Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning the human
resource requirements of an organisation
Apple UK has developed over the years and still continues to do so. One way in which they
are developing is by offering new places/stores in which customers can buy their products. As
well as opening new Apple stores, they are helping to open new Stormfront stores which is an
authorised premium reseller of Apple products dedicated to helping customers with queries
on Apple’s products, purchases of Apple products and training people in how to use Apple’s
products. This has assisted in the development of Apple as a business as it helps to widen
awareness of Apple’s products, make it easier to purchase their products and also gain help
and support on how to use their products thus helping Apple receive positive reviews from
customers and encourage repeat-purchases. More repeat purchases and positive reviews
means higher profits. As Apple is continuing to expand in the UK, they are learning more
about the market in which they are in as well as about how they can improve their products to
appeal more to the target market.
At Apple, certain changes can come to arise from internal decisions. For instance, if Apple
was to involve technology more into their business via the way in which customers can
purchase their products, there will be changes in working arrangements. For example, if
Apple introduced self-checkouts in their UK Apple stores to purchase small things such as
Apple earpods, training will have to be provided to current staff working in their stores in
order to monitor, help customers and solves issues regarding the new self-checkouts.
Furthermore, if a majority of customers came to purchase small items such as their earpods or
charging cables, there would be no use of having staff behind cash machines therefore there
would have to be changes in their positions. If no changes can be made (i.e. changing the
roles of staff behind the cash machines to something else), Apple might have no choice but to
remove them from the business due to their position being taken by technology
advancements. Another way in which changes may arise from internal decisions is if a gap in
the skill sets of staff are found when staff are given a role to carry out. For instance, if the
sales related department of Apple had a gap in their skills thus preventing them to carry out
their set roles effectively, Apple would need to fill in these gaps in skills by training these
individuals adequately. On the other hand, changes can come to arise from external events.
For instance, new or amended legislation can makes changes arise in the business of Apple
UK. For example, if there was to be a change in the health and safety legislation which
prohibits certain clothes or shoes such as high heels to be worn during work, Apple would
have to enforce this legislation by making sure that all of their staff aren’t wearing prohibited
attire such as high heels. They could do this by introducing a notice to employees, leading to
a warning which would lead to removal from the business if an employee is ignoring the
warnings to change their attire and dress accordingly. Another way in which changes may
arise from external events is through a change in the economy. For instance, if there is a
decline in the UK’s economy, individuals living in the UK will be holding tightly onto their
money and there will be less spending therefore Apple won’t be making as much profits and
may have to may make cuts e.g. in the number of staff they have in each Apple store and
, production rate of their products. This will result in Apple being unable to expand due to
people not buying their products as a result of the state of the economy and them not making
a sufficient amount of profit in order to carry out expansion.
Apple has planned their HRM accordingly. This is because they have set procedures that must
always be adhered to when recruiting new people to the business. Apple also have laid out
rules for their employees which explain to them how they are expected to behave in the
working environment and the way in which they should communicate and conduct
themselves with other employees and customers who enter the business premises (polite,
understanding and kind etc.). Furthermore, they have organised employee pay very
efficiently. For instance, employees will be paid depending on the importance and difficulty
of the roles they are carrying out. For example, employees behind cash machines will be paid
the UK minimum wage whereas employees involved in production of Apple’s products will
be paid considerably higher. Furthermore, Apple will reward those employees who are
working effectively and are encouraging sales with bonus pay. How much bonus pay and how
much sales an employee has made would be accessible by all employees on a database
showing every employees data to enable competition and increase the potential for a high
number of sales. Moreover, every individual employed by Apple undergoes immediate and
thorough training on how to carry out the role given to them effectively. By doing this, Apple
has eliminated chances of new employees making huge errors in their roles.
There are gaps in the demand for and supply of certain skills in Apple. For instance, there is a
gap in the type of employees Apple has in terms of experience in their stores. Apple has
employees working in their Apple stores that consist of mostly computer illiterate individuals
and people whom are just looking for a moderate amount of money thus they don’t carry a
whole load of skills in customer communication. Apple has rectified this by providing all of
their employees with training in the use of their products appropriately as well as how they
should communicate with customers so that they know how to respond to queries whenever
customers ask them for assistance in Apple stores.
Existing staff in Apple can be audited. If existing staff are audited by Apple, Apple can then
build up a profile of the training, experience and qualifications that their employees already
hold and then figure out what other training can be provided instead of providing the same
training over and over again to the same member of staff. Measuring existing skills of
Apple’s staff can also help them to plan for future training requirements. Auditing can be
done by making existing staff carry out a psychometric test. Once existing staff have carried
out a psychometric test, Apple can analyse the results and find out things such as
personalities, intellect, interests and aptitudes. Psychometric tests are very effective in
collecting these types of information from staff and assisting in what training should be
provided next in order to make staff suitable for a specific job as well as to assess how good
certain staff would be at a certain job role. Apple carries out psychometric tests to assess
existing staff by giving out multiple choice tests for them to fill out which provides them with
sufficient results in order to determine whether or not an individual will fit into a specific job
role and if they don’t whether they should be provided with further training. Apple can also
resource requirements of an organisation
Apple UK has developed over the years and still continues to do so. One way in which they
are developing is by offering new places/stores in which customers can buy their products. As
well as opening new Apple stores, they are helping to open new Stormfront stores which is an
authorised premium reseller of Apple products dedicated to helping customers with queries
on Apple’s products, purchases of Apple products and training people in how to use Apple’s
products. This has assisted in the development of Apple as a business as it helps to widen
awareness of Apple’s products, make it easier to purchase their products and also gain help
and support on how to use their products thus helping Apple receive positive reviews from
customers and encourage repeat-purchases. More repeat purchases and positive reviews
means higher profits. As Apple is continuing to expand in the UK, they are learning more
about the market in which they are in as well as about how they can improve their products to
appeal more to the target market.
At Apple, certain changes can come to arise from internal decisions. For instance, if Apple
was to involve technology more into their business via the way in which customers can
purchase their products, there will be changes in working arrangements. For example, if
Apple introduced self-checkouts in their UK Apple stores to purchase small things such as
Apple earpods, training will have to be provided to current staff working in their stores in
order to monitor, help customers and solves issues regarding the new self-checkouts.
Furthermore, if a majority of customers came to purchase small items such as their earpods or
charging cables, there would be no use of having staff behind cash machines therefore there
would have to be changes in their positions. If no changes can be made (i.e. changing the
roles of staff behind the cash machines to something else), Apple might have no choice but to
remove them from the business due to their position being taken by technology
advancements. Another way in which changes may arise from internal decisions is if a gap in
the skill sets of staff are found when staff are given a role to carry out. For instance, if the
sales related department of Apple had a gap in their skills thus preventing them to carry out
their set roles effectively, Apple would need to fill in these gaps in skills by training these
individuals adequately. On the other hand, changes can come to arise from external events.
For instance, new or amended legislation can makes changes arise in the business of Apple
UK. For example, if there was to be a change in the health and safety legislation which
prohibits certain clothes or shoes such as high heels to be worn during work, Apple would
have to enforce this legislation by making sure that all of their staff aren’t wearing prohibited
attire such as high heels. They could do this by introducing a notice to employees, leading to
a warning which would lead to removal from the business if an employee is ignoring the
warnings to change their attire and dress accordingly. Another way in which changes may
arise from external events is through a change in the economy. For instance, if there is a
decline in the UK’s economy, individuals living in the UK will be holding tightly onto their
money and there will be less spending therefore Apple won’t be making as much profits and
may have to may make cuts e.g. in the number of staff they have in each Apple store and
, production rate of their products. This will result in Apple being unable to expand due to
people not buying their products as a result of the state of the economy and them not making
a sufficient amount of profit in order to carry out expansion.
Apple has planned their HRM accordingly. This is because they have set procedures that must
always be adhered to when recruiting new people to the business. Apple also have laid out
rules for their employees which explain to them how they are expected to behave in the
working environment and the way in which they should communicate and conduct
themselves with other employees and customers who enter the business premises (polite,
understanding and kind etc.). Furthermore, they have organised employee pay very
efficiently. For instance, employees will be paid depending on the importance and difficulty
of the roles they are carrying out. For example, employees behind cash machines will be paid
the UK minimum wage whereas employees involved in production of Apple’s products will
be paid considerably higher. Furthermore, Apple will reward those employees who are
working effectively and are encouraging sales with bonus pay. How much bonus pay and how
much sales an employee has made would be accessible by all employees on a database
showing every employees data to enable competition and increase the potential for a high
number of sales. Moreover, every individual employed by Apple undergoes immediate and
thorough training on how to carry out the role given to them effectively. By doing this, Apple
has eliminated chances of new employees making huge errors in their roles.
There are gaps in the demand for and supply of certain skills in Apple. For instance, there is a
gap in the type of employees Apple has in terms of experience in their stores. Apple has
employees working in their Apple stores that consist of mostly computer illiterate individuals
and people whom are just looking for a moderate amount of money thus they don’t carry a
whole load of skills in customer communication. Apple has rectified this by providing all of
their employees with training in the use of their products appropriately as well as how they
should communicate with customers so that they know how to respond to queries whenever
customers ask them for assistance in Apple stores.
Existing staff in Apple can be audited. If existing staff are audited by Apple, Apple can then
build up a profile of the training, experience and qualifications that their employees already
hold and then figure out what other training can be provided instead of providing the same
training over and over again to the same member of staff. Measuring existing skills of
Apple’s staff can also help them to plan for future training requirements. Auditing can be
done by making existing staff carry out a psychometric test. Once existing staff have carried
out a psychometric test, Apple can analyse the results and find out things such as
personalities, intellect, interests and aptitudes. Psychometric tests are very effective in
collecting these types of information from staff and assisting in what training should be
provided next in order to make staff suitable for a specific job as well as to assess how good
certain staff would be at a certain job role. Apple carries out psychometric tests to assess
existing staff by giving out multiple choice tests for them to fill out which provides them with
sufficient results in order to determine whether or not an individual will fit into a specific job
role and if they don’t whether they should be provided with further training. Apple can also
