1.4-Managing people

• Hard HRM

  • Staff as a cost- workers treated like any other resource
  • A business will let workers go when not needed
  • Autocratic leadership style
  • Piece rate pay / minimum wage
• Soft HRM

  • Staff as an asset- workers are treated as a very important resource
  • A business will want to keep staff for the long term
  • Democratic / Laissez-Faire
• Hard HRM adv & dis

  😀Keeps costs under control which means potentially more profit for the business

  😀Decision making will be quicker as workers are less likely to be consulted by the manager

  🙁Workers are less likely to feel valued which could lead to demotivation and low levels of productivity

  🙁High labour turnover which can increase recruitment costs
• Soft HRM adv & dis

  😀Workers feel valued and likely to be more motivated and more productive

  😀Workers are more likely to produce better quality work and customer service

  😀The firm will likely be able to attract a better calibre of candidate for vacancies

  🙁More costly since higher wages are likely to paid and more training given

  🙁Decision making may take longer if workers are being consulted
• Wages

  • Variable cost- paid per hour
  • Hard HRM
  • Usually paid to lower skilled workers
  • The wage per hour must be at least the minimum wage
• Salaries

  • Fixed costs- set amount paid to employees for the year, regardless of hours worked
  • Soft HRM
  • Usually paid to more highly skilled workers
• Flexible workforce 


  Offers employees options in terms of working time, location, pattern of working and tasks they perform
• Flexible working- multi-skilling 


  Involves training workers in a number of skills so they can move jobs when necessary
• Flexible working- part time employment 


  Involves allowing workers to work less hours than that which is considered to be full time
• Flexible working- temporary employment 


  Involves giving employees an end date to their employment rather than being taken on permanently
• Flexible workforce- flexible hours


  Involves allowing employees to complete a set number of hours of work at a time that suits them
• Flexible workforce- home working 


  Involves allowing employees to complete their work from home.

  😀Reduces fixed costs like rent

  🙁Could damage employees mental health as they have less social interactions
• Flexible workforce- outsourcing 


  Involves getting another business to perform a particular function
• Employers advantages of flexible working

  😀can save costs- home-working and outsourcing means less space needs to be rented

  😀can save costs as not all employees will be full time and permanent

  😀able to respond more when demand increases/ decreases

  😀could improve worker motivation if it allows for more work life balance so productivity could improve

  😀allows access to a wider range of candidates when recruiting

  😀can allow the business to operate 24/7
• Employers disadvantages to flexible working

  🙁requires more time to manage the various workers on different work patterns/contracts

  🙁could be harder to motivate some workers

  🙁some workers may not be able to access all the training the business is providing

  🙁there will be additional training costs
• Employees advantages to flexible working

  😀could lead to higher job satisfaction if allowed to do a range of tasks, work from home or choose when to work

  😀allows workers to combine other commitments with work
• Employee disadvantages of flexible working

  🙁may reduce job satisfaction if working from home - maybe hard to switch off from work or may miss the social interaction with colleagues

  🙁may limit earnings if only part time
• Redundancy

  Where a workers job no longer exists possibly due to lack of business or restructuring. This could be voluntary or involuntary.
• Dismissal

  Being fired from the job. Worker is not entitled to a payout. This could be due to absenteeism, gross misconduct, theft of company money/property, etc.
• Why does a business need to recruit new staff?

  • Business expansion
  • Existing employees leave
  • Business needs employees with new skills
  • Business is relocating
• Recruiting internally adv & dis

  😀 cheaper- no expensive adverts

  😀 know the organisation

  😀 less disruptive

  😀 quicker as no need to sort through candidates

  😀 easier to judge candidates

  🙁 more restricted field of candidates

  🙁 lack of fresh new ideas

  🙁 may cause jealousy amongst workers

  🙁 employees may resent taking orders from previous equal

  🙁 leaves another internal vacancy
• External recruitment adv & dis

  😀 wider skills and experience

  😀 brings in fresh new ideas

  😀 a larger field of candidates

  🙁 expensive (advertising, agencies, etc.)

  🙁 lengthy process and very time consuming

  🙁 don’t have knowledge of organisation
• On the job training 


  Coaching or mentoring while doing the job. Assistance and advice is provided by those more experienced to those less experienced

  😁 less expensive than off the job

  😁 learning can be put into practice immediately

  😁 trainees can see relevance to job more when skills are taught in the workplace

  😑 reduces efficiency of both teaching worker and trainee

  😑 some workers have bad habits which can be passed on

  😑 workers which are ill trained may make expensive mistakes or be a safety hazard
• Off the job training 


  Involves work at home or courses at a training centre

  😆 more focused environment

  😆 individuals teaching the course are trained to train

  😆 more chance to gain specialised skills

  🫥 more expensive

  🫥 employees are taken away from production so the company is losing money

  🫥 risk that the course may be the wrong one for that member of staff
• Benefits of effective recruitment and training

  • lower labour turnover
  • Improved quality of life
  • Less absenteeism
  • Higher labour productivity
  • Improved motivation
  • Less supervision needed
• Levels of hierarchy


  This refers to the number of levels or layers of authority within the organisation. An organisation with many levels is referred to as ‘tall’ which means that there are a substantial number of people between the person at the top and those at the bottom. An organisation with few layers is called a ‘flat’ structure
• Tall structure 


  A tall structure has many layers, long chains of command and narrow spans of control

  😎 allows tighter control (less delegation)

  😎 more opportunities for promotion

  😎 better horizontal communication due to narrow spans of control

  😶‍🌫️ more layers = more staff = higher costs

  😶‍🌫️ takes longer for communication to pass through the layers

  😶‍🌫️ less delegation may reduce motivation
• Flat structure 


  A flat structure has few layers, wide spans of control and short chains of command

  😁 few layers = less staff = lower costs

  😁 vertical communication is improved

  😁 staff given greater responsibility due to more delegation

  🫠 less direct control

  🫠 horizontal communication less effective due to wide span of control

  🫠 fewer opportunities for promotion
• Chain of command


  Tall structures have long chains of command (the route through which information travels throughout the organisation) which could mean messages become distorted or communication is slow as it has to travel via several people
• Narrow spans of control


  Fewer people to supervise. Narrow spans of control allow managers to keep close control over the activities of the employees

  🙌 Allows for closer supervision of employees

  🙌 Managers workload will be more manageable

  🙌 Helps more effective communication

  👎 Demotivated workers if they feel micromanaged (managers watching over you)

  👎 Demotivated workers since unlikely to be given any decision making power

  👎 More layers of hierarchy may be required
• Wide spans of control


  Wide span of control means the manager supervises more employees. The subordinate is likely to have a greater degree of independence due to the difficulty for an individual to monitor the work of a large number of subordinates

  😝 More freedom for employees

  😝 Delegation may be more likely which can be motivating

  😝 Better vertical communication as chain of command is shorter

  🤮 Heavy workload for manager to oversee large number of employees

  🤮 Some employees may not enjoy freedom and delegation

  🤮 horizontal communication may be worse due to large teams
• Delegation


  The passing down of authority. In organisations with wide spans of control, delegation is more likely to happen in order to reduce the workload of managers

  🤑 Eases workload of managers

  🤑 Motivating for workers to make decisions

  🤑 Workers may make better decisions as they are closer to customers

  🤑 Managers freed up to think more strategically

  🥱 Some workers may not want to make decisions

  🥱 Some workers may lack skills/ knowledge to make decisions

  🥱 Manager may lose control over decisions and the business may lose direction