1.4.1 Approaches to staffing:

Question 1

Staff as Asset:

Answer 1

If staff are an asset, they are valuable to the business which means they bring knowledge/skills.
Advantages:
staff feel motivated - meet needs of maslows hierarchy- increase productivity
staff have more opportunities
staff trained to deliver high quality services- customer satisfaction- CL
Disadvantages:
higher costs eg paying for training
slows down decision making as staff are consulted

Question 2

Staff as Cost:

Answer 2

If staff cost, business treat staff as a liability/resource and are devalued
Advantages;
-costs minimised as not spent on staff training
-faster decision making
Disadvantages:
-lower morale- decrease productivity - increase waste/cost
-decrease quality of decision making
-high staff turnover- damage business image

Question 3

Flexible workforce definition:

Answer 3

Flexible workforce- arrangements where workers are given options for different roles/location in employment patterns

Question 4

Ways to develop flexible workforce:

Answer 4

-multi skilling- training workers for multiple job roles which improves quality & productivity for customer satisfaction but can increase cost & is demanding of staff
-flexible hours- only work 2/3 days a week which is attractive for staff & increase productivity during given hours but monitoring staff during given hours difficult
-outsourcing- import role from elsewhere due to lower costs for a CA & increase quality as they may be better skilled but loss of control over quality and delivery create ethical concerns

Question 5

Distinction between dismissal and redundancy

Answer 5

Dismissal is when employee is fired due to misconduct/absenteeism/theft
Redundancy is when job no longer available/ budiness reduces the size of its workforce , providing notice/ payout.

Question 6

Individual & Collective approach to employee/employer relationship:

Answer 6

Individual approach - each employee has unique skills & needs, 2 parties negotiate their roles, responsibilities and benefits- delegates worker & os quicker but because its only 1 worker less influential.
Collective approach - group employees negotiate w employer for wages, working conditions. benefits - employees have power for action which can create conflict and cause decisions to be slower