Chapter 5 - The human resource management function - the employment cycle

Question 1

Establishment phase

Answer 1

The establishment phase of the employment cycle is concerned with attracting applicants for a position.

Question 2

Maintenance phase

Answer 2

The maintenance phase of the employment cycle is concerned with ensuring the motivation and enthusiasm of employees is held, and that employees are content with their jobs.

Question 3

Termination phase

Answer 3

Th termination phase of the employment cycle is concerned with the departure of employees from the organisation.

Question 4

Human resource (HR) planning

Answer 4

is the development of strategies to meet the organisation’s future human resource needs.

Question 5

Job analysis

Answer 5

is the study of an employee’s job in order to determine the duties performed, the time involved with each of those duties, the responsibilities involved and the equipment required.

Question 6

Job description

Answer 6

is a summary of what the worker will be doing - the role they will have in the organisation in terms of duties and responsibilities.

Question 7

Job specification

Answer 7

will indicate the sort of person an organisation is seeking in terms of personal qualities, skills, education and work experience.

Question 8

Job design

Answer 8

details the number, kind and variety of tasks that individual employees perform in they jobs. Jobs may be designed so they include a variety of tasks to keep employees interested and motivated.

Question 9

Recruitment

Answer 9

is the process of attracting qualified job applicants from which to select the most appropriate person for a specific job.

Question 10

Internal recruitment

Answer 10

(from within the organisation) involves considering present employees as applicants for available positions.

Question 11

External recruitment

Answer 11

A suitable applicant for a position may be found from outside the organisation.

Question 12

Employee selection

Answer 12

involves choosing the candidate who best matches the organisation’s requirements.

Question 13

Discrimination

Answer 13

occurs when a policy or a practice disadvantages a person or a group based on a personal characteristic that is irrelevant to the performance of the work.

Question 14

Full-time permanent employees

Answer 14

have an ongoing employment contract which includes all legally required entitlements.

Question 15

Part-time permanent employees

Answer 15

involves working fewer ordinary weekly or monthly hours compared with full-time employees.

Question 16

Fixed-term contract

Answer 16

is where employment is offered for a specific period.

Question 17

Casual employees

Answer 17

are employed on an hourly basis.

Question 18

Remuneration

Answer 18

is monetary payment in return for the work an employee performs.

Question 19

Wage

Answer 19

is an hourly or weekly rate of pay.

Question 20

Salary

Answer 20

Employees who earn a salary are paid a fixed amount each year, which is then divided by 26 to give a fortnightly salary, or by 12 to give a monthly salary.

Question 21

Salary sacrifice

Answer 21

is forgoing salary in order to receive another non-cash benefit of equivalent value.

Question 22

On-costs (or non-wage benefits)

Answer 22

are additional costs involved in hiring an employee, above the cost of their wages, and include superannuation, long service leave and workers’ compensation.

Question 23

Induction

Answer 23

is a process of acquainting new employees with the organisation - its history, structures, objectives, culture, policies and practices - and the jobs they will perform.

Question 24

Training

Answer 24

generally refers to the process of teaching staff how to do their job more efficiently and effectively by boosting their knowledge and skills.

Question 25

Development

Answer 25

refers to activities that prepare staff to take on greater responsibility in the future.

Question 26

Learning organisation

Answer 26

monitors and interprets its environment, seeking to improve its understanding of the interrelationship between its actions and its environment.

Question 27

Succession planning

Answer 27

focuses on preparing employees with potential to take on key management positions within the organisation in the future should the need arise.

Question 28

Recognition and reward programs

Answer 28

aim at both acknowledging the work an employee has done and providing some sort of benefit, such as cash, merchandise, travel or gift certificates, in return for a job well done.

Question 29

Intrinsic rewards

Answer 29

come from the task or job itself, such as recognition to feedback or a sense of achievement.

Question 30

Extrinsic rewards

Answer 30

are outside the job itself. They may be monetary or non-monetary.

Question 31

Performance management

Answer 31

focuses on improving both organisational and individual performance through relating organisational performance objectives to individual employee performance objectives.

Question 32

Performance appraisal

Answer 32

is the formal assessment of how efficiently and effectively an employee is performing their role in the organisation.

Question 33

Performance feedback

Answer 33

is the information provided to an employee after a performance appraisal.

Question 34

Termination

Answer 34

is the ending of the employment of an employee.

Question 35

Retirement

Answer 35

occurs when an employee decides to give up full-time or part-time work and no longer be part of the labour force.

Question 36

Resignation

Answer 36

is the voluntary ending of employment by the employee ‘quitting’ their job.

Question 37

Redundancy

Answer 37

occurs when a person’s job no longer exists, usually due to technological changes, an organisational restructure or a merger or acquisition.

Question 38

Retrenchment

Answer 38

occurs when a business dismisses an employee because there is not enough work to justify paying them.

Question 39

Dismissal

Answer 39

occurs when the behaviour of an employee is unacceptable and an organisation terminates their employment.

Question 40

Unfair dismissal

Answer 40

is when an employee is dismissed because the employer has discriminated against them in some way, such as firing someone because she is pregnant.