3.5.3. Human Resources

Question 1

Labour productivity

Answer 1

= output per period/ no. If employees per period

-Measure of effectiveness of staff

Question 2

Labour turnover

Answer 2

=No. of staff leaving/ Av. no. of staff X 100

-Measures % of workforce that have left during a year can indicate staff discontent with how they were treated etc.

Question 3

Internal causes of labour turnover

Answer 3

Internal causes:
1.Poor recruitment and selection
2. Poor motivation or leadership
3. Wage rates below local norms

Question 4

External causes of labour turnover

Answer 4

1.More local vacancies arising, tempting staff to look for better opportunities
2. Better transport links allowing staff to look for alternative jobs further away

Question 5

Negatives of high labour turnover

Answer 5

• extra costs on recruitment and training for replacements
  -Time taken for replacements to settle and become productive
  -Loss of productivity while replacements found and teained

Question 6

Positives of high labour turnover

Answer 6

-New workers with new ideas, new skills, new solutions etc

Question 7

Labour retention

Answer 7

Opposite of turnover
= no. of staff stayed in business/ av. no.If staff employed

Question 8

Absenteeism

Answer 8

Amount of time missed by workers who don’t come to work can indicate discontent in workplace

=Tot. days absent / tot.days supposed to work X 100

Question 9

Human resource strategies to improve employee performance

Answer 9

-Financial rewards (performance related bonuses, hygiene factors to motivate staff- Herzberg)

-Employee share ownership

-Consultation strategies (gather employee views)

-Empowerment strategies (Maslow and Herzberg- empowering staff increases employee performance. Need clear aims and objectives, strong culture, skilled workforce.