Key

• Human Resources-definition

  The department managing the people in a business
• Levels of hierarchy

  Shows the line management layers in a business
• Span of control

  The number of people a superior is responsible for
• Authority

  The power to control others and make decisions
• Delegation

  Passing down some responsibility to a more junior employee
• Flat structure

  Fewer levels on the organisation chart, often smaller
• Delayering

  The process of removing levels on an organisation chart
• Communication

  The exchange of information between two or more people
• Downward communication

  Messages from Senior employees down the chain of command
• Upward communication

  A junior worker passing a message up
• Centralisation

  Where decisions are made by central managers/head office and communicated to subordinates
• Decentralisation

  where employees/local managers have more freedom to control their working practises
• Job description

  The duties, pay, hours etc. for a job that applicants can see
• Person specification

  The skills, qualifications and personal qualities required by candidates for a job
• CV

  Curriculum vitae, a statement of a persons skills and qualifications to apply for a job
• Psychometric test

  A personality assessment to help selection of the best employee
• Contract of employment

  A legal document with the statement of particulars for a worker
• Full time employment

  Working a standard number of hours
• part time employment

  An employee attending fewer hours than standard
• Motivation

  The factors that make people work hard and have a positive attitude
• Financial methods of motivation

  Monetary/ ways of paying workers to work harder
• job enrichment

  Giving people more responsibility to motivate them
• Piece rate pay

  Being paid more for production
• On the job training

  Methods of Training directly related to a job in the workplace
• off the job training

  Activities away from the work station but related to the job role
• training

  The activities workers undertake to improve their skills
• Mentoring

  Gaining advice from someone more experienced to develop
• Induction training

  Training that takes place when a worker starts a new job
• Democratic leadership

  The workers are involved in the business and decision making and have more freedom
• reference

  A recommendation from a business contact
• On the job advantage

  Cost effective as the employee works and learns at the same time

  a safe environment where communication is easy.
• on the job disadvantages

  bad working practises may be passed on
• off the job advantages

  fewer distractions as employees dont face many disruptions away from the workplace and therefore focus on the learning material

  employees can gain more qualifications
• off the job disadvantages

  more expensive as it is trained by people who are more qualified to train others
• 2 types of good communication

  text messages - can be sent and received very quickly

  phone calls - allow instant feedback and can be contacted when not in the office
• benefits of delegation

  the empowerment of subordinates- by delegating some works to the subordinates this will help them to empower their job and job interest. this can overcome the boredom that is faced by the employees and therefore be more productive
• one problem of Delayering

  those managers remaining will have a wider span of control which, if too wide, can damage communication in the business. there is also a danger of increasing the workload of the remaining managers beyond that which is reasonable. therefore creating demotivated and unproductive workers
• Methods of motivation

  piece rate pay- being paid by the number of items you Make in production

  profit related pay- gaining a percentage of profits, sometimes for managers meeting objectives

  job rotation- swap on certain days or weeks with colleagues so as to not get bored
• two things included in person specification

  Personal qualities- excellent customer care skills

  job related experience- good communication skills and experience of managing and training staff.
• external recruitment

  One of the key advantages of external recruitment is the introduction of fresh perspectives and new ideas. Hiring candidates from diverse backgrounds, industries, or sectors brings a wealth of different experiences and knowledge to the organization. These external hires can offer fresh insights, challenge existing norms, and drive innovation within the company. They may bring different skill sets or approaches to problem-solving that can help the organization adapt to changing market dynamics and remain competitive.