Human resource management Flashcards
What is human resource management (HRM)?
The design, implementation, and maintenance of strategies to manage people for optimum business performance.
OR
The management of people at work in order to assist the organisation in achieving its objectives.
Why is HRM so important?
More and more businesses are providing their customers with services which customers can be very critical about in regards to quality and customer service level.
Competitiveness requires the business to be efficient and productive- if staff are not so motivated or have the right skills, this can be very difficult.
What are the human resource objectives?
Labour productivity
Number, skills, and location of employees
Employee engagement and investment
Training
Talent development
Diversity
Alignment of values
What is labour productivity?
Relates to the quantity of products employees should produce, on average, over a specific time frame.
This assists businesses in controlling costs.
If employees are efficient and produce a large number of goods then the costs of producing the goods will be controlled, enhancing the business’s competitiveness.
What is the number, skills, and location of employees?
Dependent on the size and the industry of the business the company would need to have the right number of employees at the right skill level to be efficient.
These factors are essential to meeting the objectives the business sets.
What is employee engagement and involvement?
Affective engagement- feeling positive about doing a good job.
Social engagement- actively taking opportunities to discuss work-related improvements with others at work.
Employee involvement.
Considering employees’ ideas and opinions.
Employee representatives.
What is training?
Improving the work-related skills and knowledge of employees to be effective and improve employee performance.
What is talent development?
This focuses on fulfilling employees’ potential and guidance of top employees who have the potential to contribute to an organisation’s performance and success.
What is diversity?
Treating people and individuals and valuing the benefits that diverse individuals or groups will bring to the business.
What is alignment of values?
An employee’s core values will determine the way they behave and influence the decisions they make in the workplace.
A business’s core values remain unchanged over a period of time and provide a reference point for decisions made by managers as they respond to competitors’ actions and changes in the external environment.
What is a hard approach?
Treats employees simply as just another resource of the business. e.g. Amazon
Strong link with corporate business planning- i.e. what do we need to get this done, how do we get them and how much do they cost?
What is the focus of a hard approach?
Identify workforce needs of the business and recruit and manage accordingly (hiring, moving and firing).
What are the key features of a hard approach?
Short term changes in employee numbers (recruitment, redundancy).
Minimal communication from the top down.
Pay-enough to recruit and retain enough staff (e.g. minimum wage).
Little empowerment/delegation.
More cost-effective workforce where decision-making is quicker and focused on senior managers.
Higher absenteeism and staff turnover and less successful recruitment.
What is a soft approach?
Treats employees as the most important resource of the business and a source of competitive advantage.
Employees are treated as individuals and their needs are planned accordingly.
What is the focus of a soft approach?
Strategic focus on longer term workforce planning.
Strong and regular two way communication.
Competitive pay structure, with suitable performance related rewards e.g. profit share.
Employees are empowered and encouraged to seek delegation and take responsibility.
Appraisal systems focused on identify and addressing training.
Flatter organisational structure.
Democratic leadership style.
Cost of the workforce may leave a business at a competitive disadvantage.
What are the internal influences on HR?
Corporate culture
Attitudes and beliefs
Hard/soft HR approach
Financial constraints
What are the external influencers on HR?
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Legal
Environmental/ethics
Competition
What are the methods of measuring the effectiveness of the workforce?
Labour cost per unit
Labour productivity
Labour cost as a % of turnover
Absenteeism
Labour turnover
What is labour productivity?
The contribution made by employees to the output of a business.
What are the 3 types of labour productivity?
Output per employee
Labour cost per unit
UK productivity
What is the formula for output per employee?
Total value of output per period / Total number of employees per period
What is the formula for labour cost per unit?
Total labour costs / Total output
An increase in labour productivity will reduce labour cost per unit of output and will improve competitiveness.
What is the formula for UK productivity?
Total UK output / Total UK hours worked
How can labour productivity be improved?
Better recruitment and selection polices.
Training
Appropriate remuneration packages
Improved working practices
Improved technology and capital equipment
Does an increase in productivity always lead to an increase in output?
No because productivity may have increased but the output may be the same as the firm is employing fewer workers.
What is labour turnover and how can it be calculated?
The number of employees who leave and join an organisation over a specific time period.
Voluntary- when employees leave for their own reasons.
Involuntary- includes dismissal and redundancy.
Number of leavers per year / Average number of employees per year.
What are the causes of high labour turnover?
Ineffective leadership and management techniques.
Poor communications.
Wages and salaries that are lower than those being paid by firm offering comparable jobs in the area.
Poor selection procedures.
Boring and unchallenging jobs that lack opportunities.
Poor working conditions.
Low morale.
How can labour turnover be improved?
Monitoring and benchmarking (understand and evaluate the current position of a business or organisation in relation to best practice and to identify areas and means of performance improvement.
Exit interviews
Recruitment and selection
Induction and training
What is absenteeism and how is it calculated?
The number of working days lost as a result of an employee’s deliberate or habitual absence from work is seen as a good indicator of salinification at work.
Average number of staff absent one day / Total number of staff
What are the causes of absenteeism?
Some unavoidable.
Poor levels of motivation or commitment.
Ineffective management.
What are the problems of absenteeism?
The costs of covering employees who are absent.
Missing deadlines.
Reduced quality if using less experienced staff.
What are strategies to reduce absenteeism?
Introduce more flexible working practices.
Ensuring that jobs are interesting and challenging.
Improving working conditions.
Improving relations between employers and employees.
Introducing attendance bonuses.
What are the different types of organisational structures?
Functional
Product based
Regional
Matrix structure
What is a functional organisational structure?
Businesses are organised to their roles and skills into smaller groups or departments.
This may include:
Sales
Marketing
Production
IT
Finance
Operations
What is a product-based organisational structure?
Framework in which a business is organised in separate divisions, each focusing on a different product or service and functioning as an individual unit within the company.
Includes assigning employees into self-contained divisions according to the:
the particular line of products/services they produce
the customers they deal with
the geographical area they serve
What is a regional organisational structure?
Organise activity according to geographical area or location. This is common in large multinational companies, but it may also suit medium-sized businesses e.g. group of taxi firms.
This form of structure enables businesses to:
have reporting and functional systems across multiple locations
operate separate sites according to local demand but still be directed by business policy
