Human resources flashcards

Topic 4: Human resources

Span of control and chain of command

Span of control: the number of people directly under one manager. Chain of command: the path of authority linking the highest and lowest posts.

Delegation and delayering

Delegation: passing authority for a task, and the right to decide about it, to someone lower down. Delayering: removing one or more levels from the structure.

Tall and flat structures

Tall: many levels, narrow spans, slower communication, close supervision, higher management cost. Flat: few levels, wide spans, faster communication, more freedom, managers stretched.

Centralised and decentralised structures

Centralised: decisions at the top; consistent and tightly controlled, but slow. Decentralised: decisions lower down; quick and local, but less control and risk of inconsistency.

Internal and external recruitment

Internal: cheaper, quicker, a known person, promotion motivates; but a small choice and no new ideas. External: wider choice and new skills; but slower, dearer and riskier.

Stages of recruitment and selection, in order

Identify the vacancy, write the job description and person specification, advertise, applications and shortlist, interviews and tests, then references, offer and acceptance.

Salary, wage, commission and profit sharing

Salary: fixed yearly pay. Wage: pay per hour or week. Commission: a percentage of own sales. Profit sharing: a share of the business’s profit.

Non-financial methods of motivation in the specification

Styles of management (consulting and trusting staff), training, greater responsibility, and fringe benefits such as discounts, meals or health cover.

Induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training

Induction: introduces new starters to the business, rules and job. On the job: learning at work, such as shadowing; cheap and practical, but bad habits may pass on. Off the job: away from work, such as a course; specialist teaching, but fees and time away.

A business with 30 employees makes £180,000 profit and shares 4% of it equally. What does each employee get?

0.04 × 180,000 = £7,200 ÷ 30 = £240 each.