Business unit 3

• Human resources

  means the workers employed by a business
• Human Resources Function

  Deals with human resources needs of the business, e.g. what types of workers and looks after the welfare of employees. (Sometimes known as the Personnel Department)
• Human resource plan

  details how many employees, whether they will be full or part-time, the skills they should have and when they will work.
• Functions (departments)

  different areas of activity within a business: production, finance, marketing and Human Resources.
• Regulations


  rules imposed on businesses by the government.
• Organisation chart

  diagram that shows how the workers are organised in a business and who is in charge of whom.
• Layers


  the number of levels of authority that there are in a chain of command.
• Authority


  the power that one person has to make decisions and to control what other workers do.
• Accountability

  the responsibility that a person has for a job. They will take the blame for what goes wrong and the credit for what goes well.
• Chain of command

  the links in the levels of authority from those at the top with the most authority to those at the bottom with the least.
• Subordinates

  the workers that a line manager is responsible for.
• Span of control

  the number of subordinates who report directly to the line manager.
• Delegation

  the process of a manager giving authority to a subordinate to make decisions. The manager is still accountable.
• Flexible working


  working partly at their place of work and partly elsewhere, perhaps at home or while they are mobile. Flexible hours means they can work e.g. 8 hours within 7am to 7pm.
• Full-time working


  employee works 35 hours or more per week.
• Part-time working

  employee works fewer than 35 hours per week.
• Temporary working


  employee works for a short period of time for an employer, sometimes on a short-term contract or seasonally.
• Working while mobile

  people work when they are on the move, e.g. travelling to a meeting.
• Self-employment


  people work in their own business, selling their services to buyers who may be consumers or other businesses.
• Zero-hours contracts


  given to employees which do not guarantee any work. The business will call workers if and when they are needed and ask them to come in to work.
• Communication

  the transmission of a message from a sender to a receiver
• Digital communication

  the exchange of information electronically using ICT.
• Written communication

  written words and diagrams - text, email, letters.
• Feedback


  response made by a person who receives a communication that indicates that they have, or have not, understood the communication.
• Internal communication

  communication between people employed in the same organisation.
• Vertical communication


  communication up or down the hierarchy within an organisation.
• Horizontal communication

  communication between people on the same level of the hierarchy in an organisation.
• External communication


  communication between a person in an organisation and another person outside that organisation.
• Formal communication


  communication that uses the official channels of communication within an organisation, e.g. a meeting.
• Informal communication

  communication that is outside the official channels of communication within an organisation, e.g. whilst having a coffee in the canteen.
• Verbal communication


  communication by speaking - in meetings, by telephone, the use of video-conferencing.
• Social media


  online applications that allow people to create and share content to participate in social networking.
• Website

  online location with several pages that can be viewed by internet users through its site address.
• Selection


  the process of choosing between applicants for a job.
• Job description


  lists the main duties and responsibilities of the worker.
• Person specification

  lists the qualities, qualifications and knowledge that a person should have to do a particular job.
• Internal recruitment

  a job vacancy is filled by employing someone who is already an employee of the business.
• External recruitment

  when a job vacancy is filled by employing someone from outside the business.
• Recruitment agency


  carries out all the tasks involved in recruitment and selection of workers on behalf of an organisation.
• Employment agency


  has workers readily available for business hire, usually for a short period of time.