HUMAN RESOURCES Flashcards
What is the function HR?
- recruitment (hiring and firing)
- employee training and development
- managing people
- employee motivation
What is HR used to describe?
An organisations employees and the department or function within an organisations that is focussed on activities related to employees
Why have employment practices changed rapidly over 30 years?
- decline in trade union power
- decrease in employment manufacturing and heavy industry
- increase of women in the work force
Define a flexible workforce
A more flexible workforce is designed to provide labour in the quantities required at the time that businesses need it
Why do businesses have changing demands for labour?
- changes to economy
- seasonal changes
- daily fluctuations in consumer demand
- social trends
- technology
Define flexible working hours
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Workforce that allows workers to choose their hours to suit their own commitments (eg: 8 hours between 7 and 7)
Employer:
-expand and contract quickly
>communication may suffer
Employee:
-absenteeism can be scheduled around work
>some jobs need a presence at specific times in the day
Define home working
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Workers operate from home and send in work
Employer:
-service done at better standard; increased standard of work
>communication may suffer
Employee:
-more comfortable, increased job satisfaction
>workers may become distracted/unproductive
Define part-time working
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Employees work reduced hours (eg: 70%)
Employer:
-employment cost decreases (effective for small businesses)
>high training and admin costs (need more people to do one persons job)
Employee:
-better work-life balance
>may feel demotivated/priorities lie elsewhere (pay is lower)
What is labour turnover?
Staff leaving
Define temporary employment
Pros and cons for employer and employees
Employment for limited basis usually on fixed term contracts
Employer:
-utilise skilled workers without cost of full time pay
>higher training and recruitment costs
Employee:
-can be offered a permanent job
>may feel demotivated as lack of job security
Define job-sharing
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Two workers share the hours of a full time worker
Employer:
-two people get one persons wage
>increased training and admin costs
Employee:
-workers can fit commitments around home life
>communication may suffer
Define multi-skilling
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Training workers to become proficient at more than one area of work
Employer:
-increase workforce flexibility, making it easier to cover absence
>increased training costs
Employee:
-improves motivation as less boredom
>workers do not become experts at any area
Define a zero-hour contract (or casual contracts)
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work. Work only when needed, often at short notice. Pay depends on how many hours they work
Employer:
-respond to fluctuations in demand easily
Employee:
-flexibility (refuse work)
>pressure to accept last minute work
>unpredictable income (hours not guaranteed)
Define hot-desking
Pros and cons for employer and employee
Workers are not assigned a particular desk, instead multiple workers share a workstation and move around
Employer:
-cost saving of 30% (smaller office space=cheaper rent)
>money spent on ensuring correct equipment at every desk
Employee:
-promote collaboration between employees
>distractions could increase as surroundings will be unfamiliar
Define workforce planning
Trying to predict the future demand for different types of staff and seeking to match the supply
What des a workforce plan identify?
-if more staff are needed
>what skills they must have
>when and where they are likely to be needed
-if less staff are needed
>can staff be retrained
>any natural wastage (close to retirement etc)
\What are internal influences on long-term staffing?
- staff loss
- retirement
- training
- promotion
What are external influences on long-term staffing?
- population (if increases, availability of labour increases)
- government policy (eg: national minimum wage, if increases, staff decrease)
- competitors
- unemployment
What are influences of work force planning?
-business objectives
>growth and expansion= more workers
>profit
-labour market changes
>trends have implications for the recruitment and retention of staff
-demographic (makeup of population) and social changes
>the UK and ageing population which affects demand for products and services
-technology
>changes in ways of working and skills need by workers
What are benefits of workforce planning?
- help achieve corporate objectives (all) with right workforce
- encourages managers to prepare and plan for changes (strategic decision making)
- cope with changes in supply and demand for different skills
What are issues with work force planning?
- cost (changes may cause cost implications, eg: training, redundancies)
- employees/employer relations
- training can be expensive, disruptive and difficult to measure benefits
Define recruitment
The process of bringing new employees into the business
Why do vacancies arise in a business?
- growth and expansion
- retirement
- new job offers
- promotion
- maturnity/preturnity
What is the recruitment process?
- Job analysis
- Job description
- Person specification
- Job advert
- Shortlisting
- Interview
- Selection
What is job analysis?
-the process which identifies and determines in details the particular duties and requirements of the job, and also what the position requires in terms of aptitudes, knowledge and skills
What is the job description?
-a document that explains the task involved in the job title, responsibilities, employment conditions (holidays, pays, etc), and place of work
What is the person specification?
- a document that describes the skills, experience and knowledge needed to complete the job
- it may also contain details, or specialist skills, personality or educational requirements
What is the job advert?
-an online, print media or televised announcements of an open position
What is shortlisting?
-reduced list of candidate for some situation that has been cut down from a large list
What is an interview?
-formal meeting in which one or more persons questions, consist or evaluates another person
What does internal methods of recruitment involve?
-advertising and finding already employed people from an organisation to fill the job vacancy (eg: can be placed on notice boards, in house magazines, etc)
What are advantages of internal recruitment?
- lower recruitment costs (no eternal advertisements or admin costs)
- quicker process- employer knows candidate
- motivate existing work force (will work harder to become known)
- settle into job quicker, no induction period, which will increase productivity
What are disadvantages of internal recruitment?
- limited range of applicants
- as one person is promoted, another person is needed to fill the gap made (increase recruitment costs)
- demotivate workforce for unsuccessful candidates
What does external methods of employment involve?
-finding someone to employ from outside the organisation
What are examples of external recruitment?
Headhunters- usually for senior management positions arise
Job centre (usually administrative or semi-skilled work)
Recruitment agencies- skilled or professional workers
What are advantages of external recruitment?
- wider range of applicants
- new ideas gained
- greater level of skill gained
What are disadvantages of external recruitment?
- expensive in terms of recruitment costs
- opportunity costs for time spent interviewing
- can demotivate existing workforce
What are pros and cons of job centres when recruiting workers?
Pros: -larger pools of candidates -screening process is quicker Cons: -time wasters apply (need to do certain things to gain benefits) -may be unemployed as skills are low
What are pros and cons of using local newspapers as a recruitment method?
Pros:
-local candidates likely to have knowledge of the business
-low skilled
Cons:
-skills limited as limited area
-restrict geographical movers from applying (unaware)
What are pros and cons of using a companies website as a recruitment method?
Pros:
-candidates will be interested as have looked at the website
Cons:
-limited pool of candidates to active job seekers only
What are pros and cons of using signs in windows as a recruitment method?
Same as newspaper Pros: -local candidates have knowledge of business Cons: -skills limited in local area
What are pros and cons of using recruitment agencies?
Pros same as job centre -large pool of candidates -screening process quicker Cons: -have to pay commission on employees -main aim is to employ, may not actually be suited to the job
What are pros and cons of telephone interviews as a section method?
Pros:
-quicker and cheaper than face to face
Cons:
-no body language can be considered
What are pros and cons f work trials for a selection method?
Pros: -allow them to see employee in natural working environment Cons: -expensive to conduct -customer service could suffer
What are pros and cons of using tests as a selection method (including psychometric and aptitude)
Pros:
-judges intelligence (aptitude) or personality (psychometric)
-quick and inexpensive
Cons:
-candidates may adapt answers to suit employers
What are pros and cons of selection exercises as a method of selection?
Pros:
-allows chance to see candidates usual standards of performance
Cons:
-time pressure may be unrealistic
-may be nervous= not perform to their best ability
What are pros and cons of using interviews as a selection method?
Pros: -allow judgement of presentation as well as body language Cons: -questions should be standardised -costly (time and money)
What is the point in training?
- provides workers with knowledge and skills which enables them to perform their job effectively
- motivate workers
- workers can meet their full potential through enhance skills
What is induction training?
- for new workers only
- process of introducing a new employee to the workplace to help familiarise them with their working environment and make them feel more comfortable
What are benefits of induction training?
- increased employee retention (keep them in business ) decrease in training costs, increased reputation
- increase motivation
- allows time to settle in and familiarise themselves with environment
What are drawbacks of induction training?
- wrong first impression
- impacts efficiency (someone needs to train= away from their work)
- potential disruption to productivity
What is on-the-job training?
-training that takes place in the workplace where the employees shown or taught how to complete tasks by a more experienced worker
>eg: mentoring, job rotation, apprenticeships, graduate training schemes, etc
What is an apprenticeship?
- formal agreement between an employer and a young employer that commits the employer to facilitate training and workplace experience for the employee
- recognised qualifications gained
- paid a wage dependent on age
What are benefits of on-the-job training?
- no disruption to the workplace through worker absents
- low cost (eg: no travel costs)
- training directly relevant to job
What are drawbacks of on-the-job training?
- management time spent planning/ doing the training
- bad habits may e passed on
- potential decrease in quality as trainees may not complete work properly
What is off-the-job training?
-training that takes place outside of the workplace at an eternal organisation
>eg: college, courses, online training, higher education courses, etc
What are benefits of off-the-job training?
- wider range of skills gathered
- new ideas brought into workplace
- employees gain worthwhile skills
- mistakes made won’t be made in the workplace, won’t impact business
What are drawbacks of off-the-job training?
- lost production and disruption to workplace when employees are absent- may not be relevant to workplace
- costly
- workers may use qualifications to seek higher skilled work elsewhere
Why do businesses train?
- equip workers with skills
- improve quality
- better productivity
- more flexible with new skills
- motivate workers to achieve their full potential
What is retraing?
-an ongoing process and workers need to be retrained in order to adapt to changes in their working environment
>eg: new technology, new working practices, new health and safety requirements, etc
Why use appraisals?
- provide feedback
- identify training needs
- identify potential to promotion
- award salary increases
What is appraisal?
An attempt by the business to find out the quality, usefulness or worth of its employees
What are features of appraisal?
- set objectives
- allow period of time to monitor
- asses performance
- set new objectives
What is superior appraisal?
- most common type
- usually carried out by managers
What is peer appraisal?
-employees judge workers at the same level as them
>could lead to tension in the workplace
What is self appraisal?
-employees asked to be reflective about their own performance
What is subordinate appraisal?
-appraisal by junior employees about their senior employees, likely to be biased
What is 360 degree appraisal?
-combine all appraisal methods, consider many views
What are benefits of staff appraisals?
- motivate workers
- improves performance
- allow them to set achievable targets
- identify training needs
What are drawbacks of stage appraisal?
- tension (allocation of promotions etc)
- pressure= always need to improve
- waste of time if not conducted properly
What does the success of appraisals depend on?
-if the manager acts upon staff problems
-clear criteria for appraisal to be based on
>are targets understood by all managers?
-meetings need to be regular to discuss performance and potential
What does workforce performance asses?
The effectiveness of the workforce I achieving targets
What is HR data?
Quantifiable information that can be used to measure workforce performance
What are the three measures in workforce performance?
- absenteeism rates
- labour turnover
- labour productivity
Why do absenteeism rates increase?
- illness
- responsibility of children/elderly relatives
- low pay
- bullying in workplace
Formulas for working out workforce performance
total no. of staff absence over year/total no. of working days that should have been worked X100
no. of staff absent during period/no. employed during period X100
- expressed as %
- lower=better
- high level may indicate employer are demotivated
What are consequences of high absenteeism rates?
-lack of productivity
-poor quality=understaffing
-increased business costs
>pay absent employees, cost of replacement/temporary workers, admin costs
How do you manage high rates of absenteeism?
- understand the causes
- set targets and monitor trends (appraisal)
- rewards/incentives for good attendance
- consider wider issues of employee motivation
What is labour turnover?
Measure of the rate that employees are leaving an organisation
Formula for labour turnover
No. of staff laving/average mo. of staff employed X100
What are causes of labour turnover?
- type of business- ie. seasonal staff turnover/ flexible working practices
- pay and other rewards
- working conditions
- competitor actions
- employee loyalty
What are consequences of high staff turnover?
- increased costs
- increased pressure on remaining staff, may cause demotivation
- disruption to productivity
How can you improve high staff turnover?
- improve recruitment and training
- provide competitive pay and other incentives
- reward staff loyalty
Define productivity
Measurement of efficiency with which a business turns production into output
Measure of output per worker
What is the formula for labour productivity?
Total output per period of time/ average no. of employees per period of time
Higher= favourable, expressed in units
What are factors of labour productivity?
- extent and quality of fixed assets
- skills, ability and motivation of the workforce
- production methods
- external factors
What are consequences of lower labour productivity?
- lower profitability
- low morale in workplace
- may lead to increased absenteeism/ turnover if workers are under too much pressure to reach targets
How can you improve low labour productivity?
- measure performance and set targets
- invest in employee training
- incentives/ rewards
Define organisational design
The framework that provides a business with a structure to achieve objectives
Define organisation structure
The way in which the workforce within a firm is organised including job roles and communication flaws
Define authority
The power of an employer to instruct subordinates, make decisions and control the use of resources
How can authority be sectioned?
CENTRALISED- ie. maintained by a few at the centre of the organisation
>control
DECENTRALISATION- ie. spread across the organisation
>empowerment
What is meant by layers of hierarchy?
The structure of an organisation that indicates who is responsible for what
Whats is meant by chains of command?
The paths along which communication takes place and instructions or orders are passed down
What is meant by levels of responsibilities?
When an employee has a duty to ensure a task is carried out to an acceptable standard- they are acceptable for the outcome
What is meant by span pf control?
This refers to the number of subordinates working under a superior manager
What is meant by delegation?
Authority and responsibility passed down from superior to subordinate
What is meant by delayering?
Removing a layer from hierarchy- usually in tall structure
What are properties of the tall structure?
- many levels of hierarchy
- narrow span of control at the top that widens towards the bottom
- ‘traditional’ hierarchy structure
- long chain of demand
What are benefits of the tall structure?
- control is centralised with senior management-responsibilities are clear
- clearly defined chains of communication and responsibility
- easy to check employees work (as narrow spans of control)
- clear promotional opportunities
What are drawbacks of the tall structure?
- senior management distance from those who implemented decisions- is reality different?
- long chains in communication- distorted information
- lack of coordination and communication between departments due to lack of contact
What are factors of the flat structure?
- span of control is wider- manager controls more subordinates
- chain of command is shorter= faster
- fewer layers of hierarchy
- achieved through delayering
What are benefits of the flat structure?
- more delegation or authority leading to empowerment and motivation
- quicker decision making
- quicker communication and less distortion
What are drawbacks of the flat structure?
- less opportunities for promotion
- loss of CENTRALISED control- lack of coordination, more people making decisions
- wider span of control- harder to monitor workforce, overworked and stressed employees
- fewer promotional oppurtunties
Define hierarchical organisational structure
-hierarchical type of organisational structure is where people are grouped as per their area of specialisation and supervised by a functional manager with expertise in the same field
What are advantages off hierarchical organisational structure?
- employees grouped as per their knowledge and skills
- hierarchy path is clear, as better communication
- employees have clear growth path
What are disadvantages of hierarchical organisational structure?
- conflicts may arise due to promotions of another employee
- functional directors may only pay attention to their department, may not be concerned of other areas in the organisations
- functional structure is rigid, therefore slow to adopt changes
What is the matrix structure?
- employees can be shared between the functional departments and the product management teams
- employees work under two bosses
- authority of the functional manager flows vertically downward and the authority of project manager flow horizontally
What are the advantages of the matrix structure?
- inter-departmental communication improves
- people selected based on skills and suitability for projects
- efficiency is increased since talented individuals can contribute to a project from any level
What are the advantages of centralised authority (control)?
- more experienced people have control over decision making
- communication improves as there are fewer decision makers
What are drawbacks of centralised authority (control)?
- over supervision may leave employees feeling stifled (unable to make on the spot decisions)
- may not be in the interest of local businesses as they don’t reflect needs of local area
What are advantages of decentralised authority (empowerment)?
- empowers and motivates workers (Maslow)
- trains junior employees, reducing the need to employ externally
What are disadvantages of decentralised authority (empowerment)
-decision makers lack expertise
decision makers lack experience (may not be aware pf impact)
Define motivation
The factors that influence the way people behave and their will to work
What are factors that affect motivation?
- financial incentives
- non-financial incentives
- individual character
- desire to achieve a goal
What are benefits of a motivated work force?
- higher labour productivity
- lower labour turnover
- higher employee retention rates (staying in the workplace for longer)
- improved customer service, which leads to a better reputation
What was Taylors theory of motivation?
Motivated through MONEY- piece work payment
- believes workers aren’t capable of understanding their tasks and should follow strict rules
- saw them as machines, believe they didn’t have social needs
What was Mayos theory of motivation?
Must be seen as part of a team, not as individuals TEAMWORK
-informal groups work together better than formal groups
What were the Hawthorne experiments?
Looked at the power of informal, as opposed to formal groups, as a basis for production in the workplace
MAYO
What were the findings about motivation improved by in the Hawthorne experiments?
- consultation
- paying an interest in workers
- team work- greater communication and improved relations with informal groups
What was Maslow’s theory of motivation?
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
-based on seeing human needs as being placed in order, each need must be met in order to move onto the next
What are issues of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
- not all humans have the same needs
- different people may need different degrees of need
In the hierarchy of needs, what is the physiological needs?
-earn an income in order to acquire these and have reasonable working conditions
What is the safety needs, in the hierarchy of needs?
-job security, safe environment, responsibility
What is the esteem need in the hierarchy of needs?
-need self respect from others, positive feedback, gain recognition and status for achievement and opportunities for promotion
What is the self-actualisation need in the hierarchy of needs?
- Maslow believe not all meet
- need to fulfil ones potential through actions and achievements
What was Herzberg’s theory of motivation?
-some factors have potential to give job satisfaction (motivation) and some factors can reduce job satisfaction (hygiene of maintenance factors)
What was the expectancy theory?
-believes employees will be motivated to behave in a set number based upon what the expect the outcome will be
What was Vroom’s theory of motivation?
-first developed expectancy theory based on his study of motivation looking at what prompts an individual to make one decision over another
What is a financial method of motivation?
The variety of methods that have monetary value and are used as rewards to the workforce and influence behaviour at work
What is piece rate payment?
Payment based on the number of items produced by an employee (Taylor)
Define commission
When payment is based on the number of units sold
What are bonuses?
One off, additional, lump sum to an employee for meeting an individual, team or company target
What are salary schemes?
Employees are paid set, annual sum paid I equal instalments even if working hours vary on a monthly basis
What is performance related pay?
When employees receive a bonus based on the performance of the employee measured against pre agreed range of criteria
What is a non-financial method of motivation?
Ways of motivating employees through elements of job design
What is a consultation?
The process of seeking the thoughts and opinions of employees prior to making decisions that may affect them (Mayo)
What are the types of non-financial methods of motivation?
Consultation, team working and flexible working
What sort of changes to the job design include?
Job enlargement- increased in number, opposed to level, of responsibilities that an employee has in order to increase motivation
Job rotation- varying the task that an employee does tor educe boredom and increase range f skills the worker has
Job enrichment- an increase in the level of responsibility that an employee has in order to increase motivation
What are the key roles of a leader?
Inspire, influence and motivate
Consider long term strategy
Deal with and overcome challenges facing business
What are key roles of a manager?
Control and direct the workforce following principles established by leaders
Ensure day to day things happen that should
Utilise company resources to meet objectives
What are interpersonal roles?
Hiring, firing and training
Information roles- act as channel for information to flow between departments with organisation
Who designed the management by objective?
Drucker
-working together to meet the same objective is more beneficial
What is the management by objective process?
- review objectives for whole business (corporate objectives)
- set objectives for the management of the different functions of the business
- set objectives for individual; departments and workers
- monitor progress- manager and workers check to see if the objectives are reached
- Eva;uate performance and give reward if objectives were reached
What are advantages of management by objectives?
- clear focus and objectives for stakeholders
- gives sense of belonging and worth
- clarity of goals- improved management control
- clearer/responsibilities and coordination- working towards common goal
- motivating- goal setting= empowerment (increased job satisfaction and commitment)
What are disadvantages of management by objectives?
- time consuming for managers (setting objectives rather than managing organisations)
- demotivation and break down of relationships
- may only focus on the objective not other issues in workplace
Who designed the theory X and theory Y managers?
McGregor
What do theory X managers assume about workers?
- workers are lazy
- motivated by money (Taylor)
- works for personal gain not benefits of the business
- little ambition
What do theory Y managers assume about workers?
-workers enjoy work and the nature of it
-motivated. by more than money
-should be given
responsibilities
-workers are ambitious- seek to improve chance of promotion
What are functions of leaders?
- empower and delegate (to managers)
- anticipate problems
- create vision and aims
- establish objectives
What is autocratic leadership?
Individual control over all decisions and little inout from group members
-also known as authoritarian leaders
What are drawbacks of autocratic leadership?
Group becomes dependent as one person making decisions and they just follow
Where are autocratic leaders suited?
Armed forces, emergency services, low skilled workers involved
What is a democratic leader?
Members of the group take a more participative role in the decision making process
-also know as participate leadership
What does democratic leadership lead to?
Researchers have found that this style is the most effective and leads to higher productivity and better contributors from group members
What is paternalistic leadership?
Type of fatherly leadership style typically employed by dominant males, power used to protect subordinates that are expected to be loyal and obedient
Where is paternalistic leadership suitable?
Formal hierarchy structure where creative thinking is not required
What is bureaucratic leadership?
Emphasises procedures and historical methods regardless of their usefulness
Solve problems by adding layers of control
Where is bureaucratic leadership suited too?
Government firms, with strict health and safety guidelines
What is Laissez Faire leadership?
Delegative leadership- leaders are hands off and allow group members to make decisions
-leads to lowest productivity
Where is Laissez Faire leadership suited too?
Highly skilled workers involved in creative atmosphere
What is Fielders view on leadership?
Not one style of leadership is suitable, it is dependent on the situation
BORN NOT MADE- meaning appropriate leader is needed to be found for job in hand
What are Fielders steps in the contingency model?
- identify if leaders is task or relationship orientated
2. identify situation- level of trust, degree or structure and relative power within team
Describe the questionnaire that Fielder used to find out who coworkers want to work with
Least preferred co-worker scale
High LPC= relationship motivated (theory Y)
Low PLC= task motivated (theory X)
What are Wright and Taylors view on leaders?
Being born with traits is not the only good way to become a good leader, it is possible to learn new skills
What are employer and employee relations?
Defining features of how employees and employer interact with each other on a day to day basis
What is employee representation?
- the system put in place to aid communication between employees and employers
- getting a voice to employees through a recognised body that represents them
What is the contract of employment?
-legally binding agreement that ays out T&C of work including rights, responsibilities and duties, protect employees and employers
-written contract required after 12 weeks of starting employment
Involves:
-basic info
-rate of pay, payment method
-disciplinary procedures
-grievance procedures (e.g. complaints)
What is health and safety used for?
Protect employees from exploitation and consequences of poor H&S in the workplace
-help maintain standards in the UK workplace
What is involved in the health and safety act?
A from must provide a safe working environment with free safety equipment and clothing
What are examples of health and safety regulations?
- Provide adequate first aid provision
- Rules for display screen equipment (computer work), including free eye tests
- Employers must consult employees of any H&S changes in the workplace
Describe the national minimum wage
1999
Increased costs for businesses that employed low paid/low skilled workers
21-24 national living wage= £8.20 April 2020
25+= £8.72 April 2020
What are advantages of having a national minimum wage?
- improves labour productivity as workers are motivated
- increase incentives for people to enter labour market and accept jobs
What are disadvantages of having a national minimum wage?
- some firms cannot afford the wages (decrease competitiveness as less employees)
- can cause unemployment in competitive markets
Define dismissal
When employees contract is terminated due to a breach of the T&C of that contract by the employer
For example:
-incompetence
-disciplinary matters (e.g. theft)
Define redundancy
Form of dismissal when an employee’s contract of employment is terminated because the job no longer exists
Helps a business change structure by decreasing numbers in the higher management roles
Define equal opportunities
All employees should be treated fairly in relation to recruitment selection, employment T&C, promotional opportunities and dismissal
What are examples of equal opportunities?
Equal pay act 1970
Race relations act 2006
Disability discrimination act 1995
How do equal opportunities impact employees?
-access to better paid jobs, better training, better prospects in terms of career progression
-higher motivation leading to higher productivity
X- may increase redundancies to cut back on costs
How do equal opportunities impact the employer?
X- higher costs may arise due to having to adapt premises to meet employee needs
X- equal pay= higher overall wage bill for employer
-improved brand rep
-wider pool of applicants
What is the Trade Union?
National organisation with a remit to protect members and improve their economic working conditions
What are the key objectives of Trade Unions?
- securing jobs (Maslow- safety)
- maximising pay
- ensuring safe and acceptable conditions
- fair treatment of members by employees
How does the Trade Union represent issues?
Collective bargaining
What do unions work with employers to achieve?
- enhance business performance
- improve international competitiveness
- implement changes
- lower labour turnover
What is industrial action?
- a trade despite exists there is a disagreement between the employer and employee or employee representative
- industrial action is when the employees take sanctions to try and impose pressure on the employer
What are the types of industrial action?
- work to rule
- go slow
- overtime ban
- strike action
Define work to rule
Employees refuse to carry out duties that are not in their contract and workers slightly observe the H&S rules that slow down their productivity
-causes unrest within the workforce and can cause issues between management and employees
Define a go slow
Workers deliberately attempt to slow down the production, while still meeting the terms of their contract
-reduces labour productivity and therefore production levels resulting in lower output for the company
Define over-time ban
Limit of workers hours to the agreed contract of employment for normal hours
-often used at the Strat of industrial action before strike action occurs
Define strike action
Refusal to work in order too ampaigf for better working conditions
- strikes are taken without pay for employees
- have the choice whether to support or not
What are advantages if employee representation?
- employees kept informed
- improved motivation
- less risk of disputes
What are disadvantages of using an employee representative?
- can cause conflict due to different agendas of the employee and employer
- slows down decision making
- non-homogenous employees
- opportunity costs of time (money could be spent elsewhere)
What does ACAS stand for?
Advisory
Conciliation
Arbitration
Service
In ACAS, what is the advisory role?
Point of contact for employees/employers to gain advice surrounding issue relating to employment law
What is the conciliation role in ACAS?
- independent ACAS conciliator discuss disputed workplace issues with both parties
- tries to help avoid industrial action
- advice and recommendations are not binding
What is the role of arbitration in ACAS?
- involves partial ACAS advisor being asked to make a decision on a dispute- makes a firms decision on a case, based on the evidence presented by both parties
- voluntary- agree to go to arbitration and accept arbitrator’s advice
How does ACAS work?
- both parties can contact ACAS
- used to resolve disputes before industrial action is taken
- before acting they would need to see trade union involvement and that the organisations dispute procedure is followed
- ACAS resolution is entirely voluntary and ACAS has no power to enforce their suggestion
