2.1 Workforce planning

Question 1

Workforce audit

Answer 1

Look at existing staff, see if they are being used properly in terms of skills, potential, experience.
- Check on skills/qualifications of all existing employees

Question 2

Labour turnover (LTO)

Answer 2

Amount of employees that leave the organisation in the span of a year.
- (# people who leave / total workforce) * 100 = % of people leaving
- Can be high or low, compare to others in industry

Question 3

Human resource management (HRM)

Answer 3

Strategic approach to effective management of org’s workers so help achieve objectives and gain a competitive advantage

Question 4

Human resource/workforce planning

Answer 4

Analysing and forecasting the number of workers and the skills needed by an org to achieve objectives

Question 5

Human resource/workforce plan

Answer 5

Number of workers and skills required over future time period

Question 6

Occupational mobility of labour

Answer 6

extent to which workers are willing/able to move to different jobs requiring different skills

Question 7

Geographical mobility of labour

Answer 7

extent to which workers willing/able to move geographical regions to take up new jobs

Question 8

Recruitment

Answer 8

Process of identifying need for new employee, defining the job to be filled and type of person to fill it, attracting suitable candidates for the job and selecting the best one

Question 9

Job description

Answer 9

Detailed list of key points about job to be filled, stating all key tasks and responsibilities

Question 10

Person specification

Answer 10

Detailed list of qualities, skills, qualifications a successful applicant needs

Question 11

Shortlist

Answer 11

handful of applicants chosen based on application forms/personal details in CVs

Question 12

On the job training

Answer 12

During working hours, learn from more experienced colleagues. Includes induction training and mentoring
Instruction at place of work on how job should be carried out

Question 13

Off the job training

Answer 13

Not at the business, lead by an external organisation, often expensive

Question 14

Cognitive training

Answer 14

Helping people develop capacity to learn
Exercises designing to improve person’s ability to understand and learn information

Question 15

Behavioural (skills) training

Answer 15

Learning how to control behaviour, like leadership skills, reactions, how to treat colleagues
Designed to improve ability to communicate & interact with people internal and external to the business

Question 16

Appraisal (of employees)

Answer 16

Assessing people in some way, see how well performing job
Process of assessing effectiveness of employee judged against preset objectives

Question 17

Formative appraisal

Answer 17

more informal, like through discussion
Based on range of formal/informal assessment methods employed by supervisors to monitor employee progress and support/provide guidance for improvement

Question 18

Summative appraisal

Answer 18

Formal, being seriously watched
Goal is to measure level of employee’s success/proficiency in meeting predetermined benchmarks

Question 19

360 degree feedback/appraisal

Answer 19

peers, subordinates, team leaders/line manager
Performance-appraisal summative assessments collected from ‘all around’ employee

Question 20

Peer appraisal

Answer 20

Type of formative appraisal, from peers

Question 21

Self-appraisal

Answer 21

Usually before a summative, against specific criteria (below/above average?)
Asking employee to self-evaluate their job performance

Question 22

Dismissal, fire, sack

Answer 22

Implies blame, have to break contract or do something wrong (illegal)

Question 23

Contract of employment

Answer 23

Legal document setting out terms and conditions governing worker’s job

Question 24

Dismissal process

Answer 24

Verbal warning, then written warning and timeline for improvement.
Otherwise open to claims of unfair dismissal.
But some things, like theft, illegal stuff, result in immediate dismissal

Question 25

Redundancies

Answer 25

no blame, job is no longer needed (linked to delayering)

Question 26

Redundancy package

Answer 26

usually monetary compensation, in form of one week’s salary per per worked in org, or in form of support, like new training for skills

Question 27

Teleworking

Answer 27

Staff work from home, keep contact with office by means of digital communication

Question 28

Flexitime or Flexible working time (FWH)

Answer 28

Just complete work by deadline, not really 9:00 to 5:00 job. But there are core hours have to be there for

Question 29

Permanent contract

Answer 29

No fixed end, provides security

Question 30

Fixed contract

Answer 30

set end, leaves people wondering what happens at the end

Question 31

Casual contract

Answer 31

As and when needed, has no security

Question 32

Zero hours contract

Answer 32

gig economy, no set hours, no security

Question 33

Full-time or part-time

Answer 33

Either permanent or fixed contracts

Question 34

Induction training

Answer 34

Given to all new recruits, intro to co-workers, internal organisation structure, health and safety procedures…

Question 35

Unfair dismissal

Answer 35

Ending worker’s employment contract for reason(s) the law deems unfair (if lose court case, expensive)

Question 36

Outsourcing

Answer 36

Using another business (3rd party) to undertake a part of the production process rather than doing it within the business using the org’s own employees

Question 37

Flexi-time contract

Answer 37

employment contract allowing staff to be called in at times most convenient to employees and employers (eg busy times)

Question 38

Temporary employment contract

Answer 38

contract lasting for fixed period of time (eg 6 months)

Question 39

Part-time employment contracts

Answer 39

contract that is for less than normal full working week (eg 40 hours, 8 per day)

Question 40

Off-shoring

Answer 40

Sending work needed to be done abroad, to foreign country

Question 41

Offshore outsourcing

Answer 41

work sent to external org abroad

Question 42

Reshoring

Answer 42

Bringing the work back from abroad