Employee attraction challenges
Outline the key challenges and issue of HRM while attracting and retaining the workforce in public retail sector.
The main objective of this task is to outline the key challenges and issue of HRM while attracting and retaining the workforce in public retail sector. It talks about the ways that HRM uses to attract employees towards the company and the retention issues that becomes a challenge for the company to continue the interest of the employees. It provides recommendation to solve the issues and suggest ways to overcome the issues. It explains that how the challenges and issues that can occur in the organization. The strategies followed by the human resource department gives a clear view to the organization to run the business and earn good amount of profits. The paper explains the role and significance of human resource management within the organization.
After the various studies, it has been found by Horwitz (2011) that attracting and retaining are most of important and effective functions for the public retail sector in order to provide unique products and services to the customers. In today’s era, there are various key challenges are being encountered by the company while hiring and retaining the employees. The attraction of employees is one of the major issues that HRM has to face in today’s competitive world. The issues relate to the improper working of the business and ineffective implementation of strategies. The bad functioning of HR becomes one of the major reasons why the human resource department finds it difficult to facilitate the growth in the business (Horwitz, 2011).
The problem of attracting the employees is also because the human resource department fails in fulfilling the expectations of the employees. They are unable to satisfy them by not giving them the desired pay of their work, not giving them bonus and incentives, etc. This makes their working an irresponsible activity and they are therefore unable to attract the employees towards business. Employees function for the betterment of the company. They are the essential guide in the retail sector. They do not follow proper strategies planned by the professionals of the industry and therefore they are unable to meet the requirements of its workers. It is one of the significant issue in employees attraction and hiring that could affect the success of the firm (York, 2010).
Cheese (2010) stated that the improper use of technology can also be a reason for employee’s unwillingness. They cannot understand the working of the systems used by the companies. This discourages them and employees are no further interested in working for the company. It has been noted by Pilbeam & Corbridge (2010) that HRM does not provide proper wages and salaries to the workers in public retail sector therefore it increases attraction and hiring issues in the workplace. Proper planning is not done by the retail sector therefore the employees are not interested to join the company. Improper planning, therefore, causes repulsion in the workers (Nickson, 2013). The retail sector is unable to appoint qualified and talented candidates due to lack of proper planning and strategies. There is intense competition present in the marketplace for effective and unique workforce. Due to lack of knowledge and skills, the managers are unable to prepare the employees for doing work in an effective and efficient manner. Ample of vacancies and opportunities are being provided by the competitors, Therefore, various issues related to the workforce are dealt by the retail sector. High and effective recruitment cost is another issue for the public retail sector that affects the profitability and revenue of the firm.
Retention issues
It has been stated by Ehnert, Harry & Zink (2013) that stereotyping is other issue that is entertained by the company while working in the public retail sector. Cultural and diversity issues are also faced by the mangers and leaders at the workplace. It has been noted that top management and leaders do not provide motivation to the workers at the workplace (Renwick, Redman & Maguire, 2013). One of the major issues that undergone in the retail sector is learning and development that put the direct impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers (Larsen, 2017). It may also influence the long term objectives and goals of the firm. Effective training and development sessions, seminars and programs are not held by the top management hence it affects the mission and vision of the firm adversely. Along with this, health and safety act and standards are not followed by the public retail sector therefore ample of attracting and retaining issues related to the workforce are encountered by the top management (Boselie, 2010). Globalization is another significant challenge that could have direct impact on the performance and outcomes of the firm and employees as well. Brewster, Chung & Sparrow (2016) revealed that leadership is the biggest and leading challenge for the HRM in the workplace. The company is unable to supervise the activities and operations of the workers due to poor leadership at the workplace. Due to lack of leadership, the public retail sector is failed to appoint new candidates within the organization. Change management is the biggest threat for the personnel management and it also affects the recruitment and selection process. Constantly changes within the organization could have direct impact on the productivity of the firm. Along with this, the public retail sector is unable to use effective and unique policies, practices and strategies to attract large number of applicant towards the organization. It also affects the goodwill and financial position of the firm negatively Ehnert, Harry & Zink (2013).
Apart from the attracting issues, there are various retention issues that are being dealt by the HRM in public retail sector. One of the significant issues that faced by the retail sector is compensation and reward system. The company is failed to provide good and attractive incentives, bonus, and compensation packages to the existing employees. Therefore, they decide to change the job or employment. Besides this, managerial and organizational change is also biggest issue for the public retail sector. Training and development is an effective and significant issue for the workforce in the retail sector. As a result, it could affect the productivity and effectiveness of the firm (Guest, 2011).
Training and development challenges
It has been noted by Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, Andrade & Drake (2009), the retail industry has vacancies most of the times. This is due to the reason that the workers here do not prefer to stay and hence end up changing their jobs. Getting a job in retail industry is not that difficult if a person has the ability to attract the customers and some basic skills. But these candidates do not stay in the company for long. Retaining an employee in retail sector is a difficult task. The retail sector has a major issue related to retention because of the boring job environment and the repetitive work given to the employees. There is no security for the employees. Another reason is that there is no fixed schedule. The employer can be asked to work anytime of the day. Hence this makes it problematic for them. The retention problem also arises because the retail sector does not provide any opportunity for growth. Only the skills of the employee are used and no excellence is gained by them. The workers do not see any benefits and hence avoid such industry after working for short time period. Due to these increasing situations, the retail sector finds it tough to stay in the market. It becomes really hard to attract the candidates who are customer centric. The employees with long term commitment are not easy to find (Chen & Huang, 2009).
According to Kehoe & Wright (2013), the Employee turnover will always be an issue for some industries. However if there is an excessive turnover then it can affect the efficiency of the company. By making some changes in the policies of organization including some perks can sharply reduce the number of employees who leave the business. The HRM of these industries have to find out attractive ways which are innovative to recruit the employees and to retain them as well. They should recognize that it is high time. They have to give the priority to the worker and staff members over their targets (Farndale, Scullion & Sparrow, 2010). Ultimately these people will help the industry grow and they are the number one assets of any company. The HRM should keep in mind their responsibility towards the employees and listening to their problems (Subramony, 2009). The retention of employees means keeping the employees in the company by indulging them in various tasks. The factor of retention can be a positive as well as an issue for the company. The HRM is responsible for retaining its employees at the workplace. This can be seen as an issue as well as a solution for the company. Retaining the same employees and not hiring the new ones can deprive them from new opportunities and hence it can become an issue for HRM to maintain harmonized environment. The issues can be overcome by the HRM by facilitating the growth of the employees and by fulfilling their requirements. In order to retain its employees in the working for the retail companies they have to effectively manage the business by focusing on the issues of employees as an individual (Shen, Chanda, D’netto & Monga, 2009).
Leadership and change management challenges
Messersmith & Guthrie (2010) stated that key issues generally raised in the retention of the employees are because of the background, class, gender, etc. It is one of the significant issues in HRM that dealt by the firm. The attracting and retaining issues of the employees can be a biggest issue for the Human Resource Department. To retain the employees in the company is an important task for the human resource department. They have to plan proper strategies to stop them in leaving the company. The issues raised due to retention become a downfall for the company. It can lose the best employees of the company. Therefore to manage these retention issues is not an easy task. The responsibility is therefore given to the HR department as they have professionals who can restrain the workers from leaving the business (Laumer, Eckhardt & Weitzel, 2010).
It shall be noted that public retail sector entertains ample of attracting and retaining issue while working in the firm. There are enormous ways and strategies that can be used by the retail sector to handle and eliminate these issues. The main reason that an employee thinks of switching the company is that they do not find the salary according to the work they do and also that could not maintain the work-life balance. This gives them stress with which they cannot deal with. The company should motivate and encourage these employees by providing motivation and encouragement to them. In retail industry, the workers have to do continuous work as they have to attract customers. They should promote their product or any service to huge number of people for making profits and generate more revenue. The retail sector should promote the workers for performing tasks and duties effectively so that they do not think of moving to another organization. To decrease the employee turnover rate for organization is a big achievement. The basic needs of the employees such as salary, some incentives in form of health insurance, holiday packages, payment appraisal, flexible work timings and many more like these things should be fulfilled to make happy them at the workplace.
If the organization will take care of its workers then it will definitely see the raise in its productivity and turnover. Providing life insurance, incentives like travelling charges, mobile bills given by company will not only attract the employee but will also make them stay there. Moreover, providing free accommodation and food will make employees more willing to stay in the organization. These perks are appealing and they should definitely be the part of organization. Also, the company should provide small perks to the workers. For example, half days or holidays on Fridays, picnics or meetings held at some fancy restaurant, gifts and rewards on the basis of the performance, even holiday packages could be sponsored for them. Through these bonuses, the workers can manage their lives in a much better way. In the retail sector, the company can take all these small steps and it will make their company more preferable over other companies in their field.
Compensation and reward system challenges
Another way to attract and retain the employee is to give them the responsibilities that allow them to grow over a period of time. No one would like to work in a company that provides no growth. Any candidate joins a company which provides them both personal and professional growth. The retail sector companies can give the employees different kind of challenging works and situations. This will maintain their interest and they will find it more relevant to remain in that company. It will help to attract wide range of employees towards the organization. Providing promotions to the workers according to their performance, giving hike in the salaries etc. are major factors that play an important role in retaining of employees. Tarique & Schuler (2010) revealed that HRM should maintain diversity at the workplace to attract and retain ample of candidates within the organization.
The next way that an organization should follow is to have a dedicated human resource team that continuously takes care of the employee and any problems they face. The HR manager should be efficient in his works and they should regularly communicate with the employees. The communication should not only be about work but also personal. This is helpful in a situation where employees are remotely located and they belong to different cultures and backgrounds. A friendly HR will help in making personal connections between the workers by arranging meetings. A positive environment should be in the organization and this healthy environment is a key factor in long term commitment of the employee towards the company. Another major concern is the work-life balance which employees find very difficult to maintain. The retail sector companies should lower the stress of overwork on the employees and help them in achieving the life they want. This could be through offering non-traditional work routines, for example, a compacted work week, strategic scheduling or additional holidays. This will help the employer as the productivity is increased. All these recommendations will somehow make the company grow. It will be helpful in making the work more efficient and effective. These will definitely be beneficial to both the employee and the employer.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it has been concluded that retail sector faces ample of challenges during its operations. The main issue to handle large workforce and retaining them in the company is properly elaborated. Having proper retention strategies are must for the business. To make a company more famous and well known in its sector, the key role is played by the employee turnover rate. The above analysis shows that how HRM plays an empirical role to attract and retain the workforce in a large extent. At the end, various suggestions have been given to handle and control these issues and challenges at the workplace.
References
Boselie, P. (2010). Strategic human resource management: A balanced approach. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Brewster, C., Chung, C., & Sparrow, P. (2016). Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.
Cheese, P. (2010). Talent management for a new era: what we have learned from the recession and what we need to focus on next. Human Resource Management International Digest, 18(3), 3-5.
Chen, C. J., & Huang, J. W. (2009). Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance—The mediating role of knowledge management capacity. Journal of business research, 62(1), 104-114.
Ehnert, I., Harry, W., & Zink, K. J. (Eds.). (2013). Sustainability and human resource management: Developing sustainable business organizations. Springer Science & Business Media.
Farndale, E., Scullion, H., & Sparrow, P. (2010). The role of the corporate HR function in global talent management. Journal of world business, 45(2), 161-168.
Guest, D. E. (2011). Human resource management and performance: still searching for some answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), 3-13.
Horwitz, F. M. (2011). Future HRM challenges for multinational firms in Eastern and Central Europe. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(4), 432-443.
Kehoe, R. R., & Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), 366-391.
Larsen, H. H. (2017). Key issues in training and development. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 107-121). Routledge.
Laumer, S., Eckhardt, A., & Weitzel, T. (2010). Electronic human resources management in an e-business environment. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 11(4), 240.
Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Lengnick-Hall, C. A., Andrade, L. S., & Drake, B. (2009). Strategic human resource management: The evolution of the field. Human resource management review, 19(2), 64-85.
Messersmith, J. G., & Guthrie, J. P. (2010). High performance work systems in emergent organizations: Implications for firm performance. Human resource management, 49(2), 241-264.
Nickson, D. (2013). Human resource management for hospitality, tourism and events. Routledge.
Pilbeam, S., & Corbridge, M. (2010). People resourcing and talent planning: HRM in practice. Prentice Hall.
Renwick, D. W., Redman, T., & Maguire, S. (2013). Green human resource management: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(1), 1-14.
Shen, J., Chanda, A., D’netto, B., & Monga, M. (2009). Managing diversity through human resource management: An international perspective and conceptual framework. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(2), 235-251.
Subramony, M. (2009). A meta?analytic investigation of the relationship between HRM bundles and firm performance. Human resource management, 48(5), 745-768.
Tarique, I., & Schuler, R. S. (2010). Global talent management: Literature review, integrative framework, and suggestions for further research. Journal of world business, 45(2), 122-133.
York, K. M. (2010). Applied human resource management: Strategic issues and experiential exercises. Sage.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
