Human Resource Management Assignment

Student name: Anna Lipatova

Tutor name: Raja Khan

Role and importance of HRM functions

According to Bernadin (2007), "Human resource management (HRM) is concerned with the personnel policies and managerial practices and systems that influence the workforce. In broader terms, all decisions that affect the workforce of the organisation concern the HRM function. There are different resources available to an organisation, such as financial, physical, intangible,knowledge and innovation, and human resources. Human resources use and control all other resources. Some of the main functions of HRM are to employ people, to develop their resources, to improve employee skills, to provide rewards and benefits, and to ensure that the workplace is a reliable and a safe place to work. (Bernadin, 2007).

The first function of Human Resource Management is staffing. Hiring the right people and putting them in the right positions is the key to the success of organisation. First of all, job analysis and HR planning should be done in order to analyse skills and knowledge required for a particular job in organisation and match supply of people. After that, potential employees are being recruited by either interviewing or passing some psychological tests, thus their suitability for a job can be assessed. Also, it makes the hiring process easier and helps employment specialists to find ideal candidates. As soon as recruitment process is done, individuals best suited for a particular position should be selected. Without a doubt, staffing plays an important role in HRM, especially when it comes to small business organisations. (Mayhew, R.)

Second function is human resource development which includes training, that provides employees with knowledge and skills needed for present job, and development, that goes beyond present job and can be useful in future. In addition to that, human resource development includes career planning, organisation development, as well as performance management and appraisal. (Mayhew, R.)

Another function is compensation, that means giving financial or nonfinancial reward to individuals according to their performance results. Financial compensation may provide employees with direct rewards, such as wages, salaries, bonuses or commissions, as well as with indirect rewards (e.g. paid vacations, sick leave, medical insurance). While nonfinancial compensation includes satisfaction from job itself, psychological and physical environment, managers attitude towards employees.

Safety and health also plays a crucial role in HRM as it provides protection from injuries caused by work-related accidents and takes care of employees` general physical and mental well-being. This is very important function because employees who work in a safe environment and in a good health state are more likely to be productive and provide long-term benefits to the organisation. (Zeepedia).

Employee relations is another HRM function that refers to creating a positive work environment through dealing with conflict issues in the workplace. It often includes employee issues, management coaching, discipline and harassment. (Noe et al., 2012).

HRM in Starbucks

Every organisation which is oriented for a long-term successful performance should have a department which deals with human resources. In this part I am going to analyse how HRM functions mentioned above affect performance of Starbucks coffee company. The company started with a single store in Seattle in 1971. Nowadays it deals with millions of customers every day and has more than 19000 retail stores in over 60 countries. Their mission statement is to inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time. Starbucks was rated as one of «The 100 best companies to work for» by Fortune. It also received the 2003 Workforce Optimas Award in the Quality of Life category for providing a great