Chapter Four: The Human Resource Management Function - Factors Involved Flashcards
Human resource management
The effective management of the formal relationship between the employer and employees.
Employer of choice
An organisation that attracts, motivates and holds on to highly talented workers.
Industrial democracy or empowerment
The move towards increasing the influence of employees in decisions affecting their organisation and jobs.
Diversity
The differences between employees in an organisation, encompassing characteristics such as race, gender, ethnic group, age, disability, sexual orientation, the terms of employment, personality and education.
Conditions of employment
‘Conditions of employment’ refer to what an employer has agreed to give the employee in return for the employee’s work. Basic conditions of employment include:
- the number of hours an employee is expected to work.
- annual leave entitlements and other entitlements, such as sick leave and long-service leave.
- public holidays the employee may be entitled to.
- other entitlements such as redundancy pay.
Flexible working conditions
Conditions that allow employees to balance work and family responsibilities more effectively.
Work-life balance
Achieving the right amount of time for work and personal or family life.
Occupational health and safety
The responsibility the employer has to ensure the workplace is safe for employees and that steps are taken to minimise harm.
Job security
An employee’s belief that they will not lose their jobs.
Motivation
The individual, internal process that directs, energises and sustains a person’s behaviour.
Need
A personal requirement.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory
Believed that all people have needs to be satisfied, and that they will work towards satisfying those needs. He assumed these needs could be arranged according to their importance in a series of steps known as Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’.
Maslow proposed that people will work to satisfy their psychological needs first, such as food and water. People then attempt to satisfy their needs, such as shelter and clothing. Once these two needs have been met, employees seek to satisfy their social needs.
Herzberg’s motivation - hygiene theory
Herzberg expanded on Maslow’s theory by identifying two levels of needs: hygiene factors and motivation factors. This idea is referred to as the ‘motivation-hygiene theory’.
Motivation-hygiene theory is the idea that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are caused by separate sets of factors.
Locke’s goal setting theory
Did research on goal setting and motivation. He concluded that employees were motivated by clear goals and appropriate feedback regarding their achievement. Locke maintained that working towards a goal provided the motivation to reach their goals and this, therefore, improved performance. He found that specific and difficult goals led to better performance than vague goals or goals that were too easy to achieve.
Ethical management
Abiding by moral standards and doing the ‘right’ thing in the interests of all stakeholders.
