HR Processes Flashcards
Acquisition
Define: Acquisition is the process of attracting and recruiting the right staff for roles in a business.
Describe:
Acquisition involves analysing:
Internal environment - business’s goals and culture, cost containment, growth, downsizing, improved customer service or quality
External environment - economic conditions, competition, technology, legal, political, and social factors
OBJECTIVES: Corporate culture - Changes in staff turnover - Worker satisfaction
ACQUISITION: Identifying Staff needs
WHAT: refers to the process in how a business identifies the needs of staff that could potentially
Conducting a job analysis - examining actual job activities, equipment used on the job, specific job behaviours required, working conditions and degree of supervision necessary
Creating a job description (written statement of employee’s duties, tasks and responsibilities) and job design
Creating job specifications (list of key qualifications - education, skills, and experience) to effectively identify staffing needs.
ACQUISITION: Recruitment
WHAT: Involves finding and attracting the right people to apply for a job vacancy using advertisements, employment agencies and word of mouth.
Internal sources/recruitment - appointing someone already within the business, transfer of employees, promotion, recommendations
External sources/recruitment - e.g. advertisements (SMH), seek.com.au, recruitment agencies, schools/TAFE/universities, word of mouth
ACQUISITION: Selection
WHAT: Involves gathering and use of information about each applicant to choose the most appropriate applicant.
Selecting the most appropriate candidate may include: written application, testing, interviews, background checks
Why is it important? Affects the productivity and efficiency of the business
ACQUISITION: EXPLAIN
Explain/analyse (why/how)
Assist a business with attracting the most suitable candidates
Assists with appropriate candidates applying for the job
ACQUISITION: Implications
ADV: 1. INTERNAL recruitment - incentivising current staff, increasing employee satisfaction, and promote a positive corporate culture 2. EXTERNAL recruitment - new perspectives and skills, dilutes internal politics, access to wider pool of applicants
DIS:1. INTERNAL recruitment - lack of new perspectives and skills, potential conflict within workplace and competitive tension 2. EXTERNAL recruitment - difficulties with determining whether candidates would be appropriate/ideal, cost intensive 3.Acquisition process can take a significant amount of financial resources, human resources (HR) and time
DEVELOPMENT
Define: Development is the process of developing and improving the skills, abilities, and knowledge of staff, through induction, ongoing training and further professional development.
Development refers to helping employees reach their potential, thus increasing productivity.
OBJ: Improvement in corporate culture, Reduction in staff turnover, Improvement in worker satisfaction, Improved productivity and quality, Increase in sales, market share and profit
DEVELOPMENT: Induction
WHAT: Familiarising new staff with their working environment.
- Gives employees a positive attitude to the job and the
business
- Builds a new employee’s confidence in the job
- Stresses the major safety policies and procedures, and
explains their application
- Helps establish good working relationships with co-
workers and supervisors
DEVELOPMENT: Training
WHAT: Seek a long-term change in employee’s skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour in order to improve work performance in the business
- Allows a business to strategically target weaknesses, develops strengths, and promote staff commitment - can give a business a competitive advantage
Increased training improves the productivity
OBJ: Worker Sat, Change staff turnover
Types: On the job, Off the job (outsourced training), Skills training, Management training, Webinars, Assessments, Ongoing training
DEVELOPMENT: Organisational
Less hierarchical and flat structure
Team and project based structures - improves employee autonomy and efficiency
Strategies: job enlargement (given more to do in the same job), job rotation (multi skilling), job enrichment (given more challenges and independence in their job), job sharing, self-managing teams
DEVELOPMENT: Mentoring and coaching
Mentoring: mutually agreed role for experienced employees to transfer knowledge and skills through succession planning. Usually more informal/unstructured.
Coaching: focused on improving skills and performance, and on helping individuals manage specific work roles more effectively. Usually more formal/structured.
DEVELOPMENT: Performance Appraisal
WHAT: A systematic process of analysing and evaluating employee performance for strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for development.
Tools: observation scales, 360 degree feedback and graphic rating scales
Provides feedback and acts as a measurement
Help the business monitor its employee selection
Identify training and development needs
DEVELOPMENT: Explain/HOW
Increases staff retention (significant cost saving)
Improved quality and productivity
Flow-on-effect - training reduces wasted time and materials, reduces absenteeism, and recruitment costs
Important due to rapidly changing technology
An established learning culture within a business will make it easier to adapt to new changes and improve a business competitive advantage
Development can have a measurable impact on performance and the bottom line
Research shows that productivity increases while training takes place (2.5 times more productive)
DEVELOPMENT: Implications
Advantages:
Benefits for employees - promotion, job satisfaction, challenge, adaptability, independence
Benefits for employers - higher productivity, ability for business change, employee loyalty, less staff turnover
Benefits of performance appraisals - feedback provided, remuneration and promotion opportunities, training needs identified
Disadvantages:
Short term cost and time
MAINTENANCE
Define: Maintenance is the process of managing the needs of staff for health and safety, industrial relations and legal responsibilities, including compensation and benefits, of all staff.
Ultimately, maintenance focuses on the RETENTION of employees through effective HRM.
WHY: → Retain staff - reduce staff turnover
→ Manage employee wellbeing at work - reduce absenteeism
→ Improve productivity
