3.6 Decision making to improve HR performance Flashcards
Human Resources
This refers to the organisation’s employees in general, or the department responsible for their management
Human Resource Objectives
Health and safety
Employees’ rights (trade unions)
Hierarchy/promotion
Recruitment and selection
Legislation
Appraisals
Contracts
Training
Pay
Consultations
Motivation
Importance of setting human resource objectives:
It gives employees something to work towards
Improves efficiency
Focus on decision making
Improves coordination between departments
Internal influences on HR objectives:
Corporate objectives
(e.g. an objective of cost minimisation results in the need for redundancies, delayering, or another restructuring)
Operational strategies
(e.g. introduction of new IT or other systems and processes may require new staff training, fewer staff)
Marketing strategies
(e.g. new product development and entry into a new market may require changes to organisational structure and recruitment of a new sales team)
Financial strategies
(e.g. a decision to reduce costs by outsourcing training would result in changes to training programmes)
External Influences on HR Objectives:
Available labour force – for example, the impact of Brexit.
Government legislation – changes in minimum wages or workplace practices.
Changes in technology – new machinery or equipment that can replace some jobs or enhance others.
Soft HRM
Workers are the key to the business’s success.
Build the business around the skills of the workers.
Encourage the development of the workforce to create a competitive advantage.
Hard HRM
Workers are a resource.
Adjust the workforce to meet the business needs, rather than adjust the business to work with the strengths of the workforce.
Recruit and train workers to fit the business.
Cost first focus.
Differences between soft and hard HRM
Hard Soft
Autocratic leadership Democratic leadership
Hard pay bargaining Performance-related pay
High labour turnover More delegation,
Short-term workforce planning Long-term planning
Tall organisational structure Flat structure
Labour Productivity
output per period/number of employees per period
Unit Labour Costs
total labour costs / total units of output
Employee Costs as a % of Revenue
employee costs/sales turnover x 100
Absenteeism
staff absent/total number of staff
Labour Turnover
number of employees leaving during period / average number employed during period
Labour Retention
number of employees for one year or more / overall workforce number x 100
Categories involved in human resource objectives and planning:
Employee engagement and involvement
Talent development
Investment (level) in employees training
Staff retention rates
Training
Diversity
Alignment of values
Number, skills, and location of employees
Job Design
The process of deciding on the content of the job in terms of its duties and responsibilities.
Hackman and Oldham
A model based on the belief that the task itself is the key to employee motivation
Influences on organisational design:
Machinery
Money/finance
Existing skills
Nature, range, and volume of tasks for employees required to complete
Physical capabilities
The way work is organised/carried out
Quality standards
Time frame required for products to be completed
Authority
The rights of permission assigned to a particular role in an organisation in order to achieve organisational objectives
Influences on organisational design:
Machinery
Money/finance
Existing skills
Nature, range, and volume of tasks for employees required to complete
Physical capabilities
The way work is organised/carried out
Quality standards
The time frame required for products to be completed
Delegation
The process of passing authority down the hierarchy from a manager to a subordinate
Centralisation
An organisational structure where authority rests with senior management at the centre of the business.
Decentralisation
An organisational structure where authority is delegated further down the hierarchy, away from the centre.
Advantages of decentralisation
Delegation enables more managers to gain greater levels of responsibility, therefore, linking into Maslow’s self-esteem needs and Herzberg’s satisfiers.
Decentralisation enables senior managers to concentrate on their part of the business.
