Human resource management plays the most crucial role in the organization as it is associated with management of workforce with the motive to accomplish goals of the business. Further, every organization employs different strategies to satisfy need and requirement of its employees efficiently. It directly acts as the development tool for the firm and in turn, allows to accomplish the organizational objectives (Aguayo-Tellez, Airola, Juhn, & Villegas-Sanchez, 2014). Apart from this, the problems linked with HR faced within the workplace hampers organizational productivity. The most common issues faced involve motivation, retention, communication, etc. Further, to deal with the different type of problems HR policies are framed that provides a base in meeting the expectations of the employees and acts as the development tool for the business. The present report is divided into various parts where the first part focuses on selection of newspaper articles that focus on HR issue, second part is applying HR theories, and the last one is recommendations on the HR issues.
In the present scenario, carrying out effective HR practices has become essential for the growth and success of a business enterprise. Furthermore, human resources plans, policy and practice are important because they help in carrying out the smooth functioning of all activities and operations. Nowadays, the competition among businesses in the retail supermarket industry is highly intense, and this has acted as a barrier for companies regarding accomplishing their aim and long terms objective (Alesina, Lotti, & Mistrulli, 2013). In the modern era, employees or human resources are considered as the biggest and most valuable assets for any company. It can be expressed that two businesses can have same technological and financial resources but what makes one company different from other is its team of effective, trained, skilled and qualified workers.
Tesco is a UK based international chain of supermarkets which was founded in the year 1919 by Jack Cohen. At present, the chain is considered as the largest brand of supermarket retailer in the country. Tesco has acquired a significant market share in the UK and it is also carrying out its business operations in other countries of the world. The brand is also considered as the third largest supermarket retailer in the world regarding revenue generated. The key products which the brand offers to its customer include food products, alcoholic beverages, gasoline, housewares and clothing products. The HR practices of Tesco focuses on hiring the best and most qualified candidate for the vacant position in the supermarket. In addition to this, training and development programs are conducted at regular intervals so that staff members can get better opportunities for personal and professional growth by enhancing their skill sets (Boston & O’Grady, 2015).
The human resources policies developed by Tesco can be termed as competent and efficient enough to carry out smooth flow of all business operations. The HR policies also focus on developing job description and personal specification of every job. It is generally done to make each and every employee clear about his/her roles and responsibilities within the organization. In addition to this, the organizational structure consists of six different levels. People working in level one deal directly with customers whereas level two employees are responsible to lead the team. In third level, staffs members are responsible for managing the store operations whereas fourth level employees role is to provide support and recommendation over strategic changes (Card, Cardoso, & Kline, 2015). People working in fifth level have responsibility to manage the overall performance of Tesco’s stores and employees at sixth level have role of developing objectives, aim, strategies, vision and mission of the brand. Apart from this, both internal and external sources are used for carrying out process such as recruitment and selection of candidates. Workforce planning is also considered as important part of overall HR policies and practices of Tesco.
The article selected here has been published by Simon Goodley in one of the most renowned newspaper which is The Guardian. Further, the chosen article highlight HR issues linked with Gender pay gap in the organization which is Tesco. It reflects that fact that even today when wide range Acts and regulations have been implemented, Gender pay gap remain the standard HR issue in businesses. The selected newspaper article explains that it has been almost four decades when Acts such as Equal pay to men and women has been executed, and the pay gap exists even today (Goodley, 2014). Male directors working at Tesco are getting more pay as compared to the female staff members. Such kind of practice is a serious issue for the organization as it affects the overall morale and motivation level of employees.
Disparities in pay also negatively affect the performance and productivity of people working in Tesco. The pay gap in the company is not limited to employees working at lower, middle level and the gap also exists in the senior management. From the selected article, it has been analysed that the women working at the top level of the company are not getting equal pay even when they are delivering the same level of efforts and energy towards the success of Tesco.
The data published in the selected newspaper article also highlights those male directors of the supermarket brand take home £21,084 more than the female staff working at the same level. The article further explained that the gender inequalities in pay exist because companies do not take the problem seriously. In addition to this, working at the same position women employees receives the salary which is £9,069 lower than that of male candidates. The problem becomes more complicated if the figures of pay are compared among women who fall in the age group of above 40 years (Goodley, 2014). It has been analyzed that the Equal Pay Act was formed with an objective to provide equal monetary, nonmonetary rewards and to eliminate the gender inequalities in the pay of workforce. The article also revealed that the fact that men do not hesitate in asking for the rising in their existing pay whereas women do. In the long run, it is required by the selected business enterprise to develop effective strategies and eliminate gender inequalities in pay.
In every type of business enterprise, it is must to deliver equal opportunities to the employees so that equal participation can be encouraged in the business affairs (Zhao, 2014). Apart from this, when workers are not delivered equal opportunities such as in the form of pay or any other specific criteria then it directly acts as the hurdle for the business and leads to decline in the level of the overall performance (Campos-Serna, Ronda-Pérez, Artazcoz, Moen, & Benavides, 2013). Gender pay gap is considered as one of the most crucial issues such as male employees are earning more income as compared with the female one. Equality within the business is must where it directly allows business to accomplish its desired goals and objectives. Moreover, when employees are not delivered equal opportunities, then the company has to face hurdles in retaining them within the workplace. The concept of equal opportunity is all about treated people present within the workplace equally and not disadvantaged by any sort of biasness.
Apart from this workplace diversity values everyone’s differences. Diversity is all about learning from each other and focusing on the key differences with the motive to obtain new ideas and knowledge. Avoiding discrimination within the workplace is necessary where in many types of organizations employees have to face direct and indirect discrimination. Indulging in any type of unethical activity such as discrimination leads to unfair treatment of the employees, and this hampers the organizational productivity (Cha & Weeden, 2014). This takes place when male and female employees are not delivered equal opportunity within the workplace such as in the form of pay, promotion and delivering another sort of benefits. For safeguarding the interest of employees within the workplace, especially women government has introduced many acts where main stress is on maintain the peaceful environment within the workplace (Yamaguchi, 2014).
Equal pay act introduced in the year 1963 supports in preventing workplace discrimination in the payment of benefits and is based on the individual’s gender where men and women carry out various types of tasks involving efforts, skills, etc. Further, in the case of every organization, it is mandatory to comply with the legal guidelines so that fair pay can be given to both male and female employees within the workplace (Giddens, Duneier, Appelbaum, & Carr, 2016). Issue associated with gender pay gap is rising at the faster pace where women working in the organization are not provided equal pay as men. So, this directly leads to the practice of discrimination, and they are not at all appraised for the work that is being done by them within the workplace.
The wage gap persists across all the racial and ethnic groups. The introduction of fair Pay act requires all the companies to deliver equal pay for the work of equal value. The main stress is on providing compensation to the female staff working in female dominated jobs. Complying with the requirement of this legislation can assist in eliminating the ‘gag’ rule on wage disclosure and can prevent companies from reducing wages to comply with the pay equity requirement.
Considering the feminist theory which is generalized and highlights the women experience developed from the woman-centered perspective. Further, it undertakes the experience of the women in the society. At present, women have gained power in the society, and this has played a crucial role in improving gender inequality (Goldin, 2014). Women have the same rights as compared with the men and due to this reason they have right to get equal pay. Apart from this, women rights are promoted in every area such as education, employment, and others. Moreover, the government is also playing the most significant role so that both men and women can be delivered equal opportunity (Wood, Wrigley, & Coe, 2016). In every country such as Canada, Australia, etc. gender pay gap is the main issue that is being faced and this somehow hampers the organizational productivity. In comparison with males, female employees are earning less income.
Different measures have been undertaken with the motive to determine gender pay ratio. Considering the broader measure on an annual basis, the full-time workers showed that women earned 74.2 percent for every dollar a man earned in the year 2014. It has been identified that men who are working for full time are working more hours are compared with the women. Hourly rates are considered as another effective mode through which comparison can be done easily (González, 2014). Main stress of political party of every nation is to reduce the pay gap as through this women can obtain high pay for the efforts applied in the business operations. Further, in the majority of the organizations, male employees are working as compared with the female one. So, the main reason behind the same is ineffective pay scheme where female employees are not appraised for the work done by them. Various factors are present that supports in understanding about the pay differences (Wood, Coe, & Wrigley, 2016). One of the most significant factors is that women employees prefer to work part time as compared with men as they are having some sort of responsibilities such as child care etc. Moreover, they are not at all provided right platform to work where they can utilize skills, knowledge in the proper manner.
Another reason is the type of job that is provided to the women such as day care workers, cashier responsibility where these types of job roles have low pay. So, this directly acts as hurdle especially in the career development of the female employees. Discrimination is the main reason where women and men are doing the same type of job but women are just valued lower as compared with men. Managing this type of situation is a need for every organization as the imbalance in providing pay to the different type of employees’ acts as the hurdle for the company (Joshi, Son, & Roh, 2015). In short, the overall competencies and the skills of the women employees are undervalued, and they are not provided actual monetary benefits for the work done by them within the workplace. Their status within the company is not equivalent to men. Therefore, this has acted as the hurdle in front of them at the time of conducting operations.
Figure 1: Difference between male and female median wages
Above shown is the Gender wage gap chart that supports in knowing the actual gap in different nations. South Korea stands on the top where women employees are not delivered equal pay as compared with the men (Grant, 2017). In every country, this type of issue is faced where it directly prevents females from working in any type of organization. Further, it is a well-known fact that pay is one of the most motivating factors that enhance contribution of the employee within the workplace. In case if any employee is provided pay above the expectation level then it becomes easy to meet with the expectation of that employee and can be retained easily (Whatmore, 2016). Apart from this, every nation is required to take corrective action so that they can safeguard the interest of women living in the society.
A large number of benefits are present that are associated with the gender pay equity which takes into consideration accomplishing fairness, enhancing staff retention, avoiding costly discrimination complaint, attracting and retaining the best talent and preventing negative public relation issues (Juhn, Ujhelyi, & Villegas-Sanchez, 2014). Different effective ways are present with the help of which it is possible for the business to accomplish gender pay within the workplace. Apart from this, equal pay not only highlights equal wages but it also takes into consideration performance payment, bonus payment, etc. The fair work commission can easily assist the business enterprise in delivering equal remuneration to the staff members for the efforts applied by them in the business operations. Apart from this, in case if any employer does not focus on delivering equal opportunities to the employees then in such case penalty is imposed on the business. The practice of every business enterprise must be in favor of the staff members in the form of equal opportunity where they may not feel that they are discriminated in the workplace (Korpi, Ferrarini, & Englund, 2013).
Further, different studies have shown that male and female employees will not prefer to apply for the job in the company where gender pay gaps are present (Thompson, 2017). On an average basis, male employees can earn the high income as compared with the female employees, and this is the main reason due to which numbers of male employees working in the organization are high as compared with female staff (Mandel & Semyonov, 2014). Women are struggling hard for obtaining higher pay. Gender pay reduces the women’s lifetime earnings and this can be considered as one of the main reason behind poverty in the later life for women.
The data collected by the office for the National statistics have supported in knowing about the impact of Gender pay differences. In the year 2016, the average pay of women working full time was 90.6% of men’s pay (Women, 2014). The overall gap is present in the high amount, and this has adversely affected the female employees working in the organization. Apart from this, it has been witnessed that gender gap has decreased significantly where the contribution of government is playing the most significant role, and this has somehow supported in the betterment of the community.
To sustain in the highly competitive market and carry out the smooth flow of all business operations, it is required by Tesco to formulate effective plans and take corrective measures to remove gender inequalities in pay. It can be stated that at present the difference in pay of men and women working in Tesco is very high and it is affecting the overall productivity of the organization. For example, women are getting low pay even if they are delivering same performance and efforts towards the success of the selected business enterprise. Such practices are affecting the overall performance of women at workplace and they also de-motivate them regarding giving their best efforts towards organization growth (Lips, 2013).
To deal with the identified issue, it can be recommended that Tesco should focus on reassessing all job requirements at senior, middle and lower level of management. Furthermore, the company should emphasize on restructuring the job requirement. It can be expressed that instead of defining a job and its pay on factors such as gender, the selected organization should focus on factors such as experience, skill set, and core competencies (Newman, 2016).
It can also be recommended that Tesco should develop and implement the policy which ensures that men and women working in the same position should be compensated equally. It means the payment of employee should be based on the kind of efforts and performance an individual (male or female) has delivered regarding achieving business success. The rationale behind the implementation of such policy is that it will help in developing a strong sense of satisfaction among workers and it also enhances their overall motivational level.
Another strategy which can be recommended to Tesco is of implementing a pay transparency in its overall management and HR practices. The reason behind this recommendation is that it will help female staff members to become aware of the earnings and pay of other male employees (Paredes & Riveros, 2016). Furthermore, the transparency will ensure that pay and its rise is determined only by performance delivered by an employee. However, it can be critically argued that formulating and implementing a pay transparency will be a very challenging task for HR managers. On the contrary of this, it can be expressed that implementing pay transparency will result in enhancing the long term performance and productivity of Tesco.
It can be suggested that the selected company should focus on eliminating all forms of negotiation within the business practices. In professional life, women are not able to negotiate the offer, pay and this directly results in encouraging the differences in pay between male and female workers. Even the negotiation practices should be removed from areas such as incentives and reward system (Paustian-Underdahl, Walker, & Woehr, 2014). The inequalities in pay at the workplace are also considered as the advantage for men regarding carrying out negotiation. The inequalities act as a motivational force and encourage men workers to carry out better negotiations. Furthermore, the selected business enterprise should focus on encouraging women to opt for the job roles which are challenging and which pay more. The reason behind this is that such strategy will help in filling up the top and challenging positions within the business with women and reduce the gap of inequalities in pay. After carrying out analysis of Tesco’s policies and practices, it can be stated that the company needs to take corrective measures to eliminate gender inequalities in the pay (Ridgeway, 2014).
On the other side of this, the theory such as feminist theory is also very supportive regarding reducing the pay gap between men and women in the organization. The theory emphasizes on the fact that male and female workers should be provided with equal opportunities in areas such as employment, training, pay, and promotions. However, it can be critically argued that the theory is not useful as it only focuses on promoting women as superior. The use of Acts such as equal pay Act can also be taken into consideration by Tesco while carrying out its overall business practices (Sharma, 2014). As per the mentioned-above Act, men and women doing the equal value of work should be paid equally, and their gender should not be considered as the parameter for defining the pay. Furthermore, the work needs to be same and of equal value so that equal compensation can be made regarding the same. It can be expressed that eliminating gender discrimination and inequalities at workplace will directly contribute to the long term success of Tesco. It will also provide the competitive advantage to the company over other market players (Rubery & Rafferty, 2013).
Conclusion
The entire study conducted has supported in knowing about the issue of gap in equal gap which has adversely affected Tesco. Further, it is necessarily required by company to deal with this issue so as to maintain positive environment with the workplace. Considering the guidelines introduced by the government it is mandatory to deliver equal opportunities to both male and female employees present within the workplace. Equal pay act 1963 highlights that it is necessary for every business to provide equal monetary benefits to its workforce. Apart from this, transparency in pay, eliminating all the forms of negotiation are some of the suggestions that are effective in dealing with the HR issue identified.
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