Further Human Resources Flashcards
Hard HRM
an approach to managing staff that involves cutting costs, such as offering part-time and temporary employment contracts, and offering maximum flexibility but with minimum training costs
Advantages and disadvantages of Hard HRM
Advantages:
1. Saves money on worker costs
2. Uses this approach on peripheral workers
Disadvantages:
1. Demotivates workers due to little job security
2. Bad publicity if workers are unfairly dismissed / made redundant
3. Increase recruitment and induction costs
Soft HRM
an approach to managing staff that involves developing staff to reach self fulfilment and feel motivated to work and stay in the business
Advantages and disadvantages of Soft HRM
Advantages:
1. Higher employee motivation
2. Low labour turnover
Disadvantages:
1. Training costs
2. Large focus on employees can mean a lack of focus in the business’ objectives
Part-time employment contracts
employment contract that is for less than a normal working week of 40 hours
Advantages and disadvantages of part time employment contracts for the business
Advantages (for business)
1. Employees are only required to work at certain periods of the day
2. More staff available to fill absences
3. Can assess employee efficiency before offering full-time contract
4. Teleworking can save overheads costs
5. Zero hours contracts – no fixed costs in a worker’s pay
Disadvantages (for the business)
1. More employees to manage
2. Communication is compromised because it is impossible to hold meetings with all staff at the same time
3. Low motivation levels due to less job security
Advantages and disadvantages of part-time employment for employees
Advantages (for employee)
Ideal if they do not want to work a full working week
Allows them to combine jobs with different firms
Disadvantages (for employee)
Wages are less than full-time
Paid at a lower rate than full-time
Less job security
Temporary employment contracts
employment contract that lasts for a fixed period (e.g. six months)
Advantages and disadvantages of temporary employment contracts for the business
Advantages (for business)
Flexibility -> Cover periods of increased demand
Ability to evaluate potential employees before hiring
Reduce overheads costs of employing staff when there may be less demand
Disadvantages (for business)
No job security hence demotivation from staff
Flexi-time employment contracts
employment contract that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees
Advantages and disadvantages of flexi-time contracts
Advantages and disadvantages: (SAME AS PART-TIME CONTRACT)
Teleworking
staff working from home but keeping contact with the office by means of modern IT communications
Zero-hours contract
no minimum hours of work are offered and workers are only called in and paid when work is available
Outsourcing
not employing staff directly, but suing an outside agency to carry out some business functions
Labour productivity
the output per worker of a given time period
Equation for labour productivity
LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY = OUTPUT PER WORKER IN TIME PERIOD / TOTAL WORKERS EMPLOYED X 100%
Increasing labour productivity
Staff motivation
Efficient capital equipment
Staff training
Increased worker involvement in decision making and problem solving
Absenteeism
measures the rate of workforce absences as a proportion of the employee total
Equation of absenteeism
ABSENTEEISM = WORKFORCE ABSENCES AT A GIVEN PERIOD / TOTAL WORKERS EMPLOYED X 100%
Reasons to reduce absenteeism
Employing extra staff is expensive
Absent staff means customer service quality can decrease, hence decrease in sales
Cause of absenteeism
Over supervision
Poor working conditions
Allowing days off work
Strategies to improve employee performance
Training
Complete units of work
Financial incentives
MBO
More advanced technology
MBO (management by objectives) advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
Employees and managers understand their purpose in the business and will manage their time effectively
Achieve employee consistency and coordination with all departments of the business
Disadvantages:
Time consuming to divide objectives for each division, department and individual
Objectives can be outdated quickly
Setting targets do not guarantee business success
The role of the state in industrial relations
Through industrial relations law
Through agencies to improve industrial relations
Through its own policies as a major employer
Importance of labour legislation
To control union power
Ensure employee protection
Types of labour management
- Autocratic style
- Bargaining between trade unions and major employers
- Cooperation with labour and management
Autocratic style, advantages and disadvantages
Very short term contracts, no job security, if worker objects to the conditions of work they are immediately sacked
Advantages:
Greatly reduce overheads costs
No objection to work, decision making is centred to the business
Disadvantages:
Low motivation
No training due to frequent job changes
No job enrichment or worker participation -> no contribution of workers to lead to better business results
Bargaining between trade unions and major employers, advantages and disadvantages
Representatives of the union and national employers negotiate wage levels and working conditions
Advantages:
Workers have a voice to ask for fair working conditions -> once fair working conditions established workers can be more motivated in working and hence increase productivity
Disadvantages:
National agreements are not always suitable for smaller businesses
Strikes can cause disruption and lost output and sales
Cooperation with labour and management, advantages and disadvantages
Involves workers decision making, working towards common aims and employment involvement
Advantages:
High motivation
Employee loyalty
Good ideas can be contributed to the business and push its success
Disadvantages:
Time consuming to involve every worker’s decisions
Workforce planning
analysing and forecasting the numbers of workers and the skill of those workers that will be required by the organisation to achieve their objectives
Workforce audit
a check on the skills and qualifications of all existing workers / managers
Factors of workforce planning
- Number of employees
Forecast market demand
Change in laws and legislations of labour
Productivity levels of staff
Labour turnover and absenteeism rates - Skills required
Pace of technological change in the industry
The need for a flexible and multi skilled workforce or not
Role of a workforce plan
To calculate future staff needs
Staff needs must be coordinated with business objectives
Establishing the skills required by staff for the business’ future
Trade union
an organisation of working people with the objective of improving the pay and working conditions of their members and providing them with support and legal services
Reasons for a trade union
Ability to engage in collective bargaining together in solidarity
Individual industrial action
Provide legal support
Put pressure on employers to ensure all legal requirements are met
Advantages of a trade union
- Employer would be able to negotiate conditions with a collective union which avoids workers from feeling that one worker has better condition than others
- Unions can impose discipline on members who plan to take hasty action
- Unions provide a channel of communication with employers
Industrial action
measures taken by the workforce to put pressure on management to settle an industrial dispute in favour of the employees
Industrial actions that a union is allowed to take
Negotiation
Go slow
Work to rule
Overtime bans
Strike action
Actions that an employer is allowed to take when union takes industrial action
Negotiation
Public relations
Threat of redundancies
Changes of contract
Closure
Lockout
When does the trade union have the most power when taking industrial action?
Most workers belong to one union
All workers agree to take industrial action
The business is busy, high demands
Industrial action can quickly cost the employer large amount of revenue / profit
When does the employer have the most power when industrial action is happening to them?
Unemployment is high
Action taken by employer has quick impact on workers’ wages
Public support for the employer
