Flashcards · 0264 · Topic 2

People in business flashcards

31 cards on Topic 2, subtopics 2.1 to 2.4. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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2.1 Human resource management (HRM)

Recruitment and selection: Recruitment: attracting suitable people to apply for a vacancy. Selection: choosing the best applicant from those who applied.
Job description and person specification: Job description: lists the job title, duties and responsibilities. Person specification: lists the qualifications, skills, experience and qualities wanted in the post holder.
Internal recruitment: advantages and disadvantages: For: cheaper and faster; the employer already knows the person; promotion prospects motivate staff. Against: a small pool of applicants; no new ideas; it leaves another gap to fill.
Selection methods: CV or résumé, application form, references, testing or assessment centres, and interviews.
Contents of an employment contract named in the syllabus: Duties and responsibilities, working hours, holiday entitlement and sick pay.
Four employment issues covered by legal controls: Unfair dismissal, discrimination, health and safety, and the legal minimum wage. Each can be a cost to the employer and a benefit to the employee.
Induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training: Induction: introduces new employees to the business. On-the-job: learning at the workplace while working; cheap and relevant, but bad habits can spread. Off-the-job: away from the workplace; expert teaching, but costly and staff are away from work.
A worker is paid $300 for 40 hours. The minimum wage is $8.00 an hour. What is the weekly shortfall?: 300 ÷ 40 = $7.50 an hour, which is $0.50 below the minimum. 0.50 × 40 = $20 a week.

2.2 Organisation and management

Span of control and chain of command: Span of control: the number of employees who report directly to one manager. Chain of command: the line of authority from the top of the business to the bottom.
Tall and flat organisational structures compared: Tall: many levels, long chain of command, narrow spans, slower communication, higher manager cost. Flat: few levels, short chain, wide spans, faster communication, lower manager cost.
The five functions of management: Planning (set objectives), organising (arrange people and resources), coordinating (make departments work together), commanding (give instructions) and controlling (compare actual results with the plan and act).
Delegation: what it is, one advantage and one disadvantage: Passing authority for a task and its decisions to someone lower down. For: frees the manager for planning and can motivate staff. Against: the employee may lack skill, and the manager is still responsible.
Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership: Autocratic: the leader decides alone; quick, but can lower motivation. Democratic: the leader decides with staff input; uses staff ideas, but slower. Laissez-faire: the staff decide within broad aims; suits expert staff, but can lack direction.
Downsizing and redundancy: Downsizing: deliberately reducing the number of employees, for example because of automation, lower demand or the need to cut costs. Redundancy: losing a job because the job is no longer needed.
Trade union, and one benefit of membership to employees: An organisation of workers who join together to protect and improve their interests. Benefit: a collective voice over pay and conditions, or support in a dispute.
A managing director has 3 managers, each with 5 staff. How many levels, what are the spans, and how many employees in total?: 3 levels. The director’s span is 3 and each manager’s is 5. Total = 1 + 3 + 15 = 19 employees.

2.3 Methods of communication

Internal and external communication: Internal: the receiver is inside the business. External: the receiver is outside it, such as customers, suppliers or government. The receiver decides the type, not the method: an email can be either.
Email: one strength and one weakness: Strength: quick, cheap and leaves a written record. Weakness: it may go unread, or its tone may be misread.
Letter: when might it still be chosen?: For formal or official matters where a permanent written record is needed, or when the receiver has no email or mobile phone. It is slow and costs printing and postage.
Face-to-face meeting compared with a virtual meeting: Face-to-face: instant feedback and body language, but costly in time and hard to gather everyone. Virtual: saves travel and links people in different places, but needs a connection and is less personal.
Communication barrier: Anything that stops a message being sent, received or understood as intended. Examples: language differences, jargon, the wrong method, technical failure, a long chain of communication, information overload, no feedback.
Match a fix to each barrier: jargon, long chain of communication, no feedback: Jargon: use everyday language. Long chain: fewer levels or direct contact. No feedback: ask the receiver to confirm.

2.4 Motivating employees

Motivation: The desire and willingness to put effort into a job.
Four benefits of a well-motivated workforce: Improved labour productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower labour turnover, and greater willingness to accept change or new methods of working.
Labour turnover (%) formula, and an example: Labour turnover = leavers in the period ÷ average number of staff × 100. Example: 6 leavers from an average of 48 staff: 6 ÷ 48 × 100 = 12.5%. A standard form: it is not in the 0264 syllabus formula list.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, lowest first: Physiological (wage to live on), safety (secure contract, safe conditions), social (teamwork), esteem (praise, status, promotion), self-actualisation (challenge, reaching potential).
Herzberg: hygiene factors and motivators: Hygiene factors (pay, conditions, job security, supervision) stop dissatisfaction but do not motivate on their own. Motivators (achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, advancement) create satisfaction and effort.
Taylor’s view of motivation: Workers are motivated mainly by money. Break the job into tasks, find the best method, train workers and pay by output (piece-rate). It ignores boredom, teamwork and the quality of work.
Piece-rate, commission and profit sharing: Piece-rate: pay per unit produced. Commission: a percentage of the value of sales made. Profit sharing: employees receive a share of the business’s profit.
Job rotation and job enrichment: Job rotation: moving between tasks at the same level, which reduces boredom but adds no responsibility. Job enrichment: giving more responsibility and challenge.
Commission of 6% on sales of $18,000: 0.06 × 18,000 = $1,080