Executive Summary
The importance of the quality of employees to an organization’s mission, vision and objectives cannot be jettison, due to the fact that, it takes quality, efficient and well trained employees to achieve the goals and objectives of an organization. Sustainability ranks high among the issue most organizations are concerned about, which involves the ability of an organization to achieve its short-term goals and objectives and more importantly, optimize its shareholders’ value, by placing much emphasis on merging environmental, political, social and economical opportunities into its strategic objectives. It is important to establish the fact that no organization is greater than its employees. There are several laws that explicitly explain the significance of a quality human resource to the strategic moves of organizations. The quality of strategy notwithstanding, if there are no adequate, efficient and effective employees to execute such strategic moves, such strategies are doomed for failure. In this report, the focus of the paper will be on the recruitment and selection process, and also the training scheme designed by organizations to achieving success in their organizational pursuit, essentially using McDonalds as a case study.
Introduction
The recent trend in the global economy and the fierceness of competition in the global business terrain require every organization that will survive this moment to put in place a virile and efficient Human Resource Management policies and practices (Adair, 2006). The ultimate success of any organization largely depends on the quality of its employees and more importantly the human resource management system operational in the organization. One of the difficulties associated with the study of human resource management (HRM) is the broad range of ideas and techniques encompassed within it, which has resulted in a failure to provide one common interpretation of this study area (Howe, 1995). However, for the purpose of this research and report, a definition will be adopted to properly channel the discussion in the right perspective.
Human resource management for profit as well as non-profit organisation involves job analysis, planning employee needs, interviewing and selection, induction and training, redundancy selection and cessation, wages and salary negotiation, employee performance evaluation, leadership, settlement of organizational disputes, communication with employee etc. These elements outlined in the definition are designed to align and encapsulate the organisation’s goals, objectives, strategic vision and mission. The focus for this report will be limited to the process of recruiting, selecting and training of employees and its impact on an organization’s success, using McDonalds as a case study. More recently the term human resource management has become more frequent, replacing in many organizations the more traditional personnel management label. Human resource management functions revolve essentially around organizational purposes. The goals, objectives and strategic vision of the organization are the basis upon which the human resource management plans, policies and processes are built. It is imperative for the functions of HRM to align with the purpose statement of the organization. Human Resource management functions involve alignment of HR and business strategy, re-engineering organization processes, listening and responding to employees, and managing transformation and change (Dave, 1996).
Literature Review
The subject of Human Resource Management has experienced in recent times an enormous increase in its knowledge areas due to the numerous research papers written on the subject. As a consequence, I have chosen to carefully and strategically select the available literatures on the subject by adopting the systematic literature review approach, to give this report a sense of richness in quality in terms of the theories and practices that are being reviewed. According to the research conducted by Mazur Barbara, 2014 on “Sustainable Human Resource Management in theory and practice” which establishes the significance of the HRM process on the achievement of organizational goals and objectives, essentially integrating the economic, political and social opportunities to its long-term goals, thereby achieving the optimization of its shareholder value. The research established four fundamental factors that must be critically analyzed for an organization to experience sustainable development. These factors include; strategic HRM, sustainable HRM, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and Sustainable Work System. Strategic and Sustainable HRM are critical and fundamental factors which affects every other factor that can lead to sustainable development in an organization. The impact of HRM process and methodology, on the organizational innovation is the focus of the research conducted by Cheng Ling Tan and Aizzat Mohd Nasurdin, 2011, titled “Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Innovation: Assessing the Mediating Role of Knowledge Management Effectiveness”. The paper establishes three levels of innovation which includes; process innovation, product innovation and administrative innovation, which are core and centre competence and functions of the HRM. The HRM is saddle with the recruitment, training, performance appraisal, career management and reward system. The research further state the inter-relationship between process, product and administrative innovation, and the elements of the HRM practices, which are, recruitment and selection, training, performance appraisal, career management and reward system. The transition to knowledge management methodology against the traditional management model is the focus of the research conducted by Zehra Alakoc Burma, 2014. The research explicitly established the significant role of effective HRM procedures in achieving organizational goals and objectives amidst strong competition in the business terrain. The research also explains the scope of HRM which is a pertinent factor in understanding the application of its theories and conceptual frameworks. It further exposes the challenges HRM practices encounter when implementing its methodical approaches to organizational issues. The paper concluded on the connection between an efficient human resource management practice and the achievement of an organization goals and objectives.
Theories and Concepts
Human resource strategy is based on the performance of the organization. Employees are the most important resource in an organization. Organizations which manage well the change are the ones that put together the organization policies and the strategic change process (Scholes, 1992).
There are quite some models associated with an organization. For instance
• The Fombrum, Tichy and Davanna model
• The Harvard model
• The Warwick model
• Guest’s model etc
I will explain two models which are Harvard and guest’s model.
The Harvard model
According to the Harvard Model, HRM policies need to be formulated from the critical analysis of demand from the stakeholders and the current situational factors (Tim, 1995).
Employees are different and are very important to the organization. The employees operate many organizations or the stakeholders and the management is there to balance the income of every person. Havard model try’s to make clear why it’s important to articulate the HR policies with the business goals. It harmonizes the soft approach to employees and the stakeholders of the company.
Havard model explains using four areas which are a reward system, employee influences, human resource flow, and work systems.It also uses situational factors like the trade unions and labor markets. The effectiveness of the HRM is related to Commitment, Competence, Congruence and Cost-effectiveness. The model future explains that the employees are an asset to the company and not costly since they result in organization performance. Line managers in McDonald’s, are in charge of people while store managers deal with the daily running of the hard and soft approaches. Through the training programs, it’s clear that McDonald’s employees are an asset to the company.
Guests Model
David Guest is the one who developed these model using Havard model; he included four outcomes which later developed to the policy goals. The policy goals of the guest model are as follow;
• To integrate the strategy.
• Organization commitment.
• To ensure flexibility in the organization.
• To ensure there is quality in the organization.
Guests theory, is also included in McDonald’s policy, Guest believes the organization should target a high level of commitment from employees, produce quality products, continue improving the standards and ensure flexibility from staff.
There should not be a fixed job definitions, working practices and conditions should also seek strategic integration through HR policies. McDonald’s have improved working standards and provide their employees with flexible working times. Their line managers use HRM policies in conjunction with the strategic plans, changing employee roles in the organization. The culture should be acknowledged since every organization has different values, beliefs, and ideas on how they do their work.
McDonald’s articulated the contingency approach, by putting environmental culture in consideration. The contingency approach stated that different problems need a different solution. These approaches encourage the use of employees that come with the company means.It is also important for the organization to offer better appraisal which increases job opportunities for the employees.
Outline Case study- McDonalds
McDonald’s recruiting process goes on all through the year. They do both internal and external recruitment. Internal recruitment is the kind of recruitment whereby the company does its recruitment within the company, while external recruitment is done outside the company. They prefer to recruit their managers and assistant managers internally. This is because it will be easy and cheap to train them since they know much about the organization. Approximately 50% of McDonald’s managers were promoted from low-level positions within the company (Mcdonalds, 2016). When they are advertising a job vacancy, they prepare job description; describe the job title, department, location, the responsibilities, the job purpose, and duties. These will help the applicant to understand the kind of job he/she is applying for and whether or not they can handle it. When doing the recruitment, McDonald’s uses the application form, which is designed with questions to know the qualifications of the applicant. For instance, the knowledge, skills, and experience of the applicant are important factors that are considered during the selection process. Application forms fill-up and makes the answer to the question is the first step for the applicant at crew member level.
In the entire recruitment process, interview is the most important part in finding McDonald’s potential employee. They shortlist the candidates and invite them for a meeting with the area and store manager in their nearest branch. Through the face to face interview, through the interviews, the outcome will help the recruitment team to know more about the applicants and be able to choose the right one. For a crew member level interview is the second step for the applicant. When short listing the candidates they select a small number of applicants for the interview stage. The selecting process will continue until they have found the right number of candidates who qualify for the position advertised. From the selection process, the recruiting team will be able to differentiate between strong and weak candidates from the application list. After recruitment, McDonald’s inform the successful one through the phone or the email to attend the interview in the following week. A day induction for the new employees is then arranged, this aims to make him/her a long term staff. Training is another important practice of the HRM department of McDonald’s which is a critical factor in the achievement of any success by the organization. They immediately begin the training an hour after orientation. Each of their branches has a video player and training room. Step by step manuals and videotapes are played which contains every detail of the operation. McDonald’s is devoted to training and develop all their employees by providing them with career opportunities. Training is an ongoing process of all McDonald’s employees and it is also considered as everyone’s job, every day. According to the employer position, all employees receive induction training which is accompanied by a well-explained development program.When the initial training is completed, they are to pass one Observation Checklist in the particular area.
McDonald’s has 21 days of employment probation period. During the probation period, the employee performance is evaluated. They evaluate the work standards, personal attitude, teamwork efficiency, focus on customers and hygiene of the employee on probation. After completing the probation period, they must achieve a satisfactory remark. If they fail to meet the standards required by the employer they can be terminated at any time. It is paramount for the employee to work hard at these time to ensure they pass the performance evaluation and get retained by the McDonald’s.
Analysis
This part of the report will take a cursory look at the training, recruitment and planning process of the HRM practices of McDonald’s, viz-a-viz, the literature review, to analyze, evaluate and perhaps establish the role of dynamic HRM practice to the sustainable growth of McDonalds. The HRM practice and methodology of McDonalds have its pros and cons, in which it is imperative, for the strength identified during the analysis should be further optimized while the weaknesses should be deliberately mitigated.
Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment is a product of the dire need of the company. No organization kick starts the process of recruitment without a definite and specific need in the organization. As a consequence, prior to the recruitment process, the importance of stating the HRM plan which also embodies the organization’s strategic vision is imperative. McDonalds approach in the recruitment process begins with an internal appraisal and evaluation of its current employees, to determine if there is an employee who could take on the vacancy, if it is either a line manager or main manager position. As established by Aizzat Mohd Nasurdin, 2011, the innovativeness of McDonalds should be reflected from its HRM practice. As a result of this, it is highly pertinent for the organization to adopt a flexible method in the selection of its managers. Though, experiences might have shown that, the performance of managers who grew in the organization exceed those who are externally recruited. As established by Howe, 1995, that before a recruitment decision can be made, the organization must reflect upon any vacancy that occurs and link the decisions to the objectives set by the HR plan of the organization. The selection process utilized by McDonalds should be upgraded also. The use of online platforms in writing exams can also be adopted to test the intelligence quotient of the applicants. Limiting the selection process to the CVs or forms filled by applicants, seems too shady a process in the selection of quality employees. According to Mazur Barbara, 2014, the evaluation of the social, political, environmental and economic opportunities and the integration of the findings to the HRM practice will help McDonalds to achieve a sustainable development. The major practice of the McDonalds HRM methodology and procedures, is the time allotted for the probation of their incoming staffs. The 21 days probation period is very little to evaluate and appraise a staff before confirming such a staff as a permanent staff. The major areas in which the staff performance needs to be appraise should include: professional knowledge and qualifications, personality characteristics, and personal requirements. The last two parameters are very essential and crucial, because it determines the level of effectiveness to be anticipated from the employee. These two important criteria cannot be determined in 21 days. Therefore, the probation period should be increase to at least 90 days for effective evaluation before the decision for issuing a permanent staffing status to an employee.
Training and Development
Training is changing the skills, knowledge, attitude and behavior of employees. Training mainly focuses on and individual’s current job while development focuses on the future jobs in the organization. The aim of job training is to ensure that the employees are very effective in their work. Continuous training ensures that the employees gets the advanced level of job knowledge and make the employee economic. An ongoing evaluation training ensures that the employees training is up to date with the business demand. McDonalds training and development program is crucial in achieving 100% customer satisfaction, which the company aims to achieve.
Objectives of the Training and Development
McDonald’s plan training and development program for many reasons. For instance, training and development program may be introduced on the following grounds:
To increase job satisfaction and motivate employees, hence reducing absenteeism and labor turnover.
To reduce wastage and accident rates by gaining an excellent performance across the workforce. Through the training, the employee accidents and product wastage are reduced since they know what to do.
Develop the skills of the current employees to cope with labor shortages.
Come up with an effective and efficient working method to maximize productivity and remain competitive in the market.
To ensure the employees can use of new equipment and apply the new technology.
Achievement of the Training and Development
Training is the being of any success and McDonald’s think so. They immediately begin the training an hour after orientation. Each of their branches has a video player and training room. Step by step manuals and videotapes are played every detail of the operation. McDonald’s is devoted to training and develop all their employees and providing them with career opportunities. Training is an ongoing process of all McDonald’s employees it is everyone’s job, every day. According to the employer position, all employees receive induction training which is accompanied by a well-explained development program.When the initial training has been finished, they are to pass one Observation Checklist in the particular area.
McDonald’s has 21 days of employment probation period. During the probation period, the employee performance is evaluated. They evaluate the work standards, personal attitude, teamwork, focus on customers and hygiene of the employee on probation. After completing the probation period, they must achieve a satisfactory remark. If they fail to meet the standards required by the employer they can be terminated at any time. It is paramount for the employee to work hard at these time to ensure they pass the performance evaluated and get retained by the McDonald’s.
Conclusion
Human resource management is a very crucial and important part of management practice. It determines the quality and level of performance of any organization. No organization is greater than the quality of her human resources. The processes and systems put in place by the HRM department in terms of motivation, recruitment and selection processes determine the quality of personnel that will be attracted to the organization. It is absolutely imperative for any HRM department to ensure the legal and regulatory frameworks are in place for both its operations and particularly for the cessation of her employees. Most of the time poor performance leads to employee dismissal without finding out the cause of the poor performance. If the organization doesn’t monitor performance and reduce the wastage, the employees will lose interest. Employees need to be motivated to continue doing a good job hence producing quality work. Proper training and development are also crucial for an organization to get quality work from their employees. This is because the employees will know how to do what they are expected to do better. The organization should give the feedback of the employees work; these will encourage employees to be aware of their performance, hence working hard for better results. McDonald’s believe that if the employees are inefficient, the customers will not come back for more purchase, due to poor customer service from the incompetent employees. McDonald’s focus is therefore mainly on their employees since they are the main resource to achieve the company’s goals and objectives.
References
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