Human Resource Management

Question 1

What is human resource management?

Answer 1

Organizing, coordinating, and managing an organization’s current employees to carry out an organization’s mission, vison and goals (People Management)

Question 2

Why is HR needed?

Answer 2

• Appraisals
• Promotions
• Holidays, sick leave
• Reward, pay, pensions etc.
• Employee relations
• Recruitment and Selection
• Organizational Structure
• Compliance with legislation
• Budgets
• Professional development

Question 3

HR as a factor of production

Answer 3

Physical resources- equipment, technology, any requests employees have for things they need
Human resources- cover staff if someone is off sick; selecting candidates for interview processes

Question 4

Labour Market Analysis

Answer 4

To help them make the right employment decisions for the business, managers analyse labour market trends at an international, national or local level, and within their industry sector. They will also look at economic trends and the supply of skilled workers to help them understand the implications for their workforce.

Question 5

Forecasting Labour Demand

Answer 5

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) produces projections on the size and shape of the labour market as far ahead as 2024. These consider employment forecasts by industry, occupation, qualifications, gender and employment status. Managers will use these data to predict future employee skill needs.

Question 6

Sources of Data

Answer 6

The primary sources of information on labour market analysis are the extensive government statistics.
The main statistics are compiled by:
- The Office for National Statistics
- The Learning and Work Institute
- The Trades Union Congress
- The Institute for Employment Studies
- The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development
- The UKCES Department for Business Innovation and Skills

Question 7

Business planning and human resources

Answer 7

The Human Resources (HR) function is responsible for recruiting the right number of individuals with appropriate skills and abilities to ensure the business has the Human Resources necessary to fulfil the organisation’s objectives within the business plan. It is also responsible for developing the workforce through education and training, and for retaining and promoting talented employees. Market analysis may also lead HR to plan for redeployment of staff and redundancy.

Question 8

Globalisation and HR planning

Answer 8

HR planning may involve:
- Recognising the requirement for additional language skills in the workforce
- Moving skilled employees or managers from one country to another
- Understanding the different requirements and standards relating to employment in different countries
- Monitoring the labour market in different countries

Question 9

Nature of work and characteristics

Human Resource Planning

Answer 9

Job description
• Outlines requirements of job role
• Can be used to match characteristics of individual to carry out role
Experience
An individual may have practical experience of having done the work in the past, but may not necessarily have qualifications. They will probably have the kind of skills that an employer is looking for. They may need some retraining and will probably be more expensive than an inexperienced candidate.
Person specification
• Outlines key characteristics, skills, experience and aptitude of individual required

Question 10

Skill levels

Human Resource Planning

Answer 10

Fundamental awareness - Individual has common knowledge or understanding of basic techniques or concepts —> Novice - Trainee > Intermediate - will have some competence but may need occasional help from expert —> Advanced - can perform work without assistance —> Expert - recognised authority; provides guidance to others

Question 11

Educational level

Human Resource Planning

Answer 11

Some job roles will have minimal education requirements.
Other job roles will require basic educational standards in English, Mathematics and other core subjects.
Jobs related to a particular skill will require qualifications, particularly those that are technical.

Question 12

Aptitude

Human Resource Planning

Answer 12

A natural ability to be able to do something. It is about showing a flair for doing something and being interested in progressing in it.

Aptitude tests are used by many organisations to see if they are hiring the right person. It is one thing to look at someone’s achievements but their aptitude shows whether the individual could learn or develop in the future.

Question 13

Flexibility

Human Resource Planning

Answer 13

Aims to provide a business with an adaptable approach to its use of employees. At busy times, employees within a multi skilled and adaptable workforce can be moved to deal with critical job tasks that are under pressure. Team working can also speed up progress.

Question 14

Core and Peripheral workers

Human Resource Planning

Answer 14

Core workers - essential to the running of the business - hold strategic job positions and will be employed on full time permanent contracts.

Peripheral workers - support core workers - they may be part time or have flexible working hours - the number of peripheral workers may change according to the needs of the business. They may not undertake the essential tasks of the business.

Question 15

Full and Part-time

Human Resource Planning

Answer 15

Full time workers usually work 35 hours or more per week
Part time workers work less but there is no specific number of hours. They offer the employer flexibility to cover busy periods, and provide extra skills and experience.
Both full and part time employees are permanent employees

Question 16

Sub-contracting

Human Resource Planning

Answer 16

A sub-contractor is an individual employed by the business to do a specialist activity that cannot be done by its own workforce. Sub-contractors are not directly employed by the organisation.
They are often:
* self-employed or part of another business
* not necessarily entitled to the same rights as other workers (e.g minimum wage)
* responsible for their own tax and National Insurance

Question 17

Zero-hours contracts

Human Resource Planning

Answer 17

Zero Hours/ casual workers
On call when the organisation needs them but the organisation does not guarantee to give them a specific number of hours’ work per week. Workers get paid only for the hours they work although they are entitled to the nmw. Individuals can refuse to work when asked.

Question 18

Temporary staff

Human Resource Planning

Answer 18

Temporary workers can be valuable, not only to take up the slack but also to see if they would be suitable for full-time positions should they come up in the future.

Question 19

Agency staff

Human Resource Planning

Answer 19

Used to fill temporary gaps in the workforce. They are employed indirectly through an employment agency, which provides business’ with suitable candidates for the job role.
Although the business does not need to give agency staff the same benefits as permanent employees, it may be more expensive to hire agency staff.

Question 20

HR issues at an operational level

Human Resource Planning

Answer 20

Businesses have to make human resource decisions at an operational level. If a business takes on additional employees to carry out specific work, then HR has to ensure that there is sufficient supervision and increased training for these individuals.

At an operational level, HR handles recruitment, interviewing, and will maintain records as well as dealing with payroll issues.

Question 21

Productivity

Human Resource Planning

Answer 21

Businesses will try to work out the labour costs per unit of production and try to reduce this or make it as efficient as possible. Productivity can be measured in terms of:
• output per hour
• output per job
• output per worker
HR will monitor productivity to see if additional training or supervision is needed.

Question 22

Labour Turnover

Human Resource Planning

Answer 22

A measure of the rate at which employees are leaving a business. The lower the turnover the better. HR would investigate when turnover is high and act on the findings.

Question 23

Skill shortages

Human Resource Planning

Answer 23

Forecasts in labour demand should alert employers to potential shortages of skilled workers. By monitoring the skills of current employees and those who are leaving, HR can build a picture of skills within the business, which will allow it to plan recruitment and training.

Question 24

Workplace stress

Human Resource Planning

Answer 24

Around 100 million working days are lost annually in the UK as a result of stress. HR is responsible for looking after the wellbeing of the workforce, and should advise on how to reduce workplace stress.

Question 25

Absenteeism

Human Resource Planning

Question 26

Motivation

Human Resource Planning

Question 27

Engagement with culture

Human Resource Planning

Answer 27

HR planning needs to show that the business culture is an asset because it sets out the organisation’s values and beliefs, along with its purpose.

Question 28

Employee satisfaction

Human Resource Planning

Answer 28

HR planning should aim to ensure that the employee has a positive attitude towards their work, their position, and the organisation