Human Resources

• HRM

  Human resources management refers to the effective management of the formal relationship between the employer and employees
• Recruitment

  refers to the process of finding and attracting the right quantity and quality of staff to apply for employment vacancies or anticipated vacancies.
• Acquisition, development, maintenance and separation

  A(Planning, recruitment and selection)

  D(Induction and training)

  M(monetary and non-monetary benefits/rewards)

  S(Voluntary or involuntary)
• Before recruitment

  • Job analysis is a systematic study of each employee’s duties, tasks and work environment. 
  • Job description refers to the written statement describing the employee's duties, tasks and responsibilities associated with the job. 
  • Job specification refers to a list of the key qualifications needed to perform a particular job in terms of education, skills and experience. 
• Internal recruitment

  occurs when a business decides to appoint someone already within the business to a vacancy. 

  ADVANTAGES

  • Costs of advertising the position are reduced, and no external agencies need to be paid.
  • Employees are already known to the employer, so the choice may be easier. 
  • Applicants are already familiar with the business and its objectives, culture and process. 

  DISADVANTAGES

  • There may be no-one suitable from within the business.
  • conflict or jealousies between those employees. 
  • it can lead to conflict or jealousies between those employees. 
• Main methods of Internal recruitment

  • Intranet posting 
  • Email 
  • Promotion 
  • Word of mouth/recommendation 
  • Notice on a staff noticeboard 
  • Existing staff records/resumes 
• external recruitment

  refers to the filling of vacancies with people from outside of the business. 

  ADVANTAGES-

  • Wider range of applicants to choose from
  • Outside applicants may bring new ideas and fresh approaches to tasks 
  • Different qualifications/expertise 

  DISADVANTAGES-

  • The applicants are all unknown, so the choice may be more difficult 
  • There are costs associated with advertising the position 
  • The field of applicants may be larger, so the p;rocess of selection may become more time consuming
• Methods of external recruitment

  The fastest growing recruitment methods include the use of social networking (facebook, twitter, Linkedin) may be used by a business to share job vacancies, raising awareness of available positions.

  Written or online applicants: Some employees use either a printed application or an online application

  Testing: Written or practical

  Interviews: The interview is perhaps the most important

  Background checks: Referees can be conducted to verify
• Training

  Training refers to the process of teaching staff how to perform their job more efficiently and effectively by boosting their knowledge and skills. 
• Development

  Development refers to activities that prepare staff to take greater responsibility in the future. 
• Benefits of well-trained employees

  • Adaptability-greater ability to adapt to and cope with challenges 
  • Improved job satisfaction through better job performance 
  • Opportunity for promotion and self-improvement 
• Training programs

  • Off the job-When employees are trained away from the workplace.
  • On the job-When an employee's needs to learn at workplace
  • Action learning-Learning by experience, solving real workplace problems
  • Competency-based-Identifies skill strengths and areas where further training is required
  • E Learning-Refers to the delivery of training through electronic devices
  • Job rotation-The employee experiences many different aspects of a business
  • Mentoring-A mentor acts as a coach,
  • Formal business trainingThis may be done through programs such as the masters of business (MBA). 
• Employment contracts

  Employment contracts are a legally binding, formal agreement between an employer and an employee. 
• Obligations under common law

  Common Law is a law developed by courts and tribunals. 

  Employer obligations 

  • Care and skill
  • To provide reasonable care for the safety of employees 
  • Provie work 
  • Payment of income 
  • Obey lawful and reasonable commands 
  • To meet requirements of industrial relations legislation 

  Employee obligations 

  • Use care and skill
  • Act in good faith and in the interests of the employer 
  • Obey lawful and reasonable commands 
• Minimum standards under employee contracts

  1. Maximum weekly hours of work= 35-38 hours for full time employees, employees cannot be required to work longer hours.
  2. Parental leave=Employees are entitled to 12 months unpaid parental leave in relation to the birth or adoption of a child. 
  3. Flexible work for parents=An employee who is a parent of, or has caring 
• Award contract

  A legally binding agreement that sets out the minimum wages and conditions for a group of employees.

  Advantage:

  • Set a minimum for pay and conditions

  Disadvantage:

  • Can be inflexible and therefore may not suit all employees or businesses
• Enterprise agreement

  Enterprise agreement:

  Collective agreements made at a workplace level between an employer and a union acting on behalf of its employees, about terms and conditions of pay.

  Advantage:

  Consultation with and involvement of employees, flexibility

  Disadvantage:

  More time consuming due to the need to conduct agreement meetings at the individual workplace level.
• Common law contract

  Negotiation of individual employment that does not have to include award conditions, usually applying to highly paid professionals, and are subject to a minimum level of pay known as the ‘high income threshold’, that increases on 1 July each year. Enforceable through the courts in the same way as any other legally binding contract between two parties.

  Advantages:

  • An employee earning above this level can enter an employment contract that does not rely on any award.

  Disadvantages:

  • costly to take it to court to dispute 
  • More complex contracts 
• Seperation

  Separation refers to the ending of the employment relationship 
• Voluntary separation

  When an employee chooses to leave the business of their own free will. 

  -Retirement (no longer part of workforce)

  -Resignation (‘quitting’)

  -voluntary redundancy (Someone’s job no longer exists and you have the choice to leave earning a redundancy payment)
• Involuntary separation

  When an employee is asked to leave the business against their will. 

  -Retrenchment (termination due to financial difficulties or reduction of workforce)

  -Dismissal (behaviour is unacceptable)

  -Involuntary redundancy (asked to leave the business against his or her will because their job no longer exists and leaves with a offer of a redundancy package)
• Ethical business behaviour

  Business ethics refer to the application of moral standards to business behaviour. 

  Corporate social responsibility refers to the open and accountable business actions based on respect for people, community/society and the broader environment. Itb involves businesses doing more than just complying with the laws and regulations. 

  The triple bottom line business planning incorporates economic, social and environmental aspects. 
• Ethical business behaviour

  Examples of unethical business behaviour:

  • Fairness and honesty: not following through on promises to employees about promotions or being constantly late to paying suppliers. 
  • Respect for people: Employees playing practical jokes, harassment, as well as the leaking of confidential information. 
  • Conflict of interests: Using gifts as a bribe (corruption)
  • Financial management: Overestimating expenditures and misuse of funds, fraud and theft (audits). 
  • Truthful communication: Terms such as ‘special’, ‘sale’ or ‘low fat’ or ‘light’ can be misleading. 
• Encouraging business behaviour

  Avoid conflict of interest

  Minimise waste and pollution

  Become involved in the community

  Protect health and safety of customers

  Develop the skills of employees