3.6 - HUMAN RESOURCE DECISIONS Flashcards
1
Q
HR objectives - matching the workforce to the business needs
A
- need to anticipate future workforce size
- what skill level does the workforce need?
- where are employees needed?
- need to think about diversity
- needs to fit everything in a budget
2
Q
HR objectives - helping employees reach their full potential
A
- training to increase productivity
- opportunities for career progression
- Match workforce skill-levels to jobs
- effective management, staff organisation, pleasant working environment
3
Q
HR objectives - supporting employees reach their/employer relations
A
- need good communication
- if given responsibility = valued and trusted
- breakdowns in these relations can lead to decreased productivity and low morale
4
Q
Internal factors
A
- the culture within a business
- other department’s influence HR , need to predict workforce needs
- amount of funding available
5
Q
External factors
A
- state of economy
- UK employment laws
- ethical & environmental issues
- improvements in technology
6
Q
Hard HRM
A
- employees are seen as a resource
- hired on short-term basis
- motivated by money
- training only done to meet needs of production
7
Q
Soft HRM
A
- employees are the most important resource
- managed on a long-term basis
- motives through empowerment and development
- training is done to meet development needs
8
Q
Labour productivity
A
- Labour productivity = output per period/number of employees
- a diverse workforce with the right workers in he right roles can keep employees engaged & motivated and increase productivity
- if labour productivity is decreasing the HR may retrain staff and sometimes offer redundancies and replace staff
- HR will compare their labour productivity to their competitors and see if they need to improve
9
Q
Labour turnover
A
- measures the proportion of staff who leave each year
- labour turnover = number of staff leaving/avg number of staff employees x100
- higher the figure, the more people leaving
- external causes = unemployment levels & competition
- internal cause = poor motivation & low wages & no promotions
10
Q
benefits of high staff turnover
A
- stream of new ideas
- firm recruit staff who’ve already been trained by competition
- enthusiasm of new staff influences other workers
11
Q
negatives of high staff turnover
A
- lack of loyalty & experience
- loses staff they’ve trained which costs money
- recruitment costs are high
12
Q
labour retention
A
- measures a company’s’ ability to keep its employees
- number of staff employed at end of period-number of staff who leave/number of staff employed at start of period x 100
- closely related to labour turnover, the higher the turnover, the lower the retention rate
13
Q
organisational design
A
- shows structure & hierarchy
- sets out who has authority and responsibility
- structures can be tall or flat and have wide or narrow spans of control
14
Q
tall organisational structure
A
- lots of levels in their hierarchy
- long chain of demand (path of communication & authority)
15
Q
flat organisational structure
A
- only a few levels in their hierarchy
- people are given more responsibility & freedom
- can lead to people getting overwhelmed as the communication chain is very short
16
Q
wide span of control
A
- managers in a flat structure have a wide span of control - a lot of workers answering to them
- if too wide, managers can find it hard to manage effectively
17
Q
narrow span of control
A
- not responsible for many
- allows them to monitor people more closely
- however employees may become demotivated if they feel micromanaged
18
Q
delayering
A
- removing parts of the hierarchy
- can help lower costs, can give junior employees enhanced roles and improve communication
- can costs businesses money in the short term as staff will need to be retrained in new roles
19
Q
delegation
A
- giving responsibility for decision-making to people below you
- manager needs to trust the people they are delegating too as its alot of responsibility
- amount of delegating is influenced by the nature and culture of the business
20
Q
centralised organisation
A
- all decisions are made by senior managers at the top of the business
21
Q
advantages of centralisation
A
- business leaders have lots of experience of making decisions
- managers overview the whole business so decisions stay consistent
- no biased decisions towards one department
- decisions can be made quickly as they don’t need to consult anyone
22
Q
disadvantages of centralisation
A
- not many people are experts enough to make decisions
- excluding employees from decision-making can be demotivating
- centralisation reacts slowly to change, allowing competitors to get ahead
23
Q
decentralised structures
A
- shares out authority to more junior employees
- managers have to make sure that the work of all employees is contributing to the goals of the business which can be difficult if a lot of power is delegated
24
Q
advantages of decentralised structures
A
- motivates employees
- employees can use expert knowledge
- decisions can be made quicker
25
disadvantages of decentralisation
- lack of experience from employees
- inconsistencies across the company
- junior employees not able to see the overall situation and needs of an organisation
26
recruitment process
- identify vacancy
- write person specification & job description
- advertise job
- process application
- shortlist most suitable candidates
- interview those most suitable
- appoint most suitable
27
advantage of internal recruitment
- candidates are familiar with the company
- short & cheap
- motivates workers to go for promotion
28
disadvantages of internal recruitment
- vacancy in other department
- can cause resentment amongst employees
29
advantage's of external recruitment
- fresh ideas
- experience from other organisations
- larger number of applicants
30
disadvantage's of external environment
- long & expensive process
- longer induction process
- their recruitment may not be representative of how they are like a work
31
advantages of on-the-job training
- easy to organise
- lower training cost
- training is job specific
32
disadvantages of on-the-job training
- not productive during training
- bad practices are passed on
- no new ideas
33
advantages of off-the-job training
- trainer sare specialists
- new ideas
- no job distractions during training
34
disadvantages of off-the-job-training
- expensive
- may not be specific to their day-to-day job
35
HR flow
- HR flow needs to be managed during the tough times
- some department may have too much labour if there's a drop in demand/ new technology increasing efficiency
- surplus staff can be redeployed in other areas of the business, keeping motivation high and less vacancies
- if there's no way to redeploy, staff will be made redundant
- ensures the business has the right number of employees
36
internal factors that influence HR plans
- corporate, marketing and production plans
- changing production cycle may lead to retraining, recruitment or redeployment
37
external factors that influence HR plans
- employment legislation
- new technology
- labour market trends like migration and the ageing population have an effect on the supply of workers
38
motivation theories - Taylor
- workers motivated by money, believed workers do the minimum if left to own devices
- favoured division of labour - small repetitive tasks, with managers taking responsibility
- paying workers according to the quantity they produce
39
motivation theories - hierarchy of needs
- basic needs(food,water,shelter,clothes), paying working, dry, warm workplace
- safety(safe environment with job security), health & safety, policies & employment contracts
- social needs (friendship,teamwork), team working and social outings are designed to meet these
- self-esteem(achievement), businesses give employees recognition & offer promotion
- self-actualisation(meeting potential), giving opportunity to develop skills
40
motivation theories - Herzberg's Hygiene & motivation factors
- hygiene factors (company policy, supervision, working conditions, pay), don't exactly motivate, but if aren't good, workers get dissatisfied
- motivating factors (interesting work, personal achievement, recognition, personal development), these factors do positively motivate workers
41
job design
- the way a job is planned and organised
- sets out the details of a plan
42
job design - hackman and oldham
- said job design should be focused on the person not the job
- 5 key elements leading to more motivated workers;
- skill variety
- task identity
- task significance
- autonomy
- feedback
43
piece rate
- not fixed salary
- paid per unit produced
44
salary schemes
- workers paid according to given time period
- could be hourly rate, weekly wage or annual wage
45
commission
- workers paid bonus on top of salary
- bonus based on sales/units produced
46
performance-related pay
- paid based on performance
- amount determined by both individual & business meeting targets - annual appraisals
47
advantages of flexible working
- improves motivation so productivity should improve
- flexible working helps employees with children
- home working suits families, disabled, those in remote areas
48
disadvantages of flexible working
- impractical for businesses that need to serve the public during normal working hours
- easily distracted at home
- unequal workloads ?
49
non-financial methods of motivation
- job enlargement (more work)
- job enrichment (challenging work)
- empowerment (control over work)
- team working
- better working environments
50
employee-employer relations
- a successful relationship maximises the cooperation and minimises the potential for conflict between these two groups
- built on a culture of trust
51
barriers preventing better communication
- attitudes'
- language barriers
- sense of purpose
- communication overload
- remoteness
- group behaviour
