Unit 2.1 - Introduction to Human Resource Management Flashcards
Human Resource Management =
Describes overall management of an organization’s workforce. Essentially: make most efficient use of organization’s workers.
Roles/Functions of HRM
(RRAIDART acronym)
Recruitment
Retention
Absenteesim
Induction Training
Dismissal
Appraisals
Redundancies
Training & Development
What can effective HR do?
Why?
Enable organization to develop competitive advantages. Workforce more effective in achieving firm’s aims and objectives
What Internal Factors Influence HR Planning?
Size of Organization
Strategic Direction of Organization
Organizational Structure
Finances
Motivation in Workplace
Corporate Culture of Organization
What External Factors Influence HR Planning?
Demographic Change
Change in Labour Mobility
Gig Economy
Immigration
Flexi-Time
What is Demographic Change?
Refers to variations in structure of population that influence HR planning.
Examples of Population Development and Trends
Avg. age of population
Distribution of population by ethnicity
Gender distribution
Educational attainment levels
Avg. household income
Official retirement age
What is Labour Mobility?
Measures extent to which workers have ability and willingness to move between geographical locations and/or occupations for their employment
What does increasing and maintaining labour mobility do?
Ensures more efficient allocation of HR
What are 2 types of Labour mobility?
Occupational Mobility
Geographical Mobility
What is Occupational Mobility?
Refers to ability and willingness of employees to do another job or pursue different career.
Why does occupational immobility occur?
Impediments such as rules and regulations
How can occupational mobility be improved?
If employees have necessary qualifications, experience and skills to move from one job to another
What is Geographical Mobility?
Refers to ability and willingness of employees to relocate to another location or country for work reasons
How do business attract people to work in overseas locations?
Highly attractive renumeration packages
Why does geographical immobility occur?
Due to unwillingness of workers to move to another area.
Why can workers be unwilling to move geographically for work?
Family ties to geographical location, relocation costs, lower wages and salaries, fewer benefits, higher property prices, or higher costs of living in new location
How can labour mobility be improved?
Improved Pay & Benefits
Training & Development Programmes
What is a downside of promoting labour mobility?
Expensive for business
What are benefits of greater labour mobility?
Workers can find better paying jobs
Improved Standards of Living
Increase in Labour Productivity as result of improved employee morale & motivation
What are migrant workers?
People who move to other locations/countries in search of job opportunities
UN Migrant Workers Definition
Somoen who is engaged or has been engaged in a renumerated activity in a state of which they are not a national
What business opportunities can arise from migrant workers?
Easing of skills shortages
Flexible work structures
Marketing opportunities
Personnel Opportunities
NET social benefits
Explain easing of skills shortages due to migrant workers
Migrants take on jobs that cannot be filled by domestic workers perhaps due to lack of willingness/skill. Skill shortage prevented -> costs kept down.
Explain flexible work structures due to migrant workers
Businesses bale to open longer hours due to workforce flexibility. Add to supply of staff willing to work part-time/shift work.
Explain Marketing Opportunities due to migrant workers
Migrant workers likely to have different habits and tastes from mass population. Can provide niche marketing opportunites such as provision of cultural goods and services
Explain Personnel Opportunities due to migrant workers
Allow business to employ flexible/dynamic workforce. May bring new ideas, experiences and ways of thinking. Skilled migrants can pose threat to less-skilled natives. This competition -> raise standard of skills in economy as domestic workers update skills to retain jobs.
Describe NET social benefits due to migrant workers
Majority of migrants are working age. This means they are likely to pay income tax, also means they have income to spend on goods & services.
Define Flexi-Time
Form of flexible work that enables employees to work set nº of core hours per week, often at office during peak periods of the day and/or week. Employees have flexibility to choose when they work during rest of week as long as work gets completed
What did Professor Charles Handy discuss about flexible working practices in his shamrock organization model?
Suggested modern organizations would increasingly consist of three elements:
Core Workers, Contracted Specialists, Flexible Workers
What industries have had reduced nº of full-time workers due to growth in flexible/part-time workers?
Retail and Fast-food industries
What are the advantages of Flexi-Time?
- Empowers workers: autonomy to complete work in own time when it best suits them
- Flexibility in employees’ personal schedule: e.g. parents can raise children
- Improve morale and labour mobility
What are the disadvantages of Flexi-Time?
- Potential lack of accountability/productivity
- Cost implications if managers have to check and approve hours full-time staff claim to have worked
What is Gig Economy? What can it be referred to as?
On-demand economy. Refers to labour markets in which workers are given short-term/one-off contracts (freelance work) rather than long-term/permanent contracts
What are gig workers?
On-call, independent contractors who enter into formal agreements with on-demand businesses to provide services to firm’s customers (usually digital platform)
How are gig workers paid?
For each individual job (gig) instead of traditional methods such as wages or salaries
Why was trend of Gig Economy accelerated?
National lockdowns / safety measures post-COVID
What are the advantages of Gig Economy?
- Workers enjoy freedom/flexibility: can choose which jobs they want, as well as when and how long to work for. Ideal for those who prefer part-time employment -> better work/life balance
- Potential to earn significant amount of income: gig workers often work for multiple businesses on job-by-job basis
- Businesses gain from reduced COP as do not need to hire as many full-time workers (along with pay & benefits of full-time employment) and office space -> more price-competitive products to customers
What are the disadvantages of Gig Economy?
- Reduces need of full-time workers -> possibly limiting people’s potential for career development
- No fixed employment contracts -> may lack job security and stable income
- Set-up costs of their own for gig workers
- Gig workers miss out on employee rights and benefits (paid sick leave, holiday pay, redundancy pay, maternity leave…)
What are the reasons for Resistance to Change in the Workplace?
- Self-Interest
- Low Tolerance
- Misinformation & Misunderstandings
- Different Interpretations of Circumstances
Explain Self-Interest as a reason for resistance to change
- Employee interests > organizational interests
- Perceived threat to job security, status/rank and financial position
- Human nature to pursue self-interest: not always clear why organization’s goals should take priority
- Employees often more interested/worried about implications of change for themselves rather than possible benefits to organization
- Hence, may feel change is unnecessary and/or requires too much effort on their part
- Reason particularly strong if employees not committed to organization
Explain Low Tolerance as a reason for Resistance to Change
- People tend to like stability/normality in personal/professional lives
- Change often entails new policies/procedures (new ways of doing things in workplace)
- Humans need element of security/predictablity/stability in lives
- Hence, low tolerance of change (fearful of it). Might also worry they cannot adapt to change
Explain Misinformation & Misunderstandings as a reason for Resistance to Change
- Reasons for change not clearly/effectively communicated -> lack of understanding -> misunderstandings -> resistance to change
- Misperceptions widesperead because of informal communications in workplace -> belief that there are no compelling reasons for change
- Hence, may feel change iis unnecessary especially if business is not in crisis
Explain Different Interpretations of Circumstances as a reason for reistance to change
- Different people may have different interpretations of situation
- Employees & employers may disagree on rationale/benefits of change
- Employees may feel they have better solutions/would change things in different ways
- Different assessments/perceptions -> conflict -> resistance to change
What are HR strategies for reducing the impact of resistance to change according to John Paul Kotter and Leonard Schlesinger of Harvard (1979)?
- Education and Communication
- Participation and involvement
- Facilitation and Support
- Negotiation and Agreement
- Maniuplation and Co-Option
- Explicit and Implicit Coercion
What is change management?
Refers to processes and techniques used to plan, implement and evaluate changes in business operations.
Explain Education & Communication as a strategy against resistance to change
- Aims to inform/educate staff (and other stakeholders) about change beforehand
- Early communication/clarification -> help stakeholders see rationale for change and establish trust
- Most importantly: approach reduces unsubstantiated claims/rumours about proposed change
- Hence, helps limit misinformation & misunderstanding
Explain Participation & Involvement as a strategy against resistance to change
- Links with several motivation theorists (Frederick Herzberg) -> argue employee involvement in decision-making can motivate and improve moral amongst workforce
- Involving employees in change process (through consultations) -> more likely to accept change
- Greater incentive to ensure change is succesfully implemented
- Also help prevent misunderstandings/misinterpretations for purpose of change
- However, also time-consuming
Explain Facilitation & Support as a strategy against resistance to change
- Providing authentic support so people have skills/resources to cope with change
- Paternalistic in style -> managers become supportive staff during difficult times -> avert potential resistance
- Can come in numerous forms: re-training of staff, counseling workers to deal with fears/anxieties
Explain Negotiation & Agreement as a strategy against reistance to change
- Managers use bargaining incentives to remove/limit resistance
- E.g. ‘inviting’ coworkers to accept amendments in contracts to accomodate new change
- Alternatively, staff who resist offered early retirement or redundancy incentives
- Other times, managers may be willing to compromise to provide incentives for employees to settle for the change
- Negotiations with workers -> slightly different/possibly better changes than originally intended
Explain Manipulation and Co-Option as a strategy against resistance to change
- Involves bringing representative of those resisting change into change process
- Purpose: give key influential people representation in negotiations process
- Underlying reason: convert representative’s thinking so advantages of change can be communicated to resistors
- Representatives (e.g. labour Union workers) given symbolic role -> their view will not affect desire of management to push for change
- Unethical, can backfire if those resisting change find out management’s intentions
Explain Explicit and Implicit Coercion as a strategy against resistance to change
- Typically last resort
- Coercion (bullying tactics) -> force staff into accepting change
- Might involve threatening disciplinary action, dismissals, job losses, redeployment, not promoting employees
- Force change even if workers do not agree
- Often, over time (especially if change proves to be successful) people may come to accept change
- however, employment legislation (to protect employees) which deems coercion illegal means coercion can be carried out implicitly by senior managers.
