Human Resources

• Functions of HR Department

  • Recruitment and selection
  • Organising training for workers
  • Employee Relations
  • Health and Safety matters
• Recruitment and selection


  Ensuring that the right people are recruited to the right jobs
• Organising training for workers


  Enabling employees to carry out their responsibilities effectively and make use of their potential
• Employee Relations


  Looking after staff welfare such as negotiations over pay and conditions, dealing with grievance procedures and disciplinary matters
• Health and Safety matters

  Making sure employees work in a healthy and safe environment
• Workforce


  The people who are working or looking for employment
• Working Practice


  The way that work is normally done within a particular business
• Job Sharing


  Means that instead of one worker doing one job on a full time basis, the work will be carried out by more than one person on a part time basis
• Possible benefits of job sharing


  • Allows employees to work part time → giving them time to take care of relatives or study for a qualification
  • Responsibility is split reduces the pressure on a single employee
  • Employers gain a broader range of skills → businesses could benefit from having more ideas
• Possible disadvantages of job sharing


  • Communication between the two employees who are job sharing may break down on occasions → leads to less continuity and possible inefficiency
• Flexible Working Hours


  A working practice in which workers are no longer in their offices between two set times. Many can now work a full day within a range of hours set by the employer
• Flexible Working Hours


  • A worker is employed to work 36 hours a week. They can work anytime between 7 and 5 per day but must be in between 10 and 4 each day
• Benefits of flexible hours


  • Employees can fit work around other commitments more easily
  • Businesses can have employees available for work at different times
• Zero Hour Contracts

  Involves a situation where employers do not offer a minimum number of hours to be worked and employees do not have to accept work being offered
• Benefits for employers of Zero Hour Contracts


  • Saves the business money it avoids them paying employees when they are not needed → employees come in only during busy periods
• Drawbacks for employees of Zero Hour Contracts


  • Workers may only work occasionally → meaning that they won't have a regular income making it difficult to pay regular bills such as rent
• Home Working


  Means that workers do not have to attend a workplace every day. Modern communication technology means that work can be carried out at home and can even be monitored from the workplace
• Benefits of home working


  • Increases flexibility to the employee → they can work whatever hours suit them helps them to meet other commitments like looking after family members
  • Reduces costs to the employer they can avoid the costs of providing working space and furniture for the employee
• Drawbacks of home working


  • May be more difficult to monitor and control employees the employers will not always know what the employee is doing
  • Employees may miss out on social interactions this could demotivate them if they are feeling isolated they miss out on the experience of learning from others
• Job Roles


  • Leaders, Owner or Directors
  • Managers
  • Supervisors/Team Leaders
  • Operatives/Shop Floor Workers
• Responsibilities


  • Establish the business' overall goals
  • Set long-term plans and targets for the business
  • Work to achieve the short and long-term targets set by the owners or directors
  • May be responsible for a function within the business, e.g. marketing or finance
  • Use employees and other resources in the best possible ways
  • Help managers to achieve their targets by reporting any problems and passing on instructions
  • Take simple decisions such as allocating jobs among different employees
  • Carry out the business' basic duties or activities. These could be working on a production line, serving customers in a shop or office duties
• Authority


  Having power or control over something
• Chain of Command


  The path along which orders pass within a business from the management to the shop floor
• Delayering


  Removing tiers of management, usually in the middle
• Line Manager


  The person immediately above the worker, to whom the worker is answerable
• Levels of Hierarchy


  The layers of authority within a business. Where each level has responsibility and authority over the levels below
• Span of Control


  The number of people and individual is personally responsible for in a business organisation
• Delegation


  The passing down of authority to more junior employees
• Subordinate


  A person under the authority or control of a line manager within an organisation. They take orders from their line manager and refer directly to them if they require assistance
• Organisational Charts


  A plan showing the roles of, and relationships between, all the employees in a business
• How Organisational Charts Help

  • To improve communication → information can be passed on to other parts of the business
  • To delegate → work can be passed to others lower down the hierarchy more likely to complete tasks/less unfinished work
  • Possible specialisation → different departments with workers have specific skill sets
  • To improve motivation → workers have a clear career path with opportunities for promotion
  • To improve control → workers are managed/supervised to ensure tasks are completed accurately and on time
  • Workers know who to report to if there is a problem → workers don't all report to the same person → time isn't wasted going to the wrong person
• Tall (Hierarchical) Structures


  Involve organisational charts where there are many levels of hierarchy. In these organisations, there are usually many managers, and each manager has a small span of control
• Advantages of Tall Structures

  • Narrow spans of control → can help to limit managers' workloads
  • Clear and more regular opportunities for promotion of junior employees
• Disadvantages of Tall Structures

  • Communication may be more difficult as it passes through many levels of hierarchy
  • Decisions can be made slowly as information has to be passed through the organisation
• Flat (Horizontal) Structures


  Involve organisational charts where there are few or no levels of middle management between staff and executives
• Advantages of Flat Structures


  • Fewer managers can help to reduce costs
  • Junior employees may be motivated by being given more authority
  • Communication can be quick and effective as fewer levels of hierarchy
• Disadvantages of Flat Structures

  • Managers may have spans of control that are too wide
  • The business may have to spend heavily on training to give junior employees the necessary skills
• Communication


  The exchange of information between two or more people
• Feedback


  The response stage of the communication process. Criticism of an advertising campaign is an example of feedback
• Channels of Communication


  • Oral
  • Written
  • Visual or non-verbal