get consolidated results.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The conclusion chapter of the research includes the research summary along with suitable recommendation and suggestions which could be employed in the future activities of the chosen organisation.

CHAPTER 6

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The personal development gained from the research is described in this chapter. This includes how the author acquired new skills and improved the existing skills.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.0 Introduction According to Carbery and Cross (2013), human resource management (HRM) is concerned with managing the people in an organization, which points to recruitment of skilled and talented people for the right position at the appropriate time and at a fair cost. As per Ruwan (2014), HRM plays a significant part in attaining the aims and objectives of an organization. Human resources are the source of achieving competitive advantage because of its capability to convert the other resources (money, machine, methods and material) in to output (product/service). The competitor can imitate other resources like technology and capital but the human resource are unique. According to Khatri (2014), people are one of the most important factors providing flexibility and adaptability to organizations. Rundle (2014) argues that one needs to bear in mind that people (managers), not the firm, are the adaptive mechanism in determining how the firm will respond to the competitive environment. Efficient practice of human resource in an organization needs a strategic focus for making sure that the employees contribute in the attainment of the goals of the organization. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), strategic human resource management is a part of HRM that deals with the effective implementation of strategic goals and objectives of an organization for the improvement of productivity. Boxall and Purcell (2011) opine that the scope of HRM can be characterized into three different aspects, namely industrial aspect, welfare aspect and personnel aspect. The industrial aspect of HRM is concerned with the joint consultation, grievances and disciplinary procedures, settlement of disputes, union management relations, collective bargaining etc. The welfare aspect of HRM deals with working conditions and amenities like canteens, housing transport, health and safety, rest and lunch rooms, recreation facilities, education, medical assistance etc. The personnel aspect of HRM is concerned with planning, selection, recruitment, manpower, promotion, placement, transfer, layoff and retrenchment, productivity, training and development, incentives, remuneration etc.

2.1 HRM practices HRM comprises of various processes. Some of the important practices of HRM are detailed below.

• Recruitment and selection: This forms one of the important processes in attaining the objectives of an organization. The main aim of this process is to recruit employees at a fair cost for satisfying the human resource requirements (Rees and French, 2010).

• Performance management: According to Armstrong (2009), performance management is a process which aims to enhance the individual, team and organizational performance by the efforts of the line managers

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• Reward management: This part of the HRM deals with rewarding the employees on a fair and equal basis for contribution in terms of the implementation of the policies, services and strategies of an organization. Reward system may be intrinsic or extrinsic (Armstrong, Brown and Reilly, 2009).

• Managing diversity: It is a long-‐term strategic process. This process aids the organization in having individuals from various religions, gender, ethnicity, race and cultural background so that it can aid in gaining competitive advantage (Kramar and Syed, 2012).

• Learning and development: One of the important functions of HRM comprises training and developing the employees for organization’s future benefits (Harrison, 2009).

• Workforce planning: It is basically the process of planning of the manpower by the human resource department for assigning the efficient and skilled workforce to the right job that leads to the development of the organization (Anyadike, 2013).

• Employee-‐employer relations: For an organization to grow and reap profits there must be a good communication between the employer and the employees. HRM through a set of certain procedures, policies and strategies establishes effective communication with the employees, where the focus is on mutual trust (Abu-‐Baker, 2010).

Researchers have identified different practices by different names as many research’s have been conducted from time to time over the years. de Kok, Kumar and Ulhaner (2013) refer to it as best practices, Huselid (2013) refers to it as high performance, Aldrich and Langton (2013) refer to it as formal, Goss, Adam-‐Smith and Gilbert (2013) refer to it as sophisticated, Matlay (2013) refers to it as professional. Pfeffer (2013) argued that the most effective term is “Best HRM practices”. But as per Chandler and McEvoy (2013), there is not any single set of policies or practices that define a universally superior approach of managing people. Of all the theories on high commitment or best practices all the HRM practices which are either separated or in combination both contribute to the improved organizational performance. According to Boxal (2014), higher productivity gains and lower unit costs are generated by well-‐motivated and well paid workers working in a mutual and trustworthy environment.

Several researches have been conducted in different sectors based on identifying the types of HRM practices. Initially Pfeffer in 1994 identified 16 practices as best practices. It was later modified into seven following practices:

1. Employment security 2. Selective hiring 3. Team working or self-‐managed teams 4. High compensation contingent on organizational performance 5. Extensive training 6. Sharing information 7. Reduction in status difference

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As per Saxena and Pankaj (2013) Training and Development, Recognition through rewards, Career development, Compensation and Benefits, Culture Building and Employer-‐Employee Relations are the important HRM practices. Redman and Mathews (2014) identified an HRM bundle which consisted of key practices which support the quality strategy of the organizations. These practices are:

1. Careful recruitment and selection, for example, ‘total quality recruitment’, ‘zero defects recruitment’, ‘right first time recruitment’.

2. Extensive remuneration systems, for example, bonuses available for staff willing to be multi-‐skilled.

3. Team working and flexible job design, for example, encouraging a sense of cohesiveness and designing empowered jobs.

4. Training and learning, for example, front line staff having enhanced interpersonal and social skills.

5. Employee involvement, for example, keeping employees informed of key changes in the organization.

6. Performance appraisals with links to contingent reward systems, for example, gathering customer feedback to recognize the work by employees over and above their expected duties, which in turn is likely to lead to a bonus for staff.

2.2 Objectives of HRM The main purpose of HRM is to accomplish the organizational goals. Therefore the resources are mobilized to achieve such goals. Some objectives of human resource management are as follows (de Silva, 2013):

Objective HR Actions

Ensure human resources are employed cost-‐effectively

Pay rates should be competitive but not excessive, Achieve acceptable staff utilization, Minimise staff turnover, Measure returns on investment in training (de Silva, 2013).

Make effective use of workforce potential

Ensure jobs have suitable achievable workloads, Avoid too many under-‐utilised or over-‐stretched staff, Make best use of employees skills (de Silva, 2013).

Match the workforce to the business needs

Workforce planning to ensure business has the right number of staff in the right locations with the right skills, Effective recruitment to match workforce needs, Training programmes to cover skills gaps or

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respond to changes in technology, processes & market, Consider outsourcing activities that can be done better and more cost-‐effectively by external suppliers, Get the right number and mix of staff at each location where the business operates in multiple sites and countries (de Silva, 2013).

Maintain good employer / employee relations

Avoid unnecessary and costly industrial disputes, Timely and honest communication with employees and their representatives, Sensitive handling or potential problems with employees (e.g. dismissal, redundancy, major changes in the business), Comply with all relevant employment legislation (de Silva, 2013).

2.3 Challenges of HRM With the increase in competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more adaptable, resilient, agile, and customer-‐focused to succeed. According to Carbery and Cross (2013), within this change in environment, the HR professional has to evolve to become a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate, and a change mentor within the organization. In order to succeed, HR must be a business driven function with a thorough understanding of the organization’s big picture and be able to influence key decisions and policies. In general, the focus of today’s HR Manager is on strategic personnel retention and talents development. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), HR professionals will be coaches, counsellors, mentors, and succession planners to help motivate organization’s members and their loyalty. The HR manager will also promote and fight for values, ethics, beliefs, and spirituality within their organizations, especially in the management of workplace diversity. Some of the challenges faced by HRM include:

1. Workplace diversity

The future success of any organizations relies on the ability to manage a diverse body of talent that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), the challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organizational asset if an organization is able to capitalize on this melting pot of diverse talents. Price (2011) opines that with the mixture of talents of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and lifestyles, an organization can respond to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively, especially in the global arena, which must be one of the important organisational goals to be attained. More importantly, if the organizational environment does not support diversity broadly, one risks losing talent to competitors. This is especially true for multinational companies (MNCs) who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR manager needs to be mindful and may employ a ‘Think Global, Act Local’ approach in most

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circumstances. According to Carbery and Cross (2013), the challenge of workplace diversity is also prevalent amongst Singapore’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With a population of only four million people and the nation’s strive towards high technology and knowledge-‐based economy; foreign talents are lured to share their expertise in these areas. Thus, many local HR managers have to undergo cultural-‐based Human Resource Management training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly qualified but culturally diverse. Furthermore, the HR professional must assure the local professionals that these foreign talents are not a threat to their career advancement. In many ways, the effectiveness of workplace diversity management is dependent on the skilful balancing act of the HR manager. According to Carbery and Cross (2013), one of the main reasons for ineffective workplace diversity management is the predisposition to pigeonhole employees, placing them in a different silo based on their diversity profile. In the real world, diversity cannot be easily categorized and those organizations that respond to human complexity by leveraging the talents of a broad workforce will be the most effective in growing their businesses and their customer base.

2. Globalization

At a political and economic level, globalization is the process of denationalization of markets, politics and legal systems i.e. the use of the so-‐called global economy. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), globalization refers to an extension beyond national borders of the same market forces that have operated for centuries at all levels of human economic activity (village markets, urban industries, or financial centers). According to Carbery and Cross (2013), it means that world trade and financial markets are becoming more integrated. Growing internationalization of business has its impact on HRM in terms of problems of unfamiliar laws, languages, practices, competitions, attitudes, management styles, work ethics etc. HR managers have a challenge to deal with more functions, more heterogeneous functions and more involvement in employee’s personal life.

3. Technological advances

There is a challenging task of adapting workplace to rapid technological changes which influence the nature of work and generate obsolescence. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), advanced technology has tended to reduce the number of jobs that require little skill and to increase the number of jobs that require considerable skill, a shift we refer to as moving from touch labour to knowledge work. There is new-‐new working technology. In this situation organizations have to change it technology. New technology creates unemployment and in other hand, there comes scarcity of skilled manpower. Like this, technological change brings difficulties and challenges in organization.

4. Changes in political and legal environment

Changes in political and legal environment means changes in political parties and rules regulation due to which new laws are come and you have to follow all laws while doing

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business. According to Carbery and Cross (2013), many changes taking place in the legal and political framework within which the industrial relation system in the country is now functioning. It is the duty of human resource and industrial relations executives to fully examine the implication, of these changes and brings about necessary adjustment within the organization so that later utilization of human resource can be achieved. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), it is the responsibility of Human Resource manager to anticipate the changes and prepare organization to face them without any breakdown in its normal functioning.

5. Changes in economic environment

This includes examination of the impact of a number of factors on production. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), some of the key factors are the scarcity of raw materials and other inputs including power and electricity, encouragement of the culture of consumerism, increasing consumer awareness and demand for quality products, continuing upward trend in the inflationary pressures with decrease in the purchasing power of pounds and its spiralling effects in the ever increasing aspirations of workers for higher wages and other material benefits and mounting costs on the employee welfare and other benefits. Boxal and Purcell (2011) opine that in an inflationary economy, the resources tend to become scarce and the costs of machine, materials and labour multiply. These push up the capital and running costs.

6. Revolution in Information Technology

According to Carbery and Cross (2013), information technology has influenced HRM through human resources information systems (HRIS) that streamline the processing of data and make employee information more readily available to managers. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), more recently there has been and in the future there will be impact of revolutionary computerized information system in the management, it covers two primary areas of application of computer in the managerial decision making process:

a. Use of electronic computers managerial decision making process b. In future computerized information system will have increasing impact at the

coordinate and strategic levels of organization.

7. Mobility of Professional

One of the interesting facts will be increase in the mobility of various managerial and professional personnel between the organizations. As per Boxall and Purcell (2011), as individuals develop greater technical and professional expertise, their services will be greater demand by organization in the environment.

2.4 Theories of HRM Some of the models of HRM comprise Best Practice Model, Patterson’s Model of HRM, The Harvard Framework, Best Fit/Contingency Model, Storey’s Hard and Soft HRM, and Guest’s

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Model of HRM. According to Bratton and Gold (2012), these models define the nature and importance of key human resources, lend an analytical framework for analysing HRM and authenticate certain practices of HRM

2.4.1 The Harvard Framework model According to this model there are two characteristic features of HRM (Bratton and Gold, 2012):

1. Line managers who are solely responsible for aligning the competitive strategy and personal policies and ensuring that the policies are headed in the right direction.

2. Personnel who is responsible for the creation of personnel policies that deal with the activities of the personnel and how these policies can be implemented.

The significant stakeholders in the organization are employees. Along with the shareholders and the customers the employees also have their fair share of needs and concerns. The four HR policy areas highlighted by Harvard Framework model are (Bratton and Gold, 2012):

1. Employee influence: It includes responsibility power and delegated level of authority.

2. Reward systems: It includes, motivation, pay systems etc. 3. Human resource flows: It includes appraisal, termination, selection, recruitment,

promotion etc. 4. Work systems: It includes alignment of people and design of works.

This lead to the four C’s also known as the HR policies which have to be achieved by the organization:

1. Commitment 2. Congruence 3. Competence 4. Cost effectiveness

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Figure: 2.1 Harvard Framework model

Source: Bratton and Gold (2012).

2.4.2 Guest’s model of HRM The model proposed by David guest in 1997 has 6 dimensions of analysis which are:

1. HRM strategy 2. HRM practices 3. HRM outcomes 4. Behavior outcomes 5. Performance outcomes 6. Financial outcomes

Guest’s model of HRM is based on the assumption that traditional personnel management and HRM are distinctively different thereby it is rooted in strategic management making the model prescriptive in sense. According to this model there is a direct relationship between commitment which is a fundamental element of HRM approach and valued business consequences thereby making the model idealistic. As per Bratton and Gold (2012), it acknowledges the fact that relationship between commitment and high performance is very difficult to establish as the concept of commitment is messy. The model employs flow approach where variety of desired outcomes is obtained from seeing strategy underpinning practices.

Situational Factors:

1. Business strategy & conditions

2. Work force characteristics

3. Labor market unions

4. Task technology

5. Laws and social values

Stakeholder Interests:

1. Management

2. Employees 3. Shareholder

HRM policy choices:

1. Employee influence

2. Reward systems

3. Human resource flow

4. Work

HR outcomes:

1. Commitment

2. Congruence 3. Competenc

e 4. Cost

effectiveness

HRM policy choices:

1. Individual well being

2. Organizational effectiveness

3. Societal well being

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2.4.3 Storey’s Hard and Soft HRM Hard HRM focuses on the cost incurred by the human resources of the firm whereas Soft HRM on the human aspects of the firm (Bratton and Gold, 2012).

Characteristics Soft HRM Hard HRM Employer attitude People-‐focused

Biggest asset is HR Task-‐focused Employees do job according to the rules and regulations

Recruitment Integration with the team and attitude is the basis of selection

Ability to do job or trained to do job in a short period of time is the basis of selection

Job description Staff can work in variety of areas due to high degree of multi-‐skilling

It has only narrow scope as it is highly defined

Work design Work design are continually reviewed so that staff can be efficient and enjoy the work

There is no review of work as it is done in the same way as always

Visibility of corporate goals Bigger picture is clearly understood by team members

Employees only have idea about their respective roles

Workplace culture Shared culture common to all

The culture is hierarchical

Career progression Employees are given opportunities to progress within the business and are assisted in planning their careers

No such progressions are offered.

2.4.4 Best Practice Model According to this method the HR methods have been described as the best practice or the high performance work practices and it is these practices which have the positive, additive and universal effects on organizational performance. As per this model that the best practices which the model employs will add up to the previous thereby increasing the resulting performance of the organization. As per Bratton and Gold (2012), this model is based upon the concept of universalism. This model implies that the practices irrelevant of the context if it is based on the high commitment or high performance. It is the high commitment which will benefit the organization and not the context. The elements of best practices proposed by Pfeffer (2013) though not universally accepted are widely recognized. These elements are:

1. Employment or Job security 2. Decentralization and Team working 3. Extensive training

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4. Communication and employee involvement 5. Narrow status differentials 6. High wages linked to organizational performance 7. Sophisticated selection or Selective hiring

2.4.5 Patterson’s model of HRM According to Patterson’s model of HRM the company performance can be improved by certain factors which forms the basis of good or high performance HRM practices. These factors are (Bratton and Gold, 2012):

1. Increasing motivation and by promoting attitudes which are positive. 2. Increasing the abilities and the skills of employees 3. Providing expanded responsibilities to the employees so that they can use their skills

and abilities to the maximum.

2.4.6 Best Fit or Contingency model This model is based on the argument that when the HR strategy is based on the surrounding environment of the business or its context then it becomes the most efficient. According to this model there are two elements which are (Bratton and Gold, 2012):

1. External fit: This type of fit is linked with the marketing strategy or the operating strategy. That is the competitive strategy of the overall business.

2. Internal fit: In this type of fit the HR practices and the HR policies are coherent. The policies which work in the opposite direction should be avoided. For example rewarding individual work should be avoided whereas teamwork should be encouraged.

2.5 HR practice at Sainsbury Sainsbury's is a leading UK and US food retailer with interests in financial services and property. It has branches throughout the country selling a wide range of products. It has diversified into banking, selling electronics and financial service. As per Akter (2012), Sainsbury's operates a much centralised Human Resource policy in which all major decisions are set, by top management at head office with locally based personal managers carrying them out. The group's objective is to meet its customer's needs effectively and thereby provide shareholders with good, sustainable financial returns. Sainsbury's aims to ensure all colleagues have opportunities to develop their abilities and are well rewarded for their contribution to the success of the business. According to Akter (2012), the Sainsbury's supermarket that I am reporting on is located in South Harrow. The founders' principles and values guide Sainsbury's as strongly today as they did at the outset -‐ to be the customer's first choice for food shopping by providing high-‐quality products, value for money, excellent service and attention to detail. Sainsbury's Supermarkets employs over 145,000 people .Of these, 60% are part-‐time and 40% full-‐time. 62% of employees are women. HR plan normally has the employees’ existing status and forecasts the business of the upcoming season, e.g., the stores are highly busy during the Christmas season and require more

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workforce. Akter (2012), confirms that the HR of Sainsbury plans these types of forecasts and recruit people if they require more manpower. Sainsbury also focuses on the current employees and the areas where they lag behind. Thus, it develops and trains the prevailing employees. Though this process is time consuming but it is not much expensive as no recruitment of new employees is needed. This can said to be a step towards motivation of employees. Training of the prevailing employees provides them with best skills for attaining the objectives of the organization (Akter, 2012).As per the report by Akter (2012), by engaging, retaining and recruiting the best talents from different backgrounds Sainsbury makes it a great place to work, which in turn aids it in achieving the organizational objectives. However, reports by Salkeld and Infante (2013) and Straus (2012) suggest that Sainsbury has been criticized for employee misconducting with a customer and the management ill-‐treating a loyal employee. Thus, this research probes into the HRM performance at Sainsbury and tries to identify the gap between the secondary data and the practical data and provide appropriate recommendations.

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Chapter 3: Research Methodology

3.0 Introduction The present chapter deals with methodology of research. Research methodology helped to solve research problems. Zikmund (2012) defined research methodology as the study of methods by which it helps to gain knowledge on a particular subject. This chapter explains various methods, techniques, approaches, etc used for conducting research studies. Research methodology chapter also provides justifications for selection for the study.

3.1 Research process According to Mukherji and Albon (2009), research methodology consists of all techniques and tools used for conducting research studies. Selection of appropriate research method helps to complete the study successfully. The present research study was based on Saunders Onion model. Saunders onion model consists of research philosophies, research approaches, research strategies, choices, time horizons, techniques and procedures (Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis 2009).

Figure 3.1 Saunders Onion model

Source: Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis (2009)

3.2 Research philosophy According to Johnson and Christensen (2010), research philosophy is also known as research paradigm. Research philosophy is based on values, assumptions, practices and concepts. It deals with the researchers’ ability to create and develop knowledge about the specific topic of study. Research paradigm helps to carry out the study in an efficient and successful manner. Selection of appropriate research paradigm or philosophy helps to eliminate errors on the study. Research philosophies are classified into positivism, interpretivism and realism (Mukherji and Albon, 2009).

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3.2.1 Positivism philosophy In the opinion of Babbie (2010) positivism philosophy is an objective and critical base research philosophy. This philosophy is commonly used in natural science. So, this philosophy deals with views of everything that occurs in the nature. Positivism philosophy helps the researchers to collect all facts and figures related to the research problem.

3.2.2 Interpretivism philosophy Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis (2009) opine that, the interpretivism philosophy is based on the belief that, due to the complexity of social world of business and management, it is difficult to formulate laws and theories. This paradigm is the opposite view of the positivism philosophy. By using interpretivism philosophies, the researchers are able to interact with the environment and it also helps to create sense on the research issue (Lohr, 2010).

3.2.3 Realism philosophy Realism philosophy is based on the relationship between the individual values and beliefs and it is mainly focused on real world situations. According to Anderson (2009) Realism philosophy is based on the belief that, individual’s social behavior and interactions are influenced by objective and external reality. This philosophy explains interactions of individuals in the real world situation

Justification

As this research study evaluates the human beliefs and perceptions, the author has applied realism for understanding the facts that are independent to employees’ perception regarding HRM and its impact. With the help of realism philosophy, the researcher was able to focus more on reality and beliefs that are existed in the real world situation. So, it helped to increase the knowledge of the researcher about the research issue.

3.3 Types of research According to Merriam (2009), research methods are usually used for collecting, organizing, and analyzing research data. Research methods are classified into qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods.

3.3.1 Qualitative research method

Data collected through qualitative research method are in non-‐ statistical forms such as verbal descriptions, case studies, etc. Interview and case studies are commonly used for collecting qualitative data for the study (Zikmund, 2012).

3.3.2 Quantitative research method

Snieder and Larner (2009) states that quantitative data are in statistical form and for analyzing these data, mathematical based techniques are used. Survey, questionnaires, polls, etc are considered as an efficient method for collecting quantitative data for the research study. This method gives importance to objective measurement of the data.

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3.3.3 Mixed research method

According to Shamoo and Resnick (2009), it can be defined as the combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Mixed research method is considered as more in-‐ depth in nature and it helps to solve the research problem in an efficient and quick way. Mixed research method consists of more efficient aspects in quantitative research and time saving elements of qualitative research. While conducting mixed research, previous studies on similar topic and investigative prospective are also utilized.

Justification

The researcher has applied mixed research method to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. For collecting qualitative data, the researcher has conducted interview with the managers of Sainsbury and the survey was conducted with the employees of Sainsbury for getting qualitative data. By using both qualitative and quantitative methods the researcher was able to collect statistical and non-‐statistical data for the study. It helped to study the research problem in more appropriate way and it also helped to save time and it reduced cost constrain of the research study.

3.4 Research strategy According to Stagnor (2010), research strategy is mainly used as a tool for finding answers to the research questions. Case study, survey, interview, etc are the major types of research strategy.

3.4.1 Case study Wilson (2010) states that case studies are deals with detailed study of particular situation. According to Snieder and Larner (2009), case studies are helpful for collecting detailed descriptive data related to the study. Case studies are useful for challenging the existing theories.

3.4.2 Survey In survey, questionnaires are used to collect data from fairly large number of peoples. According to Maxwell (2012), surveys are classified into ‘short survey’ and ‘before and after survey’. Short surveys are usually conducted for a small group of people at a particular point of time. On the other hand, before and after surveys are conducted at the beginning and end of a particular event to know the experience of the peoples.

3.4.3 Interview Usually interviews are conducted in face to face manner. But in now a day telephone and advanced technologies such as Skype, Email, etc are used as a medium for conducting interviews. Interviewee’s home or other comfortable areas are usually selected for conducing face to face interviews. Method of collecting data through interview is classified into formal and informal approaches. According to Merriam (2009), semi-‐structured interviews are comfortable for both interviewee and the researcher. Because, it helps the

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interviewee to speak relatively free and at the same time, the researcher is able to collect data from the respondents.

Justification

Both Interview and survey methods were applied in this research study to gather qualitative and quantitative data. The interview was conducted with the managers of Sainsbury and the survey was conducted with the employees of Sainsbury, UK. With the help of interview and survey, the researcher was able to collect primary data required for the study. Interview and survey strategies helped the researcher to complete the research study within the time frame work and at a low cost.

3.5 Research approach Research approach is considered as an important part of the research study. According to Jonker and Pennink (2010), selection of appropriate research approach helps to complete the research study successfully. Research approaches are classified into deductive approach and inductive approach.

3.5.1 Deductive approach

Deductive approach allows the researchers to create hypothesis based on the already existing theories. It is also helpful for selecting an appropriate research strategy for testing the relevance of the hypothesis (Denzin and Lincoln, 2011). Deductive approach is considered as a general to particular phenomenon of research study.

3.5.2 Inductive approach

According to Babbie (2010), inductive approach is a particular to general aspect phenomenon. That is, inductive approach is begins with detailed observation of the real world situations and based on those observations; the researcher is able to generalize the situation.

Justification

For generalizing the topic the researcher has used inductive method for the present research study. In the study, the researcher observed the real world situations to provide subjective reasoning for the research. By using inductive approach, the researcher was able to create theories and hypothesis based on the observed data. This helped the researcher for the successful completion of the research study.

3.6 Data collection methods Selection of suitable and convenient data collection method is one of the important tasks of researchers. Selection of suitable method helps to collect more data at less time and leads to the successful completion of the research study. Data collection methods are classified into primary data collection method and secondary data collection method.

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3.6.1 Primary data collection method Data collected by the researchers itself for conducting a study is known as primary data. Interview, surveys, ethnographic research, observations, etc are used for collecting primary data for the research. According to Creswell (2009), great skill is required for collecting primary data for the study.

3.6.2 Secondary data collection method

Bryman and Bell (2011) states that, secondary data is collected by reviewing the primary data related to the research topic. It helps to increase the knowledge of the researchers about a particular topic studies. Books, journals, articles, websites, etc are used for collecting secondary data for the research study.

Justification

In the present research study, the researcher has used both primary and secondary data for the research. For collecting primary data, the researcher has conducted interview and survey. In the study, the researcher has interviewed managers of Sainsbury’s and surveyed employees of Sainsbury’s. Secondary data was used to obtain an elaborative understanding of the topic of the study. The major sources used are magazines, books, articles, website, etc.

3.7 Sampling techniques According to Denzin and Lincoln (2011), sampling techniques are helpful for eliminating time and cost constrains of the study. Probability sampling and non-‐ probability sampling are the two types of sampling techniques.

3.7.1 Probability sampling techniques In probability sampling, all elements or individuals gets equal opportunities for being selected as samples. Probability sampling is also known as simple random sampling (Johnson and Christensen, 2010). The results of probability sampling are unbiased. But the main disadvantage of this sampling method is that, it creates time constrains for the research.

3.7.2 Non probability sampling techniques In non-‐probability sampling, samples are selects according to the convenience of researchers and availability of data. So, it may results to create biased information for the study. In non-‐probability sampling, researchers are heavily influenced by the personal judgment. Non-‐probability sampling technique is statistically inefficient because there are no appropriate methods for calculating errors in the study (Mukherji and Albon, 2009).

Justification

The sample has collected randomly from the population and thus probability sampling technique has used in this research study. Probability sampling methods helped the

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researcher to collect unbiased samples for the study. Through the appropriate use of samples, the researcher was able to collect relevant and reliable data for the research study. By adopting probability sampling techniques, all managers and employees of Sainsbury’s got equal opportunity for selecting as samples. This increased the ethical value of the research study.

3.8 Sample size Lohr (2010) defined sample as the small segment of the population. Selection of adequate number of samples helps to gain information about the whole group, i.e., population. In the case of individuals, samples are considered as a small group of people selected from set of population for conducting research studies. Sampling helps to reduce time and constrains of the study (Zikmund, 2012).

Justification

For the present research study, the researcher has conducted interview and survey for colleting primary data for the study. For conducting surveys, 100 employees of Sainsbury have been collected. Interviews are conducted for the managers of Sainsbury. So, 10 Samples are used.

3.9 Data analysis plan The researcher has used both primary and secondary data for conducting the research. For collecting secondary data, the researcher has analyzed various books, journals, articles, magazines, etc. It helped to increase the researcher’s knowledge on the research topic. With the help of secondary data, the researcher was able to prepare the questionnaire for collecting primary data for the study. The researcher has prepared 2 sets of questionnaires for conducting interview and survey for the study. The first set of questionnaire was used to conduct interview with 10 managers of Sainsbury’s and the second set of questionnaires were used for surveying 100 employees of Sainsbury’s. The researcher has prepared pie charts and tables with the help of MS Excel. It helped to analyze and interpret the data easily and quickly (Wilson, 2010).

3.10 Reliability and validity According to Flick (2014), stable and consistent results of a study represent the reliability of the research study. Ensuring validity and reliability of the study is considered as the major task of the researcher.

For ensuring the validity of the research, the research has tested the relevance of questions in the questionnaires used for collecting primary data. Face to face interview of the study was also helped to increase the validity of the research study. Selection of appropriate and relevant research methods, strategies, approaches, and sampling methods for the study also enhanced the validity of the study.

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3.11 Ethics and limitations of research Saunders, Thornhill and Lewis (2009) points out that, ethical guidelines is an essential thing while preparing a research study. In the case of the present research, the researcher has followed strict ethical guidelines for the study. All the respondents of survey and interview were participated willingly. While conducting interview and survey, the researcher conveyed the objective of the study to the participants.

Due to the time limitation, sample size of the study was limited to 10 managers of Sainsbury’s for interview and 100 employees of Sainsbury’s for survey. The researcher avoided the varied viewpoints of participants while conducting interview and survey. These shortcomings in interview and survey limit the efficiency of the collected data.

3.12 Summary The present chapter of the study deals with methodology of the research. Various research philosophies, research approaches, research strategies, data collection methods, sampling techniques, etc were explained through this chapter. For the present research study, the researcher has used realism philosophy. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the smooth completion of the research study. Interview and survey methods were used for collecting primary data. For selecting samples for the study, the researcher has used probability sampling techniques.

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Chapter 4: Analysis, Discussion and Interpretation of Data

4.0 Introduction In this chapter, the researcher analyses and interprets the data collected through interview and survey methods. According to Bryman and Bell (2011) data analysis involves analytical break down of data into constituent parts to obtain answers to research questions and to test the hypotheses.

For the purpose of conducting the data analysis and interpretations the researcher’s idea was to prepare and distribute questionnaires to the selected participant’s in order to interpret and evaluate the present study. For this study two types of questionnaires were made by the researcher. The researcher aimed to conduct interview on 10 managers of Sainsbury with one type of questionnaire and the second one aimed to conduct survey on 100 employees of Sainsbury.

The questionnaire for the survey and interview was developed to test the hypothesis deduced in the first chapter of the dissertation. The hypotheses that this research intends to test are given below:

H0: There is no relationship between strategic human resource management and organisational performance

H1: There is a relationship between strategic human resource management and organisational performance

4.1 Interview analysis The researcher has interviewed 10 managers of Sainsbury. The questionnaire used for the interview and the summary of responses are presented below;

1. Can you brief on the employee skills that are essential in today’s unstable business environment?

This question was posed to understand the essential skill required by the employees in today’s business environment. Understanding this would help the researcher in understanding the HRM strategies of Sainsbury. According to 4 managers of Sainsbury, social and multi-‐tasking skills are the essential skills required by most of the organizations. But according to 4 other managers, employees must be able to coordinate and work in a team for understanding issues and learn from them. They further opined that employees must be able to critically analyze the issues and solve them in their own way. The remaining 2 managers opined that to cope with the technological enhancements in the present business sector employees must poses technological skills.

Redman and Mathews (2014) identified team working skills as a key HRM practise in organizations. The above analysis also identified ability to work in a team as an important skill required in today’s dynamic workplace environment. So it can be inferred that the

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research finding concurs with the statement of Redman and Mathews (2014). From the analysis and discussion of this question, it was understood that team working skills along with multi-‐tasking ability and technological skills were the main employees skills required in today’s business environment.

2. In your viewpoint, can employee skills be improved through effective HRM practices?

This question was posed to understand the effect of HRM practises on employee skills and by understanding this researcher would be able to understand about the overall human resource strategies of Sainsbury. To this question all of the 10 managers opined that employee skills can be increased to a large extend through HRM policies. Through the combined effort of line managers, performance level of employees as well as organization can be enhanced. Appraising employees for their contribution to the organization motivates them to develop new skills and knowledge. The training and development programs of HRM increases employee productivity and organize them for future benefits.

Based on the analysis and discussion of this question, it can be understood that effective HRM policies can be used to improve employee skills. It was found in the case study of Sainsbury that Sainsbury relied mainly in training and development for this purpose (Akter, 2012). Hence, the research finding agrees with secondary data.

3. How does economic crisis affect organizational performance and HRM practices?

This question was included in the questionnaire to achieve information on the impact of economic crisis on HRM and thereby analyse performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM. All of the 10 managers opined that 2008 economic crisis has had significant affect on HRM and performance of organizations. According to 6 managers, during the crisis period companies focused on developing internal employees rather than recruiting and training externals. The HRM performance appraisal policies faced lowest degree of growth during crisis period due to salary cut-‐offs. On the other hand, 4 managers stated that economic crisis enhanced the uncertainty and companies eliminated their operational resources adversely affecting their operations and human capital.

From the analysis and discussion, it can be understood that economic crisis impacted HRM especially in the form of salary cut-‐offs and low growth of appraisal policies along with an increased focus on internal employee development. However, from the existing literature it was understood that Sainsbury always gave prominence to internal employee development (Akter, 2012). This reveals that there is gap between the research finding and existing literature.

4. Could you share your observations on the effectiveness of recruitment and training at Sainsbury?

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This question also was included to get information about performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM in Sainsbury. 5 managers of Sainsbury opined that the company focuses on training and developing existing employees as recruiting new employees is highly expensive. The remaining 5 managers observed that Sainsbury makes it an efficient place to work through recruiting and training the best talents from various backgrounds which in turn directs it towards organizational objectives.

So it can be understood from the above analysis that training and development programs of Sainsbury were highly effective. This finding concurs with the observation of Akter (2012) who mentioned that training and development of existing employees was effective in making Sainsbury a great place for working.

5. According to you, does training and development really affect the bottom line performance of the company?

This question was included in the questionnaire in order to understand the performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM in Sainsbury. All of the managers responded that training and development is essential to strengthen the bottom-‐line performance of Sainsbury. They further opined that Sainsbury follows a centralized HR policy in which decisions are made by the top management. Their main purpose is to increase employee productivity in order to meet customer desires and to provide shareholders with good financial returns. Hence, it can be understood that this played a crucial role in enhancing the overall performance of the company.

The existing literature also showcases similar views from Bratton and Gold (2012). They mentioned that training and development was a main factor behind high performance of HRM practises. So the research finding seems to be in agreement with existing literature.

6. What are the strategies adopted by Sainsbury to retain its prevailing employees?

The researcher included this question in the interview in order to understand the HRM strategies of Sainsbury. To this question, 6 of the managers opined that Sainsbury give importance to training and development of prevailing employees than recruiting new ones. They further reported that employee motivation and retention is achieved through ‘Sainsbury’s Gift Card’ policy which contributes reward and recognition for employees. Sainsbury Gift Card also rewards employees who are loyal in their service. 4 managers opined that the ‘Voluntary Benefit Scheme’ adopted by Sainsbury provides attractive benefits to employees even in tough business periods without any extra expense to the business, which increases employee motivation and retention.

So it can be understood from the above analysis that training and development was the main strategy employed by Sainsbury to retain its prevailing employees. Akter (2012) mentioned similar views by stating that Sainsbury develops and trains the prevailing employees. So the above finding also concurs with the opinion of Akter (2012).

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7. Can you brief the HR practices adopted by Sainsbury?

This question was also included in the interview in order to understand the HRM strategies of Sainsbury. According to the managers recruitment and selection at Sainsbury provides large job opportunities for skilled people. The ‘trainee management scheme’ offers training for the fresher’s. The programs such as initial training, employee development and top management training are provided by the company for employees at different levels. Sainsbury is recognized by IIP (Investors In People) standard and capable of adopting and establishing employee enhancement programs.

The company provides a diverse workforce enabling employees to share their distinct opinions that might meet the business objectives as well as customer needs. In order to retain competitive strength in the industry, Sainsbury adopts performance management practices to understand individual employee performance and to enable managers to measure individual employee performance level. So from the analysis, it was understood that Sainsbury employed diverse HRM practises ranging from training and development to performance management.

8. In your opinion, does the HR at Sainsbury is capable of providing solutions to both internal and external customer issues?

This question was included in the questionnaire in order to understand the performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM in Sainsbury. To this question all of the managers opined that Sainsbury HR practices are capable of managing both employees and customers. According to 3 managers HR is one of the main departments at Sainsbury which manages and controls diverse workforce. This motivates employees to perform their best, resulting increased profit and productivity. This in turn enable the company to take distinct ideas which can meet the customer requirements and thereby business objectives. The above analysis reveals that HRM practises of Sainsbury are capable of managing both employee and customer demands.

9. Has the HRM practices at Sainsbury changed over economic fluctuations?

To this question 4 mangers opined that after economic fluctuations changes have been made in personal management, enhancing technical and interpersonal competence. 6 managers reported that Sainsbury HRM practices changed over time making employees extremely flexible with respect to their career and education development. From the analysis it was revealed that due to economic fluctuations there have changes in employee flexibility, technical and interpersonal competence and personal management. However, Boxall and Purcell (2011) observed that main change in HRM during economic changes was related to employee wages and other benefits. So there is a gap between research findings and existing literature.

10. According to you, what are the main aspects of HRM at Sainsbury?

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The researcher included this question in the interview in order to understand the HRM strategies of Sainsbury. According to the managers, employee engagement, development, recruitment and reward are the main aspects of Sainsbury’s HRM. They also opined that Sainsbury HRM emphasis on teamwork, talent management, equity and diversity at workplace to enhance employee productivity and to make the best use of it. From the analysis of the responses, it can be understood that Sainsbury utilised HRM practises related to employee engagement, development, recruitment and reward.

11. How effective is Sainsbury’s HRM policy in building employee loyalty?

According to the managers Sainsbury’s provide ‘Loyal Service Awards’ for loyal employees making them feel great and valued. 3 managers opined that the rewards and recognition policy increased commitment and hence employee loyalty. According to 7 managers, training and development is the effective HRM policy of Sainsbury which developed better attitudes in employees and loyalty towards the company. From the discussion it can be understood that HRM policy of Sainsbury helped in building employee loyalty.

12. Has the HRM practices adopted by Sainsbury helped the company to improve its performance?

The researcher included this question in the interview in order to understand the effectiveness of HRM to meet the organizational objectives of Sainsbury. According to 4 managers Sainsbury’s recruitment and selection to discover the talent facilitated efficient selection of adequate manpower. 3 managers opined that training and development enhanced the skill and knowledge level of employees and their productivity and thereby the company image. 3 managers opined that workforce diversity provided with new innovative ideas to enhance performance of the company. Through performance management, employee performance level is tested and training is provided as per needed. The analysis reveals that HRM improved skill and knowledge of employees and thus improved productivity of Sainsbury. So it can be inferred that HRM helped the company improve its performance.

13. In your view, what impact does HRM activities of Sainsbury have on customers with respect to employee empowerment?

This question was posed in the interview in order to understand the effectiveness of HRM to meet the organizational objectives of Sainsbury. 7 of the managers opined that more satisfied employees are more productive offering better customer service and performance. According to 3 managers customers are also included in Sainsbury’s health and safety HR activities. Sainsbury’s HR follows a ‘Flat-‐Structure’ framework ensuring quicker solutions to customer requirements. HR Managers at Sainsbury are well talented to increase employee motivation leading to great customer service by proper training and development. So the analysis reveals that HRM improves employee satisfaction and thus improves productivity, customer service and performance.

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14. What are the challenges that could affect the present HRM at Sainsbury?

According to 4 managers retrenchment of staffs, ethical considerations and change in political and legal environment are the main challenges that could affect HRM. 3 managers opined that technology, online marketing, employee retention and diverse workforce are the major challenges faced by Sainsbury HRM. Remaining 3 managers mentioned leadership management, globalization, safety and security and progression planning as main HRM challenges. Boxall and Purcell (2011) also mentioned as change in political and legal environment, technology and globalization as the main challenges faced by HRM. So it can be observed that research findings match existing literature.

15. Is the HRM at Sainsbury effective? Do you have any suggestions for further improvement of HRM at Sainsbury?

To this question all of the mangers responded that HRM at Sainsbury is proved to be efficient in building long-‐ term relationship with employees and thereby achieving business objectives. But few of them recommended that the HRM department must be more aware on retaining their existing employees through providing more benefits and promotion. HRM should adopt ‘Advance Planning Strategy’ to plan in advance for recruitment and training if an employee is leaving the company, in order to safeguard its business. Based on the analysis it can be observed that HRM in Sainsbury needs to improve in providing more benefits and promotion to employees.

4.2 Survey analysis Quantitative data related to the present study was collected by the researcher by conducting survey on 100 employees of Sainsbury. The employees were selected randomly by the researcher and the questionnaire for the study was provided to each person. The opinions from the employees were collected on a questionnaire sheet after providing them with the questions and later on were analyzed by the researcher. Below are the questions asked to the employees while conducting the survey.

1. How old are you?

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Pie Diagram 4.1 Gender of the respondents.

Source: Created by author

The above pie diagram reveals that 60% of the respondents who participated in the survey were males whereas the rest 40% of the respondents were females. This question was posed to understand the gender allocation of employees in Sainsbury and it was understood from survey that majority of employees of Sainsbury were males. Conversely, Akter (2012) mentioned that 62% of employees of Sainsbury were women. So there is gap between research finding and secondary data.

2. Please mention your age

60%

40%

0% 0%

Gender

Male

Female

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Pie Diagram 4.2Age group of the respondents.


The pie diagram shows the majority of the respondents (40%) participated in the survey belonged to the age category of 20 to 30 years whereas the other 30% were from the age category of 30 to 40 years. 20% of them belonged to 40 to 50 years of age. The rest 10% were the age of above 50 years. This question was placed to identify the main age group of Sainsbury employees and it was understood that the main age group of Sainsbury employees belonged to the age category of 20 to 30 years.

3. Please mention your work experience

40%

30%

20%

10%

Age

20-‐30Years

30-‐40Years

40-‐50Years

>50Years

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Pie Diagram 4.3 Work experience of the respondents.


In the survey, 35% of the selected employees had 2 to 5 years of work experience whereas the other 35% had 5 to 8 years of work experience. The rest 15% had greater than 8 years of work experience whereas the last 15% had less than 2 years of work experience. Through this question the researcher intended to identify the average work experience of Sainsbury employees and it was identified that both 2-‐5 years experience group and 5-‐8 years experience group were equally represented in the survey.

4. According to you, how effective is Sainsbury’s training and development?

15%

35% 35%

15%

Work experience

<2years

2-‐5years

5-‐8years

>8years

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Pie Diagram 4.4 Effectiveness in Sainsbury’s training and development Source: Created by author

70% of the respondents who participated in the survey opined that Sainsbury provided effective training and development whereas the other 15% found it average only. The last 15% remarked the training and development as not up to the mark. This question helped the researcher understand that majority of employees had favourable opinion regarding the effectiveness Sainsbury’s training and development programs. It was identified in the literature review that training and development of existing employees was a main objective of Sainsbury (Akter, 2012). So it can be inferred that Sainsbury’s have succeeded in achieving this objective as majority of employees found the training and development programs effective.

5. Are you satisfied with the training and development programs provided by Sainsbury?

70%

15%

15%

Effec_veness in Sainsbury's training and development

Good

Average

Not up to the mark

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Pie Diagram 4.5 Satisfaction provided by the training and development programs at Sainsbury Source: Created by author

The researcher found from the survey conducted that majority of the respondents (70%) were satisfied by the training and development programs at Sainsbury. The rest 30% opined that they were not satisfied by this program.

So it can be understood from the above pie chart that majority of employees were satisfied with the training and development programs of Sainsbury. Akter (2012) mentioned that developing skills of existing employees was a key objective of HRM in Sainsbury. Hence, it can be said that HRM of Sainsbury is successful in achieving its objective.

6. In your view, are the training programs always relevant to the changing needs of your work and business?

70%

30%

Sa_sfac_on provided by the training and development programs at Sainsbury

Yes

No

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Pie Diagram 4.6 Relevance of training program to the changing needs of work and business Source: Created by author

The above pie diagram shows that 70% of the respondents opined that they found the training program relevant whereas the rest 30% opined that the training program were not relevant to the changing needs of work and business.

Carbery and Cross (2013) identified adapting to changing business requirements as one of the main challenges faced by HRM. The above finding reveals that Sainsbury is effectively changing its training programs to suit the changing business requirements. Hence, it can be inferred that Sainsbury’s is tacking one of the major challenges faced by HRM effectively.

7. In your opinion, what is the main employee motivational factor at Sainsbury?

70%

30%

Relevance of training program

Yes

No

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Pie Diagram 4.7 Motivational factor at Sainsbury Source: Created by author

The researcher found that various motivational factors were provided at Sainsbury to motivate the employees. In the survey, 50% of the respondents pointed the training and development as the main factor whereas the other 20% opted recognition as the factor. 20% of the respondents said that promotion work system was the factor that motivated them. The rest 10% choose other motivational factors.

The above finding is in agreement with the above of Akter (2012). Akter (2012) argued that training and development of existing employees in Sainsbury’s played an important role in motivating employees. Likewise, it was identified that 50% of employees rated training and development as the main motivational factor in Sainsbury. Hence, it can be inferred that this research finding concurs with secondary data.

8. How satisfied are you with the HRM practices adopted by Sainsbury?

50%

20%

20%

10%

Mo_va_onal factors at Sainsbury

Training and development

Recogniqon

Promoqon work system

Others

40

Pie Diagram 4.8 Satisfaction in the HRM practices adopted by Sainsbury Source: Created by author

The researcher identified that 60% of the selected employees who attended the survey responded that were highly satisfied with the HRM practices adopted by Sainsbury while the rest 30% said they were satisfied only significantly. The last 10% were not satisfied with the HRM practices adopted by Sainsbury.

From the above pie chart it can be understood that employees are highly satisfied with the HRM policies of Sainsbury. Thus it can be inferred that HRM practises of Sainsbury are effective in attaining its objectives.

9. Are you ever assigned any challenging work to develop your skill level?

60%

30%

10%

Sa_sfac_on in the HRM prac_ces adopted by Sainsbury

Highly saqsfied

Significantly saqsfied

Not saqsfied

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Pie Diagram 4.9 Assigned challenging work to develop skill level Source: Created by author

From the survey conducted the researcher found that 60% of the respondents were assigned challenging work whereas the rest 40% opined that they were not assigned challenging work to develop their skill level.

de Silva (2013) observed that for effective use of HR personnel organizations need to allocate suitable yet achievable workloads that optimally utilize employees. From the above analysis it was found that majority customers were optimally utilised by giving challenging work in Sainsbury.

10. How well the operations at Sainsbury affected by HRM?

60%

40%

Assigned challenging work to develop skill level

Yes

No

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Pie Diagram 4.10 Operations at Sainsbury affected by HRM. Source: Created by author

The researcher noticed from the survey conducted that 70% of the respondents opined that the operations at Sainsbury were highly affected by HRM whereas the other 20% of the respondents said that it averagely affected the operations of Sainsbury. The rest 10% responded that HRM never affected Sainsbury’s operations.

From the existing literature, it was identified that HRM strategy needs to comply with the operating strategy of the organization (Bratton and Gold, 2012). So the above finding that operations of Sainsbury were highly affected by HRM is hence in agreement with the statement of Bratton and Gold (2012).

11. To what extend does HRM influence employee motivation?

70%

20%

10%

Opera_ons at Sainsbury affected by HRM

Highly

Average

Never

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Pie Diagram 4.11 HRM influence employee motivation Source: Created by author

70% of the selected employees stated that HRM influenced employee motivation to a higher extent whereas the rest 20%of the respondents were averagely influenced. And the last 10% said that HRM influenced employee motivation to a lower extent.

Akter (2012) observed that Sainsbury’s used effective training and development of existing employees as way to motivate them. So majority of employees considering HRM practises to be highly influential in motivating them. Hence it can be inferred that Sainsbury’s HRM practises especially training and development is effective in motivating employees.

12. Are you motivated with the HRM practices of Sainsbury?

70%

20%

10%

HRM influence employee mo_va_on

Higher

Moderate

Lower

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Pie Diagram 4.12 Motivated with HRM practices at Sainsbury Source: Created by author

The researcher identified from the survey conducted that 60% of the respondents were motivated with the HRM practices at Sainsbury whereas the rest 40% were not motivated by the HRM practices at Sainsbury.

From the above question it was found that HRM of Sainsbury highly influenced employee motivation. Likewise from the above pie chart it can be ascertained that majority of customers were motivated by HRM practises of Sainsbury. So it can be inferred that the research findings follow a logical pattern.

13. Does the HR management at Sainsbury is efficient to lead the human resource towards organizational objectives?

60%

40%

Mo_vated with HRM prac_ces at Sainsbury

Yes

No

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Pie Diagram 4.13 Efficiency of the HRM at Sainsbury to lead the human resource towards organizational objectives. Source: Created by author

In the survey conducted, 60% of the respondents opined that the HRM at Sainsbury were efficient while the rest 40% of them said that HRM at Sainsbury were not efficient to lead the human resource towards organisational objectives.

From the above pie chart it can be understood that majority of employees considered HRM of Sainsbury to be effective in leading the organization towards organizational objectives. Ruwan (2014) pointed out that HRM played a significant part in attaining the aims and objectives of an organization. So this finding seems to be in agreement with secondary data discussed in the literature. Moreover, it can be inferred from the above discussion that Sainsbury’s HRM is indeed efficient in leading employees towards attaining organizational goals.

14. To what extend Sainsbury is successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service?

60%

40%

Efficiency of HRM at Sainsbury to lead the human resource towards organisa_onal

objec_ves.

Yes

No

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Pie Diagram 4.14 Success of Sainsbury in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service Source: Created by author

The researcher understood from the survey conducted that 70% of the selected employees responded that Sainsbury was successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service to a higher extent. The rest 20% of the respondents opined that Sainsbury was not much successful while the last 10% said that Sainsbury was not at all successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service.

Akter (2012) mentioned that providing excellent service to customers was one of the objectives of Sainsbury’s. From the analysis of the above pie chart it can be understood that Sainsbury is highly successful in achieving customer service and satisfaction. So it can be inferred that HRM practises of Sainsbury is aiding the organization in achieving its objectives.

15. According to you, what challenges does Sainsbury HR required to overcome?

70%

20%

10%

Success of Sainsbury in achieving customer sa_sfac_on and customer service

Highly

Notmuch

Not at all

47

Pie Diagram 4.15 Challenges required to overcome by Sainsbury HR Source: Created by author

The researcher identified from the survey conducted that 30% of the respondents suggested workplace diversity whereas the other 30% of them choose technological challenges as the challenge required to overcome by HR of Sainsbury. The rest 15% of the selected employees opted globalization of business and the next 15% of the respondents choose political and economical as the challenge required to overcome by the HR of Sainsbury. The last 10% of the respondents noted changes in economy as the challenge.

Boxall and Purcell (2011) mentioned that success of any organizations relies on its ability to manage a diverse body of employees. Moreover, it was also found that Sainsbury was criticized for mistreating an employee (Salkeld and Infante, 2013; Straus, 2012). So majority of employees identifying workplace diversity as one of the main challenges faced by Sainsbury HRM seems to be in agreement with the secondary data. Employees also identified technological challenges as another major challenge faced by Sainsbury. This finding concurs with the observation of Boxall and Purcell (2011). They argued that adapting workplace to rapidly changing technologies was a challenge faced by HRM in organizations.

4.3 Compilation of research findings Compilation of secondary research findings

• It was also identified in the secondary research that the main impact of economic fluctuations on HRM was related wages and appraisal strategy of the organization (Boxall and Purcell, 2011).

30%

30%

15%

15%

10%

Challenges required to overcome by Sainsbury HR

Workplace diversity

Technological challenges

Globalizaqon of business

Poliqcal and economical

Changes in economy

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• The secondary research also revealed that managing cost efficiency, effective utilization of work force potential, maintaining good employee relationship and attaining organizational objectives formed the core objectives of HRM (de Silva, 2013).

• The researcher identified from the secondary research that Sainsbury relied mainly in training and development for developing employee skills and in motivating and retaining them (Akter, 2012). Moreover, it was also understood that training and development was also crucial for the high performance of HRM in Sainsbury (Bratton and Gold, 2012).

• The researcher also identified from the secondary research that the main challenges faced by HRM were globalization, technological development and changes in political and legal environment (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). Moreover, it was also identified that adapting to changing business requirements was one of the other challenges faced by HRM (Carbery and Cross, 2013).

• The secondary research also revealed that HRM strategy of an organization needed to comply with the organizational objectives and thus lead employees towards attainment of organizational objectives (Bratton and Gold, 2012). It was also identified that effectiveness of HRM of Sainsbury helped the company in achieving its objectives (Ruwan, 2014).

• The researcher also identified that Sainsbury utilized a centralized Human Resource policy in which all major decisions are set, by top management at head office with locally based personal managers carrying them out (Akter, 2012).

• It was also found in the secondary research that effective HRM led to well-‐motivated and well paid workers working in a mutual and trustworthy environment generating lower costs and higher productivity.

Compilation of interview findings

• It was understood from the interview that social and multi-‐tasking skills along with the coordination to work in a team must be essentially required by the employees. It was also understood that employees must possess technological skills and they must be able to solve a problem through critical analysis.

• It was identified that the combined efforts of line managers could contribute to the improvement in the performance level of employees and to the advancement of the organization. It was also discovered that the right motivation given to the employees enhance them to develop new skills and knowledge and the training and development programmes increases the employee productivity. Hence it can be inferred that effective HRM could improve the employee skills to a great extent.

• It was discovered that during the economic crisis of 2008 the major focus of companies was on developing the internal customers. The economic crisis had had a major impact over the HRM practices and the organizational performances and the HRM performance appraisal policies was stunted due to salary cut-‐offs during the crisis. Uncertainty was enhanced by economic crisis companies banished their operational resources.

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• It was understood that Sainsbury’s training and development and the recruitment programmes are highly expensive which makes Sainsbury an efficient place to work which in turn contributes to the achievement of organizational objectives.

• It was understood that Sainsbury follows a centralized HR policy which aims to increase the employee productivity in order to meet customer desires and to provide shareholders with good financial returns.

• It was identified that in order to retain the prevailing employees Sainsbury gives importance to the training and development of prevailing employees than recruiting new employees and ‘Sainsbury’s Gift Card’ policy promotes the employee motivation and retention by providing reward and recognition to the employees. It was also found that the ‘Voluntary Benefit Scheme’ of Sainsbury provides attractive benefits to employees.

• It was deduced that recruitment and selection at Sainsbury provide large job opportunities, the ‘trainee management scheme’ offers training for the new employees, initial training, employee development and top management training are provided by the company for employees at different levels. Moreover Sainsbury provides a diverse workforce and adopts performance management practices etc and the company is also recognized by IIP (Investors In People).

• It was identified that HR being one of the main departments at Sainsbury is capable of efficiently managing both the employees and customers. The HR of Sainsbury motivates employees which results in the profit and productivity which inturn allows the company to meet the customer requirements along with the organizational objectives.

• It has been identified that changes were made in the personal management of Sainsbury and HRM practices changed over time making employees extremely flexible with respect to their career and education development.

• It was identified that employee engagement, development, recruitment and reward are the main aspects of HRM at Sainsbury which emphasis on teamwork, talent management, equity and diversity at workplace to enhance employee productivity and to make the best use of it.

• It was understood that ‘Loyal Service Awards’ are provided by HRM of Sainsbury to loyal employees and it was found that the rewards and recognition policy increased commitment and hence employee loyalty. It was also discovered that training and development of Sainsbury developed better attitudes in employees and loyalty towards the company.

• It was found from the interview results that Sainsbury’s recruitment and selection contributed to the efficient selection of adequate manpower, training and development enhanced the skill and knowledge level and the productivity of the employees, performance management enhanced the employee performance by testing and training.

• It was recognized from the results that more satisfied employees offered better customer services and performances and the ‘Flat-‐structure’ frame work of Sainsbury’s HR ensures quicker solutions to customer requirements. It was also

50

identified that the customers are also included in Sainsbury’s health and safety HR activities and the managers of Sainsbury increased employee motivation which led to greater customer service.

• It was identified that retrenchment of staffs, ethical considerations and change in political and legal environment , technology, online marketing, employee retention and diverse workforce, leadership management, globalization, safety and security and progression planning etc as the challenges that could affect the present HRM of Sainsbury.

• It was understood that HRM at Sainsbury proved to be efficient in building long-‐ term relationship with employees and thereby achieving business objectives. It was also identified that adopting ‘Advance Planning Strategy’ and providing more benefits and promotions to employees for retaining them would improve the HRM at Sainsbury.

Compilation of survey findings

• It was understood from the survey that 60% of the respondents were males and 40% were females and 40% of the respondents belonged to the age group of 20-‐30 while 30% belonged to the age group of 30-‐40, 20% to the age group 40-‐50 and 10% to the age group of 50 years.

• The survey revealed that 35% of the participants were having a work experience of 2-‐5 years while another 35% had a work experience of 5-‐8 years. 15% of the participants had a work experience of above 8 years and another 15% had a work experience of below 2 years.

• A majority of the respondents (70%) reported that Sainsbury’s training and development as good while 15% rated it as average and another 15% rated it as not up to the mark.

• It was brought in to light by the survey that 70% of the participants were satisfied with the training and development programmes provided by Sainsbury and they reported that the training programmes were always relevant to the changing needs of their work and business while 30% were against this view.

• 50% of the respondents recognized training and development as the major employee motivational factor at Sainsbury while 20% recognized recognition, 20% reported promotion work system and 10% reported other factors as the motivational factors.

• 60% of the participants were highly satisfied with HRM practices of Sainsbury while 30% were significantly satisfied and 10% were not satisfied with the HRM practices.

• 60% of the respondents reported that they were assigned with challenging work to develop their skills while 40% were not assigned with such tasks.

• It has been analyzed that 70% of the participants revealed that the operations of Sainsbury were highly affected by HRM .20% of the respondents reported that the operations at Sainsbury was averagely affected by HRM and 10% reported that HRM never affected the operations at Sainsbury.

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• The survey disclosed that 70% of the respondents identified higher influence of HRM in employee motivation while 20% recognized moderate influence and 10% recognized lower influence of HRM in employee motivation.

• 60% of the respondents were motivated by the HRM practices of Sainsbury while 40% were not motivated by it.

• 60% of the participants reported that HR management at Sainsbury is efficient to lead the human resource towards organizational objectives while 40% stood against this view.

• It was identified that 70% of the participants reported that Sainsbury was highly successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service while 20% reported that Sainsbury was not much successful and 10% opined Sainsbury was not at all successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service.

• As per the opinion of 30% of the respondents Sainsbury HR has to overcome the challenge of workplace diversity, while 30% suggested overcoming technological challenges, 15% suggested overcoming globalization of business, 15% suggested overcoming political and economical challenges and 10% suggested overcoming the changes in economy.

4.4 Summary of research findings This research was carried out to test the validity the following hypotheses.

Ø H0: There is no relationship between strategic human resource management and organizational performance

Ø H1: There is a relationship between strategic human resource management and organizational performance

The researcher will summarise the research findings below and test how the research findings validate the above hypotheses.

The findings of the interview of managers revealed that training and development of employees strengthened the bottom-‐line performance of the company. Moreover, it was also understood that training and development enhanced the skill and knowledge level of employees and there by improved the productivity of the firm. The analysis of interview also showcased that effective HRM practises led to increased employee satisfaction which led to improved customer service and employee performance.

Likewise, the findings of the survey of employees revealed that 70% of employees were satisfied with training and development aspect of HRM in Sainsbury. It was also understood that 60% of employees were satisfied with the HRM practises of Sainsbury. Moreover, 60% of employees found HRM practises of Sainsbury to be motivational. 70% of employees also noted in the survey that Sainsbury was highly successful in achieving customer satisfaction. Moreover, 60% also observed that HRM at Sainsbury effectively led employees towards organizational objectives.

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It was identified in the literature review that organizational performance corresponded to the attainment of organizational objectives (de Silva, 2013). Moreover, it was also identified that the organizational objective of Sainsbury was to be the customer's first choice for food shopping by providing high-‐quality products, value for money, excellent service and attention to detail (Akter, 2012).

So by analysing the above mentioned findings of both survey and interview, it can be inferred that strategic HRM of Sainsbury improved organizational performance as it improved employee satisfaction, employee performance, customer service, customer satisfaction and led to an overall improvement in organizational productiveness. This reveals that strategic HRM of Sainsbury positively impacted organizational performance as evident from the improvements in employee satisfaction, employee performance, customer service, customer satisfaction and organizational productiveness. So it can be inferred that there is a relationship between strategic human resource management and organizational performance. This hence reveals that the hypothesis H1 holds true in the present study.

From the analysis of findings the researcher was also able to identify gaps between the viewpoints of managers and employees of Sainsbury. Majority of managers in the interview opined that retrenchment of staffs, ethical considerations and change in political and legal environment were the main challenges faced by HRM in Sainsbury. Conversely, majority employees observed that technological changes and workplace diversity were the challenges faced by Sainsbury. This reveals that there is gap between the perceptions of managers and employees. Managers mentioned in the interview the diversity management was responsible for motivating employees in Sainsbury. But in the survey it was found that employees considered training and development to be the main motivational factor. So there is another gap between the perceptions of managers and employees.

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Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations

5.1 Introduction The conclusions of this research study will be depicted in this chapter. It will also convey the evaluation of the results. The researcher will be disclosing the limitations of this research study along with the recommendations for both the organization of Sainsbury which has been taken as the case study and for future researches on the same topic of interest.

5.2 Conclusions In this section an integrated summary of main findings of literature review and data analysis is provided. One of the main things the researcher learned from the literature review is that HRM played a significant part in attaining the aims and objectives of an organization (Ruwan, 2014). The literature review also revealed that that training and development of existing employees in Sainsbury’s was very effective and played an important role in motivating employees (Akter, 2012). The review of secondary data also revealed that workplace diversity and technological advancements were the main challenges faced by HRM in modern day organizations. It was also revealed that providing excellent service to customers was one of the objectives of Sainsbury’s (Akter, 2012). From the review existing literature, it was also found that HRM strategy needs to comply with the operating strategy of the organization (Bratton and Gold, 2012).

From the data analysis the researcher identified that HRM of Sainsbury helped in leading employees towards organizational objectives. Moreover, it was also understood that training and development had direct impact on bottom line performance of the company as it improved skills of employees and also motivate them and thus improved the productivity of the organization. The analysis of primary data also revealed that Sainsbury was highly successful in achieving customer satisfaction.

It was identified that social and multi-‐tasking skills, coordination to work in a team, technological skills etc. must be essential for employees in today’s unstable business environment. The researcher founded that the combined efforts of line managers could contribute to the improvement in the performance level of employees and to the advancement of the organization. The economic crisis had had a major impact over the HRM practices and the organizational performances and the HRM performance appraisal policies was stunted due to salary cut-‐offs during the crisis. It was understood that Sainsbury followed a centralized HR policy which aimed to increase the employee productivity in order to meet customer desires and to provide shareholders with good financial returns. ‘Sainsbury’s Gift Card’ policy promoted the employee motivation and retention by providing reward and recognition to the employees. It was also found that the ‘Voluntary Benefit Scheme’ of Sainsbury provided attractive benefits to employees.

Sainsbury provided a diverse workforce and adopted performance management practices etc and the company is also recognized by IIP (Investors In People). ‘Loyal Service Awards’

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are provided by HRM of Sainsbury to loyal employees and it was found that the rewards and recognition policy increased commitment and hence employee loyalty. The ‘Flat-‐structure’ frame work of Sainsbury’s HR ensured quicker solutions to customer requirements. It was also identified that the customers were also included in Sainsbury’s health and safety HR activities. It was discovered that the training and development provided for employees at Sainsbury was good and that the training programmes were always relevant to the changing needs of the employees’ work and business. It was found that the HRM of Sainsbury had a greater influence on employee motivation and HR management at Sainsbury was efficient to lead the human resource towards organizational objectives. It was identified that Sainsbury was highly successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service.

It was also identified from the data analysis that workplace diversity along with technological advancements was deemed as the major challenges to HRM in Sainsbury. So conclusively, it can be noted that the analysis of primary data revealed a positive relationship between HRM and organizational performance in Sainsbury. In the following section, the researcher analyses to what extent the research findings attain research objectives in the present study.

Objective 1: To achieve information about the overall human resource strategies of Sainsbury

One of the main objectives of this research was to achieve information about the overall human resource strategies of Sainsbury. It was discovered that recruitment and selection at Sainsbury provided large job opportunities and the ‘trainee management scheme’ offered training for the fresher’s. The programmes such as initial training, employee development and top management training were provided by the company for employees at different levels and the company also provided a diverse workforce enabling employees to share their distinct opinions that might meet the business objectives as well as customer needs. In order to retain competitive strength in the industry, Sainsbury adopted performance management practices to understand individual employee performance and to measure individual employee performance level.

Objective 2: To achieve information on the performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM

Another objective of this research was to achieve information on the performance of factors involved in the functioning of HRM. It was identified that employee engagement, development, recruitment and reward were the main aspects of Sainsbury’s HRM. Sainsbury’s recruitment and selection facilitated efficient selection of adequate manpower and enhanced the skill and knowledge level of employees and their productivity and thereby promoted the company image and the workforce diversity provided with new innovative ideas enhanced the performance of the company. Through performance management, employee performance level was tested and training was provided.

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Objective 3: To attain information regarding the effectiveness of HRM to meet the organizational objectives

Another significant objective of this research was to attain information regarding the effectiveness of HRM to meet the organizational objectives. It was identified that Sainsbury offered a diverse workforce enabling employees to share their views that might meet the organizational objectives and customer needs. It was also discovered that for retaining the competitive strength in the industry performance management practices are adopted by the company to analyze individual employee performance and to check individual employee performance level. The motivation given to the employees resulted in the profit, productivity and better performances which helped Sainsbury to meet its organizational objectives.

Objective 4: To provide suggestions to enhance the HRM performance of Sainsbury

The last important objective of this research was to provide suggestions to enhance the HRM performance of Sainsbury. Even though the HRM at Sainsbury is found to be effective it was identified that certain methods would improve the HRM performance of Sainsbury. It has been suggested to take measures to retain the existing employees at Sainsbury by providing more benefits and promotions and it would be better if ‘Advance Planning Strategy’ is adopted by Sainsbury to plan in advance for recruitment and training if an employee is leaving the company, in order to safeguard its business.

5.3 Limitations This research has collected data from only 10 managers and 100 employees of Sainsbury due to the limitation of time. Sainsbury being a large organization the sample size seems to be small. Thus apart from the limitation of time and cost this research study is also limited to a small sample size and to the case study of a single organization of Sainsbury, UK. The study is also limited by the acquisition of secondary data as there were not many previous studies available in this topic.

5.4 Recommendations • It was recognized from the research results that only training and development of

Sainsbury was considered as the major employee motivational factor by many of the employees. So it is recommended to improve the factors of recognition, promotion work system.

• It has been analyzed from the results that the HRM at Sainsbury has to improve in motivating a minority of the employees too. So it is recommended to take necessary steps to improve the factors of motivation.

• It has been understood from the results that Sainsbury has to overcome almost all the challenges including workplace diversity, technological challenges, globalization of business, political and economical challenges and changes in economy. So it is recommended to take measures to overcome the identified challenges.

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5.5 Recommendations for future works The researcher identifies a larger scope for future researches on the topic of ‘critical analysis of the performance of human resources management of Sainsbury, UK.’ As there are not many studies available on this topic it can be explored in detail in future researches. Moreover the researcher recommends the selection of larger samples in future researches. The research findings revealed that HR management has a significant role in aiding the organization to achieve the objectives set by it and in future new strategies would be adopted by HRM for the effective functioning. Thus the topic offers diverse scopes for future researches.

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Chapter 6: Personal Development

6.1 Introduction In this chapter the author has detailed about the personal developments and the management skills acquired by the author through the successful completion of the research work. In order to critically study the performance of human resource management of Sainsbury in UK region, the author has adopted various research tools and methodologies. The skills achieved during the progress of the research work have helped the author for evaluating the objectives of the research work. The researcher was also thankful to the University, which provided sufficient facilities to conduct of the research work.

6.2 Skills before research Before the conduction of the research work, the author has attained only limited knowledge in the specific topic. The author has also lacked the idea of proper management of time and cost. The author has also unaware about the format and the designing of the questionnaire. The researcher has also lacked the skills in problem solving, creativity, handling the statistical tools etc. The author has also lack in the capacity of problem solving, decision making etc.

6.3 Skills after research After the successful completion of the research work, the author has gained a vast amount of knowledge in specific and the related topics. The researcher was able to obtain the challenging skills. To get the best result, the author has applied the critical evaluation on the specific topic, thus the author has concentrated on the optimum evaluation of the resources. Through the systematic planning of the research work, the author has developed organizing and decision making skills. The researcher has also gained the practical knowledge by the deep investigation in the specific topic. The researcher has applied various strategies and methodologies to reduce the constraints on time and cost. By conducting the survey and interview with the respondents, the author has developed communication and interview skills. The study also helped the author to develop the multi-‐skills that in turn helped the author for viewing the various perceptions of the respondents. The researcher has ensured the ethics of the work by ensuring the confidentiality and privacy of the collected information.

By analysing the qualitative and quantitative data, the researcher has able to develop the skills in research and statistics. By applying the practical and theoretical aspect of the study, the researcher was able to develop multitasking approach. The specific study has also helped the author to develop the communication, fair judgement and creative skills.

Through the research work, the author has gained the capability in problem solving. In order to solve the queries in the topic, the author has developed suitable strategies. The author has cooperated innovative idea to answering the research questions. To meet the

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purpose and objective of the specific research, the author has made initiative in many tasks that created the development of monitoring skill and patience to the author.

The researcher has faced a lot of treats and challenges during the completion of the study. By solving these issues, problem solving and the decision making capacity of the author have been implemented. The knowledge that developed and implemented during the work by the author has been utilized for the career development and professional development in the future. During the research, the author has collected information from the secondary data such as web, magazines, books, and journals etc that improve the reading and summarizing skills of the author. The specific work has also helped the author to develop coordination and team management.

Apart from these, the author has also developed critical thinking capacity that in turn helped in assuring the reliability and validity of the research work. The author was also able to develop the personal abilities like enthusiasm, self confidence, perseverance and integrity. The research also helped the author to understand the effective preparation, commitment and prioritization of the work. The study further helped the author to understand the effective management of on the research work through the optimum utilization of the available resources. Apart from these, after the completion of the specific work, the author has developed the skills in cost management, time management, business skills, personal skills and management skills etc. The specific skills has attained through the completion of the specific work, the author can be utilised for the future purpose.

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Appendix Sainsbury, UK-‐ Interview questions for managers

1. Can you brief on the employee skills that are essential in today’s unstable business environment?

2. In your viewpoint, can employee skills be improved through effective performance management?

3. How does economic crisis affect organizational performance and HRM practices? 4. Could you share your observations on the effectiveness of recruitment and training

at Sainsbury? 5. According to you, does training and development really affect the bottom line

performance of the company? 6. What are the strategies adopted by Sainsbury to retain its prevailing employees? 7. Can you brief the HR practices adopted by Sainsbury? 8. In your opinion, does the HR at Sainsbury is capable of providing solutions to both

internal and external customer issues? 9. Has the HRM practices at Sainsbury changed over economic fluctuations? 10. According to you, what are the main aspects of HRM at Sainsbury? 11. How effective is Sainsbury’s HRM policy in building employee loyalty? 12. Has the human resource management practices adopted by Sainsbury helped the

company to improve organizational performance? 13. In your view, what impact does HRM activities of Sainsbury have on customers with

respect to employee empowerment? 14. What are the challenges that could affect the present HRM at Sainsbury? 15. Is the HRM at Sainsbury effective? Do you have any suggestions for further

improvement of HRM at Sainsbury?

Sainsbury, UK-‐ Survey questions for employees

1. Please mention your gender

Male Female

2. How old are you? 20 – 30 years 30-‐40 years 40-‐50 years > 50 years

3. Please mention your work experience < 2 years 2-‐5 years 5-‐8 years > 8 years

4. According to you, how effective is Sainsbury’s training and development? Good Average Not up to the mark

5. Are you satisfied with the training and development programs provided by Sainsbury? Yes No

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6. In your view, are the training programs always relevant to the changing needs of your work and business?

Yes No

7. In your opinion, what is the main employee motivational factor at Sainsbury? Training and development Recognition Promotion Work system others

8. How satisfied are you with the HRM practices adopted by Sainsbury? Highly Satisfied Significantly Satisfied Not Satisfied

9. Are you ever assigned any challenging work to develop your skill level?

Yes No

10. How well the operations at Sainsbury affected by HRM? Highly Average Never

11. To what extend does HRM influence employee motivation?

Higher Moderate Lower

12. Are you motivated with the HRM practices of Sainsbury? Yes No

13. Does the HR management at Sainsbury is efficient to lead the human resource towards organizational objectives?

Yes No

14. To what extend Sainsbury is successful in achieving customer satisfaction and customer service?

Highly Not much Not at all

15. According to you, what challenges does Sainsbury HR required to overcome?

Workplace diversity Globalisation of business Technological challenges Political and legal

Changes in economy

Thank You

I convey my sincere thank you for spending your valuable time for filling this questionnaire. I ensure that this questionnaire is entirely for academic purpose and all the answers will be kept confidential. Once again thank you for your coordination and sincere commitment.

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