123-133 HR key terms

• Functions of the HR department: The human resources department is responsible for all aspects of managing people who work in a business.
• Flexible workforce: When the business's workforce does not work the traditional pattern of 9-5, 5 days per week and their work pattern is designed to meet changing demand patterns and provide labour specifically when it is required
• Flexible working: Means that there is some flexibility as to when and where employees work. It might include flexi-time, where workers can choose which hours they work, as long as they work their quota hours
• Flexible hours (flexi-time): the employer chooses when to start and end work (with agreed limits), but works certain 'core hours'
• Part time working: A part-time worker is someone who works fewer hours than a full-time worker. There is no specific number of hours that makes someone full or part-time.
• Multi-skilling: involves businesses training their workforce to be able to work efficiently across a wide range of tasks e.g. Through job rotation
• Hot desking: means that an employee has no fixed work space often booking desks when required. Hot desking reduces the need for office space
• Zero hour contracts: this is where an employee has to be available to work but is not guaranteed work. this provides employers with total flexibility
• Workforce planning: workforce planning is the process of determining the labour needs of the company, now and in the future, including the number of workers required and their skills
• Workforce plan: the process of determining the labour needs of a business now and in the future, including the number of workers required and their skills.
• Internal recruitment: filling a vacancy by employing someone who already works for the business, could be a promotion or sideways movement.
• External recruitment: filling a vacancy by employing someone from outside of the business
• Recruitment process: the typical recruitment process could involve: job analysis, job description, person specification, job advert, shortlisting, interview
• Job analysis: A job analysis is part of the recruitment process that occurs once a vacancy has been identified that involves determining in detail the duties and responsibilities and the skills and knowledge required to carry out the position.
• Job description: lists the specific duties the employee will be required to carry out as part of their job
• Person specification: Lists the qualifications, skills, experience and personal attributes needed by the person who will be selected for the job
• Selection methods: Ways of deciding which of the applicants should be given the job. Example include interviews, work trials, testing, selection exercises
• Induction training: Is the training that an employee receives when they first join a business or organisation. It enables a new recruit to become productive as quickly as possible
• On the job training: Training that occurs at the employee's place of work, while he/she is doing the job/learning by doing
• Off the job training: where the employee attends to college to study qualifications or through the use of internal courses structured directly for the needs of the business
• Apprenticeships: A form of training for young people whilst undertaking paid employment.
• Appraisal: The process whereby the performance of an employee is evaluated against targets set.
• Superior's assessment: This is when a worker's performance is assessed by his/her line manager who comes up with future targets and training needs
• Peer assessment: This is when a worker's performance is assessed by other colleagues who work in the same level in the hierarchy and who do similar job roles
• Self-assessment: This is when workers reflect on their own recent performance and set their own targets and considers their own training needs
• Absenteeism: is the number of working days lost due to employees not attending work, for example calling in sick
• Authority and responsibility: Authority is the power to make decisions and take action, while responsibility is the obligation of the subordinate regarding a specific duty or task assigned by the superior
• Chain of command: describes the line of authority in the business/communication path. Orders/instructions are passed down/feedback is passed up
• Span of control: The number of workers a manager is responsible for. It could be wide or narrow
• Delegation: Where a manager passes authority onto employees for particular functions, tasks and decisions.
• Hierarchy: Shows the level of management from the top to the bottom, indicates who is responsible to whom- the way authority is organised
• Centralisation: is where business decisions are made at the top of the hierarchy or in a head office and distributed down the chain of command
• Decentralisation: is where a business allows decisions to be made by managers and subordinates further down the chain. This structure provides staff with more decision-making responsibilities.
• Empowerment: Where manager passes authority onto employees so that they can make their own decisions.
• Delayering: is the process of removing one or more layers in a hierarchy/organisational structure. Delayering can result in a flatter organisational structure and a wider span of control.
• Flat structure: Has a hierarchy with relatively few (or no) management layers. It can be achieved through a process of delayering. In a flat structure, managers have a wide span of control with more subordinates, and there is usually a short chain of command.
• Matrix structure: is often used when cross-functional teams are created to run a project. Team members may come from different disciplines. The team will disband when the project is complete.
• Financial methods of motivation:
• Piece rate: Where an employee is paid based on the amount of products they produce.
• Commission: Usually given as a percentage of a sale.