3.4 Human Resources Flashcards
What is meant by span of control?
The number of people you are responsible for
What is meant by chain of command?
How communication gets passed down the business
What is meant by delayering?
The removal of one or more levels of hierarchy from a business’ organisation structure
What is meant by delegation?
Passing over responsibility to a subordinate
What is meant by hierarchy?
The levels of importance in an organisation chart
What is meant by subordinate?
A person in a lower level of hierarchy
What is meant by line manager?
Where one employee is in charge of another less important employee
What is meant by centralised business?
They are where important decisions are made by senior managers
What is meant by decentralised businesses?
They are where decisions making power is spread (delegated) to junior managers in the other departments/locations
What is the purpose of an organisational structure?
Clear lines of responsibility for departments and workers
Shows communication routes clearly
Highlights number of different departments
Workers know who they must report to
Enables the business to function efficiently
What are the different job roles in an organisation?
Directors
Managers
Team Leaders
Workers
What is the difference between a tall and a flat organisational structure?
Tall organisational structure = narrow span of control, more layers of hierarchy
Flat organisational structure = wide span of control, less layers of hierarchy
What is the benefit of motivated workers?
Better quality
Lowe level of staff turnover
Lower recruitment and training cost
Employee loyalty
What are the different methods of financial motivation for a business?
Wages
Bonus’s
Salary
Commission
What are the different methods of non-financial motivation for a business?
Fringe benefits Training Praise Empowerment Team working Management style Job enrichment
Why do businesses recruit?
Staff may leave to join another firm
Staff may go off sick/retire
The company may be expanding
Staff may be promoted leaving a gap
What is the difference between internal and external recruitment?
Internal - looking for recruitment within the business to fill the position
External - appointing someone externally to fill the position e.g social media, billboards
What are the advantages of internal recruitment?
It is a less expensive method of recruitment
The employee is already known to the business
Lengthy induction training may not be required
What are the advantages of external recruitment?
More expertise brought into the business
It does not create another vacancy in the business
More applicants to choose from
What are the benefits of recruiting the best staff?
Lower staff turnover
High productivity
Higher sales revenue and and profit
High quality work/customer service
What are the methods of selecting the best employees?
Interview
Assessment Centres
Psychometric Tests
What is an interview?
An employer asking an applicant questions about themselves. E.g face-to-face, online (zoom), phone
What is an assessment centre for?
A day long assessment of yourself as a candidate. You will have to complete exercises/ activities that judge your ability for the jobs.
What is a psychometric test for?
A test to find out whether someone’s for personality is suitable for a job
What is a zero hour contract?
The employer is not obliged to give the employee a minimum number of hours
What is a job share?
Where two or more people share a single full time job
What is a part time job?
Where employees work less than 35 hours a week
What is a full time job?
Where employees work often over 35 hours a week
What are the advantages of a part time job?
Bring in more expertise
Increased flexibility
Retaining valued workers
Staff can be employed just to cover busy times
Two workers may be more flexible than one
What are the advantages of a full time job?
Less span of control Less spent on recruitment More reliable Fewer staff required Employees may fell more secure and motivated Lower recruitment and selection costs
What are the benefits to a business of training its employees?
Increased productivity Motivation Staff retention Improved quality Better customer service Ability to deal with changes in technology
What is on the job training?
When employees receive training as they are working at the place of work
What is off the job training?
When employees receive training away from the workplace (not whilst working)
What are the advantages of on the job training?
Cheap
Targeted towards businesses needs
Employees get shown how to do the job
What are the advantages of off the job training?
Taught by an expert
Reduces the risk of an error in the workplace
Can help to bring new ideas and more expertise into the business
What is the selection pattern?
1 to 7
Recognise a vacancy in a business Job description Person specification Advertise Shortlist Interview Appoint
What do you mean by recognise a vacancy in a business?
This is where a job position arises and can be due to temporary or permanent reasons
What do you mean by job description?
This is a document that the business draws up to consider the duties and status of a worker
What do you mean by person specification?
This is where a document is produced considers the personality and qualities of the candidate
What do you mean by advertise?
This is where the vacancy is communicated to potential candidates either internally or externally
What do you mean by shortlist?
This is where the number of candidates that had responded to the advert are reduced as to how well they match the job description and person specification
What do you mean by interview?
This is where a candidate is questioned face to face by the potential employer
What do you mean by appoint?
This is where the candidate is confirmed that the position is theirs
What are the advantages for centralised businesses?
Decisions are made by experienced people
Decisions are consistent across the whole business
Decisions are taken for the benefit of the whole business
What are the disadvantages for centralised businesses?
Some senior managers may not be the best equipped to make the decision
No ideas or suggestions from staff
Some senior managers may abuse their position of power & influence decisions
What are the advantages of decentralised businesses?
Junior managers gain experience of decision making which will prepare them for promotion
Reduces the stress on senior team
Motivating to junior managers
What are the disadvantages of decentralised businesses?
Decisions may be made that do not fit with the business aims
Junior managers may lack experience to make decisions
Poor decisions made could harm the entire business
