2.1 Functions of HR Flashcards
Human resource planning?
A strategy to ensure that the best fitted employees are
selected,
used and
developed
in the most effective way.
Labour turnover ?
The movement of employees in and out of a business over a given period of time.
The most common steps in the process of recruitment?
✓ identification
✓ application and.
✓ selection
On-the-job training?
Takes place as part of day-to-day work.
Off-the-job training?
Allows employees time off work to attend external training.
Cognitive training?
Is not focussed on a particular aspect of the business but helps employees to develop their thinking skills.
Behavioural training?
Helps employees develop interpersonal skills.
Who leads on-the-job training?
It is usually led by an experienced employee who can act as a mentor to the trainee.
Ways for employees to leave a business?
Due to:
termination,
dismissal or
redundancy.
For which sectors is an HR function/department particularly important?
The tertiary and
quaternary sectors.
What form does the plan/framework take?
This framework for how to get the most from their human resources is referred to as the HR plan or workforce plan. With large businesses, this plan will almost always be a written document that can be referred to. With smaller businesses, the plan may not be written but decided upon by and remain “in the head” of the director of HR or the owner of the small business.
Labour turnover formula?
Number of staff leaving over a year
vs
average number of staff employed in the same year (in%)
Drawback of high labour turnover?
Even if workers are otherwise satisfied in their jobs, high labour turnover may lead them to believe that they should be dissatisfied.
Loss of skills which were trained through hard work and time
Younger workers tend to leave more often
For which business will be a higher rate of labour turnover more damaging:
For a Shop - one of the shop consultants.
For a Warehouse - one of the forklift operators
For a Hotel - one of the hosts
Accountancy firm - one of the accountants
Accountancy firm - one of accountants
What effect may have an economic boom on the labour turnover?
Also called the expansion/peak phase of the business cycle or an upswing, upturn, growth period.
When economic indicators rise and Gross domestic product (GDP), increases, employees tend to look for new opportunities since more jobs are available.
Types of external factors, affecting the availability of the pool of potential employees?
● Technological change – e.g. make employing someone from further away easier than before.
● Government regulations - maximum weekly working hours or equality in the workplace irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, or disability.
● Demographics – e.i. ageing population, migration
● Social trends – single parents families, or the importance of leisure in the “work–life balance”
● Economy – economic boom leads to deficit of labour and increased wages; a recession makes more workers and low wages possible.
● Education
● Labour mobility – particularly after 2019-2020 pandemic
The internal factors which may have an impact on the current HR plan?
● A reorganization of the business organization –
● Changes in labour relations – e.i. formation of an powerful union.
● Changes in business strategy
● Changes in business Financial position – the
The four parts/processes of the HR plan, which follow an individual’s career path as the employee progresses in the business?
● recruitment – how the business recruits the right person for the right job
● training
● appraisal
● termination or dismissal – whether voluntarily or involuntarily.
Parts of job Identification process?
● Job description
● Person specification
● decision whether Internal or external recruitment
What does identification part mean in the recruitment process?
The business realizes that it needs a new employee because of a change of some factors.
The internal factors which may have an impact on the current HR plan?
● A reorganization of the business organization –
● Changes in labour relations – e.i. formation of a powerful union.
● Changes in business strategy
● Changes in business Financial position – the
Components of Job description?
This gives details about the job, such as:
● the job title
● what the employee will have to do
● the employee’s responsibilities.
Components of the Person specification?
This gives details about the type of person required to do the job, such as:
● the skills required to do the job
● the qualifications necessary
● the experience necessary.
Benefits Internal vs external recruitment
Recruiting internally by promotion (or redeployment), may be:
● cheaper
● quicker
● more efficient as the person would know how the business works.
Disadvantages:
● limits the pool of potential candidates
● may cause resentment
● causes the “domino” effect as the person promoted would leave a vacancy to be filled, and so on down the hierarchy.
Searching externally would be the reverse of all of the above.
Benefits Internal vs external recruitment
Recruiting internally by promotion (or redeployment), may be:
● cheaper
● quicker
● more efficient as the person would know how the business works.
Disadvantages:
● limits the pool of potential candidates
● may cause resentment
● causes the “domino” effect as the person promoted would leave a vacancy to be filled, and so on down the hierarchy.
Searching externally would be the reverse of all of the above.
What components does the Application processes have?
The business has to decide how to find the best applicants for the job. The business will need to consider:
● Job advert (where? to be seen by the right people? relevant legal requirements?)
● Application form (What fields to include?) or résumé
(CV);
Benefits of predetermined Application form?
● designed specifically to match the job requirements
● standardized, so they are useful (to compare) for
jobs with lots of possible applicants
● is quicker way for the HR to process.
What type of people are better suited to conduct application and selection process?
Advantages of Internal staff for this purpose:
● cheaper
● quicker
● more efficient as the HR department will know precisely what the business requires.
Advantages of external staff/agency for this purpose:
● They may have more applicants in their databases
● Is specialized on applications and selection and does not loose focus (vs internal staff that has other obligations as well)
● specializes in specific vacancies.
Benefits of a CV vs application form?
● is better for jobs with limited applicants (such as senior posts)
● is more personal and can reveal more about the applicant
● can be more flexible
● is quicker for the applicant, as may be prepared beforehand and used many times.
What components are included in the Selection process?
● Shortlisting
● Testing
● The interview
Types of tests for selection process?
● aptitude (task-oriented activities, to test understanding and application of theories or concepts)
● psychometric (to test reasoning skills & personality)
● team based
Types of an interview in the selection process?
● face to face (one to one)
● panel (with more than one person)
● video conference (or telephone)
● multi-stage (one interview leads to another)
● multi-day (conducted over a number of days).
Induction - training?
● that focuses on making a new employee familiar with the way the business functions and with lines of authority
Mentoring vs shadowing during the on-the-job training?
● mentoring is when an experienced employee guides the employee being trained.
● shadowing is when one employee follows, or “shadows”, another to learn a new skill.
Inspection vs appraisal?
Under inspection,
● communication is one-way and top–down (from manager to employee).
● The process focuses on the negative – what the employee has failed to do
Under appraisal,
● employees may respond or even initiate discussion.
Communication is two-way,
● a non-threatening and supportive process.
Summative appraisal?
● measures an employee’s performance according to set standard -making a judgment of whether the employee passed or failed. Failure should not necessarily lead to termination.
360 degree appraisal?
● Ab employee is appraised not only from their line manager but also from subordinates and even customers. It is often used with CEOs and other executives
Self-appraisal?
● Is done with the help of a self-appraisal form on
which employees rate themselves on various performance indicators. Typically, employees can also suggest their training needs
Formative appraisal?
● a continuous approach to evaluate performance during an employee’s time at work. typically run on a one-to- three-year cycle. This type of appraisal presumably “forms/developes” the employee.
Termination vs dismissal
Voluntary (changing career goals, family) vs involuntary (fired because of poor discipline etc)
What is a “summary dismissal”?
It takes effect immediately without a period of notice:
When employees have done something very bad or
when the employer fears that the employee will damage the property of the business
What is redundancy?
When a business no longer has any work for an employee, causes:
● a drop in demand for the business’s products
● a recession etc.
In these cases, because employees have lost their job through no fault of their own, they would normally expect to receive a redundancy payment and a letter of reference
May also take voluntary and involuntary form, to make the life fo everybody easier.
Full-time work?
When employees work the maximum hours per week accepted by law (for example, working
35 hours a week in Europe).
Permanent contracts?
An employee who has been hired for a position without a predetermined time limit.
Part-time work?
Work less than the full-time weekly maximum hours.
Temporary work?
Work that is on a fixed-term contract usually of a temporary nature (for example, to cover maternity leave). The employee would normally sign up to an agency who finds work for the employee.
Freelance?
Someone who is self-employed works for several different employers at the same time.
Teleworking?
Work taking place from home or a
telecommunication centre. Usually the employee would have a core number of hours he or she has to work at the office, the remainder from home.
Homeworking?
When an employee works from home. Usually the employee would have a core number of hours he or she has to work at the office, the remainder from home.
Flexitime?
Work involving a set number of hours of an
employee’s own choosing. Usually the employee would have a core number of hours he or she has to work at the office; the rest is up to the employee.
Casual Fridays?
An employee is allowed to wear less formal dress on a Friday so that it is easier to go away at the weekends.
Three-day weekend?
Instead of working, say, five days of eight hours, the employee works four days of ten hours and so has a three-day weekend.
Career breaks?
● An employee decides to stop working for a time, usually a year or more, before returning to work in the same career. Sometimes the employer formalizes this and agrees to take the employee back after the break – this is known as a “sabbatical”.
Job share?
● two or more employees decide to share a job in order to free up more time for other activities.
Downshifting?
● An employee gives up a senior position or highly paid employment in order to change career into another lower-paid field or area of interest.
● Study leave – an employee is granted time off work to acquire a new qualification such as an MBA.
Study leave?
● An employee is granted time off work to acquire a new qualification such as an MBA.
Outsourcing vs offshoring?
Offshoring is an extension of outsourcing: when a business outsources outside its home country.
With improved global communication, offshoring has been a growth area in the modern business environment. Businesses take advantage of the huge wage differences between workers doing the same job in different countries.
Benefit of offshoring?
● Huge wage differences between workers doing the same job in different countries.
● Any other benefit of outsourcing (focus on core activities and competences)
Examples of offshoring practices?
Call-centers
Marketing
HR
The opposite of innovation?
The inertia
Innovation vs HR?
HR is most important for tertiary and quaternary sectors
These sectors are mostly innovative.
No innovation without a good selection of highly creative, skilled and motivated staff
HR vs ethics?
Not only should businesses treat their employees ethically, today it must do so. With the Internet, people have greater ability to send and receive information. As a result, businesses have to be careful to act in an ethical manner – or at the least to create that appearance.
Ethics is a factors at many areas of HR:
● Hiring - selection (non-discrimination)
● Remuneration (merit-based, non-discriminatory)
● Health and safety
● Maintenance of relations (non-discrimination in
promotions)
● Dismissal and redundancies (non-discrimination,
fairness)
HR vs cultural differences?
Hofstede indexes, such as:
● Power distance
● Masculinity
● Individualism
etc
HR vs cultural differences?
Hofstede indexes are useful , such as:
● Power distance
● Masculinity
● Individualism
● Uncertainty avoidance
● Long term orientation
● Indulgence
As well as:
● Humour
● Body language
● Dress-code
etc
Hofstede indexes ?
● Power distance
● Masculinity
● Individualism
● Uncertainty avoidance
● Long term orientation
● Indulgence
(cultural) Diversity vs innovation?
Innovation occurs when people see a problem and solve it.
When people from different backgrounds are gathered together to solve problems, the diversity of perspectives increases the likelihood that a successful and novel solution will be found.
What is measured by power distance index of Hofstede
A distance an ordinary citizen feels between himself and decision-making over his life or over the state. How he feels his own responsibility.
This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.
Limitation of outsourcing?
● lost control over operations
● may be costly
● if quality control is poor, there is a risk of reputation
Limitation of outsourcing?
● lost control over operations
● may be costly
● if quality control is poor, there is a risk of reputation
Offshoring vs ethics?
● it means redundancies at original place, making people unhappy
● On the one hand, it means raising employment in a law-wage, probably less developed country
What is measured by Uncertainty Avoidance index of Hofstede
The Uncertainty Avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with ambiguity. High score means that the society prefers prescribed rules rather than taking responsibility to create a new paradigm.
Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour, and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles.
What is measured by Masculinity index of Hofstede
The Masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success. Society at large is more competitive.
Its opposite, Femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented.
