Harrods Case Study Questions:

DUE: Submit to Dropbox by Deadline listed on FOL Course Calendar

Please answer the following questions:

1. What is the role of the Human Resources department?

Managing employee relationships is the role of the Human Resources department.

2. Explain the term ‘employee turnover’ and give examples of why high employee turnover
could have a negative impact on a business.
Employee turnover is a measure of how frequently workers leave their employers, typically over
the course of one year.
A company's performance and financial situation are significantly impacted by a high employee
turnover rate. These include the expense of hiring new employees, the loss of expertise, and the
increased demand for new employee training.

3. Describe some of the different communication methods used to create employee engagements
at Harrods.

Engagement
Description
method
Internal employee ‘Your Harrods’ - a well-liked and innovative magazine for staffers that
magazine includes a new starter list, interviews with notable figures, personal
essays, charity features, an Agony Aunt column and interesting
competitions.
Morning briefing Letting shop floor teams know what is happening that day and the most
recent sales figures.
Intranet Enables information sharing among employees. Employees have the
option to choose which factors they take priority (rather than having
information pushed on them).
Quarterly A volunteer group made up of volunteer staff members. Allow staff to
employee forum voice concerns and make contributions to the business strategy.
Other forms of ‘Bright Ideas’ a programme that encourages staff members to share
employee voice creative suggestions to improve Harrods.

4. Analyze why it is important for businesses like Harrods to evaluate its employee
communications using, for example, an employee survey.
In an effort to learn more about what its employees thought about working there, Harrods
conducted its first in-depth employee survey. The Harrods Human Resource Management
programme now includes the employee survey as a key component. The survey results were used
to develop strategic change plans aimed at enhancing employee trust and engagement.
The four main elements were:
 Changing organisational structure
 Changing leadership
 Improved communications
 Living the brand values
The first employee survey made clear that there was a distinction between the employee and
customer experiences. Harrods took urgent action to address these problems. Modernizing the
staff restaurant to offer a welcoming dining area with excellent, nutritionally sound food was a
top priority. One employee's assessment of this strategy's efficacy, Hayri Volkan, who is a Retail
Manager. She says: ‘My views are definitely valued, I’m always asked my opinion on things –
people who do the job are acknowledged as a good information source’.
There are numerous real advantages to having an educated and motivated workforce. Four
employee surveys have now been completed. Employee participation in surveys has increased,
and measures of employee engagement have improved. Significantly, according to the most
recent survey, 91% of employees said they were proud to work for Harrods, and turnover among
employees has significantly decreased over the past five years.