Unit 6 - improving human resource performance

Human resource objectives

The targets pursued by the HR function or department of the business

Labour productivity

Measures the output of a firm in relation to its number of employees

Employee engagement

Describes the connection between a business's employees and its mission, goals and objectives

Employee involvement

Exists in a business in which people are able to have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their working lives

Training

A process whereby an employee gains job related skills and knowledge

Talent development

The development and guidance of outstanding or star employees who have the potential to make major contributions to an organisation's performance and success

Diversity

Recognising the differences between individual employees and also the differences that may exist between different groups of employees

Unit labour costs

Measure the labour cost per unit of output produced

Labour turnover

The percentage of a business's employees who leave the business over some period of time (normally a year)

Labour retention

The extent to which a business holds onto its employees

Human resource plan

Assesses the current and future capacity of a business's workforce and sets out actions necessary to meet the business's future human resource needs

Job design

The process of grouping together or dividing up tasks and responsibilities to create complete jobs

Job enrichment

Occurs when employee's jobs are redesigned to provide them with more challenging and complex tasks

Empowerment

A series of actions designed to give employees greater control over their working lives

Authority

The power to give orders, make decisions and to control events and people

Organisational structure

The way a business is arranged to carry out its activities

Organisational design

A process to ensure that the organisation is appropriately structured and designed to enable effective communication and coordination between staff

Levels of hierarchy

Refer to the number of layers of authority within an organisation i.e. how many levels exist between the CEO and the shop floor employee

Span of control

The number of subordinates directly responsible to a manager

Chain of command

The line of communication and authority existing within a business i.e. a shop floor worker reports to a supervisor, who is responsible to a departmental manager and so on

Delegation

The passing down of authority (but not responsibility) down the organisational structure

Human resource flow

The movement of employees through an organisation, starting with recruitment

Recruitment and selection

The process of filling an organisation's job vacancies by appointing new staff

Redundancy

Takes place when an employee is dismissed because a job no longer exists

Dismissal

Takes place when an employer terminates an employee's contract of employment and leads to employees exiting the human resource flow

Redeployment

Occurs when an employee is offered suitable alternative employment within the same business

Motivation

Describes the factors that arouse, maintain and channel behaviour towards a goal

Division of labour

The breaking down of production into a series of small tasks carried out repetitively by relatively unskilled labour

Time-and-motion study

Measures and analyses the ways in which jobs are completed, with a view to improving these methods

Commission

A method of payment in which the amount paid is related to the value of goods or services that an employee sells

Piece rate

A system whereby employees are paid according to the quantity of a product they produce

Performance related pay

Some part of an employee's pay is linked to the achievement of targets at work

Variable pay

A flexible form of pay that offers employees a highly individual pay system related to their performance at work

Employee welfare

A broad term covering a wide range of facilities that are essential for the well-being of a business's employees

Appraisal

The process of considering and evaluating the performance of an individual employee

Teamworking

When an organisation breaks down its production processes into large units instead of relying upon the use of the division of labour

Trade union

An organisation of workers established to protect and improve economic position and working conditions of its members

Collective bargaining

Entails negotiations between management and employee's representatives, often trade unions, over pay and other conditions of employment

Works council

A forum within a business where workers and management meet to discuss issues such as working conditions, pay and training

Communication

The transfer of information between people

Arbitration

A procedure for the settling of a dispute, under which the parties agree to be bound by the decision of a third party

Industrial dispute

A disagreement between an employer and its employees, usually represented by a trade union, over some aspect of the terms and conditions of employment

Conciliation

A method of resolving individual or collective disputes in which a neutral third party encourages the continuation of negotiations

on-the-job training

Employee training at the place of work while he or she is doing the actual job.

Off-the-job training

Internal or external training programs away from the workplace that develop any of a variety of skills or foster personal development.

ACAS

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service

Financial Motivators

The variety of methods that have a money value and are used to reward the workforce and influence their behaviour at work.

Non-financial motivators

Promotion

Praise

Teamwork

Fringe Benefits

Job enlargement/ job rotation

Job enrichment

employee involvement

a participative process that uses employees' input to decision making to increase their commitment to the organization's success

Employee Representation

Enabling workers to present their concerns to managers and then receive managers' response to those concerns

industrial action

Measures taken by the workforce or trade union to put pressure on management to settle an industrial dispute in favour of employees.

Work-to-rule

Situation in which workers slow processes by performing tasks exactly to specifications or according to job or task descriptions.

Hard HRM

a strategy of viewing employees as a resource to be monitored and used in an efficient manner to achieve the objectives

Soft HRM

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

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualization

Taylor's Scientific Management

Created in 20th century. Believed workers were motivated by money.

Favoured division of labour and piece-rate pay (paid for level of productivity)

Mayo's Human Relations Theory

A motivation theory that states that workers must be seen as members of a group and not as individuals

Hertzberg's Two-Factor Theory

Motivator factor: the factors that lead to satisfaction and the things that make employees work harder; examples like enjoying work and career progression

Hygiene factor: the factors that can lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of motivation if they are absent; like salary, benefits, company policies, etc.