1.4 Managing People Flashcards
What does staff being a cost mean??
Employees get remuneration and therefore cost the business money
What are 4 features associated with staff being a cost??
- Short-term changes in numbers of employees
- Minimal communication
- Little empowerment
- Tall organisational structure
What does staff being an asset mean??
Employees have something that is valuable to the business.
Skills & abilities mean they can add value to the product
What are 4 features associated with staff being an asset??
- Strong & regular two-way communication
- Competitive pay structure
- Flatter organisational structure
- Suits democratic leadership style
What is a flexible workforce??
Where workers are equipped to do different roles or where they work in a range of employment (part time, full time, work from home, etc)
What’s the difference between dismissal and redundancy??
Dismissal is when an employee breaches their contract so they’re fired.
Redundancy is when the employee’s job role is no longer required
What are the benefits of permanent working and part time work??
Permanent -> More financial security & motivation
Part-time -> Beneficial for covering absent workers
What’s the difference between outsourcing and offshoring??
Outsourcing -> Including external business in production process
Offshoring -> Producing products overseas
What are 3 benefits of outsourcing??
- Supplier may be specialist with better equipment
- Supplier likely to get economies of scale
- Supplier likely to have greater capacity & flexibility
What are the benefits of sourcing in-house??
- Easier to ensure quality and trace problems
- Easier communication & individual departments don’t need to make profit
- Easier to schedule work or production to fit business needs
What’s an individual employee-employer relationship??
Employee is treated as an individual & negotiates with employer about pay & working conditions
What are Trade Unions and what are the 4 positives of them for employees??
External organisations that act on behalf of their members
Positives:
- Collective bargaining power
- Improved job security
- Protection (from mistreatment, discrimination & unfair dismissal)
- Representation
What are the 2 benefits of Trade Unions to the organisation???
- Better & formal communication
- More productive than individual negotiation
What are 3 reasons that Union Membership is declining??
- Decline in manufacturing employment
- Increased employment in service sectors
- Significant growth in flexible working
What are Work Councils and what are 3 examples of their typical agendas??
Employees & managers come together to discuss factors that may impact the business.
- Business objectives & performance
- Employee welfare issues
- Training & development programmes
What are the 4 reasons for recruitment??
- Business expansion
- Existing employees leaving
- Business needs employees with new skills
- Business is relocating
What are 3 positives and 3 negatives of internal recruitment??
Pros:
- Motivation for promotions
- Employees familiar with business
- Cheaper & quicker
Cons:
- Leaves a vacancy
- Resentment among colleagues
- No new ideas
What are 3 positives and 2 negatives of external recruitment??
Pros:
- New ideas
- Wider range of experience
- Larger number of applicants
Cons:
- Long & expensive
- Selection process may not reveal how candidates perform at work
What are 3 costs involved in recruitment and training??
- Cost of advertising
- Cost of specialist recruitment agencies??
- Shortlisting & assessing may be done by existing staff (lowers output of business)
What’s the average cost of recruitment??
3000 pounds
What happens if induction training is ineffective??
- Low productivity
- Low quality work
What are 3 pros and 3 cons of on-the-job training??
Pros:
- Lower cost
- Train alongside colleagues
- Job-specific
Cons:
- Trainers not fully productive during
- Bad habits passed on
- Lack of new ideas
What are 3 pros and 3 cons of off-the-job training??
Pros:
- Trainers are specialists
- New ideas brought to business
- No job distractions
Cons:
- Expensive
- No benefit to business whilst training
- Less job-specific
What 4 things do organisational structures determine??
-Authority
- Job roles
- People to whom others are accountable
- Formal routes of communication
What’s a span of control??
Number of employees for whom a manager is responsible
What are the 4 features of a narrow span of control??
- Closer supervision
- More levels of hierarchy required
- More effective communication
- Demotivating if employees feel they’re being micromanaged
What are the 3 features of a wide span of control??
- Employee independence
- Less labour costs
- Demotivating if managers struggle to manage efficiently