JW 2008 1

Higher Business Management

Unit 2Learning Outcome 4

Human Resource Management

JW 2008 2

The Role of People in Organisations

• People are probably the most valuable “resource” that an organisation possesses.

• In the same way that machinery must be maintained, staff have to be looked after in such a way that they can produce their best effort.

• This involves their welfare, training, safety and motivation. Also would deal with recruitment, disciplining, compliance with legislation.

• A happy workforce is likely to be an efficient workforce.

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Changing Patterns of Employment

• movement away from primary and secondary industries to tertiary sector - more employed in the of provision services

• full-time employment has stayed fairly static

• Increase in part-time and short-term contracts

• Increase in home working and tele-working

• Greater flexibility of the workforce

• Many more women in employment

• Increase in self-employment

primary

secondary

tertiary

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The Modern Workforce

The Core Workers• Essential workers - managers,

skilled workers - permanent and well-paid

The Contractual Fringe• Sub-contractors - suppliers of

components or services - cheaper (no pensions, holidays etc)

The Flexible Labour Force• Part-time, temporary - help core

workers at peak times - low rates of pay

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The New Employment

Pattern

Advantages• Core employees

can focus on core activities only

• Saves on salaries and space

• No need to pay for pensions, holidays or redundancy

• Reduced NI contributions

• Allows flexibility and can respond quickly to change

Disadvantages• Frequent recruitment

and selection• Occasional staff

shortages• Less commitment from

staff• Increased need for

training due to high staff turnover

• Lack of continuity of staff - customers may become unhappy

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TASK

• Discuss the way in which employment patterns have changed over the last 20 years (6)

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Human Resource Management (HRM) refers

to that part of an organisation’s

activities designed to attract, train, develop

and maintain an effective workforce

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HRM Functions within the Organisation

Executive - experts in the HRM area - policies developed in line with legal requirements

Audit - policies properly implemented

Facilitator - training of staff to respond to HRM issues

Consultancy - advice and guidance to managers on HRM problems

Service - providing up-to-date information on legislation

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HRM – DM LEVELS

TACTICAL• Human Resource

planning• Recruitment of

specialised staff

• Staff training and development

• Promoting effective industrial relations

OPERATIONAL• Identifying

training needs• Encourage

staff to accept training

• Arrange the training

• Deal with day-to-day issues such as absenteeism, grievances, welfare, etc

STRATEGIC• Formulate

personnel policies for the organisation as a whole

• Devise guidelines for implementation of policies

• Working towards corporate goals - defining corporate culture

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Planning

future staf f

requirements

Coping with change

HR

PLANNI NG

J ob descriptions

Person Specif ications

I nternal and external recruitment

I nterviews

RECRUI TMENT

AND

SELECTI ON

I nduction

On and of f j ob training

Staf f development

Appraisal

TRAI NI NG

AND

DEVELOPMENT

Staf f Welfare

Grievance and Discipline

I ndustrial Relations

EMPLOYEE

RELATI ONS

Maintaing records

Conf identiality

DP Act

EMPLOYEE

RECORDS

Health and Safety at Work

Employee Protection

EMPLOYEE

LEGI SLATI ON

HUMAN RESOURCE FUNCTI ON

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Hr planning• HR Planning is the method by which a

business forecasts how many and what type of employees it needs now and in the future.

• Forecasting employee demand involves• using past information• analysing current employment trends• estimating future staffing • forecasting future supply of workers with appropriate skills

• estimating workers’ productivity• employing work study• calculating staff turnover• using business and management knowledge

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.Employees can be grouped under 4 headings

• New staff – induction/contract of employment

• Potential staff – advertising, recruitment, selection,

• Existing staff – appraisal, continuing professional development

• Departing staff – retirement packages/grievance

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• EXTERNAL INFLUENCES CAN AFFECT THE HR DEPARMENT AND THEIR PLANNING.

• DESCRIBE HOW THE STAFFING OF AN ORGANISATION MAY BE AFFECTED BY CURRENT EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Question…………………..

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Possible areas of influence

• Political – changes in legislation, eg working week, paternity leave, minimum wage, retirement age

• Economic – boom or recession in the UK/world economy, number of unemployed

• Social – number of women working, type of working patterns demanded, holidays, retirement age

• Technological – robots, computer aided design, remote working.

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HR RECORDS

• PERSONAL HISTORY – most of this will be taken from the application form and then added to.

• EMPLOYMENT HISTORY – terms and conditions of employment, details of sick days, latecoming, disciplining, grievances

• APPRAISAL INFORMATION – results of appraisal, training requested and undertaken

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An organisation has a problem with high staff absenteeism and decides to analyse the problem to see if a specific pattern emerges.

(2001 case study)

• In what way might the absenteeism records be broken down to see if a pattern emerges (2)

• If the firm can identify a particular pattern of absenteeism what measures might be taken to rectify the problem. (4)

• Why is a high staff turnover of concern to an organisation? (4)

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Recruitment and Selection TerminologyRecruitment• Job analysis• Job description/specification• Person specification• Internal/external recruitment• Application forms/CVs

Selection• Leeting• Interviews • Psychological tests• Testing

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Job Analysis• This is a study undertaken to identify the main features of a job • physical requirements and tasks• skill requirements and tasks• mental requirements and tasks• areas of responsibility• areas of accountability• physical environment• hazards specific to job

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Job Description• Detailed description of exactly what job

entails. This will normally be given to anyone who applies for the job.• job title• relationship with other jobs in

organisation• purpose of job• main duties and responsibilities• authority

• over others• in decision making

• resources• financial, human, equipment, work area

• location

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Person Specification

• Details the type of person needed for the job. Includes essential and desirable attributes• physical make-up• Qualifications necessary• attainments• general intelligence• special aptitudes• interests• disposition• circumstances

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INTERNAL RECRUITMENT

• Firms may choose to fill positions with employees who already work for the organisation by advertising internally

• The benefits of this are• the applicant is already known• the firm may have already invested time and money in training this employee and can benefit from this investment

• applicant is already aware of the culture• promotion from within is good for morale• cheaper than external recruitment in terms of money and time

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EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT

• Recruiting outwith the organisation, by advertising job in• local newspapers• national newspapers• specialist publications, eg TES• internet, eg S!jobs.com or firm’s own website• recruitment agencies• headhunting

• Points to consider• wider pool of applicants• new ‘blood’• costly in time and money• unknown quantity • demotivating for existing staff?• resentment from unsuccessful internal

candidates?

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TASK

• Justify the need to carry out a job analysis when a vacancy arises.

(2) • Compare a job description to a person specification.

(3)

• Justify the reasons why a company may always look to fill a vacancy with an existing employee. (4)

• Explain the possible negative effects of this policy? (3)

• Describe an effective recruitment procedure for an organisation. (4)

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SELECTION

• It is important to select the most appropriate candidate for the job.

• Selection methods may involve:• Weeding out using CVs or application forms

• Interviewing• Testing – IQ, psychological, aptitude

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INTERVIEWING• Interviews are useful for assessing the personal qualities of a candidate

• Interviews are less useful for assessing the technical ability of candidates

• Interviews may be one-to-one, panel or group• Poor interviews are a result of

• Lack of training in interview technique • Poor preparation

• It is possible that interviewers may • get a false impression of a candidate • and may wish to back up an interview • by testing candidates

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The good interview

• Be open minded and unbiased• Be prepared – read CVs, application forms, think about suitable questions

• Welcome the interviewee• Control the interview• Supply information• Close interview• Follow-up

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Interviewing and technology

• Using video conferencing can be a cheaper solution than paying travel costs for a number of applicants.

• Telephone interviews are even cheaper and may be the only interview for jobs in call centres.

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TESTING• Aptitude test – giving candidates a problem or task to solve

• Attainment test – a speed test for word processing operators

• Intelligence test – may be on numeracy, literacy and general knowledge

• Personality test – sometimes called psychometric testing

• Selection exercises – outward bound courses, team interviews, social situations

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TASK• Describe a selection process which an organisation may use to ensure the best applicants are appointed to work. 2006 Sec 2 Q1(c) (5 marks)

• Discuss the different forms of testing that an organisation could use to select the best candidate.

• 2007 Sec 2 Q2 (d) (6 marks)

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Training and Development Terminology

• Flexibility of staff (multi-skilling)

• Coping with change• Job satisfaction• Staff motivation• Induction training• On and off-the-job training• Retraining• Skills upgrading• Appraisal• Target Setting

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TRAINING• INDUCTION

• Given to new staff to introduce them to the organisation

• ON-THE-JOB• Takes place whilst employee is doing their job, eg, ‘work shadowing’ ‘sitting next to Nellie’

• OFF-THE JOB• Attending training course, gaining qualifications, day release. Can be ‘in house’ or at college, etc

• STAFF DEVELOPMENT• Based on plan agreed at appraisal. Eg, to prepare employee for promotion

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Quick Task

Outline advantages and disadvantages to the

organisation of:• Induction training• On the job training• Off the job training

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The costs and benefits of staff training

Benefits• Staff become more

competent• Motivation increases• Long term

Productivity increases

• Reduced waste• Organisation’s image

is improved• Changes become easier

to introduce• Fewer accidents

Costs• Trained staff may leave

to go to other organisations

• Financial costs of paying for training

• Work time is lost when staff are being trained

• Quality of training must be high if training is to have a positive effect

• Staff may request a pay rise after training

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TASK• What are the costs and benefits of staff training

to an organisation. (6)

• Describe the term induction training. (1) (2007 Sec 1 Q6 (i))

• Outline the benefits of induction training (4)(2007 Sec 1 Q6 (ii))

• Organisations can use both on the job and off the job training for employees.

• Describe each of these types of training (2)

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APPRAISAL• a method of evaluating the performance of employees and assessing their usefulness to the business

• may be INFORMAL or FORMAL

• normally carried out by an employee’s line manager however other forms exists• self• peer• subordinate

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INFORMAL APPRAISAL• based on ‘feelings’ of management

• result of working together on daily basis

• little discussion between manager and employee

• opinions based on factors of which employee is unaware

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FORMAL APPRAISAL• based on evidence collected in a formal way

• involves an appraisal interview• used to:

• evaluate performance• identify employees ready for promotion• increase motivation• identify training needs• identify strengths and weaknesses• set future performance targets• assess the recruitment and selection process

• improve communications• award salary increases• plan future staffing

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TARGET SETTING

• Appraisal is used for target setting for such things as:• attendance at work• quality and relevance of work

• membership of committees• communication abilities• level of output achieved• training to be undertaken• relationships with staff

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Task – 2003 Case Study

• Explain how an organisation might assess the effectiveness of any training programme?

(2)

• Justify why training should be a continuous process for any organisation?

(4)

• Appraisal is the name given to a meeting held between employee and employer to review performance and discuss progress. Discuss the role of appraisal and its ability to motivate staff.

• (2008 CS Q8) (4)