Explanation of Corporate Environment: Roles & Responsibilities of the HR function & Its Contribution to Organizational Success



Explanation of Corporate Environment: Roles & Responsibilities of the HR function & Its Contribution to Organizational Success

Introduction

The first way we have to understand what the human resources management is in the modern society. Human resource management (HRM) is a relatively modern label for the range of themes and practices involved in managing people. It is defined and described in a variety of ways. Human resources management includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually new business owners have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have and are aware of personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Discussion

Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) is a leading retailer of clothing, foods and home ware in the UK. The company operates in about 41 countries worldwide with UK as its primary market. It is headquartered in London, UK and employs about 75,000 people.

The company recorded revenues of £9,022 million (approximately $18,113 million) during the financial year (FY) ended March 2008, an increase of 5.1% over 2007. The operating profit of the company was £1,211.3 million (approximately $2,431.9 million) during FY2008, an increase of 15.8% over 2007. The net profit was £821.7 million (approximately $1,649.7 million) in FY2008, an increase of 24.5% over 2007.

Addition, human resources management refers to the activities of the plan, organizing, commanding, controlling and coordination that the respect carry on of obtaining, developing, keeping and utilizing to human resources. In the context of Marks & Spencer human resources management comes from two respects

1. To human resources external: accounting to human and material resources changing, carry on appropriate training, organizes and coordinating to human, make they often keep best proportion and organic combination, make person and material resources fully give play to the best effect.

2. To human resources internal: mainly use the modern scientific method, thought of people, people's psychology and behaviors carry on effective management. Make people able to give full play to the initiative, thus achieve the purpose of organizing.

Background Information on the Organisation

Marks and Spencer (M&S) was founded in 1884 as a stall in an open market in Leeds, UK. Then known as Marks' Penny Bazaar, it was the household goods, haberdashery, toy, and sheet-music business of Michael Marks, a Jewish refugee from Poland. In 1894, he took Thomas Spencer as a business partner. In 1903, M&S was registered as a private limited company. Although a clothing design department had ...