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
What are the 4 features of a tall organisational structure??
- More levels of hierarchy
- Negative communication & efficiency
- Decisions take longer
- Motivating for employees (promotions)
What are the 3 features of flat organisational structures??
- Less levels of hierarchy
- Motivation (more responsibility and freedom)
- Slow horizontal communication
What are the 3 things that span of control depends on??
- Experience of the manager
- Size & complexity of the business
- If business is centralised or decentralised
What are chains of command??
Lines of authority within a business
What is a centralised structure??
Senior managers have authority over decisions at the top of the business
What is a decentralised structure??
Authority is more shared out to junior employees
What are 3 advantages of a centralised structure??
- Managers have experience of decision-making
- Not biased to one department
- Quicker decision-making
What are 3 disadvantages of a centralised structure??
- Not all expert enough to make decisions on all aspects of the business
- Demotivating
- Slow reaction to change (managers don’t know what’s happening with consumers -> gives competition an advantage)
What are 3 advantages of a decentralised structure??
- Motivating
- Employees have expert knowledge of their sector
- Quick day-to-day decisions
What are 3 disadvantages of a decentralised structure??
- Employees may not have enough experience to make decisions
- Inconsistencies may occur between divisions
- Junior managers are unable to see the overall situation of the business
What are matrix structures??
Where employees report to one or more supervisor or leader
What are 3 benefits of matrix structures??
- Encourages departments to build relationships
- Increases flexibility of business
- Increases efficiency of business
What are 3 negatives of matrix structures??
- May lead to conflict
- Employees unclear who or what priority is
- Lacks proper chain of command
What’s Intrinsic Motivation??
Comes from within (values, beliefs, etc)
What’s Extrinsic Motivation??
Comes from external factors (rewards, punishments, etc)
What’s are 3 advantages of motivation??
- Increased productivity
- Increased product quality
- Lower levels of absenteeism
What are the 4 motivation theories??
- Taylor’s scientific Management
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
- Mayo’s Human Relations Theory
What is Taylor’s Scientific Management theory??
Workers are motivated by money
- Mcgregor’s Theory X approach to workers
- Identify most efficient way of work and ensure all workers do that
- Piece-rate pay
What are 2 drawbacks of Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory??
- Decreased quality
- Demotivating
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs??
Start by meeting needs at bottom of pyramid and go upwards once they’re met:
Top - Self-actualisation
Self-esteem
Social needs
Safety
Bottom - Basic physical needs
What’s a drawback of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs??
Some workers may value higher or lower parts than where they are
What’s Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory??
- Hygiene factors (good company policy, supervision, work conditions, pay & relations) don’t really motivate but can de-motivate if not present
- Motivating factors (Interesting work, personal achievement, recognition & personal development)
What’s a drawback of Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory??
Doesn’t consider people have different hygiene and motivation needs
What’s Mayo’s Human Relations Theory??
Workers benefit from informal social interaction & working in groups
Meeting social needs improves motivation
What are Mcgregor’s 2 theories??
Theory X - Workers are unmotivated and dislike work. Need constant direction and control. Usually tall organisational structure
Theory Y - Decentralised management, employees have greater responsibility, they’re self-motivated
What are 5 methods of non-financial motivation??
- Job enlargement
- Job enrichment
- Job rotation
- Delegation
- Team working
What’s Delegation??
Giving responsibility to employees for certain tasks
What are 5 financial methods of motivation??
- Piece-rate
- Commission
- Performance-related pay
- Bonus schemes
- Profit sharing
What’s Commission??
Money paid for doing specific tasks
What’s profit sharing??
If firms meet profit targets, workers get proportion of profit
What’s the difference between leaders and managers??
Leaders have a vision and think in long-term
Managers make day-to-day decisions and set objectives for their departments
What are the 4 types of leadership??
- Autocratic
- Paternalistic
- Democratic
- Laissez-faire
What’s autocratic leadership??
Leader makes decisions on their own, say exactly how objectives will be achieved, requires lots of supervision
What are 2 pros and 2 cons of autocratic leadership??
Cons:
- Demotivating
- Less creativity
Pros:
- More productivity
- Efficient decision-making
What is paternalistic leadership style??
Treating employees like family. Focus on employee wellbeing and motivation
What is 1 pro and 1 con of paternalistic leadership??
Pro: More loyalty
Con: Micromanagement (Demotivating)
What is democratic leadership??
Employees participate in decision-making
Discuss issues, delegate responsibility & listen to advice
What are 2 pros and 1 con of democratic decision-making??
Pros:
- Increased motivation
- Less weight of decision-making on leader
Con:
- Longer decision-making
What is laissez-faire leadership??
Hands-off leadership that rarely interferes with running business
What are 2 pros and 2 cons of laissez-faire leadership??
Pros:
- High creativity
- High morale
Cons:
- Lack of direction
- Accountability issues
What are the 3 levels of management??
Senior, middle, junior
What are 3 factors affecting leadership??
- Manager’s experience
- Skills & experience of subordinates
- Feelings of security
