Human Resources

Cards (121)

  • 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