2.3 Human Resource Management Flashcards
What is human resource management?
Human resource management is the strategic approach to the effective management of workers so that they help the business gain a competitive advantage.
What does human resource management aim?
It aims to recruit capable, flexible and committed people, managing and rewarding their performance and developing
their key skills to the benefit of the organisation.
Why is effective human resource management important?
Effective human resource management is increasingly important because more businesses have
become service oriented, causing people to be the critical resource in ensuring quality customer service level.
What do businesses need to do to ensure competitiveness?
Efficient and productive
What usual consists of a great workforce? [3]
Well-motivated
Right skills and knowledge
Effectively organised
What consists of human resource management? [2]
- Human resources planning
- Human resource activities
What is human resource planning?
Human resource planning is the development of strategies to meet the future human resource
needs of a business.
Why the starting point the overall strategic plan of the business? [3]
Management of human resource can forecast future demand for human resources, determine whether the required human resources would be available, and finally take steps to match supply with demand.
What must management understand to develop an effective human resource planning?
Management must understand current employee needs and predict future employee needs
What is needed for effective human resource planning?
A developed systematic and comprehensive strategy
What are some things that can be done to understand current employee needs? [2]
- Job analysis
- Job description and job specification
What is important in planning for the future?
Understand the present; current picture of employee needs by the business
What is the purpose of job analysis?
The purpose of job analysis is to determine, by observation and analysis, the basic elements of
a job.
What is a job description?
Job description summarises the job scope, duties and responsibilities.
How is job analysis conducted? [3]
Specialists who do this interview job occupants about what they do, observe the flow of
work and learn how results are accomplished.
What is a job specification?
A job specification describes the minimum qualifications a job holder must have to perform the job successfully.
What can job analysis, descriptions and specifications help with the business?
Job analysis and the resulting job descriptions and specifications can help businesses avoid
hiring people who are overqualified (and presumably higher paid) or underqualified (and thus not productive) for a particular job.
What do many internal and external factors affect?
Many factors both internal and external, that include nature of the tasks, availability of
employees with the required skills and abilities, technological advancements, etc affect the design of a job and hence job descriptions would change over the course of time.
How do management predict future employee needs effectively? [2]
Management would need to have knowledge about future
human resources demand, and the possible sources (supply) for these human resources.
What do basing forecasts of the demand for human resources on as much relevant information as possible show?
- Provide information about future business ventures, new products, and projected
expansions or terminations of specific product lines. - Information on past human resources
levels, new technologies, industry human resources practices, and projected economic trends
are also useful indicators. - Such information would be used to determine both the number of
employees required and their qualifications.
What do management want to look out for when looking at external source?
Factors to consider include the availability of talent in the industry and the geographic location’s labour pool, the qualifications and skillsets of those
graduating from tertiary schools, as well as the quality of migrant workers moving into the country.
What do management want to look out for when looking at internal source?
Mangement might want
to consider factors like nature of the tasks, suitability of employees that includes which
employees are motivated, trainable and promotable, as well as the types of training the business
might have to conduct.
What is the central purpose of human resource management?
The central purpose of human resource management (HRM) is to recruit, train and use the workers of a business in the most productive manner to help the business achieve its objectives.
What activities do human resource management include? [9]
- Recruitment and selection
- Compensation
- Orientation
- Training and development
- Performance appraisal
- Promotions
- Transfers
- Disciplining
- Dismissals
What is recruitment?
Recruitment is the process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job to be filled and the type of person needed to fill it, and attracting suitable candidates for the job.
What are the types of recruitment? [2]
Internal and external recruitment.
What is internal recruitment?
Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the job vacancy from within its existing workforce.
What is external recruitment?
External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable
applicant outside the business.
What are the requirements of internal recruitment?
Internal recruitment would require management to make the job vacancy known to its existing
employees and encouraging them to apply for and be willing to accept organisational jobs that are available.
How is internal recruitment conducted?
Most vacant positions in businesses are filled through internal recruitment, mainly
through job postings, such as placing information about job vacancies and qualifications on
bulletin boards, in newsletters or in the intranet of the business.
What are the disadvantages of internal recruitment? [3]
- Internal recruitment restricts the competition for positions and limits the pool of fresh
talent and fresh viewpoints. - It may encourage employees to assume that longevity and seniority will automatically result
in promotion. - Whenever a job is filled, it creates a vacancy elsewhere in the business.
What does it mean when a vacant position arises?
When vacant position arises, the firm will look for capable existing employees with potential for promotion.
What is the advantages of internal recruitment? [3]
- Employees tend to be inspired to greater effort and loyalty. Morale is enhanced because
they realise that working hard and staying put can result in more opportunities. - The whole process of advertising, interviewing etc. is less costly.
- There are fewer risks, since internal candidates are already known and they are also familiar
with the business.
Why do some businesses tap on employment agencies or consultant.
They are specialists who assist in the preliminary matching between the requirements of the business and the current pool of
candidates registered with the agencies.
What is external recruitment?
External recruitment means attracting job applicants from outside the business, when there is no suitable internal candidate for a particular vacant position.
What are some examples of external recruitment?
External recruitment can be done by advertising as it enables coverage through media such as newspapers, journals,
magazines and the internet.
What does selection involve with?
Selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are interviewed, tested or
screened for choosing the most suitable person for the vacant position.
What are the benefits of using employment agencies or consultants? [2]
- Save the business time and administrative work, especially for smaller firms which are not well equipped with skills and knowledge in recruiting the right staff.
- This method is usually efficient with the employment agencies’ or consultants’ wide contacts and networks, other than being
impartial in their assessment of applicants.
What do doing recruitment talks, career fairs or internship opportunities in universities help the business with?
This allow businesses to gain access to a pool of
potential candidates, as well as to screen them in advance.
What do casual applicants do?
- Unsolicited applicants who ask about job opportunities even when there is no job
opening. - These casual applicants can form a pool of potential candidates for future reference.
What are the disadvantages of external recruitment
- The recruitment process is more expensive and takes a longer time.
- The risks are higher because there is an unknown factorRefere about the people hired.
What are the advantages of external recruitment?
- Applicants are likely to possess specialised knowledge and experience.
- Applicants can offer fresh viewpoints.
What happens during a selection process?
During the selection process, managers must determine the extent to which each candidate has the
skill, ability and knowledge required to perform effectively for the position being considered.
What are some selection methods? [5]
- Application blank / resume
- Selection test
- Selection interview
- Reference check
- Medical screening
What is an application blank?
An application blank is a form containing a series of questions about the applicant’s personal particulars, educational background, previous job experience, physical health and any other information that may be useful in assessing an individual’s ability to perform on the job.
What is a resume?
A resume provided by the applicant also serves the same function. Information obtained is compared to the job specification and description to determine whether there is a good match between the job and the applicant.
What is a selection test?
A selection test is a device that assesses a job applicant’s characteristics
through a test or simulated exercise.
What can employers know through a selection test?
Through this test, the potential employer will gather more information about the applicant’s ability, aptitude, interests and personality.
What do performance and personality test measure respectively?
While a
performance test requires job applicants to complete some job activities under structured
conditions, a personality test measures characteristics such as patterns of thoughts, feelings
and behaviours which will influence their interactions in various situations.
What is a selection interview?
A selection interview is a relatively formal, in-depth conversation that
is conducted for the purpose of assessing a candidate’s knowledge, skills and abilities as well as providing information to the candidate about the organisation and the potential job.
What do these references do?
Both character and employee references are aimed at
verifying information provided on the application blank or resume and may also focus on
collecting additional data to facilitate the selection decision.
What is the process of selection interview? [2]
- If this is done together with an application blank or selection test, it can allow the potential employer an opportunity to gather or clarify information provided by the applicant on the
application blank or test. - Typically, interviews are conducted by professional recruiters from the HR department and also by the supervisor of the functional department of the vacant
position.
What is a reference check?
A reference check is an attempt to obtain job-related information about the job applicants from other individuals who are in a position to be knowledgeable about
the applicant’s qualifications.
What is a medical screening?
A medical screening is a process to ascertain whether the applicant is
physically able and fit to perform the job.
What is the benefit of a medical screening?
This is also to protect the business from
unfounded and unreasonable compensation claims under workmen compensation and
lawsuits.
What is compensation?
Compensation is the payment employees receive in return for their labour / effort. It is equally important to employees and to the management of the business, as it can account for a
significant proportion of business expenditure.