Human resources 123-133

Question 1

Flexible hours

Answer 1

-Agreed number of working hours, made up from core hours which must be worked and the remainder of the contracted hours can be worked on a flexible basis

Question 2

Part time staff

Answer 2

• suits women/workers with young children and helps to meet their needs and requirements
  -can also benefit business by having more staff working during peak hours and meet needs of employer

Question 3

Zero hours contracts

Answer 3

• Employee has to be
  available for work but is not guaranteed any work. This
  provides employers with total flexibility
• No income security?

Question 4

Homeworking

Answer 4

Employees benefit from time saved and the stress of commuting. Businesses
benefit by a reduction in overheads if less office space is required.

Question 5

Hot desking

Answer 5

• no fixed work space within an office environment
  (+)Reduces need for office space
  (-)Breakdown of workplace relationships and can feel disconnected from the organisation

Question 6

Temporary staff

Answer 6

-Employed for a limited time period
(+)Hired when required
(+)Try out workers before hiring
(+)Costs lower - don’t receive same benefits as full-time staff
(-)less motivated
(-)less reliable

Question 7

Define workforce planning

Answer 7

Deciding how many and what types of workers are required (planning for the future)
-Trying to ensure there are the right number of workers, with the right skills, doing the right jobs, at the right time and in the right place
- Can mean recruiting or shedding workers (e.g.redundancy and early retirement schemes)

Question 8

Internal and external staffing issues

Answer 8

Internal:
-staff loss, retirement, training, promotion, flexibility
External:
- competitors, availability of skills, unemployment

Question 9

Evaluate the impact and importance to a business of having the correct number of employees with appropriate skills and experience

Answer 9

(+)Ensure the workforce is the right size - cuts costs by not over or under hiring
(+)Encourages managers to prepare and plan for future requirements rather than reacting to them
(+)Identifying problems early
(+)Preventing problems
(-)Decisions may have cost implications - training, recruitment, redundancies

Question 10

The recruitment process

Answer 10

Job analysis -> Job description -> Person specification -> Job advert -> Shortlisting -> interview

Question 11

Explain what is meant by internal and external recruitment

Answer 11

Internal:
- Fill the vacancy from within the business from its existing workforce
-Through promotion (e.g. notice board, in house magazine, email etc), reorganisation
External:
- Looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable applicant outside the business
- Advertisements, job centres, recruitment agencies, personal recommendation etc

Question 12

Benefits and drawbacks of internal recruitment

Answer 12

(+)careers development - greater motivation and staff retention
(+)Faster - shorter induction
(+)know more about the internal candidates abilities, skills, experience - reduced risk
(-) external may be more suitable
(-)another vacancy will be created and will need to be filled

Question 13

External recruitment benefits and drawbacks

Answer 13

(+)potentially new ideas and skills
(+)Reduced training expenses by hiring staff with required experience/skills
(-)Takes longer and can cost the company more
(-)Increased risk of appointing the wrong candidate and may not be able to tell if they will fit in
(D)structure of the business

Question 14

Explain what is meant by job analysis

Answer 14

process which identifies and determines requirements of the job, and what the position requires in terms of aptitude, knowledge and skills

Question 15

Explain what is meant by:
-Job description
-Person specification

Answer 15

-sets out the purpose of the job and should contain basic details about the job e.g.job title
-sets out the details of the qualities of the person required to fill the vacancy e.g.skills, necessary qualifications, personal attricutes and experience required

Question 16

Different appropriate methods of selecting employees

Answer 16

*interviews
*Work trials
*Testing - psychometric (personality, suited to job) and aptitude and ability testing
*Telephone interviews
*Assessment centres (hosted over a one to three day period usually 6-8 candidates)

Question 17

Evaluate the importance of recruitment to a business and its stakeholders

Answer 17

-they effect the outcome of the business and how well the business handles: HR, marketing finance ad operations
-Higher labour turnovers if its poor

Question 18

Define training

Answer 18

Training provides workers with knowledge and skills which enable them to perform their jobs more effectively. Modern theories of motivation suggest that training is successful in motivating staff. Untrained staff may feel let down by their employers as they may not be able to reach their full potential

Question 19

What does training do

Answer 19

• ensure high quality
  -staff flexibility
  -motivates
  -retaining high quality staff

Question 20

Explain the different methods of training

Answer 20

*Induction training- training employees receive when they first join the business
*On-the-job - learning by doing, occurs in the workplace
* Off the job - courses in a college for qualifications or internal courses structured directly for the needs of the business
*Apprenticeships - training and workplace experience, leading to a recognised qualification
*Retraining - training to cope with the changing working environment

Question 21

Explain what is meant by appraisal

Answer 21

A regular meeting in which the staff member’s performance is analysed, normally against performance targets

Question 22

Explain the different methods of appraisal

Answer 22

> Superior assessment - direct line manager completes an assessment of your performance
Self-assessment
Peer assessment
360 degree appraisal - receiving feedback from people whose views are considered helpful and relevant

Question 23

Evaluate the importance and impact of appraisal for a business and its stakeholders

Answer 23

(+)motivates, improves performance
(+)allows achievable targets
(+)identifies training needs and potential
(-)can cause tension in he workplace
(-) puts workers under a lot of pressure and stress
(-)places too much power in the hands of line managers who may be ill-equipped o abuse the power given to them
(d) how workers react and participate
(d) if the managers are able to use the appraisals to solve any problems and the criteria of it must be clear so it can be understood

Question 24

Define workforce performance

Answer 24

Measuring the effectiveness of the workforce. When managers examine workforce performance they are examining the effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) policies.

Question 25

Define labour productivity include the formula

Answer 25

Labour productivity is a measurement of
the output per employees. It is an important measure of the efficiency of the workforce.
- output (per period)/number of employees (per period)

Question 26

Absenteeism formula

Answer 26

Number of staff absence days over a year/ total number of working days x100

Question 27

Labour turnover formula

Answer 27

number of leavers/average number of employees x100
- how quick staff leave the firm

Question 28

Evaluate the importance and impact of workforce performance for a business and is stakeholders

Answer 28

labour productivity - increase LP results in lower labour costs because fixed costs are being spread across ore units and workers are still getting paid the same amount of money
Labour turnover - save money long term e.g. recruitment process and training
Absenteeism - high costs and often a sign of a bigger problem e.g. demotivated staff

Question 29

Define organisational design

Answer 29

the process of aligning the structure of an organisation with its objectives with the ultimate aim of improving efficiency and effectiveness

Question 30

Define authority and chain of command

Answer 30

Authority - the power to make decisions and take action
Chain of command - the paths along which communication take place

Question 31

Define span of control and hierarchy

Answer 31

span of control - how many workers a manager or supervisor is directly responsible for
Hierarchy - ranked according to status or authority

Question 32

define centralised organisations give one strength and one weakness

Answer 32

• most decisions are take by senior managers and then passed down the organisational hierarchy
  (+)standardised procedures are often used
  (-)may lead to demotivated staff as they are not involved in decision making

Question 33

Define decentralised organisations and give one strength and one limitation

Answer 33

• decision making is spread out
  (+)delegate down the chain of command thus reduce speed of decision making
  (-)control is delegated to department managers so this may lead to poor decision making and branches may begin to compete

Question 34

Define delayering

Answer 34

the process of removing one or more layers in a hierarchy/organisational structure. It can result in a flatter organisational structure and wider span of control

Question 35

Tall vs flat hierarchical structures

Answer 35

tall has many layers of management and often uses top-down approach with a long chain of command. Managers will have a narrow span of control. Flat is a short chain of command, few levels of hierarchy and wise spans of control, leading to employees operating with more independence

Question 36

Matrix structure (definition and evaluate)

Answer 36

often used when cross-functional teams are created t0 run a project
(+)helps ideas and innovation
(+)breaks down barriers to communication and ensures that projects are better coordinated
(-)defining each employee’ main responsibility is difficult
(-)expensive because extra support systems may be needed or work space

Question 37

Define empowerment and give 2 strengths and 2 limitations and 2 depends on

Answer 37

Giving the employees greater control over their work lives
(+)motivation and productivity - can create new methods of problem solving and can be more innovative
(+)Delayering is possible as some middle managers are no longer needed
(-)may be expensive in short term for training costs etc
(-)Some may be given more work than they can handle and may see this as a way of being given more work with no extra pay
(D)if there is a great deal of risk involved, control might be better (safer)
(D)the experience of the staff and how trustworthy they are

Question 38

Evaluate the choice between empowerment and control in the workplace

Answer 38

-control may be better due to less risk
-depends on the experience of staff
-depends on trustworthiness of staff and whether they welcome authority and accept responsibility

Question 39

Benefits of a motivated work force

Answer 39

-increased productivity
-increased quality
-lower levels of staff turnover
-improved communication
-higher levels of innovation
-greater worker satisfaction
-lower levels of industrial action
-improved customer service
-better reputation - easier to attract quality staff

Question 40

Taylors motivational theory (financial)
-what its called
-what its based on
-the key characteristics of it when its applied

Answer 40

Scientific management:
-based motivation on financial rewards
Characteristics:
-paid for carrying out specific tasks - not paid for thinking
-paid for levels of output; this involves the use of peace rate payments
-tall hierarchy with little space for upward communication
-close supervision and monitoring of performance
-the best (most efficient) way of working is to be adopted by all workers

Question 41

Mayo’s motivational theory (non-financial)
-what its called
-what is the motivator
-what is motivation promoted by (what factors)

Answer 41

Human relations
-group dynamics may be more important than any form of financial motivation
Promoted by:
-greater commmunication
-better teamwork
-showing an interest in others
-involve others in decision making
-ensuring the wellbeing of others
-making work interesting and non-repetitive

Question 42

Maslow’s motivational theory (non-financial)

Answer 42

Hierarchy of needs
-physiological needs, security needs, love and belonging, esteem needs then self-actualisation
-people are motivated by needs
-once a need is satisfied it no longer motivates and motivation comes from the next level up
-all businesses should know that ppl are motivated by these needs and provide incentives to meet them

Question 43

Herzberg’s motivational theory (non-financial)

Answer 43

Two factory theory
-managers must firstly provide the type of workplace and conditions of work that prevent dissatisfaction i.e. ‘hygiene factors’ must be met
such as working conditions, pay and benefits, co-workers, job security ONLY WHEN THESE ARE PROVIDED CAN MOTIVATION OF WORKERS HAPPEN
motivation factors:
-achievement, recognition, responsibility, opportunities to improve skills and opportunities for promotion, the work itself i.e. interesting job, personal growth, promotion. Improving these factors will improve motivation according to Herzberg

-Hygiene factors don’t motivate it just ensures satisfaction and makes the employee want to stay at their job

Question 44

vrooms motivational theory (financial)

Answer 44

Expectancy theory
-assumed people acted in their best interest according to their beliefs about the outcomes of their own behaviour. people opt to maximise happiness and minimise their unhappiness

V-valence: undertake task if they believe they will receive a worthwhile reward
I-instrumentality: needs to believe that a particular action is going to lead to a particular result - will be motivated to work hard to achieve a particular result if they believe it will lead to a positively valent result
E-expectancy: belief in the likelihood of being able to achieve the target. If it is impossible to achieve, motivation will be lost

Question 45

Porter and Lawler’s motivational theory(financial)

Answer 45

-extended vrooms work
-proposed motivation is affected by the reward they expect for achieving a task, attractiveness of reward will determine level of motivation

Intrinsic rewards: positive feelings that the individual experiences from completing the task - pride and satisfaction. Employers need to make sure employees are given tasks that they find interesting and rewarding. this process involves job redesign and job enlargement.
Job enlargement can be both vertical (more tasks) and horizontal (more control over work). they believed horizontal was more important

Extrinsic rewards: rewards that come from outside the individual, for example material rewards such as pay increases and bonuses. they employee needs to feel that this is proportional to their effort, or it will demotivate them

Question 46

8 Financial methods of motivation

Answer 46

-piece rate: paid for each item they produce or each task they complete

-commission

-Bonus schemes e.g. sales (reaching targets), performance, Christmas

-Salary(steady income vs wages)/pay increases

-profit related pay/profit sharing

-Share ownership

-Performance related pay

-Fringe benefits: company cars, pension schemes, sickness benefits, subsidised meals and travel and staff discounts.

Question 47

9 methods of Non-financial methods of motivation

Answer 47

-Job enrichment: giving employees more control over the tasks that they complete and allowing employees to complete tasks that have
a meaning and are complete in themselves.

-Job enlargement: increasing the number of tasks completed by an employee. This adds interest to the job and involves the employee in a more complete role within the business.

-Job rotation: changing employees’ tasks, which are completed at regular intervals. This can be as simple as switching places on a
production line. The variety adds interest to the job and reduces the number of errors that can arise through boredom. It can facilitate ‘multi-skilling’.

-Job design: jobs should include complete tasks that are of interest to the employee and challenging, which allow decision-making.

-Communication: communication is a key part of motivation and can take place in a number of ways, e.g. quality circles, works councils, cell working.

-Empowerment: giving employees the power to control their own jobs, make decisions and implement their own ideas.

-Quality circles: groups of employees that meet on a regular basis to discuss problems in the manufacturing or service-provision process
and offer solutions.

-Training: the provision of a formal training scheme is important.

-Flexible working: allowing employees to have elements of their schedule that are under their control.

Question 48

Explain the role of leaders

Answer 48

May perform similar functions to managers, but in addition they also inspire and motivate the workforce. They consider long-term strategy, the challenges facing the business and how to overcome them.

Question 49

Explain the role of managers

Answer 49

Control and direct the workforce to follow the principles
or values that have been established by the leaders.

Question 50

Leaders vs managers

Answer 50

Being a good leader involves getting people to understand and believe in your vision to work with you to achieve your goals, whereas managing is more about administering and making sure the day-to-day things are happening as they should.

Question 51

6 functions of management

Answer 51

• PLANNING– ensure that the required resources are where they
  need to be.
  *LEADING – encouraging employees to carry out the required task
  effectively.
• CO-ORDINATING – ensuring that employees/departments are
  working efficiently to complete the task.
• FUNCTIONAL – organising various departments such as sales and
  HR.
• ORGANISING.
• CONTROL .

Question 52

Roles of managers (3)

Answer 52

• Interpersonal roles – hiring, firing, training, motivating and
  organising.
• Decision-making roles – the access to information that managers
  have enables them to use their formal authority to make
  decisions.
• Information roles – acting as a channel for information to flow
  between divisions/departments within an organisation.

Question 53

What is the MBO process? (5 steps)

Answer 53

1) Review objectives for the whole business (corporate objectives)

2)Set objectives for the management of the different functions of the
business

3)Set objectives for individual departments and employees

4) Monitor progress - managers and employees check to see if the
objectives are being reached

5)Evaluate performance and give reward if the objectives were reached

Question 54

What is management by objectives (MBO)?

Answer 54

a philosophy of management designed by Peter Drucker

Question 55

Advantages (2) and disadvantages (2) of applying MBO

Answer 55

(+)Improved management control and allows them to be aware of their responsibilities
(+)Can motivate the workforce and improve communication systems

(-)The business environment/context in which goals are set may change e.g. external environment
(-)May be unrealistic and therefore demotivating

Question 56

McGregor’s theory X managers - assumptions about employees

Answer 56

-strict supervision to maintain output levels
-money is the only motivator
-workers don’t want to be involved in the decision making process
-workers have little ambition
-tasks must be designed so they are broken down into their simplest units

Question 57

McGregor’s theory Y managers - assumptions about employees

Answer 57

-workers cannot be motivated by money alone they seek more than financial satisfaction from their jobs
-workers are ambitious, willing to train and contribute to improve their chance of promotion
-workers will be more efficient if they are left to their own devices
-workers want to contribute to improving efficiency