1.4 Managing People Flashcards
how many employees does a small business have?
between 1 and 49 employees
How many employees does a medium-sized business have?
50-249 people
How many employees does a large business have?
250+
How do employers view their staff as an asset?
- value their employees and have concern for their welfare
- recognise efforts will help their business to perform more effectively
- employers may try to meet their employees needs –> acceptable remuneration, reasonable holidays ,sick leave maternity/ paternity pay, chance for promotion, safe working environment
- make effort to retain them
- know employees want to be challenged, acknowledged and rewarded –> money may not be a motivator for all employees
What did the UK government set up in 1991?
the organisation Investors in People (IIP)
- Its purpose was to help employers to maximise the potential of employees
- IIP encourages businesses and other organisations to improve the management and development of their employees
How may an employee view their employees as a cost?
- like other costs they will try to minimise it wherever possible
-paying only national minimum wage
-using zero-hour contacts
-neglecting investment in training
using financial intensives to raise productivity
-providing the minimum legal ‘employee rights’ in relation to sick leave, holidays pay and working conditions
What is a downside to treating employees as a cost?
- treating them like a cost may lower employment costs, but it may also be a ‘false economy’
- this is because productivity might be lower due to poor motivation
- Staff turnover and absenteeism mayy also be higher and there may be more conflict between staff and management.
- treating staff as costs may leave workers feeling exploited, neglected., stressed and unhappy with their work
what is a flexible workforce?
a workforce that can respond in quantity and type to changes in market demand
what is Multi-skilling?
the process of increasing the skills of employees
how is having staff that are multi-skilled useful/not useful?
- can lead to quicker response to issues, customer queries and free up other to focus on tasks
- its goods as it can motivate, however it can add more pressure and cause mistakes if workers are not properly trained
What is a Par-time or temporary staff?
- People who do not work more the 30 hours a week
- good for busy periods e.g. weekends or Christmas
- Of the population c.67m, c.30m are the working population almost half are not in full-time employment
what are flexible hours and home working?
- their are different ways this can work –> shifts over 24 hours, longer days for a shorter Friday, have a 35 hour week and complete whenever you want, sabbaticals, buying extra holidays
- Positives –> it can mean you are open longer
- Zero hour contracts –> great for businesses, but no security for the worker
- home workers –> farmer, shop owners, musicians, could be full-time, could be self employed. Good to keep costs low and suits lifestyle needs, but can cause communication problems with multiple staff and difficult to monitor productivity
what is Outsourcing and why is it useful/not useful
?
- getting other people or businesses to undertake work that was originally done in-house
- keeps costs lower and lets you do more
- however there is loss of control, could hold up an production process and employees may not like it as they feel their jobs are being threatened
what is dismissal?
- could be misconduct or employee incapable of doing their job
- they are given a period of notice before they leave which length differs depending on how long the employee has worked for the business
what is redundancy?
- there is no work for the person to do
- you are entitled to redundancy or severance pay by law
- some people are not covered e.g. those coming towards the end of their contract or apprenticeship
when can conflicts occur between employer and employee?
- rate of pay
- Introduction of technology - may fear job losses or may not be confident with it
- flexible working –> zero hours are not popular
- work conditions –> employees want better conditions
What are the three ways employees can deal with conflicts with their management?
In order of severity and seriousness
- Individual approach
- collective bargaining
- Industrial action
what is individual approach?
- often done by owner, manager or HR
- speaks with the employee over problem e.g. pay
- The danger is the better negotiators may get a better deal
- Often people argue this method is preferred by the employer, particularly when large organisation can hire someone skilled in HR to deal with issue
what is collective bargaining?
a method of determining conditions of work and terms of employment through negotiation between employers and employee representatives
- trade union represent the workers and negotiate conditions
- For collective bargaining to take place, employees must be free to join representative e.g. trade unions
- employers must recognize and agree to work with them they should negotiate on good faith and everyone should respect the outcome
What is industrial action?
- strikes
- disruptive measures taken by workers to apply pressure on employers when disagreements cannot be resolved
What are the advantages of collective bargaining?
- agreements are transparent and binding
- may be more cost effective to have just one set of negotiations
- rules and terms are more likely to be respected by both parties
- more equitable because power between both sides is equalized
- favoritism and victimization might be reduced at work
- employee representatives are democratically elected
What are disadvantages of collective bargain?
- negotiatioin can result in more bureaucracy and take longer
- the views of individuals are not always reflected by unions
- negotiation costs can be high are usually met by businesses
- A failure to agree can have serious consequences e.g. strike action
- Owners may feel their freedom to manage is compromised
What are the advantages of flexible workforce?
- business can expand and contract quickly in response to changes in demand for its product –> a workforce made up of permanent staff is difficult to slim down due to costs and legal requirements
- specialized jobs need to be done but its a waste of time for a permanent worker –> better to outsource
- cheaper to employee –> if temporary staff are treated as self-employed or subcontractors –> business saves on NIC
- temporary staff can be laid off immediately with little cost
- business may be able to pass on training costs to subcontractors of the temporary workers
- job sharing and flexible hours –> work more efficiently (open 24/7) work longer certain days of the week e.g. Friday night
What are the disadvantages of flexible workforce?
- peripheral workers may have less loyalty –> only motivated by financial gains
- outsourcing may lead to poor quality and damaging their reputation with customers –> peripheral workers move on and dont take responsibility for poor work
- Communication –> workers not available when the business needs to communicate with them - although technology has made this better
- can be a costly process to hire -> lower cost but lose out on efficiency compared to permanent workers – may lead to higher costs in the long run
- some workers can be excellent and highly motivated, others can be simple workers who cant hold down a job –> no guarantee that they perform their jobs as well as normal workers
- too many peripheral workers employed alongside core workers can cause demotivation to the core workers, constant changing of temp. staff can cause disorientation
Who recruits staff in a business?
HR –> human resources, do this in large businesses
- in small businesses they may o it with a informal chat
Why may a business need new staff?
- the business is expanding and more labour is needed
- people are leaving and they need to be replaced
- positions have become vacant due to promotion
- people are required for a given period to cover temporary staff absence, e.g. due to maternity or maternity leave
What are the stages of the recruitment process
- identify the type and number of staff needed
- prepare job description and person specification
- advertise the job using appropriate media
- evaluate applicants and select a shortlist for interview
- Carry out interviews
- Evaluate interviews and make appointment
- Provide feedback for unsuccessful candidates
What does the Job description include?
- task of the job
- working hours
What does the person specification include?
- characteristics, skills and qualifications
- Essential and desirable traits
What are some internal methods of recruitment?
- word of mouth
- notice boards
- Approached
- Direct application E-mail
What are some external methods of recruitment?
- word of mouth
- newspapers
- radio
- head hunters
- job center
- advertising
- recruitment agencies
- government funded training schemes
What are some costs of recruitment selection and training?
- loss of output
- induction and training
- cost of the recruitment process
- more senior position are more expensive
What are some recruitment and selection cost?
- identifying the vacancy –> if 50 staff are need for a new store its complex
- admin costs of updating documents
- internal/external adverts
- costs of calling applicants
- interview process is time consuming and refreshments
- they may negotiate high pay/benefits
What some training costs?
- health and safety training is essential, others not always
- training courses and other resources
- loss of output
- employees leaving having been trained is a loss
what is the object of training?
- making workers move productive by teaching them more effective ways of working
- familiarizing workers with new equipment or technology being introduced
what is induction training?
- training that introduces you to the business
- on-the-job training and off-the-job training
What is on-the-job training?
training while on the job through:
- learning form other workers
- mentoring
- job rotation
- traditional apprenticeships
- graduate training
What is off-the-job training?
training at external agencies –> at colleges or could be a MBA
- can be expensive
What are the benefits of training?
- managers –> staff are more motivated, they can be more flexible and it help recruit better staff
- Owners –> more productivity, lower costs as you are more efficient, competitive edge
- Employees –> more satisfied, fewer mistakes, feel valued, help get a promotion
- Customers –> Better products and customer service
What are some advantages of on-the-job training?
- output is being produced
- relevant because trainees learn by actually doing the job
- cheaper than other forms of training
- Can be easy to organise