Chapter 16: Managing Human Resources

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, principles, models, and terminology of Chapter 16: Managing Human Resources.

Human Resource Management (HRM)

The concept used to refer to the philosophy, policies, procedures and practices related to the management of people within business firms.

Psychological Contract

The explanatory framework reflecting the mutual expectations between a business firm (employer) and its employees regarding what each expects to give (skills, time, energy, involvement) and receive (salary, promotion, status, office décor, challenges).

South African Institute of Personnel Management (IPM)

A professional body established in 1946 concerned with the promotion and development of the HR profession and the generic role of managing people at work.

South African Board for Personnel Practice (SABPP)

A body established in 1982 that serves as the umbrella organisation for all related HR functions and the professionalisation of HR practitioners in South Africa.

Information Society

A society in which the creation, distribution, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic, political and cultural activity, and where information is the key economic resource.

Division of Labour

The assignment of different parts of a manufacturing process or task to different people in order to improve efficiency.

Personnel Management

A traditional approach to managing people that has an operational focus, emphasizing technical skills, day-to-day functions, and the reactive administration of policies and procedures.

Hard HRM Issues

The quantitative and strategic management facets of managing the workplace in a rational manner that deal with measurable numerical variables, such as human resource planning, remuneration, and performance appraisals.

Soft HRM Issues

The qualitative, people-orientated facets of human resource management that focus on individual employees, human relationships, team cohesiveness, and effective communication flow.

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)

The integration or strategic fit of HRM policies and practices with the overall business strategy to ensure business objectives are achieved taking into account HR capability.

Human Resource Planning

The process of determining the present and future employee requirements of the business to secure the right people with the right skills, attitude, and behaviour, and ensuring they are developed along a career path.

Capital Intensive Business

A business (such as Aspen Pharmacare) that focuses primarily on acquiring automated machinery to make manufacturing easier and faster, resulting in high capital asset expenses relative to overall HR expenses.

Labour Intensive Organisation

An organisation (such as Nelson Mandela University) that focuses primarily on managing employees, resulting in higher remuneration and overall HR expenses compared to capital intensive entities.

Forecasting Human Resource Demand

The process of estimating future staff requirements in terms of right type, quality, and number to ensure that personnel supply equals personnel demand at the appropriate point in the future.

Work Study Methodology (Work-Load Analysis)

A demand forecasting methodology suitable for easily measurable workloads, where estimated total production is converted into the required work-hours to calculate the necessary number of employees.

Econometric Models (Demand Forecasting)

Forecasting techniques based on mathematical and statistical methods (such as Ratio-Trend Analysis) that establish relationships between human resource needs (dependent variable) and factors like sales or total production (independent variables).

Delphi Methodology (Demand Forecasting)

An HR demand estimation approach where human resource requirements provided by a group of expert managers are compiled, summarized, and revised until consensus is reached.

Human Resource Supply Forecasting

The process of determining what suitable personnel will be available to the organisation from internal sources (current staff) and external labour markets.

Human Resource Audit

A systematic inventory of the qualifications of existing personnel, formatted as an organisational chart showing all positions and indicating the promotion and redeployment potential of each incumbent.

Succession Analysis

An approach to forecasting internal labour supply by analyzing current staffing levels across job categories and modifying them according to projected annual inflows (e.g., transfers, promotions, new hires) and outflows (e.g., retirements, quits, terminations).

Decruitment

The process of reducing an organisation's workforce through layoffs or redundancies when labour supply exceeds labour demand.

Outsourcing

A business practice where an organisation contracts an outside enterprise to perform specific work or manufacture components according to agreed quality standards.

Recruitment

The process of finding and hiring the best-qualified candidate from within or outside of the business for a job opening, in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Job Analysis

A detailed examination of the tasks that constitute a job, the conditions under which they are performed, and the aptitudes, attitudes, knowledge, skills, and physical condition required of the employee.

Job Description

A broad, general, written statement of a specific job based on a job analysis, detailing the duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope, working conditions, title, and reporting line.

Job Specification

A document derived from the job description that details the specific skills, knowledge, and personal attributes (including physical, dispositional, educational, and circumstantial traits) required to perform a job effectively.

Essential Skills

Skills without which a job cannot be performed satisfactorily, such as a professional medical qualification for a medical doctor.

Desirable Skills

Skills that are not mandatory for base performance but make an employee more effective in executing their job, such as a doctor specialising in cancer treatment.

E-Recruitment

An external recruitment method where vacant positions are advertised on the World Wide Web and candidates submit job applications or CVs electronically.

Headhunting

An external recruitment practice where businesses 'buy' talent by offering attractive remuneration packages to poach already trained, experienced, and skilled employees currently working for other firms.

Selection of Applicants

The process of evaluating, screening, testing, and interviewing candidates to determine which applicants match the job description and job specification.

Induction of Employees

The first step towards gaining an employee's commitment, aimed at introducing the job and business to the recruit through orientation and training in the organisational culture and workplace relationships.

Reward Management

The human resource management practice that entails the payment of salaries, wages, and benefits designed to recruit, retain, and motivate employees.

Fringe Benefits

Non-wage compensations (perks) provided to employees in addition to basic pay, which may be legally required (e.g., unemployment insurance) or voluntary (e.g., medical insurance, motor vehicle finance, tuition reimbursement).

Flexible Work Practices

Work arrangements (such as working from home) that eliminate business overhead costs for office space and utilities while allowing savings to be shared with employees via higher basic salaries.

Labour Relations

The continuous interaction between employers, employees, trade unions, and government to regulate employment standards, wage-effort bargaining, and dispute resolution.

Voluntary Dismissal

A termination of employment that occurs when an employee resigns by their own choice due to career opportunities or personal and family commitments.

Forced Termination

An involuntary termination of employment initiated by the employer due to unfitness for the job, gross misconduct, or business redundancy (layoffs).

Training Layoff Scheme (TLS)

A South African government funding initiative that provides training to temporarily laid-off workers during operational shutdowns or restructuring to upgrade their skills.

Training

The planned and systematic efforts made by an employer to provide employees with the job-related competencies, knowledge, skills, and behaviour needed for their current jobs.

Development

Learning that goes beyond an employee's current job and has a long-term focus, preparing employees to adapt as the organisation changes and grows.

Education

Any activity directed at providing the broad knowledge, skills, moral values, and understanding required in the normal course of life, developing sound reasoning and foundational competencies.

Performance Appraisal

The process of observing and assessing employee performance, recording the assessment, and providing constructive feedback to the employee.

360-Degree Feedback

A performance appraisal method that evaluates an employee's performance using feedback gathered from multiple raters, including supervisors, co-workers, customers, and the employee themselves.

Learning Organisation

A business firm that continuously improves by creating and refining the capabilities required for future success, facilitating the learning of all its employees and adapting continuously to change.

Knowledge Economy

The economic counterpart of the Information Society, in which wealth is created through the economic exploitation of understanding, and production and consumption are based on intellectual capital.

Single-Loop Learning

A form of business learning where errors are detected and corrected using past routines and existing policies, achieving known objectives without changing underlying basic assumptions.

Double-Loop Learning

A form of organizational learning where errors are corrected by questioning, redefining, and modifying the business's underlying objectives, policies, routines, and culture.