Managing_Human_Resources

I. Introduction. The aim of my report is to analyse different perspectives of human resource management (HRM), flexibility within the workplace, equal opportunity in UK based organisation Pret a Manger. The key assumption of HRM is that the employment relationship can be managed so that the needs of both organisation and employees are meet, to mutual benefit. I am working for Pret a Manger company. My HR director has asked me to prepare some information for the Congress of Trade Unions. My tasks is to identified differences in management system and recognise which one is used by company; revive flexibility of employees and its advantages and disadvantages for both employee and employer; people opportunities within the workplace considering gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc. Pret a Manger has been opened in 1986 in London and has chain only in UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York. It is a large company which has over 190 shops. It sells fresh made sandwiches and salads using natural, preservative free ingredients, espresso based coffee is big seller too. They offered big variety of another hot and cold drinks, cakes, snacks, dried and fresh fruit. II. Different perspectives of human resources management. Two of the most widely models of human resource management are the hard and soft version. These are based on opposing views of human nature and managerial control strategies. The hard model is based on notions of hard strategic control and an economic model of man according to Theory X, while soft model is based on control through commitment and Theory Y. 1. Guests model of hard-soft, loose-tight dimension of HRM. 1.1. Hard HRM. Karen Legge (1998) define ‘hard model’ of HRM as a process emphasising ‘ the close integration of human resource policies with business strategy which regards employees as a resource to be manage in the same rational way as any other resource being exploited for maximum return’. The hard model of HRM may be summarised as: a) Its philosophy towards managing people is rational, quantitative and explicitly business-oriented: employees must be managing in such way as to obtain value performance, which give organisation competitive advantage. ‘The drive to adopt HRM is…based on the business case of a need to respond to an external threat from increasing competition. It is philosophy that appeals to managements who are striving to increase competitive advantage and appreciate that to do this they must invest in human resources as well as new technology.’ (Guest, 1999) b) It regards employees as a resource of the organisation, to be managed (exploited) in as rational and strategic a manner as any other economic resource: human capital from which a return can be obtained, through investment in performance management and employee development. c) It emphasises the interests, role and authority of management over employees. d) It is a pluralist viewpoint, which maintains that the interests of owners and managers are different from those of the workers: organisations are political system in which there is competition for circumscribe power and resources. Workers must be controlled in order to ensure that they perform in the organisation’s interests. 1.2. Soft HRM. Legge defined the ‘soft’ version of HRM as a process whereby employees are viewed as valued assets and as a source of competitive advantage through their commitment, adaptability and high level of skills and performance. The soft model of HRM may be summarised as: a) Its philosophy towards managing people is based in the human and neo-human relations schools of management thought which emphasised the influence of socio-psychological factors (relationship, attitudes, motivation, leadership, communication) on work behaviour. b) It views employees as’ means rather than objects’ (Guest, 1999): ‘treating employees as valued assets, a source of competitive advantage through their commitment, adaptability and high quality (skills, performance)’ (Storey, 1989). c) It focused on ‘mutuality’, a unitarist viewpoint which assumes that the interests of management and employees can and should share organisational goals, working as members of integrated team. Employees are viewed as stakeholders in the organisation. In practice, there are likely to be times when hard orientation directly conflicts with the more developmental and paternal philosophy of the soft. Many organisations operate mix of soft-hard, loose-tight system. 1.3. Theory X and Theory Y. The distinction between hard/tight and soft/loose management control was suggested by Douglas McGregor, who discuss the way in which managers handle people according to assumption they have about them and about and about what kind of management style will obtain their efforts. Theory x ('authoritarian management' style) * The average person dislikes work and will avoid it he/she can. * Therefore most people must be forced with the threat of punishment to work towards organisational objectives. * The average person prefers to be directed; to avoid responsibility; is relatively unambitious, and wants security above all else. Theory y ('participative management' style) * Effort in work is as natural as work and play. * People will apply self-control and self-direction in the pursuit of organisational objectives, without external control or the threat of punishment. * Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement. * People usually accept and often seek responsibility. * The capacity to use a high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population. * In industry the intellectual potential of the average person is only partly utilised. (Appendix 1 – XY Theory diagram) 1.4. Tight and loose HRM The distinction between tight and loose HRM may be characterised as the difference between a systems based on compliance and commitment. Compliance means performing according to set rules and standards, according to what u are expected to do. Commitment main features are: * Strong believe in and acceptance of an organisation’s goals and values * A willingness to expert considerable effort on behalf of the organisation * A strong desire to maintain membership of the organisation. Pret a Manger company is an example of organisation which operates mix soft-hard, tight- loose, nevertheless is getting more tight and hard than soft and loose than before. I can see the difference because I have been working for this company almost 5 years and see the main changes. It used to be more soft system which more invested in high level of people motivation, communication and work behaviours, which target is to managing in way to achieve maximum return for organisation. People have to do much more work – hour redundancy forces them to do more job for same money. Interests of management and employees are different – managers at the moment focus on sales growth to achieve higher bonus. Compliance which means performance according to standards and rules is still on high level in Pret and always is- high quality and standards are the main differences compare to competitors. Commitment which means individual involvement was stronger before, now when company cares only about figures and profit people do the same. 2. Differences between Storey’s definition of HRM and personnel/industrial relations practice. Storey (1992) regarded HRM as a ‘set of interrelated policies with an ideological and philosophical underpinning’. It has involves: * A particular cluster of beliefs and assumptions * Strategic focus to decision- making about people management * A central role for line managers in delivering HR outcomes * The use of ‘levers’ to shape the employment relationship Storey uses a theoretical ‘ideal type’ description of what a fully implemented model of HRM might look like, in contrast to similarly description of the traditional personnel/industrial relations model. DIMENSION | PERSONNEL/IR APPROACH | HRM APPROACH | Beliefs and assumption | 1. Contract | Careful description of written contracts | Aim to go ‘beyond contract’ | 2. Rules | Importance of devising clear rules/mutuality | ‘Can do’ outlook; impatience with ‘rules’ | 3. Guide to management action | Procedures/consistency/control | ‘Business need: flexibility/commitment | 4. Behaviour referent | Norms/custom and practice | Values/ mission | 5. Managerial task vis-à-vis labour | Monitoring | Nurturing | 6. Nature of relations | Pluralist | Unitarist | 7. Conflict | Institutionalised | De-emphasised | 8. Standardisation | High | Low | Strategic aspects | 9. Key relations | Labour-management | Business-customer | 10. Initiatives | Piecemeal | Integrated | 11. Corporate plan | Marginal to | Central to | 12. Speed of decision | Slow | Fast | Line Management | 13. Management role | Transactional leadership | Transformational leadership | 14. Key managers | Personnel/IR specialists | General/business/line managers | 15. Communication | Indirect | Direct | 16. Prized management skills | Negotiation | Facilitation | Key levers ( strongly-featured issues and techniques) | 17. Attention for intervention | Personnel procedures | Wide range of cultural, structural and personnel strategies | 18. Selection | Separate, marginal task | Integrated, key task | 19. Pay | Job evaluation | Performance related | 20. Job categories and grades | Many | Few | 21. Conditions | Separately negotiated | Harmonisation | 22. Labour management | Collective bargaining contracts | Towards individual contracts | 23. Communication | Restricted flow | Increased flow | 24. Job design | Division of labour | Teamwork | 25. Conflict handling | Reach temporary truces | Manage climate and culture | 26. Training and development | Controlled access to courses | Learning companies | 3. Strategic approaches of HRM and its implications for the role of line managers and employees. 4.1. Implication for the line manager’s role. Transactional and transformational leadership (referred in Storey’s model) were terms coined by Burns (1978) for two different styles of leadership: * Transactional leadership see the relationship with their followers in terms of a trade: they give followers the rewards they want, in exchange of services, loyalty and compliance. * Transformational leaders see their role as inspiring and motivating others to work at levels beyond mere compliance. Transformational leadership is achieved through role modelling, articulating powerful goals, team-building, high expectations, two-way communication, empowering, developing. Transactional leadership can arguably be mediate via HR policies; transformational is an essentially interpersonal process, underscoring the role of line managers and team leaders in delivering HRM. 4.2. Implications for the worker’s role. The HRM viewpoint, as outline above, is explicitly unitary. It implies that employees can be willingly co-operated to the business task of competition, quality and problem solving. Tight managerial control is replaced by a culture of trust: performance is assumed of inspirational leadership and share of values and aspirations. Instead of power being used from the top down to control workers’ performance, power is used to support workers’ performance, including quality, customer satisfaction, innovation, becomes guiding of the organisation, not the wishes of senior management. HRM strategy and its implications to line managers in Pret a Manger Organisation has been changed recently since company been sold to merger owner. A transformational leader who support and build team by communication and cooperation is more like transactional management activity, which control workers to achieve maximum return. III. Flexibility within the workplace. Flexibility- is a way to define how and when work gets done and how careers are organised. It is a critical ingredient to overall workplace effectiveness. Companies use it as a tool for improving recruitment and retention, for managing workload, and for responding to employee diversity. 1. Flexible working models. 2.1. Atkinson’s core and periphery model of the flexible firm (Atkinson, 1984). The core. The core group is permanent and stable, and is based on: * The lowest number of employees required by work activity at any time throughout the year * Core tasks which are specific to the firm and require firm-specific skills and experience The core group offers functional flexibility by virtue or multi-skilling: training, retraining and redeployment within core tasks. HR implications include: a) The need for training in core skills b) Need to offer employment security/continuity in order to facilitate skills/experience in order to protect firm’s investment in core worker’s training c) The need for reward structure which reflect and support flexibility and multi-skilling d) The need of secure and the commitment of the core workforce. The periphery: The peripheral group is designed to offer numerical flexibility: the ability to meet short-term fluctuations in demand for skills which are not distinctive of the firm. It includes: * Full-time employees in areas where there is a high level of mobility and wastage/turnover: the first peripheral group * Workers on non-standard contracts: the second peripheral group * ‘Distance’ workers not employed by the organisation but contracted to supply service. 1.2. Handy’s (1989) Shamrock Organisation model. Source: http://beta.rii.ricoh.com Shamrock Organisation model: * Core staff (professional core) - are permanently-employed people who represent the distinctive knowledge and competences of the firm. Their qualified professionals, technicians and managers. Their commitment is focused on their work and career within the organisation. * Temporary workforce- is temporary and part-time workers who can be brought in as when needed-especially to meet peaks in the demand for services. Their commitment is focused on the immediate job and work group, rather than career. However, their crucial in maintaining standards of service- so it’s important to treat them fairly with adequate training and status. * Contractors- are external providers (freelancers, consultants and sub-contractors) who are able to undertake non-core activities and/or provide specialists service, more economically than the firm could manage internally. Both models have similar structure and same priorities: core staff is permanently employed, professional people with skills and distinctive knowledge. It’s the smallest group of organisation which function is special, like ‘core’ of company. In Atkinson’s model we have Periphery group: first periphery include full-time employees in areas where is high level of mobility; second peripheral group include outsourcing- contractors. In Sharmrock model second group are temporary or part-time workers, third- external providers- distance workers. Both models have three groups which are related and without one of them organisation wouldn’t be able to operate properly. Atkinson’s model is preferred and used by Pret a Manger Company. Second group which include full-time time employees (all people working in shops, kitchens) is crucial in maintaining standards of service, that’s why company treat them well and give good wages compere to other retail competitors. Head Office people are responsible for departments like: finance, marketing, HR, recruitment, etc. They have contractors, especially in maintenance area. Company is doing well, nevertheless current changes on a market force organisations to some changes, which not always brings opportunities for employees. This situation is visible in Pret- changing contracts for part-time, hour’s redundancy, more contractors and permanent employees. More pressure on people and requirements to be more efficient. 2. The need for flexibility and types of flexibility which may be developed by organisation. Labour market flexibility refers to the speed with which labour markets adapt to fluctuations and changes in society, the economy or production. Increased global competition, international recession, uncertainty about future markets and the effects of new technology entailed the ease of labour market institutions in enabling labour markets to reach a continuous equilibrium determined by changing of the demand and supply curve. Need for flexibility include the following: a) Age structure- social trends shows that the number of economically age group 16-24 is falling, while those aged 25-44 is rising. b) Diversity- the most recent Workplace Employee Relations Survey data ( WERS 2004) shows( Bratton & Gold,2007) that in UK: * Women’s share of total employment has continue to increase * In some 44% workplaces that employ part-time staff, women make all of these part-time staff * The majority of women workers are engaged in clerical, serving and cleaning work, but female participation has also increased in management Gender diversity in workforce and the need to recruit and retain female workers has reinforced the focus on the work life balance. Organisations need to deploy labour flexibility in order to demands made of working mothers and the desire for career breaks and return after child-rearing. c) Differences in particular labour markets Employers may compete for labour and skills in a number of different markets: local, national and international. * Particular factors in the local labour market (people living in the ‘travel to work area’ or within reasonable commuting distance) may create pressure for flexibility. For example lack of public transport may require flexible starting hours. * National/regional skill shortages and wage costs may encourage the outsourcing of operations to low-cost labour countries or the co-opting or overseas team-members through ‘virtual’ collaboration using ICT links. * Different occupational structures and orientations (at local and national level) may also require different approaches to the employment relationship, career management etc. Professionally and technically qualified staff may be treated differently as ‘core’ employees from lower-skilled and high-mobility workers (who may be more flexibly contracted). d) Regulation of working hours- The Working Time Regulations 1998 sets limits on working hours per week and entitlement to rest break and days. In order to cover equivalent workloads, employers may have to implement job-sharing and other flexible work patterns. e) Work life balance- is concepts which recognise the need for employers to support workers in achieving balance between demands of their work and the demands of home and family responsibilities. Flexible working policies, designed to give employees options in regard to their hours and/or locations of work, have been supported in recent years by equal opportunity and family-friendly rights law. These have provided a package of entitlements including: annual leave, maximum working hours, parental leave and time off for dependent care; maternity/paternity leave and adoption leave; equal rights for part-time workers and so on. The Employment Act 2002 provide package of rights in relation to flexible working. 3. Types of flexibility Type of flexibility | Responding to: | HRM approach | Numerical | Fluctuations in demand for staff numbers ( seasonal, cyclical, task- related) | Use of non-permanent, non-career labour: temporary staff, part-time staff, short-contract staff, consultants, sub-contractors | Temporal | Fluctuations in working patterns, over 24 hours/week/year: fluctuations in demand labour at particular times; need for work-life balance and support for equal opportunity | Use of ‘flexi-time’ and variations: overtime, shift-working, annualised hours | Functional ( versatility) | Fluctuations in demand for particular skills- not necessarily related to staff numbers | Deployment of staff across job/skill boundaries ( ‘demarcation lines’): multi-skilling, multi-disciplinary teams | Financial | The need for functional/temporal staff to be rewarded flexibly and fairly. The need for choice ( e.g. benefit schemes) to raise value of reward in a diverse workforce | Performance-and/or profit-related pay; individual pay negotiation; flexible benefits | Locational | Opportunities presented by information and communication technology ( ICT) to reduce costs and create ‘virtual’ teams | Use of home-working, tele-working and networking; use of ICT to facilitate mobile working ( e.g. for sales and service staff) | Cultural | The need for change of traditional attitudes towards jobs, careers, occupational identify: the need for a culture which embraces flexibility, variety, change | Recruitment and reward system geared to employ and advance culturally flexible and versatile people; communication of flexibility and work-life balance as a key values | Numerical type is very practical and useful for organisations which has peaks in their performance, especially in retail market; short-contract and seasonal staff is very crucial in retail particular periods of year. Functional respond in demand on particular job or skill required, it can be achieved by outsourcing activities or transfer to different activities within the firm. This practice is very often used in Pret, what gives opportunities for employees to develop themselves. Financial or wage flexibility shows the differences between the wages of workers, it depends on supply and demand of labour. At the moment we have difficult situation, supply of labour is high compare to demand what affect wages and its low rates. Locational type is getting more popular and brings advantages for employees and employer too, Dell Company have been using that for few years already and save cost of maintenance and can offer customer lower price of products. 4. Flexible working methods. There are many different methods of employment and its variety and flexibility is more common and used at current time. The most used are; * Part-time and temporary working- ( under the Employment Relations Act 1999 Part-time and temporary or fixed-contract employees are entitled to the same employment and health and safety protection as permanent full-time staff.) Part- timers, who work 8 hours or more per week, may not be treated less favourably because they work part-time. They entitled to the same hourly rate of pay, access to training, selection, promotion and so on. They also have the same entitlements to annual leave and maternity/paternity leave but on pro-rata basis. * Job-sharing- is an approach to part-time job creation in which an existing full-time position is split in two, so two people can share it, working part-time and paid pro-rata. * Tele-working- describes process of working from home, or from a satellite office close to home, with the aid of networked or internet-linked commuters, fax machines and other ICT applications. It has many advantages for both sides: for employer saving cost rent premises, etc., bring into employment skilled and experience people; for employee: no need to commute- no travel costs, save time; better work-life balance: less stress, more employment opportunities for those with family responsibilities, single parents, disable people. * Flexible contracts: * Overtime- premium rates of pay for hours worked in excess of standard hours. * Zero hour contracts- no guarantee of work (or pay) is given for the week. Staff may be called upon as and when required, on a full or part-time basis, effectively self-employed status. * Annualised hour’s contracts- agreeing a number of hours work per year, rather than per week or month. Intensive hours can be called on during seasonal peaks in labour demand via longer working days or shifts. 5. The advantages and disadvantages of flexible working practice from employee and employer perspective: | Employee | Employer | Advantages | Part-time and temporary work gives more time for family life or education ( work-life balance),scheduling freedom and variety; the Employment Act 2002 which include flexible working rights for employee who is parent; same entitlements for part-time workers; saving money when employee do the tele-working service; stuff development opportunities; | Cost-effective, efficient way of utilising the labour source; control amount spent of hour working; cutting costs on flexibility contracts; opportunity to bring more experience and skilled people; increase productivity; flexibility; profitability; reduce overtimes; ICT- reduce costs and helps to implement better technology and helps to create ‘virtual’ team; multi-skilling people; | Disadvantages | Lack of benefits, pensions, difficulty to get permanent employment (in temporary cases); increase competition in a market; lack motivation and commitment especially for temporary workers; career development may suffer; no guaranty of work or payment; lack of communication. | Ability to match labour needs with the existing labour supply, technology changes- organisation must fit the new technology in order to secure its benefits for efficiency; demographic changes and their needs; difficulty of managing home workers and monitoring their performance; recruiting and selecting wrong employees | IV. Equal opportunities within the workplace. 1. Forms of discrimination in employment. Equal opportunities- is an approach to the management of people at work based on equal access and fair treatment irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief. Under the Equality Act 2010 there is a process for people who think they may have been treated unlawfully to obtain information about possible discrimination, harassment, victimization or other prohibited conduct and about equality of terms (equal pay) complaints. This works through two sets of forms, one for discrimination or other prohibited conduct complaints and the other for complaints about equality of terms. There are many different forms of discrimination, the main are: a) Gender- men and women in the same employment have the right to equal pay for work of the same value. Under the Equality Act 2010 it's unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you because of your sex. Sex discrimination law covers almost all workers (men and women) and all types of organizations in the UK. It covers: * recruitment * employment terms and conditions * pay and benefits * training * promotion and transfer opportunities * redundancy * dismissal The distribution of women in the UK workforce is still heavily concentrated in categories such as: textiles, footwear, clothing, hotel and catering, retail, distribution, professional and scientific service. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2006) reported that across all occupations, women earned 77% of male earnings in the same occupational group. b) Ethnicity- The Ethnic Minority Advisory Group reported in 2006 that the employment rate for working age ethnic minorities in 59.2 % compared to 74.8 % for the UK population as a whole. While employment rates vary significantly between different minority groups, all have lower employment than the overall rate. There is also ethnic segregation in the labour market, with concentration of minority (male) employees in manufacturing, hotel, catering, and distribution sectors. c) Disability- covers a wide range of impairments, including restricted mobility, speech impediment, poor hearing or eyesight, learning disability and disfigurement. It is estimated that this applies to one in five of the working age population. The choice of jobs for the disabled is often restricted, resulting in higher and longer unemployment rates than the general population. The Equality Act 2010 aims to protect disabled people and prevent disability discrimination. d) Age- despite demographic and educational changes and associated skill shortages among the younger population, a certain amount of discrimination has continued to be directed at more mature workers. Negative perception of older workers continued to impact on recruitment, selection for promotion, selection for redundancy, access to training opportunities etc. e) Sexual orientation- gay, lesbian and bi-sexual people may experience discrimination in: * The culture of firm: behavioural norms and attitudes that may cause harassment, verbal abuse or isolation, or need to hide sexual orientation for fear of discrimination. * HR practices: discrimination in terms and benefits due to eligibility criteria which exclude same-sexual partners. 2. Legislation framework. In Britain, two main pieces of legislation deal with inequality of opportunity by reason of sexual and racial discrimination. * The Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) 1975 (and amendments) outlawed certain types of discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status, maternity or pregnancy. * The Race Relations Act (RRA) 1976 (and amendments) outlawed certain types of discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, or ethnic or national origin. Types of discrimination: * Direct discrimination Direct discrimination happens when an employer treats an employee less favorably than someone else because of one of the above reasons. For example, it would be direct discrimination if a driving job was only open to male applicants. * Indirect discrimination Indirect discrimination is when a working condition or rule disadvantages one group of people more than another. For example, saying that applicants for a job must be clean shaven puts members of some religious groups at a disadvantage. * Harassment You have the right not to be harassed or made fun of at work or in a work-related setting (e.g. an office party). Harassment means offensive or intimidating behavior - sexist language or racial abuse, which aims to humiliate, undermine or injure its target or has that effect. For example, allowing displays or distribution of sexually explicit material or giving someone a potentially offensive nickname. * Victimization Victimization means treating somebody less favorably than others because they tried to make, or made, a complaint about discrimination. For example, it could be preventing you from going on training courses, taking unfair disciplinary action against you or excluding you from company social events. Complaints of discrimination may be made to an Employment Tribunal within three months of the alleged offence. Equal Pay Act The Equal Pay Act 1970 was the first major attempt to tackle sexual discrimination. It was intended to prevent discrimination as regard terms and conditions of employment between men and women .The Equal (Amended) Regulation 1984 established the right to equal pay for ‘work of equal value’. The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) regulations 2005. The regulation made some significant changes to the Sex Discrimination Act including: a) Redefinition of indirect discrimination. Treatment used to have to be to the detriment of larger proportion of members of one sex: now is merely has to put women at a particular disadvantage when compare with men (or vice versa). Employers must show that treatment reasonable means to achieve legitimate aim, in the light of discriminatory effects. b) Specific definition of sexual harassment, in line with other discrimination legislation. A person subjected a women sexual harassment if: * On the grounds of sex, he engages in unwanted conduct which violates dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for her; * He engages in unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that violates her dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for her; * On the grounds of her rejection of the conduct he treats her less favourably. c) Pregnancy and maternity: unfavourable treatment on these grounds (in relations to employment and vocational training) is now explicitly unlawful. We are in 21st century, living in Europe, nevertheless discrimination is still visible, both Sexual and Racial. Any organisation in UK has to accept the legislative framework and applied them to workplace. Sex discrimination is recognised especially in management and better payable positions. Equal Pay Act protect women and their rights to be paid equally to men, lots of British companies have been improved that and treat women same as men. Pret Company hasn’t do selection according to gender. Signification changes have been made in Employment Equality, especially in sexual harassment which has long been unlawful. Lots of people don’t know about their rights and organisations are quite often used their lack of knowledge. There are lots of organisations which can support employees like ACAS. Plenty on companies applied or trying to apply changes to improve employees work conditions and terms. 3. Equal opportunities in employment. Many organisations may minimum efforts to avoid discrimination. A number of measures are necessary to established equal opportunity in reality. 3.1. Positive action approaches. In addition to responding to legislative provision, some employers have begun voluntarily to address the underlying problems, by taking active steps to encourage the recruitment, training and promotion of previously under -represented groups. The following are just positive action measures that might be used: a) Putting equal opportunities higher on the agenda by appointing Equal Opportunities Managers reporting directly to the HR Directors. b) Flexible hours, child care vouchers, annual hours contracts, career break and return to work schemes to help women with careers and family responsibilities c) Posting managerial vacancies internally, giving more opportunities for movement up the ladder for groups at lower levels of organisations d) Assertiveness training and business networking to support groups in managing their career potential e) Awareness training for managers and stuff to encourage them to think about issues of discrimination, harassment and diversity f) Positive action to encourage job and training applications from monitory groups: using ethnic languages and showing a racial/ethnic mix of people in advertisement for example. g) Alterations of premises to accommodate wheelchair users. 3.2. Monitoring The numbers of female, disabled, ethnic minority and mature-age staff can easily be monitored using workforce statistics and ‘Equal Opportunity Monitoring Forms’ filled out by employees: * On entering the organisation * On leaving the organisation * On applying for transfer, promotions or training schemes. Another area of particular sensitivity is recruitment and selection- disappointed job applicant because of discrimination (ethnic, sex, age). 3.3. Managing diversity. Managing diversity- is based on the belief that the individual differences we currently focus on under equal opportunities (gender, race, age, etc.) are crude and irrelevant classifications of the obvious differences between people, and should be replaced by genuine understanding of the ways in which individuals differ. The ways in which people are meaningfully different in the workplace include personality, proffered working style and individual needs. These things do not necessary correlate with racial or gender differences in any way. Effective managers seek to understand the job-relevant ways in which their staff differ and should seek to manage their performance in ways which recognise those differences as far as possible. Manager need to understand the unique contribution each person- not each ‘category or person’ – can make to the organisation. A ‘managing diversity’ orientation implies the need to be proactive in managing the needs of a diverse workforce in areas (beyond equal opportunity and discrimination ) such as: a) Tolerance of individual differences b) Communicating effectively with culturally diverse workforce c) Managing workers with diverse family structures and responsibility d) Managing and adjustments to be made by the aging workforce e) Managing diverse career aspirations and paths f) Confronting literacy, numeracy and qualifications issues in an international workforce g) Managing co-operative working in ethnically diverse team 4. Equal opportunities and management of diversity- contrast. | Equal opportunities | Managing diversity | Purpose | Reduce discrimination in employee environment, treat people at the same level | Utilise employee potential to maximum advantage | Case argued | Moral and ethical- fair treatment; equal opportunities | Business objectives: improve profitability; obvious differences between people | Responsibility | HR/personnel function- assertiveness training and business networking to support groups in managing their career potential | All managers | Focused on | Groups- give equal opportunities for everyone, flexible hours, training supportive groups in managing their career, awareness training for managers and stuff to encourage them to think about issues of discrimination, harassment and diversity | Individuals- tolerance of individual differences, managing the needs in diverse workforce, career aspirations and paths | Benefits for employees | Improved opportunities for disadvantaged employees | Improve opportunities for all employees | Focus of management activity | Recruitment, training and monitoring groups | Managing | V. Conclusion. Having studied Managing Human Resources, we can see the importance of it, especially nowadays in recession time when the environment in workplace has changed in way to manage and meet needs of both organisation and employees with mutual benefits. Human resource management prospective, flexibility at workplace and equal opportunities are main issues to be managed or changed. There are many different models of HRM; according to Guest we have two main models: hard-soft, loose- tight. Hard model is based on strict control, employees are resource of organisation to be managed in order to obtain valued performance. Interests of owner and mangers are different from workers. Soft model- employees are viewed as assets and source of competitive advantage through their commitment, high level of skills and performance. The main difference between tight and loose is based on compliance and commitment. Pret a Manger is an example of organisation which operates mix soft-hard, tight-loose; its focused on sales and growth, nevertheless can reward employees for their commitment and effort. The main difference between HRM and personnel/industrial relations is about believes strategy and relations between management and personnel. HRM approach is more unitary, IR plural- monitoring and people control. HRM transformational leadership with direct communication and role as inspiring and motivate people is opposite to IR transactional leadership with indirect and more formal relationships. Applying to Pret is more recognisable HRM approach, nevertheless, it has been changing recently for more control and monitoring role. Flexibility is a tool which companies using to improve recruitment and retention, management, increase ability to adjust changes in demand and supply; employee needs like study or demands of family. The two main models of flexible firm: Atkinson’s Core- periphery model and Handy’s Sharmrock Organisation have similar structure and priorities: core staff- professional people with skills, permanently employed – the smallest group with specific function. In Atkinsons model we have two periphery groups: first- full time employees, second- outsourcing. Sharmrock: second group- part time employees, third- external providers. Both models have three groups which are relevant and without which organisation wouldn’t be able to operate properly. Atkinsons model is preferred and used in Pret company, second group which include full-time employees ( all people in shops and kitchens) are crucial in maintaining standards of service; company treat them well with bonuses and good wages. A different need of flexibility creates different types of flexibility. Different market means different type of flexibility, the functional type is quite often used by Pret- gives opportunities for employees to develop themselves. Flexible working methods are more used at current time like part-time, tele-working, home-working; job sharing and flexible contracts are very useful and bring lots of advantages for both organisation and employees. Equal opportunities at workplace mean fair treatment, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability. The Equality Act 2010 protects employees discriminate by an employer. Two main Legislative Framework in Britain: Sex Discrimination Act and Race Relations Act deal with inequality of opportunity by reason of sexual and racial discrimination: direct or indirect. We are in 21st century even though discrimination is still visible, both Sexual and Racial. Any organisation in UK has to accept the legislative framework and applied them to workplace. Equal Pay Act protect women and their rights to be paid equally to men, lots of British companies have been improved that and treat women same as men. Pret Company hasn’t do selection according to gender. There are lots of organisations which can support employees like ACAS. There are organisations which use equal opportunities and others which preferred managing diversity; the main differences are equal opportunities try to reduce discrimination , focused on groups and improve opportunities for disadvantaged employees, diversity focused on maximise people exploit, improve profitability and improve opportunities for all employees. None of organisation can create fantastic environment with equal opportunity and full flexibility at workplace, nevertheless people and their assertiveness can change it and have some impact on work conditions and its improvement. VI. Bibliography. 1. Armstrong, M. (2007) A Handbook of Human Resources Management Practis.5th edition. Kogan Page 2. Business Essential HND/HNC (2007) Human Resource Management. BPP Publishing. London. 3. Business Essentials. Supporting HNC/HND and foundation degrees (2008) Management. London: Learning Media. Internet sources: 5. http://www.tutor2u.net/business/people/workforce_flexible_hours.asp> [Accessed February 26 2011 ] 6. http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail> [ Accessed March 1 2011] 7. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingworkplaceDisputes/DiscriminationAtWork> [Accessed March 4 2011]. VII. Self-evaluation. I really enjoyed this assignment; it helped me a lot to broaden my knowledge about Human Resource Department, especially about relations between employer and employee, flexibility at workplace and equal opportunities. I haven’t got problems to find information , my book which I have been using for few modules already has covered all required details and is full of examples which help to understand better. Access to websites help to get up to date information for particular examples. Flexibility at work place makes me aware about my rights and opportunities as an employee and figures its advantages. Equal opportunities at workplace helped me to understand different types of discrimination at workplace and organisations which can give us support. All HR modules are so relevant and help me to learn and more understand all aspects about employees and employers; relationship between them. I have to admit that it took a lot of time for me to organize and put it together, but I have managed my time to do it on time. I have used lots of knowledge and information from previous HR modules and advices of teacher. Appendix 1.