Business Studies Paper 1 Trails

Human Resources Function. Quality control. Section A

Meaning of Recruitment

• Recruitment is the process used by business to identify vacancies in the business and attract suitable candidates for it.

• it aims at finding candidates who have the necessary knowledge to fill the vacancy.

The Recruitment Process

1. Human resource manger should prepare a job analysis, that includes job specification in order to identify recruitment needs.

2. HRM should indicate the job specification to attract suitable candidates.

3. Choose method of recruitment 

4. Vacancies can be internally advertised via office notice board

5. If internal recruitment is unsuccessful, external recruitment should be considered.

6. If external recruitment is chosen relevant recruitment sources should be approached.

7. An advertisement should be prepared with the relevant information e.g contact details.

8. Place the advertisement in the appropriate media that will ensure that the best candidates apply.

Job Analysis

• Is a tool used by the human resource function to obtain and analyse information about the business’s workforce so that they can place the right person in the right job.

• Consists of job description and job specification.

Job Description

• Describes the responsibilities of a specific job.

• Written description of the job and its requirements.

• Describes key performance area for a specific job e.g job title.

Job Specification

• Describes the minimum acceptable personal qualifications needed for the job.

• Written description of specific qualifications needed for the job.

• Describes key requirements of the person who will fill the position.

Internal Recruitment

HRM can look for suitable candidates within the organisation.

• Office notice board.

• Headhunting within the business database.

• Business newsletter.

External Recruitment

HRM can look for suitable candidates outside the organisation.

• Walk-ins. 

• Headhunting outside business database.

• Printed Media - Newspapers

External Recruitment Advantages

• New candidates bring in new skills into the business.

• it may help business to meet affirmative action and BBBEE targets.

• There is a larger pool of candidates to choose from from.

• Minimises conflict amongst current employees who may have applied for the post.

External Recruitments Disadvantages

• Many unsuitable applications may slow down the selection process.

• External sources can be expensive.

• Information on CV’s may not be reliable.

• New candidates generally take a longer to adjust to a new work environment.

Internal Recruitment Advantages

• Quicker to fill the post since candidates are known in the business.

• Placement is easy as management knows the employees skills.

Employment Contracts

• It is a legal binding between the employer and employee.

• The employment contract states various terms and procedures regarding her/his conditions of service and code of conduct.

Aspects of a Employment Contract

• Job title

• Job description such as duties

• Job specifications such as formal qualifications and willingness to travel.

• Probation period

Legal requirements of the employment contract

• Both the employer and employee must sign.

• Employer and employees must agree to any changes of the contract.

• The employment contract should include the code of conduct and code of ethics.

• Aspects of the employment contract can be renegotiated during the course of employment.

Reasons for the termination of an employment contract 

• An employee may have reached the pre-determined age of retirement.

• Employees decided to resign voluntarily for better job opportunities.

• Employer may retrench some employees due to not being able to pay the employee.

• Employer may dismiss an employee for a valid reason.

Induction

• The process of introducing and familiarising new employees to the enterprise.

• New employees are informed about the procedures of the business.

Aspect that must be included in the induction programme

• Information about the businesses products or service.

• Tour of the business premises.

• Safety regulations and rules of the business.

• Overview of the business.

Purpose of the Induction

• Communicate information about the product or service offered by the business.

• Provide new employees information about the layout of the business.

• Explain safety regulations and rules so new employees will understand their roles.

• Familiaries new employees with the organisational structure.

Advantages of induction in the business

1. Allows new employees to settle in quickly and work effectively.

2. Decrease the need for no-going training and development.

3. Reduces staff turnover as new staff have been inducted properly.

4. The result obtained during the induction process a base for forced training.

Placement

• Selected candidates are placed where they will function optimally and add value to the business.

• A specific job is assigned to the selected candidates.

Placement Procedure

• Business should outline specific responsibilities of new positions.

• The business should determine the employees strengths, weaknesses, interest, and skills by subjecting the employee to a range of psychometric tests.

• The business should determine the relationship between the position and the competencies of the employee.

The importance of training in HR

• Ongoing training and up-skilling of the workforce, encourages creativity.

• Productivity usually increases when a company implements training courses.

• An effective training program allows employees to improve their skills and knowledge.

• The investment in training that a company makes shows employees that they are valued. 

Salary Determination: Link between salary determination and the BCEA

• The BCEA sets out conditions to ensure fair labour and human resources practices.

• BCEA outlines legalities such as the employment contract which can affect salary determination method used.

• Under the BCEA businesses may use different remuneration methods to pay workers.

Piecemeal

1. Workers are paid according to the number of items.

2. Mostly used in factories particularly in the technology industries.

3. Worker are not remunerated for the number of hours worked, regardless of how long it took to complete the items.

Time-Related

1. Workers are paid for the amount of time they spend on a task.

2. Many private and public sector businesses use the method

3. Workers with the same experience are paid on salary scales regardless of the amount of work done.

Fringe Benefits 

• Pension fund 

• Funeral benefits

• Medical aid fund

• Housing allowance 

• Car allowance

• Staff discount

Advantage of Fringe Benefits

• Improves productivity resulting in higher profitability

• Businesses save money as benefits are tax deductible.