Theme 1.4 Managing People Flashcards
What is style of management where staff are treated as an asset?
Soft HRM
- treats employees as the most important resource in the business and a source of competitive advantage
- employees are treated as individuals and their needs are planned accordingly
What is the style of management where staff are treated like a cost?
Hard HRM
- treats employees as a resource of the business
- strong link with corporate business planning- what resources do we need, how do we get them and how much will they cost?
What are the key features of soft HRM?
- strategic focus on longer term workforce planning
-strong and regular two-way communication
competitive pay structure, with suitable performance-related rewards
-employees are empowered and encouraged to seek delegation and take responsibility
-appraisal systems focused on identifying and addressing training and other employee development needs
-flatter organisational structure
-suits democratic leadership style
What are the key features of hard HRM?
- short term changes in employee numbers (recruitment, redundancy)
- minimal communication, from the top down
- pay- enough to recruit and retain enough staff (e.g. minimum wage)
- little empowerment or delegation
- appraisal systems focused on making judgements about staff
- taller organisational structures
- suits autocratic leadership style
What is the best approach to management? Hard or Soft HRM?
Soft
- seen as an approach that rewards employee performance and motivates staff more effectively
- however, be too “soft” and when all the employee benefits are added up, the cost of the workforce may leave a business at a competitive disadvantage
Hard
- might result in a more cost-effective workforce where decision making is quicker and focused on senior managers
- but a genuinely “hard” approach might expect to suffer from absenteeism and staff turnover and less successful recruitment
What are wages?
a fixed payment to employees based on hours worked.
- paid by the hour with a pay packet normally received at the end of each week
- often paid to lower-skilled workers or to temporary staff
- any additional hour worked normally paid a higher rate on an overtime basis
What are salaries?
a fixed annual sum paid monthly to employees
- often set on an annual basis but payment is made at end of each month
- normally paid to managers or those higher up in a company
- a set number of hours is not normally agreed but employment contract requires enough hours worked to get job done
What is flexible working?
working arrangements where there are a variety of options offered to employees in terms of working time, location, and pattern of working
What does flexible working include?
multi-skilling part-time temporary flexible hours home working outsourcing
What is multiskilling?
where staff are allowed to carry out a variety of tasks rather than specialise
multi-skilling enables greater use of job rotation
common in service industries e.g. retail, hotels
puts a greater requirement on training
What is a part time or temporary contract?
A part-time worker will work less than 35 hours per week.
part time hours allow people to fit work in alongside other commitments. This can help bring people into the workplace who may offer excellentskills and experience but are unable to commit to full time work.
temporary are employed on short-term contracts, meaning that if the employer no longer needs them, the contract is not renewed.
What are flexible hours?
is where staff vary the hours they work to meet both the needs of the business and to some extent their own needs. The business can match staff working hours to periods of demand from customers. This is the staffing basis of companies such as the taxi firm Uber.
What is home working?
involves the employee carrying out all or part of their job at home without the need to attend the business’ premises. The business can reduce the cost of providing space for employees to work.
however, staff may be less productive as the business is not able to supervise the work effectively
What is outsourcing?
involves delegating one or more business processes to an external provider, who then owns, manages and administers the selected processes to an agreed standard.
it has become increasingly common for more complex businesses that want to focus on their core activities. It is also common to find smaller businesses outsourcing administrative functions until they have reached a size that justifies having specialist skills on the payroll.
What is a zero hour contract?
where the business does not guarentee any work to the employee until they can see that the demandis there to need them. The business can match demand from customers with the employees to meet that demand very precisely. However, employees become demotivated as they may feel under valued, particularly if they do not get regular hours.
What are the advantages of flexible working for businesses?
- savings on costs- can make substantial savings on overheads if it doesnt have to provide office and other accommodation for fo many employees or if staff can work from home
- helps with recruitment and staff retention- flexible working results in better satisfaction and higher staff morale
- reflects the changing profile of the UK workforce- more women in the labour market and an ageing population= a result in increasingly common for staff to have caring responsibilities outside work
- takes advantage of developments in technology- simple and cost effective for employees to be able to access their employers online and other networked systems, and to communicate digitally with colleagues
- an increasing need for businesses to offer extended opening hours
- increasingly, the law allows certain groups of employees the legal right to request flexible working
What are the disadvantages of flexible working?
- additional ministrative work and “red tape” invlved in setting up and running flexible working
- potential loss of customers if key employeesreduce their working hours
- lower employee productivity (potentially)
- inability to substitute for certain skills if certain employees are absent
- managers finding it difficult to manage or adminster the flexibility
What is the difference between dismissal and redundancy?
dismissal (aka. firing or sacking)= is the termination of employment by an employer against the will of the employee
redundancy= employees are made redundant when a business needs to reduce the size of itsworkforce or even close. Redundancy can be voluntary
Why might dismissal happen?
- break of contract or other unacceptable behaviour or performance
Why might redundancy happen?
employee loses job because job is no longer required by the business
What is an individual approach to employer/employee relations?
- when a single worker negotiates their working conditions and pay with management.
issues can include:
- pay
- holidays
- bonuses
- any introduction of new working practises and other changes in the workplace
it can reduce conflicts between the two parties as they discuss the issue directly and understand each other’s position on the employment contract. However, the business is often in the dominant postion to dictate the terms of the negotiations
What is a collective approach to employer/employee relations?
- employees and workforce representatives; for example, this could be through a trade union e.g. UNISON. Trade unions act to protect and improve the economic and working conditions for their members
- occurs when an employer deals with one or a few worker representatives for the whole workforce when discussing problems, or negotiating pay rises or changes to working conditions
What is employee representation?
It arises when employees are part of a formal structure for involving them in the decision-making process of a business.
What employment law in the UK requires employers to involve employees?
- proposed redundancy programmes
- when employees are transferred from one employer to another
- changes to pension arrangements
- proposed changes to working time arrangement
How does a formal system of employee representation help?
- make employees’ views known to management
- strengthen both management’s and employee’s understanding of workplace issues and other matters affecting the business
- create an atmosphere of mutal trust between employees and management and therefore improve workplace retentions
What are the advantages and disadvantagesof employee representation?
+ increased empowerment and motivation of the workforce
+ employees become more committed to the objectives and strategy of the business
+ better decision- making because employee experience and insights taken into account
+ lower risk of industrial disputes
- time-consuming
- conflicts between employer and employee interests may be a block to essential charge
- managers may feel their authority is being undermined
