Human Resourse Management

Instruction: Complete ALL questions from this section. Case Study Trufflebags Ltd is a long-established family business. The company manufactures up-market confectionery products (chocolates, fudge, toffees, soft drinks and ice creams) at a factory in the Midlands which employs 50 people. The product range is then mainly sold through a chain of thirty small, branded Trufflebags shops which are prominently located on high streets in cities and towns. The retail division employs around 150 people at any one time, many of whom work on a part-time basis. There is a head office located adjacent to the factory at which a further team of 20 people are employed in management and administrative roles. The Chairman and Managing Director of Trufflebags is the formidable Kassia Candy, who inherited the company from her father who founded it sixty years ago. She has run it for the past thirty years, for most of the time with considerable success. She oversaw the opening of a flagship shop in London's Covent Garden and greatly extended the company's product range. Under her leadership the brand was consolidated, Trufflebags shops becoming well known as excellent places for people to purchase gifts and treats for themselves. The company continues to enjoy high levels of brand recognition in the UK and remains popular with its loyal, older customer base who have shopped for its products for many vears. In the past few years, however, business conditions ha _ uch more challenging. The company has lost about 30% of its overall market share and has seen its retail sales dwindle rapidly. The biggest concern is that the average footfall on the high streets where Trufflebags' Under her leadership the brand was consolidated, Trufflebags shops becoming well known as excellent places for people to purchase gifts and treats for themselves. The company continues to enjoy high levels of brand recognition in the UK and remains popular with its loyal, older customer base who have shopped for its products for many years. In the past few years, however, business conditions have become much more challenging. The company has lost about 30% of its overall market share and has seen its retail sales dwindle rapidly. The biggest concern is that the average footfall on the high streets where Trufflebags' shops are located has declined by around 4% year-on-year for the past five years. The company has also received some reports from mystery shoppers it has employed which have given poor feedback on levels of customer service offered in its stores. Meanwhile new competitors with a more sophisticated, original, and up-to-date brand image have attracted a lot of business away from the company's outlets, building a prominent online and global reputation which the company has been unable to match. At the same time it is costing Trufflebags a great deal more to import the core products that go into their most popular products, while many fixed costs associated with running high street retail outlets have increased. In the last year the company went into the red for the first time in its history. Losses of over $1500,000 were reported by its accountants. On the HR front things have been going badly too. Staff turnover levels are higher than at any time in the company's history and managers are struggling to recruit new staff to work in the retail outlets who have either the experience or the aptitude required to meet the company's expectations. Absence levels are running at high levels too, requiring a degree of overstaffing to ensure that stores can open and close on time. veime the term human resource management. (2 marks) Identify TWO (2) specialist that you would recommend Trufflebags hire. (2 marks) i. Prove a supportive statement as to why Trufflebags Ltd should hire the above specialist. (6 marks) Discuss FOUR (4) functions the human resource manager at Trufflebags Ltd. will be expected to perform. ( 8 marks) List TWO (2) characteristics that the human resource manager should have in order to function effectively. (2 marks)