1.4 Business key terms (part 1)

Question 1

staff as assets

Answer 1

employers who view staff as assets will value their employees and have concern for their welfare
employees’ needs are then met and will help a business perform more efficiently

Question 2

staff as cost

Answer 2

employers will try to minimise costs related to employees by:
- below the minimum legal wage
- using zero hour contracts
they do not have concern for employees’ welfare
employees are demotivated

Question 3

collective bargaining

Answer 3

a method of determining conditions of work and terms of employment through negotiations between employer and employee representatives

Question 4

flexible workforce

Answer 4

a workforce that can respond, in quantity and type, to changes in market demand

Question 5

home workers

Answer 5

people who undertake their regular work from home

Question 6

industrial action

Answer 6

disruptive measures taken by workers to apply pressure on employers when disagreements cannot be resolved

Question 7

multi skilling

Answer 7

the process of increasing skills of employees

Question 8

outsourcing

Answer 8

getting other people or businesses to undertake work that was originally done in house (usually to lower costs)

Question 9

trade unions

Answer 9

organisations of workers that seek through collective bargaining with employers to:

• protect and improve the real incomes of their members
• provide or improve job security
• protect workers against unfair dismissal and other issues relating to employment legislation
• lobby for better working conditions
• offer a range of other work-related services including support for people claiming compensation for injuries sustained in a job

Question 10

zero hour contract

Answer 10

a contract that does not guarantee any particular number of working hours (therefore unpredictable income)

Question 11

curriculum vitae

Answer 11

a document that lists personal details, qualifications, work experience, referees and other information about the jobseeker

Question 12

external recruitment

Answer 12

appointing workers from outside the business

Question 13

induction training

Answer 13

training given to new employees when they first start a job

Question 14

internal recruitment

Answer 14

appointing employees from inside the business

Question 15

job description

Answer 15

a document that shows clearly the tasks and duties expected of a worker of a particular job

Question 16

off the job training

Answer 16

training that takes place away from the training area

Question 17

on the job training

Answer 17

training that takes place while doing the job

Question 18

person specification

Answer 18

a personal profile of the type of person needed to do a particular job

Question 19

training

Answer 19

a process that involves increasing the knowledge and skills of workers to enable them to do their tasks effectively