Chapter 10

Question 1

what is Human resources management (HRM)?

Answer 1

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic approach to the effective management of an organisation’s workers so that they help the business gain a competitive advantage

Question 2

What is the main purpose of HRM?

Answer 2

The central purpose of HRM is to recruit, to train and the use the workers of an organisation in the most productive manner to assist the organisation in the achievement of it’s objectives

Question 3

What are the other responsibilities of HRM?

Answer 3

1 Workforce planning
2 Recruitment and selection
3 Training and development
4 Preparing contracts of employment
5 Improving staff morale and welfare
6 Developing pay systems
7 Measuring and monitoring staff performance

Question 4

what is Workforce planning?

Answer 4

Workforce planning means analysing and forecasting the numbers of workers and the skills of those workers that will be required by the organisation to achieve its objectives

Question 5

what is A workforce audit ?

Answer 5

A workforce audit is a check on the skills and qualifications of all existing workers/managers

Question 6

What is Recruiting and selecting staff?

Answer 6

Recruitment is the process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job to be filled and the type of person needed to fill it, attracting suitable candidates for the job and selecting the best one

Question 7

recruitment and selection process involves several steps, what are they?

Answer 7

1 Establishing the job vacancy and drawing up a job description
2 Drawing up a person specification
3 Preparing a job advertisement
4 Drawing up a shortlist of applicants
5 Conducting interviews – or using other selection methods

Question 8

what is job description?

Answer 8

A job description is a detailed list of the key points about the job to be filled – stating all its key tasks and responsibilities

Question 9

what is person specification?

Answer 9

A person specification is a detailed list of the qualities, skills and qualifications that a successful applicant will need to have

Question 10

what is Job advertisement?

Answer 10

A job advertisement may be placed within an organisation (to support internal recruitment) or placed outside an organisation (to support external recruitment)

Question 11

Benefits of internal recruitment

Answer 11

1 Applicants are already known to the selection team

2 Often quicker and cheaper than external recruitment

Question 12

Benefits of external recruitment

Answer 12

External applicants will bring in new ideas and practices to the business
They should be a wider choice of potential applicants – not just limited to internal staff

Question 13

what is Drawing up a shortlist of applicants?

Answer 13

A small number of applicants are chosen based on their application forms and personal details, often contained in a CV (curriculum vitae) or resume

Question 14

What is Conducting interview?

Answer 14

Interviews are conducted that will be designed to question the applicant on their skills, experience and character to see if they will both perform well and fit into the organisation

Question 15

What are other selection tests?

Answer 15

Other selection tests might be conducted, such as aptitude tests and psychometric tests

Question 16

what is On-the-job training

Answer 16

On-the-job training is instruction at the place of work on how a job should be carried out

Question 17

what is Training?

Answer 17

Training is work-related education to increase workforce skills and efficiency

Question 18

What is Off-the-job training ?

Answer 18

Off-the-job training is all training undertaken away from the business, e.g. work-related college courses

Question 19

What is Induction training?

Answer 19

Induction training is an introductory training programme to familiarise new recruits with the systems used in the business and the layout of the business site

Question 20

what is staff appraisal?

Answer 20

A staff appraisal is the process of assessing the effectiveness of an employee judged against pre-set objectives

Question 21

what is dismissal?

Answer 21

A dismissal means being dismissed or sacked (fired) from a job due to incompetence or breach of discipline

Question 22

what is unfair dismissal?

Answer 22

An unfair dismissal means ending a worker’s employment contract for a reason that the law regards as being unfair

Question 23

what is redundancy?

Answer 23

A redundancy occurs when a job is no longer required, so the employee doing this job becomes redundant through no fault of his or her own

Question 24

temporary employment contract?

Answer 24

A temporary employment contract is an employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period, e.g. six months

Question 25

part-time employment contract?

Answer 25

A part-time employment contract is an employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of, say, 40 hours, e.g. eight hours per week

Question 26

flexi-time contract ?

Answer 26

A flexi-time contract is an employment contract that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees, e.g. at busy times of day

Question 27

what is Outsourcing?

Answer 27

Outsourcing means not employing staff directly, but using an outside agency or organisation to carry out some business functions

Question 28

Employment contract: full-time

Advantages

Answer 28

1 Available full-time to handle peaks or unexpected increases in workload
2 Easier to recruit people looking for the greater security and higher rewards of full-time work

Question 29

Employment contract: full-time

Disadvantages

Answer 29

1 Costly if there is a downturn in business activity – full-time employees still need to be paid
2 Reduced flexibility in terms of adding skills or capacity – part-time employees provide much more flexibil

Question 30

Employment contract: part-time

Advantages

Answer 30

1 More flexible – part-timers can work overtime if there is sufficient work to do
2 Keeps costs down – reduces the breakeven point (lower overheads)

Question 31

Employment contract: part-time

Disadvantages

Answer 31

1 Potentially higher costs on training, induction

2 Harder to communicate with employees if they spend less time in the business

Question 32

Employment contract: temporary

Advantages

Answer 32

1 Flexibility – temps give the employer better control over the cost of staff, bringing in more people when required and releasing them when things get quiet
2 Ideal for specific jobs, tasks and projects – e.g. installation of IT systems, handling customer calls after a promotional campaign

Question 33

Employment contract: temporary

Disadvantages

Answer 33

1 Temps less likely to know and understand the business, or to fit in with its culture. This might be negative for customer service
2 Temps less likely to know and understand the business, or to fit in with its culture. This might be negative for customer service

Question 34

What is Hard HRM?

Answer 34

Hard HRM is an approach to managing staff that focuses on cutting cost, e.g. temporary and part-time employment contracts, offering maximum flexibility but with minimum training costs

Question 35

what is Soft HRM

Answer 35

Soft HRM is an approach to managing staff that focuses on developing staff so that they reach self-fulfilment and are motivated to work hard and stay with the business