Answer
Flashcards · 9609 · AS Topic 2
Human resource management (AS Level) flashcards
22 cards on AS Topic 2, subtopics 2.1 to 2.3. Pick a subtopic or study them all.
Study mode needs JavaScript. Every card is listed below, so you can still cover the answers and test yourself.
Choose your cards
Session complete
Worth another look:
All 22 cards
For a quick read-through or printing. Cover the right-hand side to test yourself.
2.1 Human resource management (HRM)
- Labour turnover: formula
- Labour turnover (%) = leavers in the period ÷ average number employed × 100. Average employed = (opening number + closing number) ÷ 2 when only those are given.
- A business has 42 staff at the start of the year and 38 at the end; 9 leave. Calculate labour turnover.
- Average = (42 + 38) ÷ 2 = 40. Turnover = 9 ÷ 40 × 100 = 22.5%.
- Workforce planning: how many to recruit? (40 staff now, 46 needed, 15% of current staff expected to leave)
- Staff to recruit = staff needed − staff now + expected leavers. Leavers = 15% of 40 = 6. 46 − 40 + 6 = 12.
- Job description vs person specification
- Job description: describes the job (title, purpose, duties, reporting line, conditions). Person specification: describes the ideal person (qualifications, skills, experience, qualities).
- Internal vs external recruitment
- Internal: cheaper, faster, a known person, motivating; but narrow choice, leaves a gap and brings no fresh ideas. External: wider choice, new ideas and skills; but dearer, slower and riskier.
- Redundancy vs dismissal
- Redundancy is about the job: the post is no longer needed (voluntary or involuntary). Dismissal is about the person: fair if there is a valid reason and a proper procedure; unfair if not.
- Induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training
- Induction: settles new starters and covers safety. On-the-job: cheap and practical, but depends on the trainer. Off-the-job: expert, wider skills, but costly and work is left undone.
- Trade union and collective bargaining
- Trade union: an organisation of employees formed to protect and advance their interests. Collective bargaining: negotiation between employer and union representatives, for all members, on pay, hours and conditions.
2.2 Motivation
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, lowest to highest
- Physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualisation. Find which level is unmet and meet it before offering higher rewards.
- Herzberg: hygiene factors vs motivators
- Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction: pay, working conditions, supervision, company policy, job security. Motivators create satisfaction: achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, advancement.
- Taylor and Mayo: core claims
- Taylor: money is the main motivator; break jobs into timed tasks and pay by output. Mayo (Hawthorne studies): attention, belonging and group norms lift output; consult and build teams.
- McClelland’s three needs
- Achievement, affiliation and power. The mix differs by person, so match tasks and rewards to the individual.
- Vroom’s expectancy theory: the formula and an example
- Motivational force = expectancy × instrumentality × valence. Expectancy: effort leads to performance. Instrumentality: performance leads to reward. Valence: how much the reward is wanted. 0.5 × 0.8 × 9 = 3.6. If any term is zero, the force is zero.
- Content vs process theories of motivation
- Content theories explain what motivates (Taylor, Mayo, Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland). Process theories explain how motivation is formed (Vroom).
- Piece rate, commission and profit sharing: one weakness each
- Piece rate: rushing and lower quality. Commission: pressure selling and an uncertain income. Profit sharing: a weak link to individual effort, because each share depends on the whole firm’s profit.
- Job enrichment vs empowerment vs participation
- Job enrichment: more planning, responsibility and decisions in the job (Herzberg motivators). Empowerment: authority to decide how to do one’s own work. Participation: a say in wider decisions, for example a works council.
2.3 Management
- The four traditional functions of management
- Planning, organising, directing and controlling.
- Fayol’s five elements of management
- Planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Fayol sets out what managers should do.
- Mintzberg’s three groups of management roles
- Interpersonal (figurehead, leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson) and decisional (entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator). Mintzberg observed what managers actually do: fragmented and reactive work.
- Autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire and paternalistic management
- Autocratic: the manager decides alone (suits a crisis). Democratic: decides after consulting (skilled staff; slow). Laissez-faire: staff decide (expert teams; risk of drift). Paternalistic: the manager decides but explains, with concern for welfare.
- McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
- Theory X manager: assumes people dislike work and avoid responsibility, so uses close control and pay. Theory Y manager: assumes people can enjoy work and seek responsibility, so delegates and involves. These are the manager’s beliefs, not facts about staff.
- Output of a line of 16 workers rises from 960 to 1,080 units a day. Find the change in output per worker.
- 960 ÷ 16 = 60; 1,080 ÷ 16 = 67.5 units per worker. (67.5 − 60) ÷ 60 × 100 = 12.5% rise. Check other explanations before crediting the manager.