Human Resource Management and Recruitment

Sainsbury’s PLC is planning to undergo re-engineering/ change in their organisational structure in the aim to improve their service and in return boost their sales. This report will analyse the human resource management, discuss the difference from managing and leading, operation management and how management should handle any change to see what can be changed to help the growth of the company.

Sainsbury’s was founded in 1869 and therefore has been in operation for over 146 years and is a leading provider of groceries in the United Kingdom (Sainsbury plc. ,2017). Sainsbury’s started asa single small shop by a couple named John James Sainsbury and his wife Mary Alan in Holborn, London. However it has now rapidly grown to have over 1200 stores through the UK, selling everything from groceries to electronics. It is the second largest supermarket after Tesco (Market leader) with a market share of 16.9% in 2015 (Denton, 2016). According to Sainsbury’s about us page they employ around 161,000 staff who carry out various activities to make the operation run smoothly. Last year they had made £681 million profit before tax, with a basic profit per share of 26.4p. Every week Sainsbury’s estimates that they have 24.5 million transactions weekly (Sainsbury plc. ,2017). Competitors of Sainsbury’s as well as Tesco are Asda and cheaper alternatives such as Aldi, Lidl and Morissons.

Figure 1: Shows the market share of supermarkets in 2014 and 2015 

The diagram above shows that in 2015 and 2014 Tesco has been the market leaders with the largest market share. Sainsbury’s and Asda have similar market share and have both grown to the same market share of 17.1% in 2015. This shows that Sainsbury’s closest rival is Asda followed by Tesco.

One way management can help them gain market share is by implementing change and this report will look at how management can improve.

Within any organisation, the Human Resource department plays a very significant role, acting as the heartbeat of operations; the lifeblood of activities.  Determining the link between organisational analysis and recruitment is essential as it helps to identify Human Resources significant contributing factors to business success, or in this case, Sainsbury’s.

Human Resources are essential to Sainsbury’s performance for many reasons. One of which is obtaining employees. Human Resources contributes to Sainsbury’s business success by working closely with managers to encourage good hiring decisions, helping to obtain the right employees who possess the skills needed to meet the aims and objectives effectively and efficiently. This ultimately helps to improve the productivity and the overall quality of the work within Sainsbury’s work force, thus providing a better service to consumers.

Managing and Leading

Secondly, organisational analysis helps to identify the performance of those employees, while also identifying ways in which Sainsbury’s Human Resource department can motivate workers, ultimately leading to higher productivity and business success. Furthermore, motivating employees is a great method of employee retention; another contributing factor to the success of Sainsbury’s.

Thirdly, Human Resources is vital to the development of employees. Offering training and developing employees already existent within the organisation is a great method of helping Sainsbury’s grow; an activity otherwise known as internal recruiting. This method is effective as not only does it offer employees opportunities to climb the organisational ladder, but it is also a cost effective method for Sainsbury’s to fill vacant roles within its organisational structure. Additionally, internal recruitment can also prove to be a successful motivational tool, another significant contributing factor to Sainsbury’s success.

Safety is also a common concern among employees. Offering a safe and comfortable working environment for all employees is also a factor that Sainsbury’s human resources contributes towards business success. Identifying and managing risk is essential in ensuring that all tasks within the organisation are being carried out professionally and effectively, while risk for employees and customers alike is kept at a bare minimum, ultimately improving Sainsbury’s brand image.

Organisations confer a degree of authority upon their managers, so they can lead. However, this does not guarantee effective leadership. Organizations require effective leadership as well as management to achieve organisational success. In the modern workplace, we require leaders which challenge the status quo and inspire employees, whilst also requiring managers which assist in the development and maintenance of order and continuity. There is on-going disagreement regarding the difference between leadership and management. Not all managers exercise leadership, nor do all leaders manage. It is a common misconception that any individual in a managerial position is also a leader. Some researchers claim that despite management and leadership overlapping, the two roles are not synonymous (Bass, 2010). The extent of this overlap is undoubtedly a point of disagreement amongst researchers (Yukl, 2010). 

The first person to explore this subject was Abraham Zaleznik, with his ground-breaking article published in the Harvard Business Review in 1977. He states that although both leaders and managers do make valuable contribution to an organization, their contributions differ. He claims that leaders advocate and consequently instigate change, whereas managers ensure stability and efficiency. Furthermore, Leadership pertains to the understanding of an individual’s opinions/values and gaining their commitment, whereas managers uphold responsibilities, exercise authority and concern themselves with the accomplishment of tasks. More recently, John Kotter (1996) proposes that leadership and management are two distinct, yet complementary approaches. He states that leadership involves the process of coping with change, whereas management concerns coping with complexity. Additionally, leadership involves firstly creating a vision for the organization; Secondly, aligning other individuals with this vision via communication; Thirdly, instigating action amongst others through inspiration caused by empowerment and basic need fulfilment. 

Motivational Theories and Employee Engagement

It is evident that both effective leadership and management are crucial to organisational success as they both directly relate to influencing the individuals within an organisation. The ability to influence employees is paramount to modifying their behaviours to achieve organisational objectives. Effective influencing can result in progressive employee behaviour, which will result in improved performance and consequently, positive organisational change. Therefore, it is justifiable to conclude that they are both essential to organisational performance, and they both depend on being able to influence others. 

Sainsbury’s is a decentralised organisation and this has resulted in an enhanced growth rate and more engagement from the employees. The democratic style adapted by Sainsbury’s has meant that the subordinates are involved in the decision making process. This means that Sainsbury’s leads its employees however doing so can may make the decision making slow which makes implementing new strategies more difficult. 

Motivational theories attempt to explain what motivates people to behave in a certain way. Motivation can be described as an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994)

Motivational theories can be applied to workplace settings to uncover why some employees are harder workers or are more committed than others, which can lead managers to understand how to motivate each employee to perform at peak levels. Successful application of motivational theories in the workplace is vital for the improvement of leadership skills.

Gauging the intrinsic motivation of Sainsbury’s employees will determine whether McGregor’s Theory X or Theory Y is more appropriate for the company. Theory X sets forth the premise that employees are inherently averse to working, and must be continually motivated by external sources. Theory Y sets forth the opposite premise, stating that employees are internally driven to succeed at projects that truly interest them (Anon, 2017).

Some statistics and facts from past achievements will be useful in the determination process.

These facts can be used as a framework or base point for further improvement of employees’ motivation and satisfaction which in turn will deliver better performance at the workplace. For example when 75% of employees said that Sainsbury’s is a great place to work it means that they would enjoy working there and can potentially fall under theory Y category where they enjoy and want Sainsbury’s to do well.

The company also should continue its support to Business in the Community (BITC) with their Race at Work survey. It is a valuable source of over 24,000 responses from across the UK, including over 4,000 from Sainsbury’s colleagues – the results of this survey will help the company build on action plans and understand how can help colleagues, from all backgrounds enjoy career progression with the company.  (J-sainsbury.co.uk, 2017). 

Operations Management

Looking at the facts and past achievement above, also the company’s commitment to improve on its workforce, it can be stated that Sainsbury’s is consistently monitoring and trying to engage with its employees. This in turn allows the company to be more interactive and aware about its presence. Maintaining positive culture should be priority and this can be achieved through continuous implementation of the incentives that the company already does, but also to have particular attention to the personal recognition aspect of the employees and thus enhance their internal motivation as theory Y states. 

Operations function exists in every organisation. Operations management is how goods and services are produced by the organisations by managing their resources. According to Slack et al. (2010), operations management is the activities, decisions and responsibilities of managing the production and delivery of products and services. From private to public sector, it is the core discipline of management. This can be done by implementing processes and systems that are repeatable, consistent and reliable. In Sainsbury, people are designated to manage processes as operations is a major functional area which determines how well Sainsbury’s satisfy its customers.

The first step is to understand the transformation system to achieve a process-based and efficient organisation. Boddy, A (2014), defines the transformation process as the operational system that takes all of the inputs; raw materials, information, facilities, capital and people and converts them into an output product to be delivered to the market. In order to deliver services or make products, majority of organisations invest their financial and human resources in those activities. For an organisations success, operations management is therefore critical. 

The aim of operations is to enhancing organizations position within the market which is led by various managers. For instance, management-strategy-evaluation (MSE) is used by Sainsbury to enhance the effectiveness of operations management. “The MSE approach involves selecting (operational) management objectives, specifying performance measures, specifying alternative management strategies, and evaluating these using simulation.” (Sainsbury et al, 2000). Conservation of fisheries is enabled by Sainsbury through an eco-system plan.

Operations Management contributes to Sainsbury’s competitiveness in the following way:

According to Pycraft (2000), Strategies that are developed by the board of directors have to be supported by the process of operations management. As stated in Sainsbury plc. (2011), logistics operations are made as efficient as possible by linking the right stores geographically to the right depots, reducing transport miles

Conclusion

At the end of every operation, operations management has to realised Sainsbury’s strategies through resources. The job of cutting costs and ensuring appropriate production process is with the operations management.

Operations management ensures the position of end products and services against its competitors. Through processes such as green, sustainability etc, products and services are delivered. Sainsbury positions its products and services through differentiation. For instance, Tesco sells similar products but through differentiation strategy such as focus on price, and other details to make it unique to gain profits.

Varying customer demands is focused by the business through effective operations management. As Sainsbury have a wide range of products and customers with different tastes and preferences. A blanket strategy has to be developed and implemented to target them to the right consumers. The management of operations from production until delivery to consumers is up to the operations management team to ensure high value of products through quality and positioning.

Volume: Less money for more food

Variety: Varying products in different tastes

Variation: on-site, online and delivery services

Visibility: Shelf positioning and labeling of products makes it easier for customers to spot which is same online.

On 31^st July 2015, Helen Buck stepped down as business development officer and was replaced by John Rogers. John Rogers prior to this was the chief financial officer and has now expanded to be the business development officer. The role of a business development job executive is to help find ways in which the organisation, he or she works for, can expand the business (Job Telegraph, 2015). John has been part of the board since 2010 and therefore knows the business well. He was appointed in the hope to influence change in the group’s strategy, Sainsbury’s online, mobile by Sainsbury’s and new businesses. This change would bring about new ideas and methods of how Sainsbury’s can expand as a brand. From the statement from Chairman and Chief Executive John seems to be the right person for the job who can bring about the necessary changes that will boost the performance of Sainsbury’s. (J Sainsbury, 2015)

The issues management may have with the change is that the new executive, John, may have a different way of implementing change compared to Helen Buck. When it comes to change the success depends on how it is managed. In this case when a business grows then it changes the business process, some employees would be accept these changes, however there will be some who are not happy or satisfied with such change. Management would therefore have issues with keeping the majority satisfied. One way they can overcome any issues before they rise is by consulting with employees prior to implementing a new strategy.

Another problem with changing the business development officer is that it can potentially affect the structure. John Rogers may want to change who reports to him so that his department works as efficiently as possible. As mentioned earlier John is already part of the organisation and can recommend to the board to change managers under him. In order to overcome this management should be considerate of John’s decision but is more important that John does not change too much that management start to not like him.

Sainsbury’s is creating specialist digital and technology jobs in order to improve the experience and make shopping more convenient and intuitive for customers.

In order to minimise risk Sainsbury’s they have a risk management process. One of the things they do is ‘game-changer and horizon scanning risk workshops are held annually to focus on external and unknown risks. Key themes and outputs from these are reviewed by the Operating Board and the potential impact on key risks is discussed’ (J Sainsbury PLC, 2016).

Sainsbury’s structure is a Tall structure as large and complex organisations often require such hierarchy (https://smallbusiness.chron.com/tall-vs-flat-organizational-structure-283.html). This means that every member would be part of teams with the aim to achieve specific goals. The benefit of such structure is they have the assurance that others will help them if they are unsure of anything as they all want the same outcome. However employees feel that they are low down in the hierarchy and will feel that they cannot communicate with people at the top which is due to the long chain of command. The hierarchal structure also causes division on the status of employees, employees lower down of the structure could feel like they are not valued. For example managers are given longer holidays then normal shop assistants and are treated better by Sainsbury PLC.

In order to overcome such issues Sainsbury’s’ can treat all employees equally and give bonuses or incentives for employees that exceed their personal targets. Another way they can overcome the issues of tall structure is to have an efficient communication system where employees lower down the chain can raise issues faster to those higher up the chain.

All these can be controlled by managing change. Change can be the objective, technology, business process, financial resource, structure, people, culture or power. These changes no matter how small or big can be managed in order to the negative impact it has of carefully monitored. 

Conclusion

In conclusion we believe when any organisation is planning for a re-engineering or change in any form it needs to consider how key roles would be affected by the change.

Motivation is an important factor to consider when there is change as employees may feel demotivated by change and vice-versa. Sainsbury’s is known well for consistently monitoring and trying to improve their employees in decisions. From the work ethic of Sainsbury’s majority of employees would fall in theory Y category which means that they will want to achieve their goals and often believe the firms’ goal is their goal. This means that motivation can be affected by change within the organisation. This can be avoided by involving employees in the re-engineering process.

When looking at change it is important to look at Sainsbury’s and weather they go for a management strategy or leadership strategy. Currently Sainsbury’s has a decentralised structure; however when they make change in the organisation it may be more efficient to centralise decision and therefor opt for the management strategy as it is more controlled. 

By management of resources under controlled conditions, good and services are produced by Sainsbury. Understanding the Transformational system which turns input to output is crucial to operate in an efficient and ethical way. Operation management also helps Sainsbury to add value by supporting the organisational strategy, help position its products, and meet customer demands. It not only helps Sainsbury utilise resources but also helps to provide excellent customer service. 

All these can be controlled by managing the change. Change can be occur in the objective, technology, business process, financial resource, structure, people, culture or power. These changes no matter how small or big can be managed in order to minimise the negative impact it can have on the business if it can be managed efficiently.  

Introduction to the business context enhances the preconceived knowledge of the readers in terms of the basic business processes that is carried out but the companies and organizations including Sainsbury PL. Herein, lays the appropriateness of the provision of an in-depth insight into the company profile of Sainsbury at the beginning of the report.

• 75% of colleagues voted Sainsbury’s as a great place to work in a 2014/15 survey
• £7.36 is the new hourly rate for Sainsbury’s employees, which is above the National Living Wage and the current National Minimum Wage
• 133,000 colleagues shared £50 million in bonuses
• 1^st food retailer to be awarded Gold accreditation by Investors in People in 2010.

Along with this, the statistical presentation of the current position of the company helps in analysing the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed changes in terms of the identified and the specified business requirements. Viewing it from the other perspectives, the statistical presentation projects the competition that exists between Sainsbury and the other contemporary brands, such as ASDA, Morrison’s among others.

Hiring rightful and desirable candidates is one of the specialities of Sainsbury, which reflects the true essence of human resource management. Within this, one of an essential component is the provision of training to the employees. Provision of adequate and sufficient motivation and encouragement to the employees, by the managers, result in the production of corporate minds. The major drive behind this is the effective and judicious utilization of the provided workplace by the employees. Ensuring the safety of the workers provides a higher platform to Sainsbury in terms of corporate social responsibility.

Another component within the human resource management is the aspect of leadership. The interactive nature of the democratic management style proves the appropriateness of the adopted changes. As a matter of specification, involvement of the employees in the decision-making process results in their professional development. Exposure of conscious and rational approach towards the organizational issues helps the personnel to emerge as a leader amidst the workplace professionalism. Motivation is an important component within leadership. Theoretical approach towards the provision of motivation enlivens the way in which the managers prepare the employees for their future lives.

Application of the business tool of value chain analysis in the transformation process maintains the equilibrium between the supply and demand. This maintenance adds value to the unit of sales operation for Sainsbury. Application of effective management techniques helps the personnel of Sainsbury to track the progress in terms of the specified business requirements and the competitive ambience of the market. If the earlier two sentences are combined, the relation between sales operation and management is projected. Beautification of the internal environment is a gradual progression towards penetration into the external environment. This beautification aligns with the flexibility and adaptability, which is needed for adopting the proposed changes. Herein, lays the appropriateness of the 4V’s that upgrade the management of business operations for Sainsbury.

Adopting means, such as feedback, survey and social media makes the Sainsbury personnel aware of the customer approaches towards the levied services. Regular surfing of these sites would bring to the forefront the drawbacks, which needs to be rectified with spontaneity and eagerness. Conscious attitude towards the execution of evaluation would upgrade the managerial parameter of Sainsbury, which is crucial for sustaining the earned position within the competitive ambience of the market. This sustainability would enhance the reputational status of Sainsbury.

Further ways of improvement in this aspect will be the implementation of the following:

• Providing work opportunities and access to jobs for those who face barriers to the workplace.
• Commitment to exceeding the National Living Wage proposal and addressing the gender pay gap.
• Understanding the colleagues better than anyone else and engage colleagues in the long term success of the business.
• Commitment to invest in industry leading training and development for all of company’s workers.  

References

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Sainsbury, K.J., Punt, A.E, & Smith A.D.M., (2000) Design of operational management strategies for achieving fishery ecosystem objectives. Journal of Marine Sciences, 57, 731-741. 

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