Unit 2.1

Question 1

Human resource management (HRM)

Answer 1

The strategic approach to the effective management of an organisation’s workers so that they help the business achieve its objectives and gain a competitive advantage

Question 2

Human resource or workforce planning

Answer 2

Analyzing and forecasting the numbers of workers and the skills of those workers that will be required by the organisation to achieve its objectives

Question 3

Human resource or workforce plan

Answer 3

Numbers of workers and skills of those workers required over a future time period

Question 4

Workforce audit

Answer 4

A check on the skills and qualifications of all existing employees

Question 5

Labour turnover

Answer 5

Measures the rate at which employees are leaving an organisation it is measured by: Number of employees leavening in 1 year / average number of people employed * 100

Question 6

Occupational mobility of labour

Answer 6

extent to which workers are willing and able to move to different jobs requiring different skills

Question 7

Geographical mobility of labour

Answer 7

Extent to which workers are willing and able to move geographical region to take up new jobs

Question 8

Recruitment

Answer 8

The process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job to be filled and the type of person needed to fill it, attracting suitable candidates for the job and selecting the best one

Question 9

Job description

Answer 9

A detailed list of the key points about the job to be filled, stating all the key tasks and responsibilities of it

Question 10

Person specification

Answer 10

A detailed list of the qualities, skills and qualifications that a successful applicant will need to have

Question 11

Training

Answer 11

Work related education to increase workforce skills and efficiency

Question 12

On-the-job training

Answer 12

Instruction at the place of work on how a job should be carried out

Question 13

Induction training

Answer 13

Introductory training programme to familiarise new recruits with the systems used in the business and the layout of the business site; this form of training is usually on-the-job

Question 14

Off-the-job training

Answer 14

All training undertake away from the business, e.g. work-related college courses

Question 15

Cognitive training

Answer 15

Exercises designed to improve a person’s ability to understand and learn information

Question 16

Behavioural skills training

Answer 16

Is designed to improve an individual’s ability to communicate and interact with others both inside and external to the organisation

Question 17

Employee appraisal

Answer 17

The process of assessing the effectiveness of an employee judged against preset objectives

Question 18

Contract of employment

Answer 18

A legal document that sets out the terms and conditions governing a worker’s job

Question 19

Dismissal

Answer 19

Being removed or ‘sacked’ from a job due to incompetence or breach of discipline

Question 20

Unfair dismissal

Answer 20

Ending a worker’s employment contract for a reason that the law regards as being unfair

Question 21

Redundancy

Answer 21

When a job is no longer required so the employee doing this job becomes redundant through no fault of his or her own

Question 22

Teleworking

Answer 22

Staff working from home but keeping contact with the office by means of modern IT communications

Question 23

Portfolio working

Answer 23

The working pattern of following several simultaneous employments at any time

Question 24

Outsourcing

Answer 24

Using another business (a ‘third party’) to undertake a part of the production process rather than doing it within the business using the firm’s own employees

Question 25

Flexi-time contract

Answer 25

Employment contract that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees, e.g. at busy times of day

Question 26

Temporary employment contract

Answer 26

Employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period, e.g. six months

Question 27

Part-time employment contract

Answer 27

Employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of, say, 40 hours, e.g. eight hours per week

Question 28

Offshoring

Answer 28

The relocation of a business process done in one country to the same or another company in another country

Question 29

Re-shoring (in-shoring)

Answer 29

Reversal of offshoring the transfer of a business process or operation back to its country of origin

Question 30

Hard HRM

Answer 30

An approach to managing staff that focuses on cutting costs, e.g. using temporary and part-time employment contracts, offering maximum training costs

Question 31

Soft HRM

Answer 31

An appproach to managing staff that focuses on developing staff so that they reach self-fufilment and are motivated to work hard and stay with the business