Human resources

Question 1

Labour productivity

Answer 1

Labour productivity= total output (per period of time)/ average number of employees (per period of time

(Shows output per worker over a given period of time)

Question 2

Labour turnover

Answer 2

Retention rate=( total number of staff leaving / average number of total staff ) x 100%

Average number of total staff= (number of staff at the start of year + number staff at the end of the year) / 2

(Shows the rate at which employees leave the business)

High labour turnover is caused by a number of factors:
Low pay
Few training or promotion opportunities
Poor work conditions/ low job satisfaction
Poor recruitment/ employees will leave if they find they aren’t suitable for the job

Cons of high labour turnover:
Recruiting new staff can be expensive
May be training needs for new employees which is costly
Takes time for staff to become familiar with their roles and the organisational culture

Pros of high labour turnover:
New staff can bring in fresh ideas and experience from previous work
Could get rid of inefficient staff members

Question 3

Labour retention

Answer 3

Labour retention= (number of staff staying/ average number of staff staying) x 100%

(Shows the rate at which employees stay in the business)

Pros of having high retention rate are lower recruitment and selection cost, more continuity and a stable workforce

Question 4

Absenteeism

Answer 4

Absenteeism rate= number of staff absent in a day/ total number of staff employed x 100%

Impacts of absenteeism on business:
Staff who are absent often claim to be sick, so the business then has to pay sick pay
If temporary staff is needed to cover absent ones, this can increase cost
Output may suffer if temporary staff are not as productive
Other workers will be absent and report ill the higher the absenteeism rates grow

Question 5

Limitation of labour productivity calculations

Answer 5

To do after seneca

Question 6

Strategies to increase productivity and retention and to reduce turnover and absenteeism

Answer 6

Financial rewards
Employee share ownership
Consultation strategies
Empowerment strategies

Question 7

Financial rewards

Answer 7

Performance-related pay 
Bonus systems
Profit-related pay 
Commission systems 
All of these methods reward employees for their effort both in terms of result and attendance. With financial reward staff are less likely to leave, therefore increasing retention and reducing turnover.

Question 8

Employee share ownership

Answer 8

Some businesses reward employees by giving them company shares, these are often used to reward senior managers and executives in plcs.
As a result workers are likely to be more motivated and loyal to the company.

Question 9

Consultation strategies

Answer 9

Employees are more likely to be motivated if they are involved in decision making.

Pseudo-consultation- where management makes a decision and informs employees of it through representatives, leaving them no power to influence the decisions.

Classical consultation- involving employees, through their representatives. in discussions on matters concerning them. This allows them to have an influence on management decisions.

Integrative consultation- unlike others, this directly involves employees. It is a more democratic style of decision making.

Question 10

Empowerment strategies

Answer 10

Empowerment involves making more use of the knowledge and talent of the employees.

Training- first employees need to be prepared with the skills needed to take on more advanced tasks

Hand over authority - once they have been empowered they must be confident that they have authority t make decisions.

Provide feedback- workers need to know how the have performed in their new role and providing feedback will help to guide them in the future.