Business > 3.6 - Human Resource Management > Flashcards

3.6 - Human Resource Management Flashcards

(57 cards)

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1
Q

What internal factors affect HR objectives

A

Business culture
Funding
Other departments

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2
Q

What external factors affect HR objectives

A

The economy
UK employment laws
Ethical nd environmental issues
Technology

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3
Q

What is hard HRM

A

Employees hired on a short term basis
Managers believe employees are mainly motivated by money and will do as little work as possible

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4
Q

What is soft HRM?

A

Employees are the most important resource
Managers motivate employees through empowerment and development
Training is done to develop employees

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5
Q

What are the benefits and drawbacks of Haard HRM?

A

+ Managers keep control of the workforce
+ People are less likely to make mistakes
- can be demotivating leading to high staff turnover
- doesn’t use employees to full potential

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6
Q

What are the benefits and drawbacks to soft HRM?

A

+ likely to increase staff morale, increasing staff retention
+ Encourages good performance and gains from employees unique skills
- involves more costs
- employees may not be interested in development or empowerment

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7
Q

What are HR objectives?

A

employee engagement
talent development
training
diversity
alignment of employee and employer values
Number, skills and location of employees

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8
Q

What is the purpose of HRM?

A

to ensure that the business achieves the maximum benefit from its employees at the minimum cost

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9
Q

How do you calculate Labour productivity?

A

LP = output per period / number of employees

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10
Q

How do you calculate Labout cost per unit?

A

labour costs / unirts of output

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11
Q

How do you calculate employee costs as a percentage of turnover?

A

Employee cost as a % of turnover = (employee costs / sales turnover) x100

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12
Q

How do you calculate labour turnover?

A

(number of staff leaving / average number of staff employed) x100

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13
Q

What are the benefits of high staff turnover?

A

constant stream of new ideas
firms can recruit employees who have already been trained by competitors

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14
Q

What are the drawbacks of high staff turnover?

A

Lack of loyal and experienced staff
firms lose employees that have trained to competitors
Productivity dropped whilst new staff are trained
recruitment costs are high

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15
Q

How to calculate labour retention?

A

(number of staff employed at end of period - number of leavers / number of staff employed at end of period) x100

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16
Q

What are the benefits of flat hierarchical structures?

A

more responsibility and freedom for employees can be motivating

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17
Q

What are the drawbacks to flat hierarchical structures?

A

Managers can be overwhelmed which means they cannot manage effectively

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18
Q

What are the benefits to a tall hierarchical structure?

A

Employees can be managed more closely

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19
Q

What are the drawbacks of tall hierarchical structures?

A

Communication is slower and more complicated
Workers can feel micromanaged

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20
Q

What is delayering?

A

Removing parts of the businesses hierarchy
Helps to reduce costs and can improve communication

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21
Q

What is delegation?

A

Giving responsibility for decision making to people below the delagator in the hierarchy

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22
Q

What are the benefits of centralised decision making?

A

Business leaders have more experience
Senior managers aren’t biased towards one department
Decisions are made quickly

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23
Q

What are the drawbacks to centralised decision making?

Study These Flashcards
A

Can be demotivating for employees
Not enough experience on the shop floor to notice consumer trend changes

24
Q

What are the benefits of decentralised decision making?

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A

Involvement motivates employees
Employees can use expert knowledge of their sector
Day to day decisions can be made quickly without having to ask a manager

25
What are the drawbacks to decentralised decision making?
Inconsistencies may develop Overall situation of the business sometimes not seen
26
What is the recruitment process?
1. Identify vacancy 2. Write person specification and job description 3. Advertise job 4. Process applications 5. Shortlist suitable candidates 6. interview candidates 7. Appoint most suitable candidate
27
What are the benefits of internal recruitment?
Candidates already know the business Shorter and cheaper Motivates workers to get a promotion
28
What are the disadvantages of internal recruitment?
Leaves a vacancy in another department Can cause resentment among colleagues who are not selected
29
What are the benefits of external recruitment?
Brings in fresh new ideas and experience from other organisations Larger number of applicants
30
What are the drawbacks of external recruitment?
Longer and more expensive process Candidates will need a longer induction process
31
What are the benefits of off-the-job training?
Trainers are specialists No job distractions during training New ideas are brought into the business
32
What are the drawbacks of off-the-job training?
Expensive Training might not be specific for day to day job Workers are away from the workplace
33
What are the benefits of on-the-job training?
easy to organise Lower costs Training is job-specific
34
What are the drawbacks of on-the-job training?
Bad practices are passed on No new ideas brought into the business Trainer and Trainee are not productive
35
Why are redundancies necessary?
Drop in demand new technology that has increased efficiency
36
What is redeployment?
Employing employees in a different area of the business if there is no need for them in their current role
37
38
What are the 3 motivational theorists?
Taylor - Scientific Management Maslow - Hierarchy of Needs Herzberg - Two-factor theory
39
What is Scientific Management and who's theory is it?
Taylor Money is the primary motivator for employees and that productivity can be maximized by breaking down jobs into simple, specialized tasks.  use piece-rate pay systems where workers are paid based on their output. 
40
What is the Two-Factor theory and who's theory is it?
Herzberg Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are caused by two separate sets of factors: Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate.  Motivators are necessary to truly satisfy and motivate employees to perform better.  
41
What are some examples of Hygiene Factors (think JCREWS)
Job Security Company Policies Relationships Equipment Working conditions Salary and benefits
42
What are some examples of Motivator Factors? (think WRAGAR)
Work itself Recognition Acheivement Growth Advancement Responsibility
43
List Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in order
Physiologcal needs, safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem, self-actualisation
44
How can a business pay its employers?
Peice rate Salary schemes (includes wages) Commission Performance-related pay
45
What are examples of fringe benefits?
Staff discount pension contributions medical insurance company car shares in the compnay
46
What is flexible working?
Working hours/ patterns are adapted to suit the employee
47
What are some examples of flexible working structures?
Flexi-time Compressed hours - work the hours over a week, fewer days Annual hours - work the hours over a year Job-sharing Home-working
48
What are the advantages of flexible working?
Improves motivation and productivity Helps families, disabled workers, and those who live in remote places
49
What are the disadvantages of flexible working?
Impractical for businesses that need to serve the public during normal work hours Home-workers may be easily distracted Job sharing can lead to confusion over responsibilities and unequal workloads
50
How does good employee/ employer relations benefit the employer?
Good reputation with prospective employees, so it will attract the best candidates Productivity and efficiency increased as new ideas are picked up better Diverse opinions means informed decisions Good communication means employees' objectives are more aligned with business objectives
51
How does good employee/ employer relations benefit the employee?
Sense of job security Increased efficiency means businesses make more money, potentially leading to pay rises Increased job satisfaction as they feel their ideas are being listened to
52
What are works councils and what do they do?
Committees mde up of employer and employee representatives They meet regularly to discuss general work issues (eg training)
53
What are trade unions?
Trade unions are organisations that act on behalf of employees in the workforce when negotiating pay rates and working conditions with the employer Strengthens an employees bargaining power
54
How/where do trade unions take action?
In the workplace - negotiate with employers for better pay, working conditions, job security, and work hours At a national level - put pressure on the government to bring in legislation to help trade union members Party politics -many unions donate money to the Labour party because they think it's policies represent their interests
55
How can trade unions influence the decisions of a business?
Can make changes to the working practices of a business Can facilitate or resist change
56
What are the advantages of employee representation?
More effective to approach an organisation as a group Collective bargaining can help achieve longer term aims Can be helpful for management to have a small representative group of workers to negotiate with Senior managers get a direct insight into the concerns of the workforce
57
What are the disadvantages of employee representation?
Can lead to industrial action which can get out of hand or turn violent, and leads to a loss in productivity The majority vote within a trade union may overrule the demands of the individual, who then cannot represent themselves as they might want to Industrial action can undermine the trust between employee and employer
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