People Flashcards
Name 5 reasons a business might need new staff
Meet increasing demand for products Develop new products Enter new markets Opening new stores/factories Respond to flexible working arrangements
Name 4 reasons staff leave
Falling demand for products
Take up a job elsewhere
Retire, sick leave, maternity leave etc
Business requires different employees with new skills
Describe each stage of workforce planning
Analyse potential demand Conduct staffing forecast Analyse existing workforce Surplus or shortfall of staff Review process
Analyse potential demand
Potential demand for its good /services?
Decide how many staff/what skills are needed?
PESTEC is one tool that will be used to analyse this.
Conduct staffing forecast
Highlight if any staff are due to leave eg maternity leave
Identify if there will be surplus /shortage of staff
Analyse existing workforce
Analyse the profile of current staff:
a need for new staff?
skills that need to be developed in existing staff?.
Surplus or shortfall of staff
Surplus - remove some staff eg redundancy
Shortfall - close the gap’ to ensure correct workforce to meet objectives by:
Recruiting and selecting new staff
Training existing staff
Retaining existing staff through motivation methods
Review process
opportunity to make changes if necessary
Describe 7 methods of selection
Application forms - Comparison of applicants is easier as all provide the same information.
CVs -A written summary of an applicant’s experience, educational background and any other relevant information that may not be requested on application form
Interviews - A formal face-to-face meeting between an employer and an applicant – can compare candidates in pressure situations and allow candidates to respond to questions and also ask questions about the job/company.
Assessment centres - Candidates can be observed in practical situations with tasks tailored to the vacancy, eg in-tray exercise, group task, presentation, case study but can be time consuming and costly
Testing:
Attainment testing allows a candidate to demonstrate their skills eg ICT
Medical testing measures physical fitness which may be required for certain jobs, eg fire service
Aptitude - Assesses a candidate’s natural abilities and skills EG: Psychometric/Psychological - Assesses a candidate’s personality
References - used to confirm that the candidate is why they say they are, reliable etc. Requested from previous employer, school etc
Trial Periods - employed for a short period of time before offered permanent position. Advantage is it allows business to see if capable of doing the job and not ending up having to go through complicated discipline/dismissal procedure if unsuitable
Discuss interviews 4 marks
Advantage
Find out how candidate reacts under pressure
gives indication of candidates personality
Disadvantage
Some candidates good at interview but not necessarily best person for the job
Highly stressful, a good candidate may perform badly but would have been perfect for the job
Discuss assessment centres 4 marks.
Advantage
Assesses how applicants interact with others
Scrutinise applicants over longer period of time
Disadvantage
Time consuming due to preparing relevant tests
Expensive due to hiring venue for testing to take place
Discuss testing 3 marks.
Advantages
Provides additional information about an applicant, acts as evidence to demonstrate a particular skill etc
Disadvantages
Candidates will prepare hard for the test and once hired may not perform at this same level in their job
Time consuming to carry out
Discuss one to one appraisals 4 marks
Staff are highlighted for promotion which will retain a core workforce
Could be demotivational if negative aspects focused on.
Targets will be set for the employee which motivates them to be successful by giving them a goal to work towards
Time consuming which results in decreased productivity whilst being carried out
Discuss peer appraisals 4 marks.
Relationships with managers not harmed through judgements
Personal relationships between colleagues could result in the appraisal being ineffective
Employees may relax more and react better to a review given by a colleague
Bias could wrongly highlight an employee for a pay rise or promotion
Discuss 360 appraisals 4 marks.
Advantages
Complete profile of employee is gained
areas of subjectivity such as character and leadership skills are measured
Disadvantages
some employees may find it difficult to be critical of their colleagues
Time constraints may limit the quality of responses from so many people in the organisation
Describe 3 ways employees can participate in decision making
Works Council - Groups made up of equal number of employees and managers with joint decision making powers over major change to the organisation
Consultative Committees - Similar to Works Councils but also includes members of the public, consumers etc.
Worker Directors - A low level employee is given a seat on the Board of Directors, they have no voting rights but they do get to present their view and gives them a say in decision making.
Discuss a works council 2 marks.
reducing resistance to change from employees as they’ve had a say in the change taking place
Time consuming with employees being taken away from core activities reducing productivity
Discuss consultative committees 2 marks.
Reducing resistance to change from stakeholders such as local community etc
Difficult to get some stakeholders to engage with the process as it is time consuming and there is no pay allocated to it
Discuss workers directors 2 marks.
Workers are more motivated as they feel their voice is being heard and that management is listening to the views of low level workers
Workers may feel that due to no voting rights that it is just a policy to look good for the business rather than the workers actually get a say with a vote
Give 4 impacts of the equality act.
The organisation may be prosecuted for discrimination eg fines
Employers may have to revise their recruitment policies
Invest in better accessibility leading to increased costs e.g. installing lifts, ramps, etc.
Investigate issues of discrimination/harassment/victimisation against an employee, customer or a third party
