Management Of People

Question 1

Why may new staff be needed in organisations

Answer 1

to develop new products to satisfy demand

to assist in opening new stores/factories

to help enter new markets

to respond to flexible working arrangements.

Question 2

Why may existing staff be removed or leave an organisation

Answer 2

to respond to falling sales/demand for products

to take up positions with competitors or other local employers

because employees retire, take sick leave, go on maternity leave, and so on

the business needs different employees with new skills.

Question 3

5 steps in workforce planning

Answer 3

1 The organisation analyses the potential demand for its goods/services and decides how many staff are needed and what skills are required to meet this demand. The organisation will take PESTEC factors into account

2 The organisation will conduct a staffing forecast to highlight if any staff are due to leave (maternity leave, retiring, etc.) and if there is a shortfall or surplus of staff.

3 The organisation analyses the profile of its current workforce to determine the need for new staff and the skills that need to be developed in existing staff.

4 If there is a surplus of staff then they may have to be removed; if there is a shortfall then the organisation ‘closes the gaps’ to ensure that it has the workforce required to provide the goods/services to meet their objectives by:

a) recruiting and selecting new staff
b) training existing staff
c) retaining existing staff through motivation methods.

5 Review process and make changes if necessary.

Question 4

Example of where internal and external staff will see job adverts

Answer 4

internal

• staff noticeboard
• organisations intranet
• internal email to all or selected staff
• company newsletter

External

• job centre
• newspaper adverts
• website such as indeed
  Recruitment agencies, specialist that picks best staff

Question 5

Advantages of internal supply of staff

Answer 5

The vacancy can be filled quickly.

The employee knows the organisation which saves induction training costs and time.

The employee is known to the organisation and can be trusted to do a good job.

The organisation saves money on external
advertisement costs.

Employees will be more motivated as they know there is a chance of promotion.

Question 6

Disadvantages of internal supply of staff

Answer 6

Applicants are drawn from a very limited pool so the organisation may not hire the best person for the job.

Promoting one employee will consequentially create a vacancy in their old post.

The organisation misses out on a chance to bring in fresh, new ideas and skills to organisation.

Employees can resent a fellow colleague being promoted over them. This can cause conflict and relations to become strained.

Question 7

Advantages of an external supply of staff

Answer 7

• fresh new ideas and skills are brought to the organisation
• there is a wider poool of candidates to chose from
• it avoids creating further vacancy in the organisation
• it avoids jealousy and resistance that is often created by one employee being promoted over others

Question 9

Disadvantages of an external supply of staff

Answer 9

• Candidates do not know the organisation so induction training will have to be carried out, taking up production time and costing money
• such a potentially vast pool of candidates can mean it takes longer to choose suitable candidates for an interview
• the organisation does not know the successful candidate, which carries a risk that they may not be trusted or suited for the job.
• existing staff may be demotivated as they perceive that there is no chance of internal promotion

Question 10

Describe interview

Answer 10

Designed to compare the applicants responses to questions against set criteria, one to one, panel or successive

Question 11

Advantages of interview

Answer 11

• interviews find out how an applicant reacts under pressure
• interviews give an indication of the applicant personality and character

Question 12

Disadvantages of interview

Answer 12

• Some applicants can train specifically for interviews and say what the interviewers want to hear but you may not be the best person for the job.
• interviews can be highly stressful. This means an organisation may miss out on quality employees who underperform in the pressure of an interview

Question 13

What’s testing

Answer 13

Provide additional info about an applicant

Question 14

Disadvantages of testing

Answer 14

• May be time consuming to carry out
• may put applicant under too much pressure to perform as they do once get the job
• candidates may be more prepared on the day and once hired not perform to same levels evident in test