HUMAN RESOURCES > SAC B ESTABLISHMENT PHASE > Flashcards
SAC B ESTABLISHMENT PHASE Flashcards
HR PLANNING
HR planning is focused on getting the tight people in the right jobs at the right time. It looks at the future human resource needs of the organisation. Numbers of employees are important but HR planning also includes knowledge of the types and people required. Without HR planning, the organisation may have too many, not enough or the wrong types of employees.
Employment cycle
The stages the employment relationship goes through from beginning to end. There are 3 phases in the world employment cycle, establishment, maintenance and termination.
Establishment phase, examples of activities
The establishment phase includes all the activities involved in beginning a relationship with an employee. Activities include HR PLANNING, job analysis and design, description and specification, recruitment, selection, employment arrangements and remuneration.
The important practices and processes used in HR planning and why HR planning is important.
HRM must plan to assist the organisation to:
Meet current employment requirements
Cater for future needs by determining how many employees will be required and their skills
Assist the organisation to respond to external forces such as the state of economy
Job analysis
Gathers knowledge on what tasks, duties and responsibilities involved in a job. Helps in recruiting the right people for a particular job.
Job Design
If a new job is being created or an existing job is being altered, a job design needs to be performed. This is deciding on what duties, tasks and responsibilities the job will consist of. It is important to consider job satisfaction and motivation when designing a job.
Why is job analysis important
A thorough and unbiased investigation or study of a specific job is good for both the managers and the employees. The managers get to know whom to hire and why. They can fill a place with the right person. On the other hand, existing or potential employee gets to know what and how he/she is supposed to perform the job and what is the desired output. Job analysis creates a right fit between the job and the employee.
Out of a job analysis or job design comes two documents:
Job description
Job specification
Job description
A summary of the duties, tasks and responsibilities an employee will need to perform in the job. It lets the employee know what they will be doing.
Job specification
A list of the key qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required to perform the job. It lets the employee know what they need to have in order to get the job.
Why is job design important
Is a continuous and ever evolving process that is aimed a helping employees make adjustments with the changes in the workplace. The end goal is reducing dissatisfaction, enhancing motivation and employee engagement at the workplace.
Recruitment
The process of finding the best qualified pool of applicants for a job. Recruitment can be internal or external, the job description and specification are important tools in recruiting the best pool of applicants.
Internal recruitment DEFINE PROS CONS
Where an organisation looks to fill a job vacancy from within its existing workforce. This is good as the employer has prior knowledge of the candidates abilities and it is much cheaper than external recruitment, however internal recruitment means that there is a smaller pool of applicants and there are no new perspectives brought into the organisation.
External recruitment DEFINE PROS CONS
External recruitment is where an organisation looks to fill a job vacancy from people outside the business. This is good as there is a larger pool of applicants and new perspectives are brought into the organisation, however it is very time consuming and more costly than internal recruit.
5 common recruitment methods
Advertising Online employment index Recruitment agencies Notice boards newsletters
Selection
Involves choosing the candidate that best matches the organisations requirements. The job specification is important in forming selection criteria that will be used to assess candidates.
Why is recruitment and selection important
It decides who will become a team member. This is important as it has a direct impact on an organisations performance, culture and results.
Employment Arrangements
Employment arrangements are the type of employment, pay and working conditions an employee has. This includes full time, part time, casual and fixed term contracts.
Remuneration
Remuneration is the financial payment the employee receives fo the work they do. This includes wages, salarys, superannuation and other benefits such as a company car.
Why are remuneration and employment arrangements important
It is important that organisations offer fair pay and arrangements for their employees. This can help retain good employees which decreases the need for constant recruitment thus decreasing costs.
5 stages of the selection process
- Screening/shortlisting
- comparing applications against selection criteria and narrowing down a short list - Interview
- asking a series of questions to gather more information about the candidate - Background checks
- contacting references and past employment. - Any other tests.
- conducting any necessary tests. Elf. Medical school, aptitude. - Notifying remaining applicants.
Job interviews
Asking a series of questions to gather more information about the applicant. They provide an opportunity for the applicant and the organisation to learn more about each other.
Ready-made meals is a manufacturing organisation that produces prepackaged frozen meals. A manager has identified that current recruitment practices Are not addressing future staffing needs. She has recommended that a review of current practices in the establishment phase of the employment cycle is undertaken. Outline methods that ready made meals could use to implement the managers recommendations. Discuss how the use of these methods could overcome the problems identified by the manager.
Recruitment is the process of finding the best qualified pool of applicants for a job. As the current recruitment practices Are not addressing future staffing needs, The business will need to ensure that in human resource planning they are working out the types of people that they require and the number. They will need to perform a job analysis to determine what tasks, duties and responsibilities are involved in a job, they will also need to perform job design to alter the current jobs and decide what duties, tasks and responsibilities are involved in each job. They need to revise their job description to contain the duties, tasks and responsibilities determined from the job design. They also need to revise the job description to contain all the key qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required to perform the tasks laid out in the job description. They could invest in various forms of external recruitment such as advertising, recruitment agencies and newsletters. This is a very time-consuming process but it will ensure the business is able to gain A larger pool of qualified applicants that will be able to meet the organisations starring needs.
Distinguish between job analysis and job design
Job analysis is the process of gathering knowledge on what tasks, duties and responsibilities involved in a particular job, it allows the manages to determine whom to hire whereas job design is the process undertaken when the new job is been corrupted or existing job is been altered, it involves deciding what duties tasks and responsibilities the job will consist of, when a job is designed it is important for a manager to consider job satisfaction and motivation to ensure that the job will not become monotonous for staff.
Both design and analysis involves gathering knowledge on what tasks, duties and responsibilities A job involves but analysis is concerned with finding what type of people are required in the job to assist in recruiting whereas design is involved with her creating or restructuring what a particular job involves.
Full time employment
Full-time permanent employment is the tra- ditional method of employment for most people. Permanent full-time employees usually work for between 35 and 38 hours per week, and are entitled to a set of 10 National Employment Standards
Part time employment
Some employees may be offered part-time permanent employment, where they work for less than the ordinary full-time hours. Part-time employees have continuity of employment and similar entitlements to those of full-time employees. The differ- ence is that their entitlements are calculated on a proportional basis. For example, if a part-time worker is employed for three days out of ve each week, he or she will be paid 60 per cent of the full-time wage, and will accumulate annual leave, long-service leave and sick leave entitlements at 60 per cent of the full-time rate.
Fixed term contract
While permanent employees are employed on an ongoing basis, a business will sometimes offer employment on a xed-term contract. Wages and conditions under these arrangements are usually similar to those of permanent employees, but the employment has a pre-arranged nishing date. Periods of employment from 3 to 12 months are common with this type of arrangement, and this can suit a business that may have speci c employment needs for this period of time.
Casual employment
Another type of employment arrangement may involve an organisation employing what are known as casual employees. Casual employees are employed on an hourly basis and do not receive a range of entitlements (non-wage bene ts) such as long-service leave and sick leave. To compensate, casual employees are sometimes paid a loading — that is, extra pay — on top of the normal full-time hourly rate. Part-time and casual employment can provide workers with exibility that allows for improved work–life balance.
3 items often offered in a remuneration package
Financial incentives, such as bonuses, commissions and
allowances, which are paid when an employee achieves
speci ed goals
• other rewards, such as the use of a company car, laptop
computers, childcare facilities and holidays
• salary sacri ce (also referred to as salary packaging), where employees sacri ce some of their salary to receive a bene t such as a car. The item is often purchased out of their pre-tax salary, making salary sacri ce an attractive proposition for many employees.
Remuneration package
The combination of a base wage and these types of extras form what is referred to as a ‘remuneration package’. Remuneration packages are important in retaining productive and efficient employees who are loyal and display a high degree of commitment to their work. Paying employees appropriately is important because it affects productivity by increasing employee motivation, and lowering rates of absenteeism and staff turnover.
Distinguish between job analysis and job design.
Job analysis refers to the evaluation of what a certain job requires from employees, the work environment and conditions of employment, made up of a job description (outline of what a job entails in terms of the employees duties, responsibilities and expectations) as well as a job specification (an overview of the type of person Bourke Books is looking for in terms of personal qualities, education, work experience and skills) to give an overview of a position that can be used to advertise a vacancy during recruitment or as a benchmark for evaluating employee performance, such as a bookseller working to operate the cash register and help customers find books, requiring at least one year experience and a bubbly, friendly personality. On the other hand, a job design refers to the process of creating a new job position within an organisation and evaluating where it will fit, what it will entail, and what it requires such as creating a new job at Bourke Books of a social media manager marketing e-books specifically.
Bourke Books has been in operation for 35 years and employs 300 people across stores throughout Australia. Over the past ve years, sales of new and second-hand books have declined by 40%. However, sales of ebooks have steadily increased by 10% each year over the same time period. Recently, a customer satisfaction survey was conducted and the results con rmed what the sales gures showed, that increasing numbers of customers prefer ebooks. As a result of these ndings, a restructure of staf ng was planned and the Human Resource Manager conducted a job analysis. The job analysis identi ed a number of staff changes, including terminations, to ensure the ongoing success of the business. The proposed restructure has been communicated to employees and has resulted in a drop in morale.
Discuss how either Maslow’s or Herzberg’s motivational theory will assist the Human Resource
Manager to motivate the employees. Justify which motivational theory would be the most suitable for
Bourke Books.
Motivation is the desire or drive to do well or achieve a common set of goals or objectives and the continual, consistent determination to achieve these. At Bourke Books, the most suitable motivational theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of 5 needs. Maslow theorised that there was a hierarchy of 5 needs, each level would act as a motivator until it had been met, once it had been met it would no longer motivate staff. Each level needs to be achieved in order. From bottom to the top of the hierarchy, the levels include physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. Maslow’s theory is advantageous and will assist the manager to motivate the employees by providing/meeting each level of the hierarchy. It is advantageous as Maslow believed that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors motivate staff; both the lower levels on the hierarchy and the higher levels will act as motivators. However, it is disadvantageous as every employee at Bourke Books may be at a different level on the hierarchy, making it difficult to not only identify which level they are at, yet also difficult to implement an appropriate strategy to help motivate them. Currently at Bourke Books, staff are likely to be unmotivated as their safety needs are not being met due to the prospects of potentially being made redundant. As a result, the employees will fear their degree of job security and will therefore be less motivated to work. Maslow’s theory will address this by meeting the safety level of the hierarchy, for example, by providing long term contracts to make employees feel more secure in their jobs. Once this level has been fulfilled, higher levels should then be met by providing Bourke Books employees with social fulfillment eg. Friday night drinks and then esteem through rewards and providing additional development to enhance their skills, eg. how to work in different areas of the book store or promotion to a managerial role and finally self-actualisation which will be met by providing the employees with a more challenging role. Maslow’s theory will be most suitable at Bourke Books as it will allow for a range of different strategies to be implemented at each level ensuring that all employees remain motivated and that their motivational requirements and needs are being met, ensuring that at Bourke Books, employees remain motivated through the changes and the restructuring process.
Explain two ethical and socially responsible processes that the Human Resource Manager could
implement when terminating staff.
One process is outplacement services. These include CV writing and interview skills workshops that will assist the employees in finding a new job. These services are not legally required and the costs should be borne by the organisation so that the employee feels supported throughout the entire terminations process.
Another ethical and socially responsible process is transition services. These assist employees in organizing their finances during their transition into being unemployed. Counseling and financial assistance, provided and paid for by the organisation, will help the employee cope with their change in lifestyle.
Bourke Books has been in operation for 35 years and employs 300 people across stores throughout Australia. Over the past ve years, sales of new and second-hand books have declined by 40%. However, sales of ebooks have steadily increased by 10% each year over the same time period. Recently, a customer satisfaction survey was conducted and the results con rmed what the sales gures showed, that increasing numbers of customers prefer ebooks. As a result of these ndings, a restructure of staf ng was planned and the Human Resource Manager conducted a job analysis. The job analysis identi ed a number of staff changes, including terminations, to ensure the ongoing success of the business. The proposed restructure has been communicated to employees and has resulted in a drop in morale.Describe and justify a management structure that would be appropriate for Bourke Books.
A management structure that would be appropriate for Bourke Books would be the divisional structure. This structure involves separating offices based on geography, customer, product or process needs. A divisional management structure, where employees are grouped together into different divisions according to the types of books being sold – new, second-hand or ebook, would be appropriate for Bourke Books during its staff restructuring in order to place more emphasis in the company on ebooks (given the steady rise in sales of 10% annually) and less emphasis (but still some!) on new and second- hand books. This allows for specialising how the management of each type of book is conducted to appeal to particular markets such as younger audience for ebooks via social media and older audience for new/second-hand books via radio advertising. This is the best structure for the firm due to its flexibility in adapting to change such as the restructuring, allowing it to increase sales by developing its ebooks industry in terms of marketing, finance, operations, etc due to a team of specialists from each functional area working together to sell ebooks, and encouraging cross-functional communication and teamwork of differently-skilled experts, to ultimately increase sales, profitability and customer satisfaction at Bourke Books. This management structure is more appropriate than functional, which is too rigid to specialise in different book types, or matrix which is good for short-term projects and may blur communication lines due to two managers, which would be problematic during employee termination.
Bourke Books has been in operation for 35 years and employs 300 people across stores throughout Australia. Over the past ve years, sales of new and second-hand books have declined by 40%. However, sales of ebooks have steadily increased by 10% each year over the same time period. Recently, a customer satisfaction survey was conducted and the results con rmed what the sales gures showed, that increasing numbers of customers prefer ebooks. As a result of these ndings, a restructure of staf ng was planned and the Human Resource Manager conducted a job analysis. The job analysis identi ed a number of staff changes, including terminations, to ensure the ongoing success of the business. The proposed restructure has been communicated to employees and has resulted in a drop in morale.Describe how two steps of Kotter’s theory of change management may be used for the successful
introduction of the new staf ng structure at Bourke Books.
Kotter’s theory of change management sets out a systematic process of 8 steps that can help an organisation to undertake change. During the establishment of urgency phase, whereby the need for change is emphasised due to incoming threats or possible opportunities, employees at Bourke Books may be able to identify exactly why the new staffing structure is happening (due to the ebooks) making them more likely to understand the rationale behind this decision and helping them to accept the introduction of this structure.
Another step that could be used would the communication of the vision phase, whereby employees can provide direct feedback to management, in response to their vision for this staffing structure. Through this, employee doubts and likely to be cleared up and any rumours regarding the change would also be dispelled, making the issue clearer for employees and decreasing their resistance of this new structure.
ZX Bank is a large retail bank that operates in all states in Australia.
In response to a recent market survey of its customers, it is considering opening its branches on Saturdays and Sundays.
Currently, the bank’s employees feel that their expectations regarding conditions of employment and work-life balance are being met.
The employees have been asked about the proposed change in opening hours and 70 per cent said that they would prefer not to work on weekends but, if they had to, they would expect higher pay rates on those days.
The Human Resource Manager has responded, saying that an increase in pay rates might make opening on weekends unprofitable. The bank executives are hoping to reach an agreement with the employees that keeps pay rates at current levels.
Both sides believe that it is important to discuss this issue further.
a. Employee expectations include a number of factors.
Explain what is meant by work-life balance and conditions of employment. Refer to the information about ZX Bank in your response.
Work life balance refers to achieving the right amount of work, as well as personal life activities. Employees at ZX Bank are currently satisfied with this as they are not having to work weekends as well as weekdays. If the proposed change is employed, employees may lose this balance, especially if they are not getting paid more. Conditions of employment refers to what jobs are required, the hours of work required, and the amount of pay received by employees that is agreed upon in the beginning of employment. The proposed change is seeking to alter the conditions of employment at ZX Bank, as weekend work may be introduced which was not a previously stated condition.
ZX Bank is a large retail bank that operates in all states in Australia.
In response to a recent market survey of its customers, it is considering opening its branches on Saturdays and Sundays.
Currently, the bank’s employees feel that their expectations regarding conditions of employment and work-life balance are being met.
The employees have been asked about the proposed change in opening hours and 70 per cent said that they would prefer not to work on weekends but, if they had to, they would expect higher pay rates on those days.
The Human Resource Manager has responded, saying that an increase in pay rates might make opening on weekends unprofitable. The bank executives are hoping to reach an agreement with the employees that keeps pay rates at current levels.
Both sides believe that it is important to discuss this issue further.To resolve the issue regarding the proposed change in opening hours and the employees’ expectations of higher pay rates on weekends, the bank executives will need to apply a range of management skills.
Describe two management skills and justify their use in this situation.
Two management skills are communication and problem solving. Communication refers to the transfer of information from a sender to a receiver and then the provision of feedback by the receiver. Communication will be necessary for management in this situation as it is important for discussions between management and employees to be kept up. If management cannot communicate effectively, a breakdown in communications will occur, causing confusion and possibly an industrial dispute.
Problem solving refers to the process of identifying an issue, developing alternatives, and then implementing one to resolve the issue. Management will require this skill as clearly they are currently faced with a problem between the wants of employees and the wants of management. Therefore, management must be able to solve this overall problem as well as others along the way, both efficiently and effectively. If not, the employees and management be unable to come to a resolution altogether.
Compare the centralised and decentralised approaches to employee relations.
The centralised approach is an approach in which the government is responsible for determining the wages and conditions for an entire industry through the use of an independent tribunal. A decentralised approach, however, refers to an agreement negotiated directly between employee and employer at a workplace level. Another difference between the two is that in a centralised approach, wages are not tied to productivity compared to a decentralised approach in which wages are directly tied to productivity, allowing employees to be directly rewarded for their contribution to the organisation. A similarity between the two approaches is that they both use awards to determine wages and conditions, which refers to a legally binding agreement that sets out wages and conditions. However, in a centralised approach, awards cover an entire industry of employees, compared to a decentralised approach in which awards act as a minimum safety net and cover employees nationwide.
Discuss the likely consequences of banks or other large-scale organisations introducing new
technology to optimise operations.
Technology is a strategy to optimise operations, using computers and software which enhance production. The positive consequences of technology in operations are that it reduces human error throughout the large production process. It can also lead to an increase in the quality of outputs through refinement undertaken which cannot be achieved by humans. Finally, it speeds up the operations system because technology such as robotics, which are highly specialised computerised technology, have the ability to undertake several complex tasks at once and do not require breaks or holidays.
However, the negative consequences of using technology in optimising operations are that there is generally a very high initial cost to the organisation to introduce it, and even then it is not guaranteed to achieve organisational objectives even though it will optimise operations. Additionally, employees may be made redundant because their role has been overtaken by technological applications thus creating unease amongst the entire workforce as the fear of losing their jobs too. Finally, it can be a very time consuming process to implement the new technology and adequately train employees to use it with confidence.
Ready-Made Meals is a manufacturing organisation that produces pre-packaged frozen meals. The business was established in 2010 in response to increased consumer demand for pre-packaged meals. Ready-Made Meals has not achieved the same growth as its competitors. The owner has called in a consultant, Ms North, to address this situation. Following her preliminary investigations, Ms North has identi ed the following problems:
• Customers think Ready-Made Meals’ products are inferior to those of its competitors.
• There are unacceptable levels of waste in the production process.
• Current recruitment practices are not addressing future staf ng needs.
Ms North has recommended the following:
• a renewed focus on materials management
• improvements to the management of quality
• a review of current practices in the establishment phase of the employment cycle
Outline methods that Ready-Made Meals could use to implement Ms North’s recommendations. Discuss how the use of these methods could overcome the problems identi ed by Ms North.
Recruitment is a process within the organisation which entails the attracting of potential applicants for a job, either internally or externally. In order to address Ms Norths identified problems, Ready-Made Meals Human Resource Manager may choose to branch out and recruit externally. The potential applicants would be drawn by advertisements through job agencies, online websites or through newspapers. The advertisement for the job could outline the ideal employee who would suit the job to address Ready-Made Meals future staffing needs, ensuring only the most suitable applicants are drawn to the job. Another key process in the establishment cycle is selection, where potential applicants submit their applications and are screened, interviewed, tested, and informed of the outcome. The selection process of conducting interviews may be changed in order to identify and sift through the applicants to find the most appropriate one. This would overcome the issues of staff not being suited to future needs of the LSO, but may be more time consuming for improved interview processes.
The management of quality refers to the evaluation of a products durability and effectiveness in doing what it is intended to do. To increase the quality of Ready-Made Meals, the operations manager may choose to implement the strategy of quality assurance. This would involve getting an external organisation to audit the production processes of the operations system against predetermined and established national or international standards. One example is the ISO standards. Ready-Made Meals would strive to achieve these quality standards and if met, can display the certification and be assured that their foodstandards are of national or international standard. Implementing this will allow for advanced competitiveness and possibly eliminate customer opinion that Ready-Made Meals’ products are inferior to those of their competitors. This may also increase its market share, but can cost the organisation money and increased efforts in maintaining these standards.
Materials management is an operations strategy which organises and plans the use, sourcing and type of resources used in the production process. Ready-Made Meals could implement a Just-In-Time strategy to ensure there are minimised levels of waste in the production process. Just-in-time materials management is where the inputs or raw materials are delivered when the old ones are being used up or when needed. Good supplier relationships are needed for this strategy but it can also ensure that the perishable raw materials at Ready-Made Meals are not going off and producing waste and cost. Implementing these measures allow for increased business competitiveness and can result in increased profits for the LSO.
The movement of staff into, through and out of an organisation (the employment cycle) is generally managed by the
Human Resource Manager.
With reference to management practices and processes that are associated with each phase of the employment cycle, discuss
• how the management role of planning could be used in the establishment phase
• how performance indicators could be used in the maintenance phase
• how the choice of management style could impact on the termination phase.
The establishment phase of the employment cycle is concerned with attracting applicants and finding a suitable applicant for a position. Therefore, the management role of planning, which is the process of deciding on objectives for the organisation to work towards, can be used in the establishment phase through human resource planning. HR planning involves determining the future employment needs of the organisation to ensure they are not left understaffed, or overstaffed. Therefore, HR planning can be associated with planning, as it centres around developing plans and objectives as to when and where employees will be needed in the future. If planning is not used in the establishment phase of the employment cycle, the organisation will be unaware of what human resources will be needed in the future which may lead to an inability to achieve objectives in the future.
The maintenance phase of the employment cycle is concerned with ensuring the motivation and enthusiasm of employees is held, and that employees are content with their jobs. A performance indicator, which is a tool or strategy which is used to measure the success of an organisation in achieving its objectives, which could be used in association with performance management (a process involved with the maintenance phase), would be the level of productivity. The level of productivity could be used in association with performance management, as performance management is concerned with not only judging employee performance, but also organisation wide performance. Therefore if results of productivity have increased compared with previous results, it can be seem that both employees and the organisation are performing sufficiently.
The termination phase of the employment cycle is concerned with the departure of employees from the organisation. Therefore, the choice of management style can impact on the termination phase in regard to employee entitlements and transition issues. This can be seen, as if there is an autocratic manager, which is a manager who tells employees how things will be done, it is unlikely that employees will be able to bargain for greater entitlements or departure packages, as the manager will make their decision and stick by it. However, if the manager is participative, where employees and managers work as a team to make decisions, it is likely that they will be open to discussion and will be willing to negotiate with departing employees as to what entitlements they will receive, above what is legally set as a minimum.
Jim Green is a highly experienced and valued staff member who recently resigned after twenty years of employment. As a result, a new job vacancy is available which human resource manager Claire Miller is required to fill.
Suggest how Claire may use human resource management strategies associated with the recruitment and selection process to find talented new employees.
Recruitment involves finding the best qualified pool of applicants for the job. There is external recruitment such as online employment indexes which involves recruiting people from outside the business which is more costly but there is a larger pool of potential applicants which could lead to a better chance of finding talented employees. Internal recruitment such as notice boards within the organisation is recruiting people from within the organisation which is less costly but there is a smaller pool of potential applicant but the business knows the ability of current employees. The job description and specification can be used to ensure potential applicants know what the job involves and what they need to have (experience, skills) to be able to apply.
Selection involves choosing candidates that best match the organisations needs and wants. Business’s should ensure that the chosen candidate meets the job specification and will be able to perform all the jobs listed in the job description effectively. Claire could use the following selection process to select suitable candidates.
The first step is to screen and shortlist applicants, Claire should use the job specification and ensure that the shortlist contains only applicants that meet the specification as this means that all applicants on the shortlist have the required skills to perform the job effectively.
Shortlisted applicants should then be interviewed, Claire should interview applicants to evaluate their personality and their ability to perform tasks listed on the job description, she should also find out if the applicants will contribute positively to corporate culture, thus should help find employees that will have the ability to and be motivated to compete the required tasks.
Claire should then conduct background checks on the applicants by contacting references. This can be used to verify the information given by applicants in the interview to ensure that they will actually work productively and be able to perform the jobs instead of just saying they they will.
Claire could also conduct written tests to evaluate the applicants ability to be able to perform jobs. This helps to determine if the applicants have the ability and skills to be able to perform jobs effectively.
Claire would then have to notify the remaining applicants and let them know if they have been selected or not.
Using these processes will help Claire find applicants and the. Choose the applicant that will work productively and complete the jobs effectively and efficiently.
Jim Green is a highly experienced and valued staff member who recently resigned after twenty years of employment. As a result, a new job vacancy is available which human resource manager Claire Miller is required to fill.
Explain what phase JIM is in and suggest a strategy that could be used in the management of his resignation.
Jim is in the termination phase as he is ending the relationship between him and management. The termination phase consists of all the activities undertaken when ending the relationship with employees.
Claire should offer services during termination. As Jim is resigning as a thanks for his long service she should pay for counselling and financial management workshops that will help him adjust to an unemployed life. This will help contribute to a positive corporate culture that values their employees even when they are leaving the organisation. This keeps morale high as employees know that they are valued which makes them happier to work productively.
Discuss two sources of change from the internal environment that Claire may have to manage.
Jim Green is a highly experienced and valued staff member who recently resigned after twenty years of employment. As a result, a new job vacancy is available which human resource manager Claire Miller is required to fill.
One source for change from the internal environment is employees demanding better conditions. Employees may have low morale and demand better conditions. This is a strong source for change as managers want to ensure that morale is high so that staff will work productively. Employees may even refuse to work and go on a strike unless conditions are improved.
Another source for change is management. Management aims to run a successful and profitable business. If profits decrease management may be pressured to make changes to return to making a profit. They might consider downsizing to reduce costs or hiring more talented employees that will be able to produce a better quality product that will attract customers and increase sales.
The Human Resource manager, Erin. needs to recruit a new marketing manager who will be in charge of overseeing 3 junior managers and 40 employees. Because of a recent drop in profits, Erin has been put on a tight budget and needs to hire a new marketing manager before the current marketing manager leaves for his new position in two weeks.
Suggest and justify whether Erin should seek to recruit internally or externally.
Internal recruitment refers to attracting the best applicants for an available position from within the organisation. [1] Since there are 3 junior managers already working under the marketing manager, Erin could ask the current marketing manager whether any of the 3 junior managers would be suitable for the job, since they would already possess many of the skills, abilities and knowledge necessary for the marketing manager position [1]. It would also be less time consuming than recruiting externally, which is important as Erin only has 2 weeks to find a suitable replacement [1]. Finally, recruiting internally is more cost-efficient, since attracting candidates does not require advertising or hiring head-hunters or agents, which is suitable because Erin is on a tight budget [1].
Why is a job analysis important. Refer to the job description and specification.
Job analysis is the process of identifying and determining in detail the tasks, duties and requirements involved in a given job.
When a job analysis is conducted two documents, a job description and job specification are crated. A job description is a summary of the duties, tasks and responsibilities an employee will need to perform in the job. A job specification is a list of the key qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required to perform the job. These two documents can only be accurate and detailed if a job analysis is undertaken. This is because a business would not be able to determine what taks and activities a job involves or what it requires from employees without investigating it through a job analysis.
One benefit of conducting g a job analysis and creating these documents is that it assists in attracting the most suitable pool of applicants.. It ensures that a business only recruits people who are capable of completing the activities listed in the job description and have the required skills that meet the job specification.
This also means that there is less time needed for training and development. This is because the employees already have the basic skills that they need to perform the job effectively because of what has been outlined in the description and specification.
It also allows candidates to be better prepared. Candidates know what experience and skills they need to have from the specification and they can use the description to determine if the job interest them. This prevents people who will unmotivated from applying.
Define corporate culture and training, explain how training can be used to develop corporate culture.
Corporate culture can be defined as the values and beliefs shared by all of the employees and management at an organisation.
Training refers to the process of teaching staff how to better perform their job by improving their skills and knowledge.
Management can offer employees training in order to develop corporate culture by teaching them new ways to approach situations and tasks. For example, if the culture of an organisation encourages support and providing the best for the customer, management can train its employees by teaching them customer service skills.
Training also contributes to a culture that values their employees. A business that values its emplpoyees will offer training to their staff. This encourages staff to work productively and it contributes positively to corporate culture as staff know that they are valued.
Pumping Kicks is a leading Australian kids shoe brand. Management have decided to expand their range and offer street wear shoes for men and women.
Define planning and outline a typical planning process which they could use as they work to expand their range.
Planning is the process of setting objectives and deciding on the strategies used to achieve them. Pumping Kicks will need to undertake a 5 step planning process:
Step 1: Define the objective. Management must decide on where they want the organisation to head. It has been decided that they would like to expand their range and offer street-wear shoes for men and women, therefore they may wish to have the new range comprise of forty per cent of Pumping Kicks total sales in 12 months’ time.
Step 2: Analyse the environment. Management may conduct a SWOT analysis to identify Pumping Kicks’ internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats. Strengths may include an established and leading brand, weaknesses may include a low level of staff morale, opportunities may include easy entry into the market due to few barriers and threats may include a monopolistic competition in the industry dominated by one brand.
Step 3: Develop alternative strategies. Pumping Kicks must develop an array of method to achieve the objectives. For example, their options may include only releasing the new range in metropolitan stores, creating a new retail outlet separate from the kids range or choosing a department store to stock their shoes.
Step 4: Implement an alternative. After analysing the various strategies, Pumping Kicks must decide on the best alternative and implement it. For example, they may have come to the agreement that it will be too large of a step to create a new retail store as it can be costly, and so instead they will just sell their range through a department store.
Step 5: Monitor and seek feedback. Management must set targets and check to see if they are being met. Is the number of sales up to standard? Is it too costly to have this new range? If the objective isn’t being met, then management must review the planning process or implement a different alternative.
Pumping Kicks is a leading Australian kids shoe brand. Management have decided to expand their range and offer street wear shoes for men and women.
Outline two performance indicators they could use to measure the success of the planning process undertaken.
A performance indicator can be defined as a measure to see whether objectives are being met. Pumping Kicks could use the performance indicator (PI) of number of sales to see if objectives are being met. An increase or high number of sales in their new range will indicate the Pumping Kicks has successfully implemented a strategy that will best roll out the new shoes. Another PI that could be used includes the results of a customer satisfaction survey. An improvement in the level of customer satisfaction will indicate that the customers are happy with Pumping Kicks introducing a new range and hence indicating a successful strategy.
The decision was made without consultation. Identify the style used and outline two pros and cons of this style.
The management style suggested is the autocratic management style where the senior manager makes all the decisions and communicates the decisions to other managers and staff with no employee input. Communication is one-way flowing down the hierarchy.
Advantages include:
Management can quickly make decisions as decision-making is centralised to the top. This can save time as consulting employees can take a while.
Directions and instructions being clearly outlined with little uncertainty. This results in a few errors.
Disadvantages include:
No employee input is allowed and this hence limits employee’s ability to develop their skills. This can cause morale to falls as well as productivity.
Job satisfaction decreases as employees do not feel valued which can lead to increases in absenteeism and staff turnover.
Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of internal recruitment,
Internal recruitment is when a business recruits from people already working at the organisation. One method of doing this is by putting up a notice on a noticeboard at the organisation.
One advantage is that the applicants are already familiar with the organisation. This means that there will be less training required as the employee should already know about many of the organisation’s policies and procedures.
Another advantage is that it is much cheaper. The business does not have to spend money on attracting employees as they can simply put up notices around the workplace or communicate orally to staff for no cost.
One disadvantage is that it reduces the introduction of new ideas. Many organisations like to recruit externally because it helpful new perspectives can be brought in such as new ideas to increase competitiveness.
Another disadvantage is the there is a smaller pool of applicants. The smaller the pool of applicants is, there is less of a chance of finding a suitable applicant with the required skills and willingness to complete the job.
Why is suitable recognition and reward important?
Rewards and recognition can be both financial, such as increased salary, superannuation and commission; and non-financial, such as career development, status and travel opportunities. Suitable reward and recognition of employees is important as:
‐ It is likely to motivate employees, thus result in greater levels of productivity
‐ It is likely to result in greater levels of job satisfaction, thus greater levels of productivity
Name two strategies of the maintenance phase of the employment cycle and explain how they are likely to help retain productive employees.
Induction involves the process of introducing a new employee to their environment, role, colleagues, supervisors, management and corporate culture. Using a process of induction for new employees is likely to make them feel more comfortable in their new surroundings, makes job satisfaction more likely, and is also likely to improve productivity. Thus, that individual is more likely to stay in the job.
Training and development involves the process of developing an employee’s knowledge and skill base necessary for future work activities and responsibilities. Training and development allows for career development and possible promotion, along with greater levels of job satisfaction, and improvements in productivity levels. Thus, that individual is more likely to stay in the job.
