UNIT 2 BM VOCAB

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human resource management (HRM)

Human resource management (HRM)

the strategy approach to the effective management of an organization’s workers so that they help the business achieve its objectives and gain a competitive advantage

Human resource or workforce planning

analyzing and forecasting the numbers of workers and the skills of those workers that will be required by the organization to achieve its objectives

Human resource or workforce plan

numbers of workers and skills of those workers required over a future time period

Workforce audit

a check on the skills and qualifications of all existing employees

Labour turnover

measures the rate at which employees are leaving the business

(number of employees leaving an organization/average number of people employed) x 100

Performance management

Continous process involving the planning, reviewing and mentoring of employees in order to enhance their performance at work.

Employee appraisal

the formal process of assessing the effectiveness of an employee judged against preset objectives.

Types of appraisal:

• Formative: Gather feedback that can be used by the supervisor and the employees to guide improvement in the ongoing work being undertaken by the workers

• Summative: Measure the level of an employee’s success or proficiency in meeting predetermined benchmarks

• 360° degree feedback: “All round” appraisal

• Self appraisal

Workforce

Number of employees at any point in time for a particular organization. Often used to measure the size of a business.

Mobility of labor

• Occupational mobility of labour: extent to which workers are willing and able to move to different jobs requiring different skills

• Geographical mobility of labour: extent to which workers are willing and able to move geographical region to take up new regions

Contract of employment

a legal document that sets out the terms and conditions governing a worker’s job

Flexible work patterns

The trend in using less core staff and more peripheral workers and subcontractors to improve the flexibility and productivity of the workforce.

Gross misconduct

Major misdemeanours, such as theft, fraud, endagering others or being drunk at work. Such acts can lead to instant dismissal.

Dismissal

being removed from a job due to incompetence or breach of discipline

Unfair dismissal

ending a worker’s employment contract for a reason that the law regards as unfair

Redundancy

when a job is no longer required so the employee doing this job becomes redundant through no fault of his or her own

Redeployment

Transferring a staff member from a department or branch that no longer requires his/her services to other areas of the business where a vancancy exists.

Recruitment

process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job to be filled and the type of person needed to fill it, attracting suitable candidates for the job and selecting the best one → Takes time and money

Internal recruitment

Practice of hiring people who already work for the firm to fill a position, rather than employing someone new to the organization

External recruitment

Involving hiring staff from outside the organization to fill vacant posts

Shortlisting

Process of sifting through applications to identify suitable candidates for a job. It is the stage that precedes the interview in the recruitment process.

Job analysis

Part of the recruitment process that involves scrutinizing the different components of a job to determine what it entails.

Job description

Document that outlines the nature of a particular job (roles, tasks and responsibilities). It is used for the recruitment and performance appraisal of employees.

Person specification

Document that gives the profile of the ideal candidate for a job, such as their skills, qualifications and experience.

Training

work-related education to increase workforce skills and efficiency

Induction training

introductory training programme to familiarize new recruits with the systems used in the business and the layout of the business site

On-the job training

instruction at the place of work on how a job should be carried out

Off-the job training

all training undertaken away from the business

Cognitive training

exercises designed to improve a person’s ability to understand and learn information

Behavioral skills training

is designed to improve an individual’s ability to communicate and interact with others both inside and external to the organization

Mentoring

Type of on-the-job training involving a partnership between a mentor and a mentee to help the mentee gain and develop specific skills and knowledge

Part-time contract

employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of 40 hours

Flexible hours contract/Flexi-time contract

employment contract that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees (some jobs are given an objective instead of hours of work)

Permanent employment contract

employement contract with no time limit

Temporary employment contract

employment contract that lasts for a fixed period of time

Homoffice/Teleworking

staff working from home but keeping contact with the office by means of modern IT communications

Portfolio working

the working pattern of following several simultaneous employments at any one time (such as freelance editors and management consultants)

Core employee

Permanent and full time employees

Peripheral employees

Temporary, part-time and self-employed employees

Outsourcing

Using another business (a third party) to undertake a part of the production process rather than doing it within the business using the firm’s own employees.

Common outsourced functions: Employee recruitment, training and development, human resources information systems, etc.

Offshoring

the relocation of a business process done in one country to the same or another company in another country

Re-shoring (in-shoring)

reversal of offshoring; the transfer of a business process or operation back to its country of origin

Hard HRM

an approach to managing staff that focuses on cutting costs (eg. using temporary and part-time employment contracts, etc.)

Soft HRM

an approach to managing staff that focused on developing staff so that they reach self-fulfillment and are motivated to work hard and stay with the business

Organizational structure

the internal, formal framework of a business that shows the way in which management is organized and linked together and how authority is passed through the organization (Framework/representation of how the roles are split in an organization)

Level of hierarchy

a stage of the organizational structure at which the personnel on it have equal status and authority

Tall (vertical) structure

one with many levels of hierarchy and, usually, narrow spans of control

Flat (horizontal) structure

one with few levels of hierarchy and wide spans of control

Span of control

the number of subordinates reporting directly to a manager

Chain of command

this is the route through which authority is passed down an organization - from the chief executive and the board of directors

Delegation

passing authority down the organizational hierarchy

Accountability

the obligation of an individual to account for his or her activities and to disclose results transparently

Delayering

removal of one or more of the levels of hierarchy from an organisational structure → Relocate or dismiss your employees

Layers: represents a level of responsibility and delegation in a business

Bureaucracy

an organizational system with standardized procedures and rules

Centralization

keeping all the important decision – making powers within head office or the center of the organization

Decentralization

decision – making powers are passed down the organization to empower subordinates and regional/product managers

Hierarchical structure

a structure in which power and responsibility are clearly specified and allocated to individuals according to their standing or position in the hierarchy

Businesses can also be organized:

• By product

• By function

• By region

Matrix organizational structure

An organizational structure that creates project teams that cut across traditional functional departments

Horizontally linked structure

Found in the IT sectors. Employees are grouped by function into three areas: planning, building and running. Allows companies to respond quickly to changing market conditions and technological advances

Shamnock’s organizational structure

Charles Handy’s model for organization made up by:

Core workers: full time, permanent contracts with competitive salaries and benefits (strategists, knowledge and core processes)

Outsourced functions: by independent provider (IT or management information system, marketing, payroll, training, franchising)

Flexible workers: temporary and part-time contracts (contractors and consultants)

Responsibility

Who is in charge of whom and in what role or capacity.

Organization chart

Diagrammatic representation of a firm’s formal structure.

Project-based organization

Organizes human resources around particular projects, each led by a project managers. Allows increased flexibility to adjust quickly to market changes and to adopt rapid innovations.

Communication

Transfer of information from one party to another. The objectives of communication include: to instruct, clarify, interpret, notify, warn, receive feedback, review and inform.

Feedback

The response to a message by a receiver

Intranet

internal computer networks built on internet technologies

Information overload

so much information and so many messages are received that the most important ones cannot be easily identified and quickly acted on - most likely to occur with electronic media

Management

practice of achieving an organization’s objectives by effectively using and controlling the available human and non-human resources.

Mintzberg’s management roles

Interpersonal: figurehead, leader, liason

• dealing with and motivating staff at all levels of the organisation

Informational: monitor (reciever), disseminator, spokesperson

• acting as a source, receiver and transmitter of information

Decisional: entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator

• taking decisions and allocating resources to meet the organisation’s objectives

Leadership

the art of motivating a group of people towards achieving a common objective

Functions of management

Roles of managers are planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling of business operations.

Leadership style

The way in which leaders tend to function, such as in an autocratic, paternalistic, democratic, situational or laissez-faire manner.

Autocratic leadership

a style of leadership that keeps all decision-making at the center of the organization

Paternalistic leadership

a type of fatherly style typically used by dominant males where their power is used to control and protect subordinate employees who are expected to be loyal and obedient

Democratic leadership

a leadership style that promotes the active participation of workers in taking decisions

Laissez-faire leadership

a leadership style that leaves much of the business decision-making to the workforce – a “hands-off” approach and the reverse of the autocratic style

Situational leadership

effective leadership varies with the task in hand, and situational leaders adapt their leadership style to each situation Very complex and most difficult skill

Motivation

the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that stimulate people to take actions that lead to achieving a goal

Extrinsic motivation

comes from external rewards associated with working on a task, for example pay and other benefits

Intrinsic motivation

comes from the satisfaction derived from working on and completing a task

Herzberg and the “two-factor theory”

Motivating factors (motivators): aspects of a worker’s job that can lead to positive job satisfaction, such as achievement, recognition, meaningful and interesting work and advancement at work

Hygiene factors: aspects of a worker’s job that have the potential to cause dissatisfaction, such as pay, working conditions, status and over-supervision by managers

Renumeration

Means the overall package of pay and benefits offered to an employee

Productivity

Measure the level of output per worker. It is an indicator of motivation as employees tend to be more productive with increased levels of motivation.

Empowerment

allowing workers some degree of control over how the task should be undertaken and the resources needed to complete it

Fringe payments/perks

The financial rewards paid in addition to a worker’s wages or salaries

Job enlargement

attempting to increase the scope of a job by broadening or deepening the tasks undertaken

Job enrichment

attempting to motivate employees by giving them opportunities to use the full range of their abilities.

Job rotation

the practice of moving employees between different tasks to promote experience and variety

Team working

production is organized so that groups of workers undertake complete units of work

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Outlines 5 levels of needs: physical, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation.

Lower order needs must be met before people progress up the hierarchy.

Pink’s drive theory

Suggests that people in moderns societies are motivated by 3 key elements of instrinsic motivation

• Autonomy

• Mastery

• Purpose

Scientific management

Developed by FW Taylor, suggests that specialization and vision of labour help to increase the level of productivity. This is especially the case if pay is linked to a piece-rate reward system.

Theory of economic man: states that humans were driven or motivated by money alone and the only factor that could stimulate further effort was the chase of earning extra money

Salary

annual income that is usually paid on a monthly basis

Time rate

Payment system that rewards staff for the time that they put into work. It is expressed per period of time (e.g. $10 per hour)

Piece rate

Payment system that rewards people based on the amount that they produce or sell. Thus, their pary is directly linked to their level of productivity.

Performance-related pay (PRP)

Payment system that rewards people who meet set targets over a period of time. It is a bonus scheme to reward staff for above-average work performance.

Commission

a payment to a sales person for each sale made

Organisational (corporate) culture

the shared values, attitudes and beliefs of the people working in an organisation that control the way they interact with each other and with external stakeholder groups.

Types of organisational culture

• Power culture: concentrating power among a few people. (likely a flat organizational structure)

• Role culture: each member of staff has a clearly defined job title and role.

• Task culture: based on cooperation and teamwork.

• Person culture: when individuals are given the freedom to express themselves and make decisions.

• Entrepreneurial culture: encourages management and workers to take risks, to come up with new ideas and test out new business ventures.

Culture clash

Exists when there is a conflict or incompatibility between two or more cultures within an organization

Culture gap

Difference between the existing culture of an organization and its desired culture. Management strive to reduce this gap.