Business Studies - HRM: Influences

All the flashcards for HRM (Year 12 NESA Course)

Stakeholders

Individuals or groups with a common interest in or are affected by the outcomes of a business.

Employers

Stakeholder that exercises control over employees, responsible for wages/salaries & has the power to dismiss empolyees.

Employees

Stakeholder that works under the control of employers, where control includes workplace location, how work is performed, & supervision.

Employer Associations

An organisation stakeholder that represents & assists employer groups.
- Represents employers in collective bargaining sessions, industrial tribunals, courts, commissions & committees.

• eg. ACCI (Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry)

• ADD MORE

Unions/Trade Unions

Organisation stakeholder of employees in an industry or occupation that represents them in an effort to improve wages & working conditions

• Largest union in Australia is the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions)

Government Organisations

Organisation stakeholder that enforces laws & standards to ensure fairness, safety, equity in workplace

• Two main organisations are the Fair Work Commision (from the Fair Work Act 2009) and the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)

Society

Stakeholder of individuals & industries directly impacted by HR outcomes

ACTU

The Australian Council of Trade Unions

• Largest trade union within Australia

• Represents other unions in negotiations with government, lobbying

• Will fight for better employee conditions, and thus typically against employer interests.

Modern Award

Modern Award: A legal contract of the minimum terms & conditions applied within specific occupations or industries.

• 121 total industry/occupation awards

• May be supplanted by enterprise agreements, which may provide better conditions than the award, but this must past the BOOT (Better Off Overall Test)

Social Justice

Social Justice: notion of fair & just relations between individuals & society

• Aims to remove biases & prejudices against marginalised individuals, and to provide equitable opportunities for all people

Employment Contract

Employment contract: legally binding agreement between employer & employer detailing terms and conditions of employment, including job duties, pay, benefits, working hours, and more.

• There are indefinite (permanent unless one party decides to terminate) and fixed term (employment ends at set date)

Splits into:

• Individual contracts

• Independent contractors

• Casual work

• Part-time contracts

Individual Contracts

Individual Contracts: legal contracts negotiated individual employees & employers detailing terms & conditions of work

• Typically for senior or skilled employees on salaries above $250,000

• Common in private sector

• Do not require Fair Work Commision (FWC) approval

Independent Contractors

Independent contractors: self-employed works that provide services to a business but are not employees

• Note: they are not employees. They do not have the same protections as employees.

• eg. Consultants, freelancers,

Common Law

Common law: legal duties and entitlements established through court decisions and legal precedents set, rather than written legislation.

• Often includes implied terms & rights

  • eg. Employers must provide a safe work environment; Employees must act in good faith & perform duties with care

National Employment Standards (NES)

National Employment Standards (NES): minimum employment entitlements that must be provided to all employees in the national workplace relations system.

• Includes most Australian workers, covers essential conditions (eg. pay, leave, redundancy, parental & maternity leave, etc)

Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)

Fair Work Ombudsman: government organisation stakeholder that enforces & promotes Australian workplace laws

• Established alongside the FWC (formerly FWA) under the Fair Work Act 2009

• Focus on education, compliance and enforcement

• Educates employers & employees on their rights & responsibilities

Fair Work Commision (FWC, formerly Fair Work Australia (FWA))

Fair Work Commision (FWC): government organisation that acts as Australia’s national workplace tribunal

• Established alongside the FWO under the Fair Work Act (2009

• Enforces the Fair Work Act (2009) and resolves workplace issues

• Manages the judicial & legislative aspects of industrial relations to ensure fairness & compliance across workplaces.

• Involves setting & adjusting minimum wages, approving enterprise agreements, resolving disputes

Enterprise Agreement

Enterprise Agreement (EA): legal contract stipulating the terms & conditions of employment between a specific employer & their employees.

• Must get FWC approval & pass the BOOT

• Employers tend to prefer EA’s as they provide more flexibility than industry Awards

• Fixed 3 year time, then must be renegotiated or renewed with Enterprise Bargaining (EB)

• Downside: EA’s can require EB, which can take a significant amount of time as both employers and employees negotiate and compromise

Work Health and Safety (WHS)

Work Health and Safety (WHS): laws enforced by state & territory governments that aim to protect the wellbeing of workers & all parties affected by workplace activities (eg. customers, visitors, suppliers). Includes mental & physical health.

• Legal corpus set by the WHS Act (2011), sets out employer & employee duties

• WHS laws enforced by SafeWork NSW in Australia

• Ensures compliance, promises safe & productive work environment.

Workers’ Compensation (NSW)

Workers’ Compensation (NSW): component of the legal framework that stipulates a mandatory insurance system for employees injured or made ill at work

• Formed by the Worker’s Compensation Act (1987, NSW)

• Workplace Injury Management and Worker’s Compensation Act (1998, NSW)

• HR must ensure all employees are covered & claims managed correctly to ensure legal compliance

Discrimination

Discrimination: the alienation or disadvantage of a group based on personal characteristics irrelevant to the performance of work.

• eg. discrimination based on sex, gender, race, religious belief

• Includes harassment (offending behaviour or intimidation) and vilification (public act seeking to antagonise or incite hate)

• Anti-discrimination laws include the Sex Discrimination Act (1984) Cmlth, which outlaws discrimination on basis of gender identity, sexual orientation, relationship/martial status, etc.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Equitable policies & practices in the HR cycle and HRM practices.

• Equity reflected in providing opportunities towards disadvantaged groups, such as women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, etc

EEO at Qantas:

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP), focus on supporting gender diverse & LGBTQIA+ employees

Best Practice

(no BS definition available)

Best practice: actions, procedures, strategies deemed most desirable in the majority of businesses and situations, typically determined by the largest businesses within each industry.

• Eg. In training project managers, Google recommends various best practices for both Waterfall and Agile methodologies of leadership, including documentation and manager-employee interactions.

Acquisition (HRM)

Acquisition: Process of attracting & recruiting the right staff for roles within a business.

• Managers to understand bus. goals & culture to determine what skills & staff needed

• Managers to also understand external economic conditions (technological, legal, political, social)

Development (HRM)

Development: long-term process of developing employee skills, knowledge, & performance within a business

• Aims to enhance bus.’s overall competitiveness and potential

• May include coaching, leadership programs, mentoring, etc

Maintenance (HRM)

Maintenance: Process of managing the needs of staff for health & safety, industrial relations, & legal responsibilities including pay and benefits.

• Includes rewarding (benefits) & motivating employees

• Aims to motivate and reward employees so that they are more EE & productive

Separation (HRM)

Separation: Process of an employee leaving an organisation

• Two kinds: Voluntary or involuntary

• Voluntary: initiated by employee for personal or professional reasons (eg. new job, career change, student or family reasons)

• Involuntary: initiated by employer

  • Often because of business needs (restructing, redundancy), or employee issues (poor performance, misconduct)

Recruitment (HRM)

Recruitment: Process of attracting, identifying, screening, interviewing, engaging suitable candidates to fill a job vacancy within a business.

• Involves identifying the staff/skills needed within a business, advertising vacancies, screening candidates, interviewing, and finally selecting & offering roles to most suitable candidates

Selection (HRM)

Selection: Determining which potential candidates for a vacant job position are most suitable for the company.

Training (HRM)

Training: Short-term process of providing employees specific skills & knowledge for current roles, addressing immediate performance needs.

• Two kinds: On-the-job training and Off-the-job training

• eg. Training within the position as a Barista to learn to make coffee (on the job)

• eg. Training with a specialised online course outside of direct work (off the job)

Job Enlargement

Job Enlargement: Increasing the breadth (scope) of tasks within a role.

• Think like adding a new dimension of tasks the employee must now be responsible for.

• eg. Rather than just being the barista, you are also the cleaner (distinct from being just the barista).

Job Rotation

Job Rotation: Moving staff from one task to another over a period of time (multiskilling)

• eg. Rotation within a kitchen from a la carte work to fish & butchery

Job Enrichment

Job Enrichment: Increasing the responsibilities of a staff member within a task.

• Think like expanding the responsibilities within the same role.

• eg. As barista, you now also put the cash in the till & receive orders (not entirely seperate from being a barista. Compare this to also being the cleaner where there’s minimal/no relation to being a barista, and thus job enlargement)

Job Sharing

Job Sharing: Two individuals share the same job.

Performance Appraisal

Performance Appraisal: Evaluation of an employee’s performance within a business.

• Used to establish employer-employee communication

• Used as metric to determine promotions, raises, etc

• Assists business in determining how to reward/penalise employees

Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)

Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT): Taxes incurred by the business on the benefits they provide to employees.

• Established to prevent financial loopholes that balanced less wages with significant benefits to attract & retain employees

• Businesses must consider FBT in rewarding employees as costs can be substantial

Redundancy/Retrenchment

Redundancy/Retrenchment: Employee’s job is no longer required.

• Retrenchment means the employee is re-allocated to another position within the business. With redundancy, the employee is dismissed.

• May be caused by economic downturn, technological innovation, business relocation

Dismissal

Dismissal: termination of the employment contract

• Business must legitimate grounds for dismissal, including repeatedly poor performance, violation of behavioural standards, breach of employee obligations

• a Summary Dismissal is an on-the-spot dismissal due to a serious breach of contract (Eg. physical abuse or other employees or customers, theft)

Unfair Dismissal

Unfair Dismissal: harsh, unjust, or unreasonable dismissal of an employee by employer.

• FWC establishes legal grounds for unfair dismissal

• FWO investigates cases of unfair dismissal & misconduct

Leadership Style

Leadership Style: Method by which decision-making (DM) is conducted within a business, including the input & freedom of workers to make decisions

Four main styles:

• Autocratic: Management makes all decisions, little/no employee input

• Bureaucratic: Decisions made by following policy, little/no employee input

• Democratic: Manager consults employees before decisions but ultimately still makes final call

• Laissez-Faire: Employees have close to total autonomy, little/no manager input

Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic Leadership: Leadership style defined by little/no employee input, decision-making (DM) decided by management.

GOOD FOR:

• Unskilled staff

• Times of crises

CONSEQUENCES:

• May demotivate staff (no autonomy) → employee attrition increases

• Lacks innovation because no new input.

Democratic Leadership

Democratic Leadership: Leadership style whereby managers seek employee input but are ultimately still responsible for the decision-making.

GOOD FOR:

• Skilled/experienced employees

• Introducing new ideas

CONSEQUENCES:

• Significant time & resource cost from deliberating

• Relies on having experienced staff

Laissez Faire Leadership

Laissez Faire Leadership: Leadership style whereby employees have close to total autonomy & little/no manager input.

GOOD FOR:

• Skilled employees

  • Employees may be extremely motivated!

CONSEQUENCES:

• Lack of guidance or direction

• Heavily relies on skilled employees.

Job Design

Job Design: The number variety of tasks & processes a worker is expected to execute in their employment.

• Either General or Specific.

  • General: creation of roles focused on broad, generalised duties rather than specialised tasks.

  • Specific: creation of roles focused on specialised tasks rather than broad duties

Job Analysis

Job Analysis: The process of studying a job to determine its tasks & requirements.

• Helps business determine what specific skills & individuals are needed to fill a job vacancy

• Part of Acquisition (JRS, Junior’s [JR’s])

Recruitment

Recruitment: Process of locating & attracting the right staff with the correct skillset for vacant roles within a business.

• One of the most timely & costly processes for business

• Recruiting the wrong person can lead to significant economic, legal, and workplace issues.

  • Economic → lost training costs

  • Legal → risk of accidents or discrimination

  • Workplace → job dissatisfaction, incompatibility with corporate culture.

Internal Recruitment

Internal Recruitment: promotion of individuals within the business to fill job vacancies within a business

• May involve internal communications, eg. Internal websites

ADV:

• Applicants already integrated into workplace culture

• Less costly (no onboarding costs)

• May motivate employees

DISADV:

• Promoted individual must be replaced

• Low choice of candidates

• Lacks innovation from new, external employees

EXAMPLES:

• Vanessa Hudson, Qantas’ CFO now CEO

External Recruitment

External Recruitment: Sourcing of individuals outside the business to fill vacant roles within a business.

• May involve online advertisements, social media, employment conferences

ADV:

• Introduces new ideas, including those possibly from competitors

• Wider choice of candidates

DISADV:

• No guarantee the employee will integrate into the business culture

• High costs throughout Acquisition

• More expensive (needs onboarding, training, etc)

Performance Management

Performance Management: Continuous assessment of employee performance to ensure alignment with business strategies & objectives

• Aims to identify employee strengths & weaknesses to prepare them for future roles

• Splits into Developmental and Administrative

  • Developmental: focused on employee growth & feedback

    • Linked to Development process

  • Administrative: focused on DM for pay, promotion, rewards, & dismissal

Rewards

Rewards: Various incentives & benefits provided to motivate, retain, & enhance employees

• Splits into Financial (Monetary) and non-Financial (non-Monetary)

Monetary Rewards

Monetary Rewards: Financial incentives provided to employees

• Includes salaries, bonuses, profit-sharing and share-options

  • Wage: hourly rate

  • Salary: regular yearly compensation divided into regular pay periods (part or full time)

  • Profit-sharing: provides employees share of company profits & share options at discount

• Aims to align employee efforts with business goals, enhance performance, increase job satisfaction.