1.4 Business

employees as an asset

are valuable to a business e.g. carry out tasks, bring in money to business

employees as a cost

they cost money and time for a business e.g. wages, training, welfare

renumeration

amount of money paid to somebody for the work that they have done

dismissal

when an employee has breached their contract of employment (fired/sacked)

redundancy

when the employee's job is no longer required

contract of employment

flexible working

outsourcing

when a business hires out some activities to other businesses e.g. delivery

multiskilled

Employer-Employee Relationship

individual bargaining

when employees negotiate with their employers about their own pay and working conditions often through appraisal process

collective bargaining

when a group of employees is represented by a workforce who negotiate with employers on issues such as pay and working conditions

trade union

work council

a form of collective bargaining where a group of employees meet regularly to discuss work related issues

internal recruitment

recruited from within the existing business

external recruitment

recruited from outside the business

job description

details of the role and responsibilities of the job title

person specification

details of personal characteristics needed to do a particular job

recruitment costs

induction training

introducing new staff to their workplace and their new role

on-the-job training

training given in the workplace by the employer e.g. mentoring, apprenticeships, shadowing

off-the-job training

training that takes place outside the workplace by an external provider

orgainisational structure

hierarchy

subordinate

a person under the authority or control of another within an organisation

span of control

the number of subordinates who are directly responsible to a manager. it can be wide or narrow

chain of command

the line of communication and authority existing in a business

tall structure

organisation structure that has lots of layers of hierarchy, long chains of command and narrow spans of control

flat structure

organisational structure that has fewer layers of hierarchy, short chains of command and wide spans of control

delayering

removing layers of hierarchy

centralised structure

orgainisations where the decisions are made by the senior managers at the top of the business

decentralised structure

organisations where the authority is shared out to more junior employees

matrix structure

staff are organised by two different criteria- normally if operations are project based

delegating

passing authority down the hierarchy from a manager to a subordinate

motivation

a force that makes people act, set goals and achieve them- it is a process that controls human behaviour as well as setting direction and action

absenteeism

The proportion of staff absent from work during a specific time period

Taylor scientific management

money is the key reason why workers are motivated- division of labour, piece rate and tight management e.g. McDonalds- no one makes the whole burger, someone fries the burgers, someone assembles etc

maslow hierarchy of needs

Maslow suggested that people are all motivated by similar needs and each need must be fulfilled before progression to the next

5 layers of Maslow's hierarchy of needs

• basic physical needs

• safety needs

• social needs

• self-esteem needs

• self-actualisation needs

herzberg two-factor theory

two groups of factors which influence motivation of workers- hygiene factors and motivating factors

Hygiene Factors (Herzberg)

factors which do not motivate but if not present will affect motivation and demotivate

Motivation factors (Herzberg)

factors which motivate workers positively

Mayo Hawthorne experiments

investigation whether certain factors affect a worker's productivity

one employee worked in usual conditions

other employee worked in changed conditions

found out that changing conditions positively or negatively affects productivity- increases it