1.4.1 Approaches to staffing

Question 1

What does staff mean?

Answer 1

• Staff are the employees in a business

* Staffing is the process of hiring, training and supervising employees in an business.

Question 2

Staff as an asset - value

Answer 2

• Staff can be viewed by the business as an asset
• An asset is: a useful or valuable thing or person
• Staff which support the manufacturing process (1) or who give great customer service (2) can both contribute to the value of the output – add value to the product

Question 3

Staff as an asset – developing staff

Answer 3

• Treating staff as an asset means that they are developed with training and seen as a benefit to the business
• A member of staff will have been recruited, trained and developed and as such has unique skills relevant to the business

Question 4

Staff as an asset – participation in decision making

Answer 4

• Advantages to the business of treating staff as an asset is:
• Staff are allowed to participate more in decision making
• The business is more able to respond quickly to market changes
• Staff have more autonomy over their work, which is more motivating for the staff and will increase retention rates and reduce absenteeism

Question 5

6 ways that staff are considered a cost

Answer 5

1. Cost of recruitment
2. Cost of training
3. Cost of paying minimum wages
4. Cost of paying staff salaries and wages
5. Cost of staff welfare
6. Cost of redundancy

Question 6

Cost of recruitment

Answer 6

• The costs of recruitment can be high.
• A business may carry out the recruitment themselves, costs add up, from the advert for the job to the employee time away from their job to carry out interview

Question 7

Cost of training

Answer 7

• Staff training is often viewed as a cost rather than adding value, however companies with innovative learning and development programmes are increasing sales revenue and retaining their staff for longer
• Training is an ideal way to close the skills gap in a business

Question 8

Cost of minimum wage

Answer 8

• A business in the UK is bound by employment laws
• One of these laws is the minimum wage law, businesses must pay these rates or higher to their workers - if the don’t they face high fines and “naming and shaming”

Question 9

Cost of salaries and wages

Answer 9

• A salary is paid to permanent staff and is usually a year’s salary divided into 12 equal monthly
amounts e.g. £1,200 a month

• Wages are paid to staff on an staff hourly basis e.g. £7.83 an hour

Question 10

Cost of staff welfare

Answer 10

• Staff welfare is an umbrella term that can mean anything and everything from facilities and benefits, to working conditions and retirement pension rates.
• An employee who is well cared for will be more fulfilled and satisfied in their job so are less likely to leave

Question 11

Cost of redundancy

Answer 11

• Employees are made redundant when the job no longer exists. In comparison being fired is when an employee does not do their job correctly.
• Employees may be entitled to redundancy pay and this depends on how long they have been employed

Question 12

Multi-skilling

Answer 12

• This means having a workforce that can be moved around from one job to another.
• For example a history teacher than can also teach English or Geography is really useful to a school

Question 13

Multiskilling advantages

Answer 13

✓Less staff are needed, those that are employed are used to capacity not standing around
✓More interesting jobs for the workers as there are a variety of tasks
✓This can increase efficiency, quality and productivity while reducing costs

Question 14

Multiskilling disadvantages

Answer 14

• Workers become a “Jack of all trades master of none”

* Businesses lose the benefits of having specialist staff

Question 15

Full time work

Answer 15

There is no specific number of hours that makes someone full or part-time, but a full-time worker will usually work 35 hours or more a week

Question 16

Full time work advantages

Answer 16

✓May be more highly paid per hour than part-time
✓Access to more holiday entitlement
✓Employees are committed to the business and may be more productive
✓Loyalty to the business

Question 17

Full time work disadvantages

Answer 17

Employees standing idle if there is a business downturn

Less flexible than part-timers, no-one to cover late nights and weekends

Question 18

Part-time work

Answer 18

• A part-time worker is someone who works fewer hours than a full-time worker.
• So this is someone who works less than 35 hours a week
• Part time workers should get the same benefits as a full-time worker on a “pro rata” basis

Question 19

Part time work advantages

Answer 19

✓Good way to keep costs down while a business is growing
✓Part-time jobs attract a wide pool of applicants with experience and skills who might not want a full-time job
✓Flexible to respond to seasonal changes in demand
✓Part-time employees have the same employment rights as full-time employees
✓The availability of part-time work can attract skilled workers who are unable to work full-time

Question 20

Part time work disadvantages

Answer 20

Employees might not give the business the commitment and loyalty that a full-time worker would
Employee may work more than one job which would make them inflexible
Employee might leave if they find a full-time job

Question 21

Temporary work

Answer 21

• A temporary (temp) job is one where the employer only needs extra staff to cover a seasonal period
• If you ever had a supply teacher – this was a temporary job
• Other examples are Christmas staff in retail stores and holiday reps in resorts
• The business can cover staff shortages and keep their costs low
• Temporary staff can be employed directly by the business or can be employed from an agency

Question 22

Temporary work advantages

Answer 22

• Ideal for a business that needs extra workers for a special project
• Useful to meet seasonal demands, and work fluctuations
• Useful to meet employee shortages
• Agencies may complete all the paperwork

Question 23

Temporary work disadvantages

Answer 23

• Agency staff may be expensive but it may be cheaper than hiring permanent staff
• Injury rates are higher in temp workers
• All staff will need some kind of training to get them started, this costs time and money

Question 24

Permanent work

Answer 24

• A permanent contract is the most common type
of employment, an
indefinite contract whereby you are employed by the company until either the employee leaves is fired or made redundant

Question 25

Permanent work advantages

Answer 25

• Staff will be very focussed on the business, they will look to the long- term to build up their professional development profile with the business.
• Higher staff morale as they know they have a secure job
• Employees have loyalty to the business which reduces absenteeism and increases produtivity

Question 26

Permanent work disadvantages

Answer 26

• Permanent staff can develop negative attitudes to work, or get involved in office politics and so may become lazy, uncooperative or disinterested in the business

Question 27

Flexible hours

Answer 27

• Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, e.g. having flexible start and finish times, or working from home
• All UK employees have the legal right to request flexible working - not just parents and carers
• Work is divided up into “core” and “flexi time”

Question 28

Flexible hours advantages

Answer 28

✓From a business perspective flexible working can keep valuable staff from leaving and can also cover busy periods
✓Can accommodate the work life balance needs of employees with busy lives and families

Question 29

Flexible hours disadvantages

Answer 29

• Can sometimes confuse suppliers or customers who may want to speak to the same member of staff
• The business may need extra staff to cover unmanned periods

Question 30

Zero hours contracts

Answer 30

▪ Zeros hours contracts means that employees are “on call” to work when you need them, but they have no fixed hours of employment
▪ The employer does not have to provide the employees with work
▪ The employees can say no if the employer calls and offers them work that day

Question 31

Zero hours contracts advantages

Answer 31

✓Great for a business where work can be unpredictable
✓Ideal where staff are needed at short notice
✓Gives the employer great flexibility, no staff standing around with nothing to do

Question 32

Zero hour contracts disadvantage

Answer 32

Employees might not give the business the commitment and loyalty that a full-time worker would
Employees may become unhappy with the zero hours and leave to find more permanent work

Question 33

Home working

Answer 33

• Over the last decade in the UK home working has gone from unusual to quite normal for a number of industries
• The employer lowers their overhead costs by not having to provide offices and supervision
• The employee cuts out the cost and stress of a commute and can set their own work hours

Question 34

Advantages of working from home

Answer 34

1. Fit a business round a family, gives a good work-life balance
2. The owner can work hours that suit their lifestyle
3. No commute, so reduction in costs of travelling
4. No expensive premises to pay for, so a reduction in fixed costs
5. Less stress from travelling and tension with colleagues

Question 35

Disadvantages of working from home

Answer 35

1. No socialisation with other workers, so business owner may not have anyone to bounce ideas off
2. Work is all around the business person so they may find it hard to switch off
3. The business owner may find that they work more hours than a regular job as they don’t keep track of the time that they work
4. Needs lots of self discipline to avoid distractions
5. Too easy to be lazy and not work

Question 36

Redundant / redundancy

Answer 36

• Worker’s job no longer exists possibly due to lack of business or restructuring
• Redundancy is sometimes: voluntary – where some staff close to retirement take voluntary redundancy to gain a pay-out
• Compulsory redundancy is where a member of staff must leave a job

Question 37

Collective bargaining

Answer 37

A method of determining conditions of work and terms of employment through negotiations between employers and employee representatives

Question 38

Flexible workforce

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Home workers

Answer 39

People who undertake their regular work from home