Increasing employee engagement through Human Resources Development Introduction The statistics indicated that Harrods needed to take action to improve employee engagement and reduce its employee turnover. Following its investigation, Harrods carried out its first comprehensive employee survey to find out what they thought about working at Harrods. The employee survey has now become an integral aspect of Harrods Human Resource Management programme. The survey results were used to create strategic plans for change focused on improving employee engagement and trust. Harrods Leadership Leadership is important in shaping the culture of an organisation. There are two opposite poles in terms of leadership, these are autocratic and democratic. Autocratic leaders tell employees what to do. On the other hand, democratic leaders encourage input from employees, listen to their ideas and enable them to make decisions. Both styles have their place, depending on circumstances. For instance, in a crisis situation, such as a sharp drop in sales, immediate action is needed. In such circumstances an autocratic approach is required. However, when there is more time available, a democratic approach is often favoured. Harrods leadership focus is at the democratic end of the spectrum. Employees are listened to and their advice and ideas are used to make continuous improvements. The culture is thus one of trust and respect and is the key to Harrods employee engagement. Harrods management is committed to fully developing its people so that employees, the business and its stakeholders are fully satisfied. There are three main elements of the democratic leadership approach at Harrods, which encourage the development of its employees: Talent spotting. This involves identifying talented people who can make important contributions to Harrods. Laura Gorse who works in the Learning and Development Department at Harrods illustrates this: I had been training new starters my total enthusiasm for the role must have been spotted by Harrods. At the time I was unsure about a new opportunity so I didnt push myself but Harrods nudged me in the right direction and gave me a chance to succeed. Mentoring and coaching. Mentors and coaches are people who act as advisors and guides, usually to those less experienced than themselves. Mentoring and coaching takes place through structured feedback and advice as well as through informal conversations. Line managers at Harrods are encouraged to communicate targets and advice to employees more formal setting, to agree objectives and to give advice about improvements and new ways of working. Acting as a coach helps the line managers to develop their managerial skills, build relationships and reinforce trust at Harrods. Support networks. Managers meet regularly with other managers to share ideas and issues. Benefits of Human Resource Management Research into Human Resource Management indicates that the factors that really motivate employees are intrinsic ones which are based on meeting the personal needs of an individual. Human beings have a number of key psychological needs including: The need to feel that you can do something well. The need to be part of a group. The need for respect and encouragement from others. These needs are typically met from non-financial rewards, for example, by providing opportunities: a) for promotion, b) to make decisions, c) to contribute to a team, and d) to do a variety of tasks. Harrods recognizes these intrinsic needs and encourages job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment to provide career development opportunities. Job rotation involves periodically changing jobs and work areas to develop new skills in different areas of the business. Crossdepartmental experience is viewed as important for personal development. Harrods offers a range of many different types of job opportunity including face-to-face customer operations, merchandising, recording and reporting of sales and online customer communications. Job enlargement involves encouraging and supporting staff to take on new and more challenging tasks. Job enrichment involves building existing job roles by enabling employees to engage in a wider variety of interesting tasks, for example, taking on some team leadership workforce has resulted in many tangible benefits. Conclusion Human Resource Management should be seen as a strategic function of an organisation. It helps to build a competitive edge for an organisation by positively engaging its employees. Key ingredients of effective Human Resource Management are having in place an appropriate leadership style and effective two-way communications with employees. This creates an open and honest environment where employees feel that their ideas are being listened to and that they can make a contribution to decision making. Engaged employees are more likely to be proud to work for their organisation and therefore will believe in and live out the values of the organisation. Required: 1. Describe what is meant by the term Human Resource Management. (3 marks) 2. Explain the benefits to a business of increasing employee engagement. (6 marks) 3. Analyse the different ways that Harrods uses to engage its employees in decision-making. Which methods do you feel would create the most impact? (6 marks) 4. Evaluate the effectiveness of employing a democratic leadership style on the success of Harrods. (10 marks)