Unit 6 - HR Improvement Flashcards
Job enlargement
an increase in the number of responsibilities that an employee has
Job enrichment
an increase in the level of responsibility that an employee has (horizontal loading)
Job rotation
varying the tasks that an employee does to reduce boredom
Empowerment
enables staff to have a greater power and control over their working lives
Hackman and Oldmans model
underpinned by the belief that the task undertaken by an employee (job design) is the key to motivation, they also made the five job characteristics:
- skill variety
- task identity
- task significance
- autonomy
- feedback
this then leads to the three critical psychological states then to the personal and work outcomes
orginisational design
the frame work that provides a business with a structure to achieve its objectives
organisational structure
the way a workforce within a firm is organised, including job roles and communication flows
organisational design includes:
- authority
- span
- hierarchy
- delegation
- centralised and decentralised
authority (organisational design)
the power of an employee to instruct subordinates, it can be:
- centralised ie maintained by a few at the centre of an organisation
- decentralised ie spread across the organisation
delegation (organisational design)
the process of distributing or entrusting work to another person
Employee representation
the systems put in place to aid communication between employers and employees
Trade unions
national organisations with a remit to protect its members and improve their economic and working conditions
Key objectives of trade unions
- securing jobs
- maximising pay
- ensuring safe and acceptable conditions
- fair treatment of members by employers
Unions can work with employees/employers to
- enhance business performance
- improve international competitiveness
- implement change
- lower labour turnover
- increase motivation
Industrial action
- employees work to rule
- lobbying
- strikes
avoiding disputes
- early involvement of employee representatives
- clear communication
- ACAS , an independent body that can be called in to help avoid or resolve disputes
work councils
a group made up of managers and representative employees who meet regularly to discuss issues relating the business and work force
- employees have legal rights to request a work council if working in a business with over 50 employees
advantages of employee representation
- medium for effective way for communication
- reduces feeling of them and us
- employees kept informed
- employers have some perspective on employee feelings
- improved motivation
-less risk of industrial disputes
disadvantages of employee representation
- takes time
- can cause conflict due to different agendas
- slows down decision making
- employer may not be able to respond to employee requests
- non homogeneous employees (non are the same)
