1. Human Resources Flashcards
Term 5 Miss Blackwell Begin HR
Human Resource Management
How the workforce is managed by a business in order to meet the strategic objectives
3 activities undertaken by the HR department
Recruitment and selection
Training and development
Staff motivation
Why has HR become important?
Most businesses now provide services rather than goods - people are the critical resource
Competitiveness requires a business to be efficient and so staff must be well motivated
Organisational Chart
A diagram that shows the hierarchy in a business, usually from top to bottom in terms of seniority.
Span of Control
The number of subordinates for whom a manager is responsible
How many people would a manager be responsible for, if they had a narrow span of control?
Max of 4 people
How many people would a manager be responsible for, if they had a wide span of control?
More than 4 people
What are the advantages of a narrow span of control?
+ Manager gets to spend lots of time giving clear and direct instructions
What are the disadvantages of a narrow span of control?
- Costly
- Staff may feel “watched over”
What are the advantages of a wide span of control?
+ Can reduce costs
+ Independence may be motivating for staff
What are the disadvantages of a wide span of control?
- Staff members may perform badly as manager loses control
What does the effectiveness of a span of control depend on?
Manager’s personality
Skills of subordinates
Business size
Industry
Chain of command
The order of authority and delegation in a business
Levels/layers of hierarchy
This refers to the number of levels/layers in a business organisation
Line Relationship
The vertical relationships in the organisational hierarchy between managers and subordinates
Staff Relationship
The horizontal relationship between a manager and another organisational member to/from whom the manager gives or receives information or advice
Delayering
A process of reducing the number of layers in an organisational structure
What are the advantages of delayering?
+ Reduces costs
+ More employee responsibility
+ Faster communication
What are the disadvantages of delayering?
- Spans of control will increase (training will be required)
- Redundancy payments
- Damage to staff morale
As spans of control widen, there becomes an increase in the need for…
Delegation and empowerment
Delegation
The assignment to others of the authority for particular functions, tasks and decisions
Empowerment
Involves giving people greater control over their working lives
What does viability mean?
The ability of a business to work successfully
What is a centralised structure?
Decision making ability is kept firmly at the top of the hierarchy
What are the advantages of a centralised structure?
+ Easier to implement common practises
+ Prevents parts becoming too independent
+ Easier to co-ordinate and control from the centre
+ EOS easier to achieve
What are the disadvantages of a centralised structure?
- More bureaucratic - often extra layers
- Local/junior managers are likely to be much closer to the customer needs
- Lack of authority may reduce manager motivation
What is a decentralised structure?
Decision making ability is spread out to include more junior managers in the hierarchy, as well as individual business units or trading locations
What are the advantages of a decentralised structure?
+ Decisions are made closer to the customer
+ Improved customer service
+ Can enable a flatter hierarchy
+ Good way of training and developing junior management
What are the disadvantages of a decentralised structure?
- Decision making not necessarily strategic
- Harder to ensure consistency
- May be some diseconomies of scale, duplication of role
- Who provides strong leadership when needed?
- Harder to achieve tight financial control
What is meant by a tall organisation?
Many layers within the hierarchy
How are spans of control and opportunities for promotion affected by taller organisations?
Spans of control become narrower and the number of opportunities for promotions increases
What is meant by a flat organisation?
Few layers within the hierarchy
What are the characteristics of a flat organisation?
More delegation and empowerment as the 1 person cannot do all
Wide spans of control
Faster communication
What are the reasons for choosing a tall structure?
Everybody knows exactly what the lines of communication are
Easy to identify who you can delegate jobs to
Subordinates require guidance
What are the reasons for choosing a flat structure?
More empowering
Shows trust between manager and employees - working from home
Easier to share ideas
Reduced costs
Organisation by function
The business is arranged into specialist/functional areas. Each function has an input into the output
Advantages of organisation by function
+ Specialists can concentrate on what they do best
+ Share ideas
+ Less duplication
Disadvantages of organisation by function
- Conflict may occur over budgets
- Segregation of functions leads to ineffective communication
- Departments cannot identify their outcome
Organisation by product
The business is organised according to the different products made. Each product becomes a “mini-company”
Advantages of organisation by product
+ Communication barriers are broken down for specialists
+ Each centre has a lot of independence - increases motivation
Disadvantages of organisation by product
- Different products compete for resources
- Duplication of departments is a waste of resources
What is meant by a matrix structure?
A team member has 2 managers - their normal functional manager as well as the team leader of the project
What are the advantages of a matrix structure?
+ Improves communication across entire organisation
+ Less meetings required - reduced costs
+ Greater motivation
+ Shares resources and ideas
What are the disadvantages of a matrix structure?
- Divided loyalties as they have 2 managers
- No clear lines of accountability
- Communication problems
- Takes time to adjust
- May neglect functional responsibilities
What is meant by organisation by division?
The business is organised into different geographical locations
What is an appraisal?
A formal assessment of an employee’s performance
What are the areas of an appraisal?
- Strengths
- Development areas
- Performance targets
- Training needs
- Promotion opportunities
- Pay progression
What are the reasons for carrying out an appraisal?
To motivate staff To record any issues - evidence for future if employee fails to improve To give staff a focus To make staff feel valued To set the expectation
What is a managerial appraisal?
A method of appraisal where a manager examines and evaluates an employee’s performance
What are the advantages of a managerial appraisal?
+ Employees receive expert input
+ Supports making subsequent actions: promotions, rewards and disciplinary procedures
What are the disadvantages of a managerial appraisal?
- Manager may not work closely with employees to know their strengths/development areas
- Input is limited to 1 point of view
What should the opening of an appraisal be like?
Light not trivial mood
Appraisee needs to be encouraged towards candour
What is a self assessment?
Employees assess their own performance, often using a tick sheet to grade aspects of their work. Can be used as a stand alone method or in advance of a managerial appraisal
What are the advantages of a self assessment?
+ Appraisee is more likely to be honest
+ Quicker
What are the disadvantages of a self assessment?
- People may be overly confident/modest
- Rating scale limits opinion
Why would an employee complete a self assessment before a managerial appraisal?
The appraisee is more prepared and not put on the spot.
Concerns raised can be discussed
What is a peer assessment?
The appraisal is carried out by a work colleague
What are the advantages of a peer assessment?
+ Have a very clear idea on how employee contributes to the team
What are the disadvantages of a peer assessment?
- Appraisal may be overly positive/negative depending on relationships (particularly if linked to pay)
What is a 360 degree appraisal?
An employee receives feedback from several people in the organisation. Most appropriate for large businesses
What are the advantages of a 360 degree appraisal?
+ A broader picture of performance is gained
What are the disadvantages of a 360 degree appraisal?
- Employee could receive too many and conflicting targets
Why might appraisals be ineffective during the appraisal itself?
- Most reviews don’t include an eval of the manager’s eval
- Paper work is prioritised//quality convo
- Employees may not take seriously
Why might appraisals be ineffective after the appraisal itself?
- Unrealistic targets have been set
- Employee does not understand if they have been praised or criticised due to ambiguous language
- Failure to respond to employee concerns
