4 - Human resources Flashcards
Organisational structure
Is the way a business arranges itself to carry out its activites
Organisational chart
Is the plan showing the roles of, and relationships between all the employees in a business
Line manager
Is an employees immediate superior or boss
Authority
Is the power to control and make decisions
Responsibilities of directors (2)
- Establish the business’ overall goals
* Set long term plans and targets for the business
Responsibilities of managers (3)
- Work to achieve the short and long term targets set by directors
- May be responsible for a function within a business e,g marketing or finance
- Use employees and other resources in the best way possible
Responsibilities of team leaders (or superiors) (2)
- Help managers to achieve their targets by reporting any problems and passing on instructions
- Take simple decisions, such as allocating jobs amongst different employees
Responsibilities of shop floor workers
• Carry out a business’s basic duties or activities e,g working on a production line, serving customers, basic office duties
Span of control
Is the number of employees managed directly by another employee
Levels of hierarchy
Are the layers of authority in a business
Chain of command
Is the line of authority within a business along which communication passes
Delayering
Is the removal of one or more levels of hierarchy from a business’ organisational structure
Delegation
Is the passing down of authority to more junior employees
Features of a flat organisational structure
Wide span of control:
• fewer levels of hierarchy
• each director, manager or team leader/supervisor will have a large number of people reporting directly to them
Features of a tall organisational structure
Narrow span of control:
• each director or manager or team leader will have a small number of employees reporting directly back to them
• Many layer of hierarchy
Advantages of flat organisational structures
- communication is easier
* employees given greater authority - encouraging them to communicate more with line managers
Disadvantages of flat organisational structures
- Quality of communication may suffer - line managers have lots of people to handle so difficult to keep up with emails etc
- Horizontal communication becomes harder due to the amount of people of each level
Advantages of tall organisational structures
• Operate with smaller spans of control - lead to good communication between line managers and subordinates
Disadvantage of tall organisation structure
• Problems with passing information between levels e.g misinterpretation of a message
Decentralisation
allows employees working in all areas of the business to take decisions
Advantages of decentralisation
- reduce pressure on senior managers in the business
- job enrichment - employees feel more motivated to have more authority - making them perform better and improve overall performance
- can lead to better decisions
- faster decision making
Challenges of dencralisation
- vital for employees to understand the business’ aims and goals
- costly - training may be needed
- communication is very important
Centralisation
Occurs when a small number of senior managers in a business take all the important decisions
Diversification
Occurs when a business starts selling new products in the new markets
Advantages of internal recruitment
- candidates will have experience of the business and will be familiar with its method of working
- candidates will already have a relationship with others
- helps motivate staff with the chance of a promotion
- cheaper - saves on costs
Retention
Is the proportion of a business’s workforce who remain with the business over a period of time, usually one year
Internal recruitment
When a job vacancy is filled by an already existing member of a workforce
External recruitment
A job vacancy is filled by someone who is not already at the workforce e,g general public
Common methods of external recruitment
- advertising
- jobcentre plus
- employment agencies
Advantages of external recruitment
- wider choice - lead to recruiting employees with better quality
- external candidates can bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to a business
- no time needs to be wasted on training if they find the right person
Disadvantages of external recruitment
- can be very expensive
* greater chance of making a mistake as they wont know much about the candidate
Disadvantages of internal recruitment
- costly
* limited selection - e.g skills and experience they want might not be available
What is the need for recruitment
• important they have the right employees because if they don’t they could get negative feedback from customers about poor quality and customer service
Stages of the recruitment and selection process
- Business needs new employees
- Job description and person specifications are drawn up
- Job positions are advertised internally or externally
- Applications are received and kept until closing date
Job analysis
Is the collection and interpretation of information about a job
Job description
Is a document which states the information about the duties and tasks that make up a particular job
What is included in a job description
. Title of job
. Hours and place of work
. Main tasks that make up the work
. Employees for whom the person will be responsible
Person specification
Sets out the qualifications and skills required by an employee to fill a particular job
Benefits of an effective recruitment and selection process
. Higher levels of productivity
. High quality output
. Good customer service
. Staff retention
Contract of employment
Is a legal document stating the hours of work, rates of pay, duties under which a person is employed
Full time employment
Occurs when a person works a certain number of hours equal to the normal working week (35-40 hours)
Part time employment
Takes place when an employee works for fewer than the normal number of working hours per week
Job share
Exists where 2 or more employees agree to share the responsibilities of a single job
Zero hours contracts
Allows employers to hire staff without any guaranteed hours of work
Recruitment
Is the process of finding and appointing new employees
Benefits of full time employment to employers (2)
- Employers may benefit from employees working throughout a normal week - This can result in better communication as employees are more likely able to speak directly to one another
- Full time employees may be more skilled and experienced because they are at work for more hours of the week - this can improve their performance
Benefits of full time employment to employees (2)
- Employees paid for more hours each week - this can improve living standards and reduce the need to find a second job
- More likely to get promoted being full time - as it can allow them to attend more training courses and to gain more experience
Benefits of part time employment to employers (2)
- Can help businesses to cope with busy periods during the week e.g at weekends there may be more customers - having part time employees at work can help provide good customer service
- Some business may need employees with specialist skills but do not need them throughout the working week e,g an accountant who organises payment of employees and updates financial records might only require one or two days work each week
Benefits of part time employment to employees (2)
- Can fit work in with other commitments
- Some older employees may not want full-time work but do not want to retire. Part time can be a halfway solution to retirement
Motivation
Is the range of factors that influence people to behave certain ways
Identify the main benefits of having a motivated workforce
- Staff retention
* High productivity
How is staff retention a benefit of a motivated workforce (2)
- It avoids the cost of recruiting and selecting new employees - which can cost up to £30,000
- Removes the need to train employees which can be costly
How is increased productivity levels a benefit of a motivated workforce
Allows the business to produce goods and services relatively cheaply because the labour costs involved in producing each product is lower - hence goods or services can be sold at lower prices to be more competitive
Financial methods of motivation (5)
- Salaries
- Wages
- Piecework
- Commission
- Profit sharing
Salaries (2)
- Is the income received by an employee - stated as an annual figure
- Employees paid in this way may be motivated by an increase in their salary
Wages (2)
- Are usually paid each week at an hourly rate
* An increase in the hourly rate may be used to motivate employees
Piecework
A method of payment under which employees are paid according to the quantity of products they produce
Commission
Is a payment made to an employee based on the level of sales made in a period of time
Profit sharing (2)
- Employees receive a share of the business:s profits alongside their normal wages or salaries
- This can motivate as employees benefit directly ftom an increase in the business’s profits
Non financial methods of motivation (4)
- Job enrichment
- Training
- Managements styles: managers who retain authority, managers who allow junior employees freedom to make decisions
- Fringe benefits
Job enrichment
Is designing a job to give interesting and challenging tasks
Training (2)
- Shows the business owner values the employee - increasing self-esteem
- Can also motivate employees by making the workplace safer following health and safety training
Fringe benefits
- are the ‘extras’ that employees may receive in addition to their pay e.g company car
- Can help employees more loyal and improve retention rates
Benefits of training employees for a business (5)
- Improvements in productivity
- Increased motivation
- Staff retention
- Production of high quality good
- High levels of customer services
How can training lead to Improvements in productivity? (2)
- By teaching employees how to do their jobs as efficiently as possible - this should reduce time wasted on unnecessary tasks
- Makes the business more attractive to potential employees - making it easier for businesses to attract the best and most productive workers
How can training lead to increased motivation? (2)
- Makes employees feel valued - more committed to the business and their jobs
- Job enrichment - can improve their enjoyment and their experience at work
How can training lead to increased staff retention? (2)
- Employees are more loyal - less likely to leave
* Retention saves the business’ cost of recruiting and selecting new employees
How can training lead to high quality goods?
Reduces the risk of faulty goods being produced as employees are less likely to make errors
How can training lead to high levels of customer service?
Can give employees a clear understanding of how to meet customers’ needs and to use the business’ systems to do so
Methods of training (3)
- Off-the-job training
- On-the-job training
- Induction
What is off-the-job training
Is training that is provided outside of the employee’s workplace
Benefits of off-the-job training (2)
- Can help bring new ideas and approaches to a business - can be valuable in computer software industries
- Is expensive making the employee feel more motivated because they are being valued
Drawbacks of Off-the-job training (2)
- Expensive - not affordable for businesses who make only a small profit
- Risky - as employee could leave after the training has been completed
Benefits of on-the-job production (3)
- Relatively cheap
- Targeted to the exact needs of the business
- e-learning - can be provided at any time relatively cheaply
Drawbacks of on-the-job training (2)
- Unlikely to bring new ideas to the business - may not lead to dramatic improvements in a business’ performance
- Can result in more employees being unable to work within the business for a period of time
Benefits of induction training (2)
- Can help new employees integrate with existing employees and to learn how to carry out their new jobs effectively - helping them become more productive earlier on
- Can help avoid low rates of staff retention - so it wont impact the business’ costs
