Human Resource Management Flashcards
What is human resource management?
It is about how the workforce is managed by a business in orde to me the strategic objectives of that business
What are three activities that are undertaken by HRM?
Workforce planning
Recruitment
Communication
Why has HRM become more important?
- Because businesses now have fewer layers of management hierarchy.
- Most businesses provide services so need a quality customer service
What is an organisational chart?
A diagram that shows the hierarchy in a business usually from top to bottom in terms of seniority.
What is span of control?
The number of subordinates or employees from whom a manager is responsible.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a narrow span of control?
Advantages - manager gets to spend lots of time giving staff clear/direct instructions.
Disadvantage - costly
Staff may feel that they are being watched
Advantages and disadvantages of wide span of control
Advantages - reduces costs
- independence my be motivating for staff
Disadvantages - staff may perform badly as manager loses control
What is chain of command?
The order of authority and delegation within a business.
What does the success of a span of control rely on?
- personality of the manager
- skills of the subordinates
- the size of the business
- the industry the business is operating in
What are levels of hierarchy/layers?
Refers to the number of levels or layers in a business.
What are line relationships?
The vertical relationships (in the organisational hierarchy) between managers and subordinates.
What are staff relationships?
The horizontal relationship between a manger and another organisational member to/from whom the manager gives or receives information or advice.
What is delayering?
A process of reducing the number of levels or layers in an organisational structure.
What are the advantages of delayering?
- reduces costs
- more employee responsibility
- faster communication and therefore decisions will also be made more quickly.
What are the disadvantages of delayering?
- spans of control will increase
- redundancy payment
- damages staff morale
- share price drops puts investors off
What is delegation?
The passing on of responsibility, usually to someone at a lower level in the organisation
What is empowerment?
Giving employees the power to do their jobs
What is a centralised structure?
Where decisions are made from the top.
What are the benefits of centralisation?
- easier to implement common policies and practices for the whole business
- prevents other parts of the business from becoming too independent.
- easier to co-ordinate and control from the centre e.g. with budgets
- economies of scale and overhead saving easier to achieve
- quicker decision making
Disadvantages of centralisation?
- moire bureaucratic - often extra layers in the hierarchy
- local or junior managers are likely to be much closer to customer needs
- lack of authority down the hierarchy may reduce manager motivation
- customer service: lost flexibility and speed of local decision-making.
What is decentralisation? And what type of business would it suit?
Decision making spread out, includes junior managers in the hierarchy.
It suits hotels as hotel managers and staff feel empowered.
What are the benefits of decentralisation?
- decisions are made closer to the customer
- more able to respond to local circumstances
- improves level of customer service
- enables a flatter hierarchy
- good way of training and developing junior management
- facilitates empowerment - improving staff motivation
What are the characteristic of a flat structure?
Wide span of control, greater delegation and responsibility, quicker communication
What are the characteristics of a tall structure?
Narrow span of control so more direct supervision, communication will be more bureaucratic, less promotional opportunities
What the advantages for tall structures?
- it knows the lines of communication and who they should report to
- easier to delegate jobs
- leadership and guidance
Advantages of flat structures
- more empowering, more control in the work place
- greater teamwork, shows that you trust your employees
- easier to share ideas
- easier communication
- lower costs
What is organisation by function?
Where the business is arranged into specialist/functional areas. This means that each function has some input into the output of the business product or service.
E.g. HR,Finance,production
What is organisation by product?
The business is organised according to the different products made. Each product becomes a “mini company” with its own finance, marketing, HR departments etc.
E.g. the iPhone X will have various departments just for that product
What are the advantages of organisation by product?
- easy to see which products are performing
- communication barriers are broken down for specialists
- each centre has a lot of autonomy (independence) - increasing motivation
What are the disadvantages of organisation by product?
- different products compete for resources (finance), causing conflict
- duplication of departments (HR) can waste resources
What are the advantages of organisation by function?
- specialists can concentrate on what they do best and share ideas with each other.
- less duplication i.e multiple teams/employees are not recruiting staff.
What are the disadvantages of organisation by function?
- conflicts may occur, budgets, goals etc.
- segregation of functions means that communication about products’ different functions are working on is ineffective.
- it can be difficult to accredit success and/or blame
- departments are often doing a lot of work, but cant really identify outcome.
What is a matrix structure?
Individuals work across teams and projects as well as within their own departments or function.
- each team member can find himself/herself with two managers - their normal functional manager as well as the team leader of the project.
What are the advantages of a matrix structure?
- can help break down traditional department barriers, improving communication across the entire organisation
- can allow individuals to use particular skills within a variety of contexts
Avoid the need for several departments to meet regularly - reducing costs - greater motivation for employees
- more cost effective - sharing resources
What are the disadvantages of a matrix structure?
- members of project teams may have divided localities as they report to two line managers
- no clear line of accountability for project teams
- difficult to co-ordinate/communication can be problematic
- team members may neglect their functional responsibilities
What is an appraisal?
A formal assessment of an employees performance
What areas of an appraisal meeting help increase the likelihood of the employee meeting performance targets?
- training needs
- promotional opportunities
- pay progression
Why would a business carry out an appraisal?
- to motivate staff
- to record any issues
- to give staff a focus
- to make staff feel valued
- form of evidence
What is a manager appraisal?
A method of appraisal where a manager examines and evaluates an employees performance.
What are the advantages of appraisal coming from your manager?
- motivating to have it from someone with authority
- supports making subsequent actions such as deciding about productivity, rewards etc.
- receive expert input
What are the disadvantages of manager appraisal?
- manager may not work collectively with the employees to know their strengths and development areas.
- input is limited to one point of view (the managers)
What is self assessment?
Employees assess their own performance, often using a tick sheet to grade aspects of their work. This can be used as a stand alone method or in advance of a managerial appraisal.
What are the benefits of self assessment?
- prepares you for a manager appraisal
- gives the appraisee time to self reflect
- allows them to see what areas they can improve on
- quicker
What are the disadvantages of a self assessment?
- workers may lie - being too modest or too optimistic
- workers may not value the form
- standards may be different
What is a peer appraisal?
When the appraisal is carried out by a work colleague
What is a 360 degree appraisal?
It involves an employee receiving feed back from several people in the organisation this is more appropriate for staff who work in large businesses within multiple teams
What are the advantages and disadvantages of 360 degree appraisal?
Advantages
- gives a broader picture of performance
Disadvantage
- employee could end up with too many conflicting targets
What are the disadvantages and advantages of a peer assessment?
Advantages
- peers have very clear idea on how employees are contributing to the team
Disadvantages
- appraisal may end up being either overly positive or overly negative depending on employee relationships particularly if it is linked to pay.
Why might appraisals be ineffective?
- most managers and employees hate doing appraisals, making them feel less effective when done annually.
- focus of appraisals being on paperwork rather than a quality conversation about performance and career development
- managers often don’t get appraisals
What is labour turnover and the formula?
- measuring the number of employees who have left the business
(Number of employees left during the year/average number employed during the year) x 100
What is absenteeism and what is the formula?
- absence from work imposes an extra cost on the business in the form of a replacement employee or puts pressure and stress on existing staff - a key indicator of low morale and motivation
(Total days absent in month/total available working days in the month) x 100
What des authorised an unauthorised mean?
Authorised - the worker has asked and has been granted time off work
Unauthorised - where the worker hasn’t been granted time off work
How do you work out lateness?
(Total number of late arrivals/total number of scheduled attendances) x 100
What would you use to measure lateness?
ACAS
What is work force productivity?
Measure of output per employee in a particular period of time. Productivity is a key indicator of employee performance
How do you work out productivity?
Output/average number of employees
- hard to measure in the tertiary sector because it is service based.
What are the benefits of improving performance to employee?
- job security
- higher pay
- bonuses
- improvements of conditions to work
What are the benefits to the business of increased employee performance?
- higher output
- better customer service
How might you reduce absenteeism?
- Disciplinary routes
- offer mental support
- reduce workload
How might you reduce lateness?
- offer early morning rewards (free breakfast)
- discipline late workers
What are the limitations of using quantitative data?
- averages can be misleading
- not all the departments employ the same number of people
- numbers do not explain the situation
What is holiday entitlement?
The uk statutory minimum is 28 days (including bank holidays). Businesses can offer above this (UK average is 33.5 days)
What is performance related pay?
A financial reward to employees who’s work is considered to have reached a required standard, and / or above average. Generally used when work cannot be measured in terms of output
What is selection?
Process of deciding which applicant for a job the business should accept.