The roles of Human Resource department

● Recruitment and selection - attract and select the best candidates for the job post
● Wages and salaries - set wages and salaries that would attract and retain employees
as well as motivates them
● Industrial relation - There must be an effective relationship between management
and workforce to solve complaints and dispute as well as discuss ideas and
suggestions
● Training programme - gives training to employees to improve productivity and
efficiency
● Health and safety - all laws of on health and safety in the workplace should be
followed
● Redundancy and dismissal - the managers should dismiss an
unsatisfactory/misbehaving employees or make them redundant when they are no
longer need for the job

A vacancy arises when an employee resigns or is dismissed by the management. When the
vacancy arises, a job analysis is prepared. A job analysis identifies and records the tasks
and responsibilities relating to the job. This gives the managers about what the job post is
for. Then a job description is prepared. A Job description outlines the responsibilities and
duties to be carried out by someone employed to do it. Includes information about conditions
of employment/working conditions (salaries, working hours, etc.). This is given to all the
candidates so that they know what they will be required or expected to do. When this is
done, the H.R department will draw up a job specification. A job specification is a document
that outlines the requirement, qualification, expertise, skills and physical/personal
characteristics, etc. This is required by an employee to take up the job.

Recruitment

Internal Recruitment
A vacancy filled by an existing employee of the business

Advantages - saves time and money

known to the business
knows the business way of working
motivates other employees to see their colleague being promoted - encourage
them to work harder

Disadvantages - no new skills coming into the business

jealousy among workers

External Recruitment
A vacancy filled by someone who is not an existing employee and will be new to the
company
● Needs to be advertised (local/national newspapers, specialist magazines, job centres
or recruitment agencies)
● The business needs to decide:
○ what should be included in the advertisement
 ○ where it should be advertised
○ how much it will cost
○ whether it will be cost-effective.
● The candidates should apply for it by:
○ Sending CV or resumes (will includes their qualifications, experiences, qualities
and skills as well as why they want the job and why they think they would be
suitable for the job)

Selection

Applicants who are shortlisted will be interviewed by the H.R manager. They will also call up
the referee(a previous employee or colleagues who can give opinions about their reliability,
honesty and suitability) provided with the applicant. Interviews will allow the manager to
assess:
● the applicant’s ability to do the job
● personal qualities of the applicant
● character and personality of applicant

Some businesses includes tests in their selection process such as:

● Skill test (ability to do the job)

● Aptitude test (candidate’s potential to gain additional skills)
● Personality test (what kind of a personality the candidate has- will it be suitable for
the job?)
● Group situation test (how they manage and work in teams)

Ability test and personality tests are the general type of psychometric test.

The benefits and limitations of part-time and full-time employees

Part-time employment is often considered to be between 1 and 30-35 hours a week

whereas full-time employment will usually work 35 hours or more a week.

Advantages of part-time employment:

● more flexible hours of work

● easier to ask employees just to work at busy times
● easier to extend business opening/operating hours by working evenings or at
weekends
● works lesser hours so employee is willing to accept lower pay
● less expensive than employing and paying full-time workers.

Disadvantages of part-time employment:

● less likely to be trained because the workers see the job as temporary
● takes longer to recruit two part-time workers than one full-time worker
● can be less committed to the business
● more likely to leave and go get another job
 ● less likely to be promoted because they will not have gained the skills and
experience as full-time employees
● more difficult to communicate with part-time workers when they are not in work- all
work at different times.

Advantages of full-time employment:

● More likely to be trained because the workers will see the job as permanent
● Takes less time to recruit
● Can be more committed to the business
● Less likely to leave and go get another job
● More likely to be promoted
● More easier to communicate

Disadvantages of full-time employment:

● Difficult to balance their personal life

● harder to ask employees just to work at busy times
● harder to extend business opening/operating hours by working evenings or at
weekends
● works more hours so employee is not willing to accept lower pay
● more expensive than employing and paying part-time workers.

Training

Training is important to a business as it may be used to:

● introduce a new process or new equipment

● improve the efficiency of the workforce
● provide training for unskilled workers to make them more valuable to the company
● decrease the supervision needed
● improve the opportunity for internal promotion
● decrease the chances of accidents

Training is usually trying to achieve one or more of the following:

● To increase skills.
● To increase knowledge.
● To improve employees’ attitudes to encourage them to accept change and raise
awareness, for example, a need to improve customer service.

There are three main types of training:

● introduction training
● on-the-job training
 ● off-the-job training.

Introduction training
An introduction given to a new employee, explaining the firm’s activities, customs and
procedures and introducing them to their fellow workers.

Advantages:

● Helps new employees to settle into their job quickly

● May be a legal requirement to give health and safety training at the start of a job
● Means workers are less likely to make mistakes

Disadvantages:

● Is time consuming
● Means wages are paid but no work is done
● Delays the state of employee starting their job

On-the-job training
Occurs by watching a more experienced worker doing the job

Advantages:

● Individual tuition is given and it is in the workplace so the employee does not need to
be sent away
● Ensures there is some production from the worker while they are training
● Usually costs less than off-the-job training

Disadvantages:

● The trainer will not be as productive as usual because they are showing the trainee
what to do instead of doing their own job
● The trainer may have bad habits and may pass these to the trainee
● May not necessarily be recognised training qualifications outside the business

Off-the-job training
Involves being trained away from the workplace, usually by specialist trainers

Advantages:

● a broad range of skills can be taught using these techniques

● if these courses are taught in the evening after work, they are cheaper for the
business because the employee will still carry out their normal duties during the day
● the business will only need to pay for the course and it will not also lose the output of
the employee
● employees may be taught a variety of skills, becoming multi-skilled, and this makes
them more versatile – they can be moved around the company when the need arises
● it often uses expert trainers who have up-to-date knowledge of business practices.
Disadvantages:

● costs are high

● it means wages are paid but no work is being done by the worker
● the additional qualifications mean it is easier for the employee to leave and find
another job.

Workforce Planning
The establishing of the workforce needed by the business for the foreseeable future in terms
of the number and skills of employees required.

They may have to downsize (reduce the no. of employees) the workforce because of:

● Introduction of automation
● Falling demand for their products
● Factory/shop/office closure
● Relocating factory abroad
● A business has merged or been taken over and some jobs are no longer needed.

They can downsize the workforce in two ways:

● Dismissal: where a worker is told to leave their job because their work or behaviour is
unsatisfactory.
● Redundancy: when an employee is no longer needed and so loses their work, though
not due to any fault of theirs. They may be given some money as compensation for
the redundancy. When an employee is redundant, they will get a 3 month notice in
advance so they can find a new job during those time

Workers could also resign (they are leaving because they have found another job) and retire
(they are getting old and want to stop working).

The following factors helps a business to decide which worker to redundant and which
worker to retain:

● Some workers may volunteer and be happy to be made redundant – because they
may have another job they can go to, they want to retire early or they want to start
their own business.
● Length of time employed by the business – workers who have worked for the
business for a long time are often retained. They will have the most experience and
be the most expensive to make redundant, if redundancy payments are made.
● Workers with essential skills that are needed by the business or whose skills could
be transferable to other departments are often retained
● Employment history of the worker – whether they have a good/poor attendance,
punctuality or appraisal record.
● Which departments of the business need to lose workers and which need to retain
workers.

Legal controls over employment issues

In many countries governments have passed laws that affect the relationship between
employers and employees. The most important employment issues affected by legal controls
are:

● employment contracts
● unfair dismissal
● discrimination
● health and safety
● legal minimum wage

The contract of employment

A legal agreement between the employer and the employee listing the rights and
responsibilities of workers.

It will include:

● The name of employer and employee

● job title
● date when employment will begin
● hours to work
● rate of pay and other benefits
● when payment is made
● holiday entitlement
● the amount of notice to be given to terminate the employment that the employer or
employee must give to end the employment etc.

Impact of employment contracts on employee and employer:

● Both employees and employer know what to expect

● Provides some security for employee
● If employee does not meet the conditions of contract then legal dismissal is allowed
● If employer fails to meet the conditions of contract then employees can seek legally
binding compensation

Employees need protection in the following areas:

● Unfair discrimination
● Health and safety
● Unfair dismissal
● Wage protection

Unfair dismissal
Occurs when employer ends a workers contract of employment for a reason that is not
covered in contract

Impact of unfair dismissal on both employee and employer:

● Employer must keep accurate records of workers performance if want to claim that
employee has broken the contract of employment before dismissing them
● Employee have security of employment
 ● Allows employees take employer to industrial tribunal if feel they have been treated
unfairly, may get compensation if found true
● Make business less likely to treat employees unfairly as they know they may be
taken to the industrial tribunal and may have to pay compensation or give tbhe
employee their job back

Protection against discrimination

Employer make decisions that are based on ‘unfair’ reasons such as :

● Different race colour

● Different religion
● Opposite sex
● Are considered too old or too young
● Disabled

Impact of discrimination on both employee and employer:

● Employees should be treated equally in the workplace and when being recruited and
should be paid equal amounts for similar work
● Business should recruit and promote staff on merit alone and this should help
increase motivation

Health and safety at work

Some countries laws make sure all employers:

● Protect workers from dangerous machinery

● Provide safety equipments and clothing
● Maintain reasonable workplace temperature
● Provide hygienic conditions and washing facilities
● Provide breaks

Impact of health and safety on both employee and employer:

● Cost to employer of meeting the health and safety regulations

● Time needs to be found to train workers in health and safety precautions
● Workers feels safer and motivated at work
● Reduces accident rate and cost of compensation for workers injured at work

Legal minimum wage

Workers have right to be paid for work they do for employer
Must be written in the contract of employment which will contain details not only of the hours
of work and the nature of the job but also of:

● The wage rate to be paid

● How frequently wages will be paid
● What deductions will be made from wages (E.g. income tax)

Impact of legal minimum wage on employee and employer:

 ● It should prevent strong employers from using unskilled workers who could not easily
find other work.
● As many unskilled workers will now be receiving higher wages, it might encourage
employers to train them to make sure that they are more productive.
● It will encourage more people to seek work. There should be fewer shortages of
workers.
● Low-paid workers will earn more and will have higher living standards, meaning they
will be able to afford to buy more.
● It increases business costs, which will force them to increase prices.
● Some employers will not be able to afford these wage rates. They may make workers
redundant instead. Unemployment may rise.

Definitions to learn

Recruitment - the process of identifying that the business needs to employ someone up to
the point where applications have arrived at the business

Employee selection - the process of evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting
an individual for employment based on the needs of the organisation

Job analysis - identifies and records the tasks and responsibilities relating to a job

Job description - outlines the responsibilities to be carried out by someone employed to do

it.

Job specification - document which outlines the requirements, qualifications, expertises,

physical/personal characteristics, etc.

Internal recruitment - when a vacancy is filled by someone who is already an existing

employee of the business

External recruitment - when a vacancy is filled by someone who is not an existing

employee and will be new to the business

Part-time - employees will often work between 1 and 30-35 hours a week

Full-time - employees will usually work for 35 hours or more per week

Introduction training - an introduction given to a new employee, explaining the business

activities, customs and procedures and introducing them to fellow employees

On-the-job training - occurs by watching a more experienced worker doing the job

Off-the-job training - involves being trained away from the workplace, usually by specialist
trainers

Workforce planning - where a business decides on the type and number of employees
needed in the future

Dismissal - when employment is ended against the will of employee

Redundancy - when an employee is no longer needed

Contract of employment - a legal agreement between an employer and an employee,

listing rights and responsibilities of workers

Industrial tribunal - a type of law court that makes judgements on disagreement between
companies and their employees

Ethical decision - a decision taken by a manager or a company because of the moral code
observed by the frim.