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MSG Introduction to HRM 2021-22 Assignment
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Because of their dynamic nature, human resources are amongst the most crucial aspects of every organization. In today's tough competition, any firm will need to do a lot just to stay in business, and employee participation becomes a factor that may make the difference. Employers spend lots of money upon training new staff. Low productivity, high staff turnover, absenteeism, and relatively low satisfaction are all bad effects of a disengaged workplace.Employee engagement is a continual process including job satisfaction, work engagement, and work performance, rather than a one-time concept with some benefits and advantages.Reduced employee involbvement may be affected by many reasons, including an absence of appreciation from supervisors, poor business communications, and a lack of integration with the company’s purpose (Sun and Bunchapattanasakda, 2019). For this purpose, Unilever has been chosen to analyze the employee engagement areas.
Aims
Over the last decade, the idea of employee engagement has become increasingly widespread in organizational theory. The purpose of this workplace strategy is to maintain that employees are engaged in their company's vision and objectives. And that they are driven to contribute to the company's success while also developing their personal belief of well-being. Employees who are involved are said to have a combination of earlier principles of management, such as quality of work-life, commitment to the organization, job engagement, and sentiments of empowerment (Sun and Bunchapattanasakda, 2019). The main purpose of employee engagement in Human resource practices is to increase productivity and employability of the employees and also to develop the performance of the employees, and enhance the rate of employee retention.
Employee retention
One of the chief causes why HR leaders increasingly concentrate on improving employee engagement at their businesses is to increase retention. Disengaged workers are a major contributor to employee turnover, and companies with high engagement reduce both financial performance and hiring expenditures. Employee participation is critical for retaining unique talent as well as being a critical part of employee satisfaction (Bhai and Bharel, 2018). Workers who are passionate about their jobs are more likely to be motivated and committed to their company. As an outcome, more commercial goals are accomplished, and the company evolves.Disengaged employees are more likely to leave their jobs (Antony, 2018).
Employee productivity
When the employees are engaged in their work and responsibilities, the rate of their productivity also increases. Employee engagement has the sole purpose of increasing the productivity of the employees (Osborne and Hammoud, 2017). The human resource managers of Unilever can implement effective and necessary strategies to increase the skills and knowledge of the employees for involving them in the organizational tasks. The training, educational programs, and skill developmental courses not only help the human resource managers in engaging the employees to the organizational tasks but also help develop the skills of the employees. It thereby helps develop the employee's productivity and employability. Thus the employee engagement tactics are helpful for increasing the productivity rate of the employees (Zondo, 2020 ).
Competitive advantage
The human resource managers of Unilever also try to increase the competitive advantage of the company over the rivals by increasing the engagement of the employees to the organizational tasks. Higher employee commitment and engagement equals higher job performance and better output. By engaging the employees, the human resource managers try to enhance the performance and productivity leading to developing the competitive advantage of the company. As it helps in increasing productivity and employability, it is greatly contributing to organizational competitiveness (Zondo, 2020). Engaged employees search for techniques to help the company implement the most out of their talents. They are more interested in learning and exploring fresh stuff than simply obeying procedures. They also develop new things using their innovative skills and knowledge. Thereby their new learnings and skills can help Unilever achieve the desired goals which is the contributor of competitive advantage.
Reduces hiring costs
When employee leaves, the manager has to make plans for new recruitment and it is an extremely expensive thing. The recruitment and hiring process goes through various processes and that need a huge amount of money. Therefore, employee engagement reduces the risks of departure or leaving of the employees. It thereby reduces the costs of recruitment when the workforce has already a good workforce with talented and skilled workers. This is why employee engagement is important for the reduction of costs.
Legal regulations
To maintain employee engagement and employee retention in the workplace, it is important that the human resource managers obey some laws and regulations. The UK government has imposed various rules and regulations regarding employee engagement. These laws suggest:
The employees are safeguarded and protected by the employment legislation rules of the UK. These laws guarantee employees' rights and also safeguard an employer's assets and maintaining the communication between them equitably. They offer regulations on termination, holidays, compensation, discrimination, and much more. The HRM should provide holidays, work breaks, and perks for increasing the motivation of the employees and it thus helps in increasing employee engagement (Weiner et al., 2018).Employees in Great Britain are also safeguarded by employment regulations that cover everything from hiring procedures to work attitude and reasonable payment. In the UK, for instance, employers should pay the National Minimum Wage based on an individual's age. Thus, all employees above the age of twenty are eligible for the “National Living Wage”.
Workers are safeguarded under the “Equality Act 2010”, which prevents “discrimination” against jobseekers and employees depending on their participation in a group of protected classes, such as age, color, or disabilities, when they apply for jobs. People want to work in a company that provides anti-discrimination rights to employees (Weiner et al., 2018). The human resource managers of Unilever also need to provide equality and fair compensation and payment and other organizational facilities. When the employees see that the company does not discriminate on the grounds of sex, age, and other areas, they want to work in the company.
When a new employee is hired, they are protected by the “Health & Safety at Work Act 1974”. It governs safety and health at workplace. These make sure that employees receive the right to work in a secure and safe environment.The HRM needs to implement the employment act for the employees to provide them the right to get privileges in the workplace. By providing the employees with effective safety and health-related rights, the managers can increase the security of the employees (Blagoycheva et al., 2019). It will thus boost the confidence and satisfaction of the employees to work in the company. Thus the employee engagement can be boosted up.
Costs and benefits
Activities
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Costs
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Benefits
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Employee training
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For the development of the training projects for the employees, it will cost around 3000 dollars per head.
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By providing the training to the employee, the managers can make the employees feel important for the company. They also think that the company can provide them necessary advantages. It will thus help in developing employee engagement and commitment to the company.
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Installing communication systems
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It will cost about 10 dollars
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Installation of the communication tools and systems in the work environment can help the employee build a strong communication system with the other employees. When they develop a good communication system, they can get committed and engaged to the organizational tasks. It will thus help the inflow of skills and knowledge.
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Educational programs
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The cost will be 200 dollars per head
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Educational programs will help the employees enhance their skills and talents. Thus it will also build employee engagement to the organizational tasks. Educational programs also help increase the potential of developing new ideas and enhancing the productivity rate of the employee.
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Skill developmental activities
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It will make around 200 dollars per head
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Skills developmental programs and activities will boost the employees with the support to improve their skills and talents. It will increase the productivity of the employees. Thus it will also help the employee engagement and commitment to the organizational functions. It can also benefit the managers in bringing a good performance in the workplace. The organizational performance also helps in managing the competitive advantage of the Unilever company.
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Team building activities
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The total amount for this is 20 dollars
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The team-building activities are also helpful as these help the workers build communication within the workplace. It will thereby help share knowledge and skills. Sharing of knowledge helps in increasing the skills of the employees. It leads to employee motivation and makes them involved in Unilever.
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Training equipment
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The costs for bringing training equipment and the machine will cost 300 dollars
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It will support the training and programs of the HRM.
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A safeguarding work environment with advanced technology and machines
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It will cost 1000 dollars
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Safeguarding and securing the work environment can help the HRM of Unilever enhance the commitment of the employees to the organizational operations and function.
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Health insurance
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It will cost 50 dollars per employee
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Health insurance and the scheme will benefit the employee who feels that their health and security is important for the company. It will thus make them engaged by providing them with job security.
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Recognition programs
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Such kind of programs will cost 5dollas
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Such programs help the employees build communication with their fellow employees. It thus reduces stress and demotivation leading towards employee satisfaction and engagement.
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(Source: Created by author)
Recommendations
Therefore, it can be concluded that the Human resource managers of Unilever need to make strategies to improve employee engagement and involvement.
They can develop a good communication system in the workplace of Unilever that can increase the confidence of the employees. Setting clear expectations depend heavily on information. Employees who have not had clear guidelines about what's anticipated of them donot know exactly what they need to accomplish and when they need it. Communication in this area assists employees in allocating activities and properly managing their workdays (Men and Yue, 2019).
Training and activities are very important to engage the employees within the workplace. It is also important that the HR managers are providing effective health and safety-related policies for the employees. These policies can help the employees become engaged to the workplace.
Most importantly, to maintain people engagement the HRM of Unilever needs to maintain all the employment rules and regulations as well as the Employment act. When the employees feel protected and safe in the company, they will not leave the company to shift to others. These "connected" attitudes and behaviors will, in the end, have a beneficial effect on development like efficiency, creativity, productivity, employee turnover, dispute and injury levels, and even fatal accidents. Positive views, activities, and consequences will all activate and encourage one another in a fully engaged workplace (Bhai and Bharel, 2018).
Conclusion
Therefore, throughout the entire discussion, it can be stated that employee engagement plays a very crucial role in the organization. With the engaged employee the managers can achieve the desired goals and objectives. Engaged employees can make the work environment productive and innovative. The human resource department can only make necessary plans to develop the rate of employee engagement. Employee engagement is a vital organizational goal more now than ever. The involvedworkers or employees contribute to a long-term retention process in the workplace, productivity enhancement, and superior quality of work.
References
Antony, M.R., 2018. Paradigm shift in employee engagement–A critical analysis on the drivers of employee engagement. International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 10(2), pp.32-46.
Bhat, I.A. and Bharel, S.K., 2018. Driving performance and retention through employee engagement. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 8(1), pp.10-20.
Blagoycheva, H., Andreeva, A. and Yolova, G., 2019. OBLIGATION AND RESPONSIBILITY OF EMPLOYERS TO PROVIDE HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK-PRINCIPLES, CURRENT REGULATION AND PROSPECTS. Economic Studies, 28(2).
Men, L.R. and Yue, C.A., 2019. Creating a positive emotional culture: Effect of internal communication and impact on employee supportive behaviors. Public relations review, 45(3), p.101764.
Osborne, S. and Hammoud, M.S., 2017. Effective employee engagement in the workplace. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), p.4.
Sun, L. and Bunchapattanasakda, C., 2019. Employee engagement: A literature review. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 9(1), pp.63-80.
Weiner, B., Saba, C., Roessler, S. and Fraimow, B., 2018. Employment Law Violations. Am. Crim. L. Rev., 55, p.1049.
Zondo, R.W., 2020. The influence of employee engagement on labour productivity in an automotive assembly organisation in South Africa. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 23(1), pp.1-9.