1.4 Managing People

• remuneration

  rewards from a business

  e.g. company car, private healthcare
• severance

  money given to a person when dismissed - job may be redundant
• flexible workforce

  multi skilling

  part time and temporary (fixed term)

  flexible hours and home working - hybrid working, some days in the office other days at home

  outsourcing - premises/offices/services that are an aspect or part of the business
• internal recruitment

  recruitment done inside the business

  e.g. promotions
• external recruitment

  recruitment done outside the business

  e.g. hiring
• advantages of internal recruitment

  save on advertising costs

  save on application costs

  less training needed

  employee already knows the business culture/rules

  greater motivation for existing employees

  knows employees strengths and weaknesses

  less time consuming

  improves employer-employee relationships
• disadvantages of internal recruitment

  won't get more ideas

  may not have the required skill set

  won't identify issues

  leave a gap where the employee previously worked

  lass candidates - limited applicants

  reduces talent pool

  bias decisions
• advantages of external recruitment

  better growth

  better competition

  more skills and input

  ideas from other industries

  qualified candidate

  being fair

  competitive spirit
• disadvantages of external recruitment

  high costs

  higher risk

  legal risks

  agencies aren't trusted

  internal disputes with existing employees

  time consuming
• cost of recruitment

  advertising costs

  time spent on the process, designing tasks, managing the applicants

  recruitment agency fees and costs
• induction training

  familiarise with the workplace

  able to do their job

  feel apart of the organisation

  quickly become productive for the business
• on the job training


  coaching or mentoring while doing the job

  assistance and advice is provided by those more experienced to those less experienced

  work shadowing

  can be shown how to use the companies IT software
• off the job training

  work at home or courses at company training centres/colleges

  learning through demonstrations, talks and lectures

  practical courses to learn general ICT or machinery that needs lots of health and safety precautions with trainees
• stages of recruitment

  1. identify the vacancy
  2. write a job description
  3. write a person specification
  4. advertise the vacancy
  5. candidates apply
  6. candidates are shortlisted
  7. shortlisted candidates are interviewed
  8. candidates may participate in another recruitment activity
  9. make a job offer
• stages of recruitment - identify the vacancy

  can be due to:

  • new department/product
  • someone;
  • retiring
  • moving to a different job
  • moved to another department
  • promoted
  • maternity leave
• stages of recruitment - write a job description

  includes all the responsibilities of the job
• stages of recruitment - write a person specification

  outlines the:

  • personal qualities
  • qualifications
  • work experience
  • skills
• stages of recruitment - advertise the vacancy

  may advertise the vacancy inside the company:

  • company newsletter
  • noticeboard
  • e-mails
  • announced in meetings

  can also advertise outside the company to expand the pool of candidates:

  • newspaper
  • magazines
  • trade journals
  • company website
  • jobsite
  • jobcentre
• stages of recruitment - candidates apply

  may send an application form

  advert will usually have a closing date to spur candidates into action

  business may ask job applicants to send their CVs (a summary of the applicant's working life to date)
• stages of recruitment - candidates are shortlisted

  candidates are shortlisted according to how well their applications fit the person specification and the job description
• stages of recruitment - shortlisted candidates are interviewed

  may include a face-to-face interview with a panel or just one person

  may be a telephone interview, or skype

  quite common for candidates to be called for more than one interview
• stages of recruitment - candidates may participate in another recruitment activity

  assessment centres where candidates take part in a series of team building exercises - see if they are a cultural fit with the business

  some businesses require their shortlisted candidates for the job vacancies to participate in some group activities

  • may involve a role play game, debate, discussion or solving a problem as a team
  • helps the business identify potential leaders and managers, and who works well in a team
• stages of recruitment - make a job offer

  let candidates know who were unsuccessful - usually via post

  the successful candidate might get a phone call and further instructions about a start date and when the employment contract will be ready to sign - in some cases, references and pre-employment checks would take place before and after the offer
• hierarchy

  a system in an organisation where people are ranked according to the authority that they have
• span of control

  the number of subordinates that a supervisor or manager is in charge of
• chain of command

  the route that orders travel down in an organisation and complaints travel up
• flat structure

  hierarchy that has few layers and short chain of command but has a wide span of control
• tall structure

  hierarchy that has a long chain of command but a short span of control
• matrix structure

  hierarchy designs which groups by project and function
• authority

  power or right to give orders in an organisation
• delegation

  act of passing a job or order down to a subordinate
• decentralisation

  where a business divides up the organisation into areas, the business will have separate budgets for each area

  decisions are likely to be quicker and more responsive to customer needs
• centralisation

  where a business has its organisation of management and administration at one central head office, the business has one central shared budget
• delayering

  moving from a tall structure to a flat structure/reducing the chain of command
• centralisation

  less delegation, management at head office will make all key decisions

  all recruitment is carried out at head office, all accounts are made at head office, all decisions of product lines, sales, stock are made at head office

  branches follow direction from head office

  only small decisions such as rotas and stock merchandising can be made at branch level, main decisions made at the top of the hierarchy
• decentralisation

  authority and power are given to the divisions to make decisions that affect that division

  quicker decisions can be made as they don't have to go through a central office for approval - important in dynamic markets (fashion)
• advantages of matrix structure

  ideal for businesses that work on a project-by-project basis

  very flexible structure - staff from different departments can jump in and out of different job roles

  perfect to exploit the specific skills of staff

  can be motivational as it involves an element of job or team rotation
• disadvantages of matrix structure

  possible co-ordination problems between departments

  employees can have conflicts of interest across projects

  staff can become stretched across different projects, not spending time in their own departments
• job enrichment

  giving an employee more responsible tasks (vertical)
• job enlargement

  giving an employee work of similar responsibility to do (horizontal)