Investing In People

Question 1

Succession planning : definition

Answer 1

Key function of any HR department is to ensure that the firm has the right number of staff with the right skills to meet its needs both now and in the future.

Question 2

Succession planning involves planning methods :

Answer 2

Analysing current employment situation
Forecasting employee demand ie no. of staff needed in future
Forecasting future supply of employees ie state of labour market
Predicting labour turnover
Recruitment, selection, training and retaining staff or redundancy

Question 3

People investment planning : brief summary

Answer 3

About recognising that people are the most valuable resource in the firm - they are needed to strategically and tactically plan the business’ future and to work in all functional areas.

Question 4

Advantages of PIP :

Answer 4

Management can : 
Plan for future
Identify future skills shortages
Identify training needs
Retain and motivate employees by demonstrating career paths

Question 5

Disadvantages of PIP

Answer 5

Difficult to accurately predict requirements
Change in economic climate can result in recession or boom
Careful that future plans don’t demotivate staff
Doesn’t consider future commitment of employees to organisation

Question 6

Benefits of PIP :

Answer 6

Ensures firm has sufficient and appropriately skilled workforce to meet its objectives
Enables firm to avoid labour shortages and ensure production continues meaning customer demand is met on time with high quality
Allows business to compete more effectively

Question 7

Without PIP :

Answer 7

Recruitment and selection process may not find right skills
Staff within firm may be trained inadequately for new processes
Morale and motivation problems if staff are expected to cover shifts
Costs will increase and long term competitiveness damages
Not prepared for events

Question 8

Labour turnover : definition and equation

Answer 8

Current staff may leave or get promoted and this creates a vacancy that needs to be filled.
(No. of staff leaving / average no. of staff ) x 100

Question 9

Job analysis : definition

Answer 9

Process of gathering and analysing info about content and human require tons of jobs.

Question 10

Job description : definition

Answer 10

Usually produced by Human Resources, it sets out the job requirements, states the title of the job, outlines the tasks, duties and responsibilities associated with job.

Question 11

Person specification : definition

Answer 11

Provides the details of the qualifications, experience, skills, attitudes and other characteristics that would be expected of someone appointed to do the job.

Question 12

Internal recruitment : definition

Answer 12

Recruitment from within abusiness. An employee may be chosen to be offered a post, or employees may be asked to apply. It may be sent around via email or company newsletter.

Question 13

External recruitment : definition

Answer 13

When someone is appointed from outside the business. It requires the employer to communicate with the potential employees. This method allows the maximum number of candidates to choose from.

Question 14

Difference between recruitment and selection :

Answer 14

Recruitment is finding the right person for the job. This can be costly and time consuming.
Selection when the right people are more likely to be selected if the job description and person specification are draw up.

Question 15

Benefits of training staff :

Answer 15

Improve productivity through more effective ways of work
Increase flexibility as workers can do more than one job
Improve standards of work to improve quality

Question 16

Induction : definition

Answer 16

Designed to help new employees settle quickly into the business and their job. Most induction training attempts to introduce workers to the nature of the business and work practises.

Question 17

Difference between on the job and off the job training :

Answer 17

On the job is given in the workplace by employer whereas off the job takes place outside the business by an external training provider.

Question 18

Two advantages and disadvantages of on the job :

Answer 18

+ trainees learn by actively doing
+ easy and cheaper to organise
- output lost is mistakes made
- dangerous to others eg surgeon

Question 19

Two advantages and disadvantages of off the job training :

Answer 19

+ can take place outside working hours
+ customers and others not put at risk
- can be expensive
- some aspects of work cannot be taught off the job

Question 20

Methods of training :

Answer 20

Learning from other workers
Mentoring
Job rotation
Graduate training

Question 21

What is a psychometric test ?

Answer 21

Help to identify a candidates skills, knowledge and personality. They’re often used during the initial screening stage or as part of an assessment centre. They’re objective, convenient and strong indicators of job performance.

Question 22

Types of psychometric tests :

Answer 22

Personality test : explore your interests, values and motivations, analysing how your character fits with the role and organisation. Analyse your emotions, behaviours and relationships in situations.
Aptitude tests : assess your reasoning ability, determining wether you’ve got the right skill set for a role. Usually administered under exam conditions, you’ll often be given one minute to answer each multiple choice question.

Question 23

Appraisal : definition

Answer 23

An assessment of an employee’s performance. It’s usually a formal meeting between and employee and their line manager once a year, during which employee is encouraged to reflect on achievements, workload, targets for next year.

Question 24

What is continuous professional development :

Answer 24

Refers the the process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge and experience that you gain both formally and informally as you work. It’s a record of what you experience, learn and apply,

Question 25

Key features of CPD process :

Answer 25

CPD needs to :
Be a documented process 
Be self directed ie driven by you, not employee
Focus on learning from experience
Help set goals 
Formal and informal learning

Question 26

ASK TEACHER

Answer 26

IF THIS IS NEEDED

Question 27

Traditional recruitment: summary

Answer 27

Advertisements, paper applications and cvs, face to face networking, phone calls.

Question 28

E-recruitment : summary

Answer 28

Job sites, private recruiting, company website and social media’s.

Question 29

Positives of social media for recruitment :

Answer 29

Offers speed and efficiency, can provide additional info on candidates, for candidates it offers additional information on the job.

Question 30

Negatives of social media for recruitment :

Answer 30

Privacy issue ie employee has access to a lot of info on candidate, some potential candidates may not have social media.

Question 31

Advantages of e recruitment :

Answer 31

Saves time 
Saves money 
Filtration tools available 
Wider reach 
Broadens scope for candidates

Question 32

Disadvantages of e recruitment :

Answer 32

Requires software investment
Could be time consuming without correct software
Not fair to candidates who done use internet etc
Ethical issue of privacy
More suitable for larger firms

Question 33

Online technology and appraisal :

Answer 33

Appraisal remains a source of frustration for managers and employees, it needn’t be this way. Technology can help create a high performance culture.