Ruhi , PGP35035

Assignment -1

The Human Resource Function of Harrison Brothers Corporation

Q1. How does McCain view her role as human resource manager?

Answer.

A Human resource manager her work is related to human resource of Westpark store. Her work
includes setting up procedures and policies to assure proper staffing of the store and selecting
applicants for sales and support jobs by conducting interviews and verifying their application forms. She
helps trainer in conducting training sessions for new salesperson. She is responsible for gathering
complaints from supervisor , conducting investigation and taking necessary disciplinary action against
the employee. She performs an annual evaluation of the employee's performance to determine merit
increase. She initiated form of career planning of employees for their development and retain good
employees.

Q2. What is Harrison Brothers’ business strategy?

Answer.

Harrison Brothers Corporation is a multiline department store founded in 1898 which deals mainly with
men's , women's and children's clothing. Recently they have expanded to include household items and
furnishings. Their current business strategy focused on fair value and generic product made them largest
privately owned retail stores in the United States.

However with the changing trend in retail industry where customers focuses on both value and
specialization ,Harrison Corporation needs to bring strategic changes. James Harrison current CEO of the
company wants to reposition by offering exciting brand names , excellent sales help and frequent sales.
Their main focus is keeping well-trained , highly motivated sales staff and management team. Human
Resource department have major role in transforming the business. James Harrison has also identified
that Superstores and giant discounter is going to be the game changer of the industry. Their strategic
goals include converting non-selling space into revenue generating selling space, building up
underdeveloped merchandise categories, investing aggressively in private brands and reducing cost
through the use of advanced computer systems to project sales and manage inventory.

Q3. What is the structure and staffing of HR?

Answer.

James Harrison is the current CEO of Harrison Brothers Corporation . He is recent MBA graduate and is
trying to reposition the company according to changing trend in retail industry. He hired a consultant to
assist in assessing company's strength and weakness. Company' staffing consist of Human Resource
Manager , Operation Manager and Sales Manager for 15 departments. Human Resource department
also includes Human Resource Assistant , Trainer and Payroll Clerk. Brenda McCain has been a Human
Resource Manager at the Westpark store for four years. Her responsibilities include setting up
procedures and policies to assure proper staffing of the store, assessing performance and taking
disciplinary action against staff and helping trainers for training new salesperson. Joanne Flynn is the
trainer in Human resource department . Her responsibility includes exposing new salesperson with
selling techniques and way of interacting with the customers. Average salesperson in the company is
either part-time, an older employee or the person in-between jobs. Supervisors of sales support staff
evaluate the employee's quality and quantity of work. According to Pat Hartlake , the operation
manager the Human Resource Department is understaffed.

Q4. Analyze the data in Exhibit 1.2. What are its implications?

Answer.

Exhibit 1.2 is the result of the questionnaire of the interview of the HR managers and all the Store
Managers. It consists their perception on responsibilities of Human Resource function. Staffing
responsibility was considered to be important by both the HR Managers and Store Managers and is
rated high by both of them. Efficient staffing is needed for skill and efficient management. This data is
in alignment with the consideration that employee performance and quality is important for
repositioning the company. Training is considered more important by Store Managers than HR
Managers . This may be due to the fact that Store Managers are the direct point of contact of
salesperson so they feel their training is very important for better performance. Training is needed to
enhance knowledge and skill of the employees. Performance management is rated high i.e 4.5 by HR
Managers and only slight difference by Store Managers i.e 4. This data is due to the fact that fair
evaluation of the staff performance is the role of HR Managers in collaboration of employee supervisor
and not of Store Manager. High rating implies that performance management is considered important
for increasing efficiency of the employee. Compensation is rated low by Store Manager and HR
Manager. Compensation is required to motivate and retain high performing individuals.This may be the
reason for high turnover rate in the company. Safety is considered of low importance by both the
managers. Safety is important for the welfare of the staff and most of the company policy considers this
as high priority . In this case low rating received by safety is a point of concern. The knowledge of
business and managing change is rated high i.e 4.5 by the Store Managers as compared to low rating of
2.0 by HR Managers. Business knowledge is important for efficient working of the staff. Proper
management of change is important for team coordination, motivation and performance of the team.
Since Store Managers are in direct contact with the employee and looks after day to day working of the
business so they feel the importance of knowledge of business and managing change.

Q5. Given the organisation’s size and strategic goals, evaluate the development of the human resource
function at Harrison Brothers . What problem do you see? How could its major human resource
functions be improved ?

Answer.

Human Resource Manager spends a lot of time on selecting applicants for sales and support staff. This
indicates that hiring process is inefficient. Technology can be used to make application selection efficient
and quicker. They also help trainer in training new salesperson. This indicates that trainers are
understaffed. Employee Development program is initiated by human resource team but it is not working
properly as supervisor have been slack in doing the assessment. 360 feedback system should be present.
Human resource department looks after the employee performance and compensation of the
employee. But employee turnover is very high. They are inefficient in making quick decision regarding
firing of employee of low performance. This indicates that human resource team needs to undergo
training. Store manager needs employee to be highly skilled. Hiring and training should be done with the
vision of the team requirement.

Q6. In the light of the existing trends affecting business in general and HR in particular , what changes
would you suggest in function of Human Resource department ?

Answer.

Given the existing trends affecting business in general and HR in particular, emphasis is given to the
employee performance and management team to reposition the company in the retail industry. Human
resource department should work in collaboration with the strategic team and store manager to know
the quality and quantity of employee required and hire accordingly. Compensation is considered of low
importance according to exhibit 1.2 by store and HR Manager. Compensation is needed to appreciate
and motivate staff for their hard work and retain high employee . Proper compensation structure should
be present in the company pay policy. With the changing trend effective communication between
employee and employer needs to be present. Currently supervisor gives the feedback of the employee
and the other way around does not happen . 360 feedback should be present. HR department should
also undergo training to know the current trend in the industry. Lot of time of HR is spent in recruitment
process.Technology can be used to make application selection quick and efficient. Employee
development program is not working properly as supervisor have been slack in doing assessment . HR
Managers need to collaborate with supervisor and performance of supervisor should also be evaluated
on the basis of their assessment. Employee in the HR team should be increased. Trainers as well as HR
managers are understaffed . This impact skill of employee and their requirement in other department.