1.4.1 Approaches to Staffing

Question 1

How are staff an assest to a business?

Answer 1

• Can increase productivity, drive innovation, and enhance customer service
• Help to build a positive reputation for the business through their interactions with customers, other suppliers and stake holders.

Question 2

Why is effective human resource management important to a business?

Answer 2

Ensures organization has right people, in right roles, with right support, with opportunities to succeed

This will lead to higher productivity, more profits & a positive work environment

Question 3

How do staff generate costs to a business?

Answer 3

• Costs associated with hiring and training workers
• Costs associated with managing workers as managers have to be hired
• Costs associated with paying the salaries of full time workers

Question 4

What is flexible working?

Answer 4

• Development of a culture where workers are equipped to do different roles or where they work in a range of employment patterns

Question 5

What ways are there to develop a flexible workforce?

Answer 5

• Multi-skilling
• Flexible hours & home working
• Outsourcing
• Part-time & temporary

Question 6

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Multi-skilling?

Answer 6

Advantages:
* Businesses utilise their workforce more effeciently whihc reduces labour costs and increase productivity

Disadvantages:
* May require significant investment in training and development
* May not be appropriate for all job roles, especially those that require a high level of expertise

Question 7

What is part-time & temporary working?

Answer 7

• Someone who works part time may only work 2 or 3 times a week
• Someone who works temporarily shows up for work whenever the business needs them
  e.g amazon employs temporary workers to handle seasonal spikes in demand such as Christmas

Question 8

What are the advantages and disadvantages of temporary working?

Answer 8

Advantages:
* Can help businesses to attract and retain talent, especially staff who value work-life balance

• This may improve productivity, as staff can work during their most productive hours and avoid distractions

Disadvantages:
* Can create challenges in terms of communication and collaboration (especially if staff are working remotely)

• Monitoring and managing flexible workers can be more difficult

Question 9

What is outsourcing?

Answer 9

• When a company hires a third party to perform their task
  e.g Apple outsources much of its manufacturing to Foxconn in China

Question 10

What are some examples of recruitment costs?

Answer 10

• Include advertising, recruiting, interviewing, and screening candidates

High labour turnover rates can significantly increase these costs

Question 11

What are training costs?

Answer 11

• Refer to the expenses incurred in the process of providing training to new or existing employees

Question 12

What are some examples of training costs?

Answer 12

The cost of trainers, training materials, and facilities

• The effectiveness of training can impact these costs
• If the training is not effective, employees may require additional training or take longer to learn new skills, which can increase the cost of training

Question 13

What are selection costs?

Answer 13

• Refer to the expenses incurred in the process of selecting candidates for employment

Question 14

What is the difference between dismissal & redundancy?

Answer 14

• Dismissal (firing or sacking) is the termination of employment by an employer against the will of the employee
• Employees are made redundant when the job is no longer available and the business reduces the size of its workforce
  The termination is not due to any fault of the employee