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Table of Contents
Numerous business functions are involved in operating a business. Such functions include accounting, logistics, and human resources as well as procurement. Nevertheless, the human resources function largely affects the success of the business mainly because it requires ardent managerial efforts. This capacity also requires businesses to put appropriate systems in place so as to facilitate efficient operations in the human resource (HR) department. This essay is an assessment of Gladwell Grocery Stores from this department’s perspective. It will discuss the identifiable issues in the corporation’s HR functions with a particular focus on one chosen parameter. This essay will also explain how the company can benefit from adopting a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) as well as how it can help address the identified problem in the HR department.
Background Information
Gladwell Grocery Stores is one of the largest players in the American food retail industry. The business has a total of ten stores located in the upstate New York. It has over four hundred employees who work running all of these stores. Out of them, 45% work on a full-time basis, while the rest are part-time employees. Despite the company’s operational success, the management of its employees has proven to be a challenge. The workers are managed by Mr. Bell, operations manager, who also acts as an HR manager. Given that the company is yet to adopt a Human Resource Information System (HRIS), the HR manager is forced to visit each store individually to handle hiring, recruiting, and scheduling activities as well as answer the questions of employees.
Business Assessment
Based on the manner in which the human resource functions are handled in Gladwell Grocery Stores, HR manager faces numerous challenges. Since the business operates in the retail industry, proper and efficient management of employees is vital for its success. However, it is impossible for Gladwell Grocery Stores, because it has close to four hundred workers who cannot be efficiently managed using the current system and without incurring increased costs. In addition, the contemporary managerial approach is not appropriate for managing both part-time and full-time employees. What is more, manual management of employees in the ever busy grocery store environment is not possible without the disruption of operations.
Identifiable Issues
There are several identifiable issues within Gladwell Grocery Stores, which may cause the performance of the business to decline. Firstly, the corporation does not have a well-defined method of appraisal and performance management. Secondly, the business experiences are challenged when it comes to coordinating the activities of the HR department. More specifically, the HR manager is forced to travel to each of the company’s ten stores every week so as to coordinate the employees’ activities. Additionally, the employee development cannot be efficiently undertaken through training due to their different location. What is more, training may also prove challenging given that some employees are on a part-time basis.
This proposal will focus on the issue of performance appraisal. This is one of the most imperative functions focused the long-term sustenance of operations in the retail industry (Stewart, Washington-Hoagland, & Zsulya, 2013). Since the Gladwell Grocery Stores Company operates within this dynamic industry, the establishment of proper appraisal and performance management techniques can facilitate efficient and comprehensive review of employee performance. This approach should provide a means through which Gladwell Grocery Stores can collect, evaluate, and record the data to be used in determining the relative worth of each of its employees. In addition, the performance management technique should serve as a basis through which the organization’s performance will be improved (Waseem, 2012). As such, the proposed technique will target the examination of each employee’s contribution to the success of the business.
The Benefits of Adopting HRIS
HRIS is a software that can be used by the business in order to track the efficient activities of the human resource department. For a business like Gladwell Grocery Stores, HRIS would be an affordable and suitable means of tracking organizational needs. Its size and number of employees fit this program perfectly. The idea behind this software is to develop a secure database that will collect data from different departments (Kavanagh & Thite, 2009). It also presents a platform where the business’ internal processes can be properly managed while at the same time maintaining integrity. In addition, HRIS is often accompanied by third party systems, such as the Payroll Service Provider (PSP), which helps manage payroll records.
How It Addresses the Identified HR Function
For Gladwell Grocery Stores, the adoption of HRIS will yield several benefits, which van facilitate efficient operations leading to more successful management. First, in addition to the efficient collection of information, HRIS will help analyze the employees’ reports about appraisal and performance management. Secondly, HRIS would also be useful for managing the attendance records of both full-time and part-time employees. For this reason, employee attendance log-ins can be used. Lastly, the system will also serve to meet the employees’ training needs by allowing them to undertake compulsory and optional training.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the human resources is a fundamental function in business operation. It involves the management of the most important resources of the business. As a result, it is evident that the current systems adopted by Gladwell Grocery Stores are not effective given the company’s size, number of employees, and the industry where it operates. However, with the adoption of HRIS, the business will be able to conduct its functions more effectively. What is more, HRIS will facilitate the processes of appraisal, performance management, the maintenance of attendance as well as the training and development of employees.
