HR Flashcards
what is work force planning
Workforce Planning ensures the right number of people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time to deliver short- and long-term organisational objectives.
Stages in workforce planning
- The organisation must first of all (predict)demand for its goods and services in the coming years (existing and planned goods and services)
- They must therefore decide how many and what type of staff would be needed to fulfil this predicted demand
- The organisation will profile its current staff (age,experience,skillsetc) to determine the need for new staff and the skills that need to be developed in existing staff
- The organisation must then ‘close the gaps’ to ensure it has a suitable workforce to meet its objectives by:
• recruitment and selection of new staff
• training existing staff
• doing what they can to retain existing staff by motivational methods
work force planning may include
• analysing current employment trends within the context of organisational needs
• forecasting potential future staffing requirements for all departments within the organisation
• forecasting potential future supply of workers with the appropriate skills
• forecasting potential labour turnover – i.e. the rate at which staff will leave the organisation
• planning how best to satisfy and motivate employees
• planning how to develop a particular organisational culture so
that the organisation can utilise its workforce to best effect
• planning how best to support staff training and development
• planning processes to release surplus staff as necessary
Benefits of workforce planning
- Allows businesses to identify gaps in their current staffing
- Allows businesses to plan how to fill gaps in staffing
- Avoids the costs of paying for surplus staff
- Avoid the expense of high wages for agency staff/overtime
- Allows businesses to identify gaps in the skills of its staffing
- Allows businesses to plan and provide training to avoid
skills gaps - Allows businesses to plan for periods of change and be
prepared
Changes that organisations have had to change to adapt
- Increase in part-time working
- Increased number of single-parent families
- More women seeking work after having a family
- Ageing population
- Greater emphasis on flexible working hours – employees have
the right to request flexible working and organisations must
consider the viability of all requests - Technology allowing employees to communicate more
effectively whilst apart
✓ People rarely stay in the same job for life
WORKFORCE PLA
Recrutement process
- job analysis - what is involved in a role?
- job description - produce a descriptor of responsibilities, duties, salary, location , place in hierarchy etc
- person specification - produce a document detailing the ideal candidate for the role: skills, qualifications
- advertise post - advertise either internally or externally
Internal recruitment
Involves advertising post within the organisation to allow current employees to apply.
May use company intranet, noticeboards, newsletters, internal email to advertise.
Advantages and disadvantages of internal requirement
Advantages
- Free or cheap TO ADVERTISE
- Can fill vacancy quickly
- Motivational to existing staff
- Employee is already known (less risk)
Disadvantages
- Limited pool of applicants - the best person??
- Promoting one person creates a job
- Lose out on fresh ideas in organisation
- Resentment from employee rejected
External recruitment
Involves advertising post outwith the organisation.
May use recruitment websites (Monster.com, S1 Jobs etc), recruitment agencies, newspapers or Job Centre to advertise.
Advantages and disadvantages of external recruitment
Advantages
- Fresh new skills, perhaps from competitors
- Wider pool of candidates to choose from
- Avoids creation of another post
- Can avoid some resentment between staff
Disadvantages
- Induction training will be needed - time consuming & costly
- Can take long time to whittle down to best candidate (from large pool)
- New person is unknown (risk)
- Existing staff de-motivated as feel less chance of promotion
Selection methods
CV’s and Application forms:
- Application Forms/CVs are usually the first stage of a selection process.
- Sent in response to a job advert to gather information about the candidates qualifications, skills and experience.
- CVs allow candidates to demonstrate their skills in presenting themselves eg do they talk about work experiences or qualifications first? do they talk about outside interests in depth.? Can they present their CV well?
- Application forms ensure all applicants answer the same questions and therefore can make it easier to compare candidate responses and therefore create a ‘short list’ more easily.
Interviews:
- Meet candidates and ask all the same pre-planned questions so that responses can be compared.
- Interviews can be:
• One to one – a single interviewer and interviewee
• Successive – different ‘rounds’ to qualify through
• Panel – a number of people ask questions
Advantages:
- Find out how candidates react under pressure
- Meet candidates and assess their personality
Disadvantages:
- People can be ‘trained’ and know what to say in interview
- The stress of an interview can make good candidates under-perform
Testing:
- provides additional information about an applicant, can allow them to demonstrate their skills, allow you to find out if they have natural abilities, measure their intelligence and their fitness
Disadvantages:
- They can be time consuming to carry out
- They may put applicants under too much pressure to perform as they would once they get the job
- Candidates may be more prepared on the day and once hired not perform to the same levels evident in the test.
Assessment Centres:
- Organisations use assessment centres to see a large number of applicants at one time.
- Applicants take part in a variety of activities to assess candidate suitability:
• Team-building
• Role-play exercises
• Testing
Advantages:
- Can scrutinise applicants for long time
- Assess how applicants interact
- Can mimic real life situation in role play
Disadvantages:
- A venue needs to be hired, costly
- Time consuming
References:
- Using information from referees, often employers or someone in authority (eg teachers) to establish if a person is reliable.
Advantages:
- It can help the employer gain objective perspective on the applicant
- It allows the employer to ask further information or seek clarification on information gained from the CV
Disadvantages:
- May give a good reference as they do not want to keep you on
Trial periods:
- A short term offer (day/week/month) to assess candidate suitability for a position.
- Can ensure they are capable of doing job before making permanent offer.
- Can avoid costly mistakes by having to go through costly and time consuming disciplinary and dismissal procedures.
Training
Training means to improve the skills and knowledge of staff within an organisation. It is generally accepted in modern society that education does not stop when we leave school, but continues throughout our lives.
Advantages to the Organisation:
• Improved staff motivation/morale/loyalty
• Improved quality
• Easier to meet objectives
• Increased workforce flexibility
• Quality training programs/awards eg Investors on People – make it easier to attract high quality staff
Disadvantages to the Organisation:
• Financial costs
• Once trained staff may leave
• Lost/reduced productivity during training period
Advantages to the Employee:
• Increased confidence in their ability
• Staff feel more valued therefore more motivated
• Less accidents, therefore staff are safer
Ways to train employees
Apprenticeships:
Advantages:
- Gives you experience in the working world while gaining qualifications.
- Increase in confidence which makes employee time more effective.
- The organisation benefits from highly skilled staff
- Staff are motivated which lowers turnover and makes it easier to attract high quality staff
Disadvantages:
- Staff may leave for better job after gaining new qualification
- Organisation usually pay for the training and examination
- Work time can be lost throughout the training
- The organisation will need to pay higher wages once qualified
Graduate Training Schemes:
- A training programme provided by a company for recent university graduates. Mixture of on-the-job and off-the-job training is offered, whilst earning a salary.
Advantages:
- Graduate schemes tend to offer one-to-one mentoring and the chance to gain professional qualifications.
- Graduate schemes usually take place at large corporations as opposed to small businesses.
- Graduates will earn more after training.
Disadvantages:
- There will be a lot of competition, there will be dozens of graduates applying for the same graduate scheme.
- Graduate schemes don’t guarantee a job at the end.
- Graduates cost more, through training and higher wages at end of training.
Corporate Training Schemes:
- Organisations offer staff training opportunities eg management training schemes.
- Corporate training is a means of ensuring that employees improve skills and enhance performance by focusing on professional development.
Advantages:
- Employee gains valuable work experience while learning new skills
- The organisation benefits from highly skilled staff
- Staff are motivated which lowers turnover
- Makes it easier to attract high quality staff
Disadvantages:
- Work time can be lost throughout the training
- The organisation will have to fund some or all of the training costs
- May have to pay staff more after training
Work Based Qualifications:
- These enable employees to work while they also learn, fitting their studying around work and enabling them to gain useful practical experience.
Advantages:
- Employees gain recognised qualification and learn through practice
- Employee can contribute to the organisation while training
- Increase in confidence which makes employee time more effective
Disadvantages:
- Staff may leave for better job after gaining new qualification
- Organisation usually pay for the training and examination
Continuing Personal Development:
- Allows professionals to enhance their skills, knowledge and capabilities, throughout their careers.
Advantages:
- For employees, CPD helps them keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date.
- Ensures that standards across the company are high and consistent.
Disadvantages:
- Work time can be lost throughout the training
- The organisation will have to fund some or all of the training costs
Virtual Learning Environment
VLE is a way to access learning and teaching tools. It is an online source for storing and managing learning materials.
Advantages:
• Trainees can access materials from home or while travelling at their convenience
• Trainees can interact with trainer through video-conferencing and chat facilities
• Saves money on sending trainees on courses and printing materials
Disadvantages:
• Some trainees will be more reassured by face-to-face contact
• The VLE can be costly to set up
• There’s no guarantee that staff will complete all the training
Appraisals
Appraisal is a 2 way meeting between a manager and an employee.
They are often held on an annual basis to allow :
•Manager to praise employee for their successes
• Manager and employee to discuss areas for improvement and how this improvement may be achieved (training etc)
• Discussion about future career aspirations–may allow manager to tailor development opportunities
