Work force Planning

Question 1

What are the reasons for work force planning?

Answer 1

This refers to organisations having to recruit new employees or remove existing employees. Workforce planning involves ensuring an organisation has the required staff for its needs.

Question 2

What are the reasons for work force planning?

Answer 2

· New staff may be needed for various reasons, for example opening new stores, or entering new markets.

· Existing staff may have to be removed for various reasons, for example fall in sales/demand for products or retirement, sick leave, maternity leave etc

Question 3

What are some advantages for work force planning?

Answer 3

Encourages managers to prepare and plan for changes rather than simply react to them.
Gaps in the current staffing levels are identified.
Avoids under staffing – ensures sufficient workers to carry out the different functions of the business.
Avoids overstaffing which is costly to the business.
Enables businesses to prepare for periods of significant change, eg, restructuring, technological change, growth, etc.
Strategies can be put in place in order to fill gaps in staffing, eg a recruitment programme.
Identifies skills of current workforce and their training needs.
Staffing forecasts can be carried out to identify recruitment timelines.
Identifies where it is possible to reduce costs through outsourcing and sub-contracting.
Flexible working practices may be considered so that staff are available when they are needed most.

Question 4

What are the steps in work force planning?

Answer 4

1. The organisation analyse the potential demand for their goods/services and decide how many staff are needed and the skills required. The organisation will take PESTEC factors into account.
2. The organisation analyse the profile of their current workforce to determine the need for new staff or the skills that require to be developed within existing staff.
3. The organisation ‘closes the gaps’ to ensure that they have the workforce required to provide the goods and services to meet their objectives.

Question 5

What is forecasting staff numbers?

Answer 5

HR planning is the method by which a business forecasts how many and what type of employees it needs both now and in the future

Question 6

What is improved flexibility in staffing?

Answer 6

Changes in organisations

§ increase in smaller firms set up by new entrepreneurs and more people are self employed

§ ensure staffing can be quickly changed to accommodate organisational requirements

§ only paying wages when needed and fewer permanent benefits being paid out

§ improvements in ICT makes flexible working easier to achieve

§ globalisation has meant some job roles move abroad

Changes in staffing

§ key workers complete core tasks often with permanent contracts

§ outsourcing or sub-contractors are used for non-core activities

§ increase in older workers as aging population and changes in legislation

§ change in working hours eg 24 hour society and flexible contracts

Changes in society

§ increased ability to accommodate family commitments and childcare

§ no longer a job for life so career changes more common

§ more opportunities are available for people to work abroad

Question 7

What is the recruitment process?

Answer 7

is the process of looking for potential employees to apply for a particular job in an organisation.

Question 8

What are the 5 stages in the recruitment process?

Answer 8

1 Job analysis

2 Prepare job description

3 Prepare person specification.

4 Internal or external recruitment?

5 Advertise the job.

Question 9

What are internal ways a job could be advertise?

Answer 9

Staff noticeboard
Organisation’s intranet
Internal e-mail to all or selected staff
Company newsletter

Question 10

What are external ways a job could be advertise?

Answer 10

Job Centre
Newspapers
Websites such as Monster or S1 Jobs
Recruitment agencies

Question 11

What are benefits of internal recruitment?

Answer 11

The organisation saves money on external advertisement costs.
Employees will be more motivated as they know there is a chance of promotion.
Employees are known to the organisation and can be trusted to do a good job.
The vacancy can be filled quickly.

Question 12

What are disadvantages of internal recruitment?

Answer 12

Applicants drawn from a very limited pool.
Promoting one employee will create a vacancy in their old post.
No fresh new ideas and new skills added to the organisation.
Employees can resist a fellow colleague being promoted over them.

Question 13

What are advantages external recruitment?

Answer 13

Fresh, new ideas and skills are brought into the organisation.
Wider pool of candidates to choose from.
Avoids creating a further vacancy in the organisation.
Avoids jealousy and resistance being created by one employee being promoted over others.

Question 14

What are disadvantages of external recruitment?

Answer 14

Candidates don’t know the organisation so induction training will have to be carried out which takes up production time and can be costly.
Such a large, vast pool of candidates will take a lot of time to choose from.
The organisation don’t know the candidate which carries a risk that they may not be suited for the job, or worse are untrustworthy.
Staff will be de-motivated as there is no internal promotion.

Question 15

What is selection methods?

Answer 15

is the process of choosing the correct person from the pool of applicants that has applied for the job.

Question 16

What ate the steps of the selection process?

Answer 16

1 Application forms and CVs
2 Interviews
3 Testing
4 Assessment centres
5 References
6 Trial periods

Question 17

Why do organisations Compare applications to person specification ?

Answer 17

to identify the best potential candidates to include on the short list/leet and invite for interview:

Question 18

Why do interview panels meet?

Answer 18

 choose who to interview based on the application forms
 decide on the interview questions to ask in order to gather necessary information
 create the interview checklist to record and score candidates answers

The selected candidates are invited for interview and the necessary paperwork published

Question 19

Why do organisations hold interviews?

Answer 19

which are formal face-to-face meetings between the candidates and organisation and allow verbal questioning to find out more about the applicant and their suitability compared to ‘ideal candidate’ criteria.

Question 20

What does interviews gather?

Answer 20

 gathers additional information on potential employees abilities
 helps to compare how candidates perform in a pressurised and stressful situation
 allows the interviewers to check appearance, communication and interpersonal skills
 better able to assess whether candidate will fit into the existing team/situation
 gives the candidates a chance to provide additional information, to ‘sell themselves’
 gives candidates the chance to ask questions to find out if the job is what they want

Question 21

Why do organisations hold tests?

Answer 21

to provide additional information about the suitability of individual candidates:

Question 22

What kind of tests do organisations do?

Answer 22

 Attainment tests assess a candidate’s current skills level against a set standard eg WP test or childcare so allowing the candidate to prove what they are capable of by demonstrating their skills. These tests show what the candidate has gained through education and experience
 Aptitude tests measure the potential of a candidate to develop the necessary skills for a particular job role by assessing their natural abilities eg dexterity test for a IT manufacturer or manoeuvring of a large vehicle for a bus driver
 IQ tests are used to assess a candidate’s mental ability including their numeracy, literacy, and problem-solving abilities
 Medical tests assess the physical health of the candidate and most jobs will require a candidate to prove they are healthy before they sign their Contract of Employment
 Fitness tests checks the fitness level of the candidate and must be passed if the role requires certain levels of physical strength eg army, fire brigade, police
 Psychometric tests assess the personality, attitudes and character of candidates which is then compared to what is required based on the firm’s experience and person specification. They help ensure the candidate will be a ‘good fit’ in the organisation, department and/or team. They have become increasingly popular and important in the selection process and nowadays are often used in management or graduate recruitment. Care must be taken to analyse the results carefully as the information is qualitative and there is no right or wrong answer. In addition candidates can be coached to pass the test.

Question 23

What do tests provide for the business?

Answer 23

 provides a measurement that allows an objective comparison of candidates
 more information gathered about skills and qualities than is obtained during an interview
 helps to decide a candidate’s suitability for a position so prevents poor appointment
 allows candidates to demonstrate their current skill so they can prove they are capable
 assesses the natural abilities of staff and their potential to be successful in the role
 evaluates personality traits to see if a candidate will fit into the organisational culture

Question 24

what are the costs of tests for a business?

Answer 24

 all tests take time to set up and complete and this can carry an additional financial cost
 the results of the test need to be analysed which can delay the selection process

Question 25

What is an assessment centre?

Answer 25

test candidates’ performance in a range of circumstances including role-playing, team-building and interviews and tasks are tailored to the actual vacancy being filled. The assessment may take more than one day to complete as candidates’ social skills, personality and leadership qualities may also be evaluated by getting candidates to work with different people in different situations.

Question 26

What is inform successful applicant and check references?

Answer 26

from an impartial 3rd party to check the accuracy of the information provided and the candidate’s suitability for the job. The job offer may be made ‘subject to references’ and could be withdrawn if references are poor before the Contract of Employment is signed.

Unsuccessful candidates may or may not be informed depending on company policy.