Consultant Assignment

H&M Clothing Retail Company

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

H&M Clothing Retail Company

Background

Hennes & Mauritz AB or simply known as H&M is a globally recognized clothing-retail company. The set-up of the organization is on a multinational level, and the firm is known for its fashion clothing for children, teenagers, women, and men. The organization along with its associated companies is seen to be operating in more than 62 countries by having 4,500 stores and employed around 132,000 people. The matter of fact is that H&M is considered to be the second-largest multinational clothing retailer. There is a significant online presence of H&M, and the company offers online shopping in 33 countries (Ivy, 2018).

After having an in-depth analysis of H&M, it has been observed that the theories that should be applied in order to understand the best of this organization's behavioral culture are behavioral management theory, and servant leadership theories. It has been the question of debate that how the employees at H&M are treated, and how do the leaders in the organization perform their roles. The reason for that lies in the fact that H&M is a big organization, therefore, it makes it an interesting thing to find what organization behavior people working in the organization come to see.

Analysis

As far as the concern is with the behavioral management theory, it deals with the productivity of employees under different circumstances. In H&M, it has been observed that the employees are the backbones of the organization (Bridoux et al., 2016). The way employees put efforts in their work results in higher performance, and it tends to boost up the performance of the company. In the past, it was observed that the employees started leaving the company, and the reason was unknown. After a short span of time, the HR responsible found out the reason, and it was due to the employees not being satisfied by the company. However, the issue was resolved as the company started focusing on the satisfaction of the employees, and started validating at their work.

In some stores of H&M, there are certain benefits introduced for employees such as free lunch. The outcomes of this have resulted in making the employees of H&M realize that the company is meeting their needs (Bridoux et al., 2016). The matter of fact is that when employees start believing that their organization cares about their needs and wants, they start developing a feeling of a greater sense of loyalty. There is no doubt that when the employees are satisfied and happy with the organization, it results in the benefit of none other than the company itself.

When it comes to the policy of H&M, there is no doubt that the objective of H&M is to be a good employer. The objective is not just limited to a single nation, H&M aims to become a good employer worldwide. The company has developed global guidelines on equal rights, diversity and against discrimination with a sole purpose to meet the expectations of people. When it comes to the Servant Leadership Behavioural Theory, the idea is clear that the central tenet in an organization is no one but the leader himself. The matter of fact is that leaders are the one behind the success of an organization.

In the case of H&M, servant leadership has been observed on the roots, and it tends to allow executives to view all work protocols and processes from the point of view of their staff. Here, the leaders consider themselves as employees before they issue any sort of notification that may affect an employee’s feelings (Chiniara et al., 2016). The best thing about the leaders in H&M is that view the wants, needs, and goals of the employees. They consider the issues of employees equivalent to their issues as well which makes it easier for them to think on the ground level, and understand what an employee wants, and how to handle critical situations.

However, there are some stores in which servant leadership is not seen to be effective. The reason for that is quite simple that not all leaders think the same. There are always some leaders within an organization that does not understand the needs of employees, and it happens in H&M as well. However, the numbers are small which can be neglected, therefore, the overall organizational behavior of H&M is really appreciated by the employees themselves. The strong corporate culture of H&M is undoubted of great value and can be considered as one of the factors to the success of H&M over the years (Ivy, 2018).

Moreover, a lot of importance is given to the personality development of employees at H&M. A number of strategies have been taken into account by H&M in order to facilitate its employees, and among them, there are some programs made as well. There is no doubt that the prevailing organizational culture and the leadership approach at H&M tends to encourage teamwork and effective leadership as well. Moreover, it is seen providing adequate growth opportunities for employees. Such strategic initiatives of HR tends to create a significant contribution to the goals of the organization which leads to the continued profitability and growth of the firm.

Recommendations

Although H&M is doing great, and the organization has proved to be the best among all in the marketplace, but still there may be some recommendation that can be given to H&M. The recommendations may help the organization to work effectively, and give the best to the employees, and get the best from them. In a nutshell, it can be said that investing in employees results in the benefit of the company itself as the employees become more loyal and committed to the company. The matter of fact is that a successful organization will function well at all levels. Each person whether he/she is from the higher authority or ordinary employees, they know their role in making the organization a happy place to work.

However, H&M in some aspects falls short, therefore, there is a high need to make the organization a great place to work for the employees, and a great resource to earn for the employers (Bridoux et al., 2016). H&M is required to set goals for individual employees as it will be allowing them in the progression towards the desired benchmark. A piece of advice for H&M is to start meetings regarding goal setting with all employees and try to encourage them. All of this can be done with the help of effective servant leadership where the leader in H&M will be encouraging the employees to be a part of the process. The leader should be listening to the suggestion of the employees and giving them the responsibility to make the organization as successful as it was never before (Chiniara et al., 2016).

In order to polish behavioral management theory within the organization, H&M should start monitoring employee workspaces, common areas, and meeting rooms for needed improvements. Although the organization is already doing great, there is always room for improvement. The matter of fact is that the employees become happier when they are comfortable in their work environment. Apart from this, H&M should provide some sort of reward system for the employees at every level. The outcomes of this will result in an increase in productivity of H&M.

There is no doubt that employees receiving rewards become more motivated, and they become more dedicated to their work which results in better organization behavior. Moreover, there is a high need for H&M to provide recognition for employees through different platforms. It is true that the people who are recognized for certain achievements are more motivated in continuing and expanding their efforts. Apart from this, recognition tends to provide the required inspiration to other employees for going above and beyond their current productivity level.

A good approach for H&M will be to create a movement with the help of communication and training with the staff. There is no doubt that training in the front line staff is considered to be the core of design thinking (Hoch et al., 2018). There is a high need to provide staff with opportunities for tring the skills in a low-risk learning environment. Although, it is a fact that all staff does not come out of the gate running. Providing employees a chance to improve themselves and themselves at a particular platform will result in an increase in employee loyalty towards the organization.

H&M should focus on creating spaces, and adopting tools that tend to support the new way of working. The employees should be standing toe to toe with the advanced technologies, and they must not feel that they are not equipped with the modern technology, because it will result in demoralizing the employees to a great extent. The best thing about the leaders in H&M is that view the wants, needs, and goals of the employees (Ivy, 2018). They consider the issues of employees equivalent to their issues as well which makes it easier for them to think on the ground level, and understand what an employee wants, and how to handle critical situations. Therefore, in order to make the employees more loyal in the future as well, H&M should keep on improving itself.

References

Bridoux, F., & Stoelhorst, J. W. (2016). Stakeholder relationships and social welfare: A behavioral theory of contributions to joint value creation. Academy of Management Review, 41(2), 229-251.

Chiniara, M., & Bentein, K. (2016). Linking servant leadership to individual performance: Differentiating the mediating role of autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), 124-141.

Eliasson, J. (2018). The H&M Group: Enabling the Future: An anthropological discourse analysis of The H&M Group Sustainability Report 2016.

Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501-529.

Ivy, P. R. (2018). “An Analysis of Employees’ Performance Appraisal System: A Study on Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M)(Doctoral dissertation, Daffodil International University).

Nason, R. S., Bacq, S., & Gras, D. (2018). A behavioral theory of social performance: Social identity and stakeholder expectations. Academy of Management Review, 43(2), 259-283.

Spears, L. C., & Lawrence, M. (Eds.). (2016). Practicing servant-leadership: Succeeding through trust, bravery, and forgiveness. John Wiley & Sons.