A level Business - Unit 6

when managers treat the human resource in the same way they would treat any other resource. Employee relations likely strained and staff may see the need to get trade union involved.

Staff responsible for achieving specific business objectives, and with the resources to get things done.

Treat workforce as a special strength of the business and therefore make sure that staff welfare and motivation are always top priority.

A regular (perhaps annual) meeting between employee and line manager to discuss past performances and future business and career objectives.

Subdividing a task into a number of activities, enabling workers to specialise and therefore become very efficient at completing what may be a small, repetitive task.

'Everything that surrounds what you do in the job', such as pay, working conditions and social status; all are potential causes of dissatisfaction, according to Herzberg.

Sense of well-being and achievement that stems from a satisfying job.

Paying workers per piece they produce (for example, £2 per pair of jeans made).

Output per person (that is, a measure of efficiency).

An organisation that represents the interests of staff at the workplace.

Having designed a new product, it is time to design the jobs needed to make the product. Merely subdivided it into repetitive work fragments will be unmotivating, so design the job with people in mind.

Doing something because you want to do it. Most business leaders think of it as prompting people to work hard. (Herzberg)

Removing a management layer from the organisational structure.

Number of staff who are answerable directly to a manager.

Where staff work in project teams in addition to their responsibilities within their own department. Therefore, staff can be answerable to more than one boss.

A statement of what the job tasks and duties are, that is, the job itself (rather than describing the right person for the job).

Familiarises newly appointed workers with key aspects of their job and their employer, such as health and safety policies, holiday entitlement and payment arrangements. The aim is to make employees fully productive as soon as possible.

An account of the qualifications, attributes and experience required from a successful candidate for the post.

Persuading staff to leave the company that trained them, thereby getting fully trained staff without paying the training cost (premier league clubs accused of this by lower league clubs).

Personal qualities such as warmth, openness, willingness to act on criticism and empathy.

When an independent person listens to the case put by both sides, then makes a judgement about the correct outcome.

Independent encourages both sides in a dispute to get together to talk through their differences. The conciliator helps the process but makes no judgement about the right outcome.

Obtaining a response to a communication, perhaps including an element of judgement (e.g, praise for a job done well).

Messages passing freely from the bottom to the top of the organisation, and from the top to the bottom.

Accepted attitudes and behaviours of people within a workplace.

Output per person

The rate at which people leave their jobs and need to be replaced.

Employment contract that promises nothing more than a last minute offer of work for the following week. This is flexible for employers at the cost of uncertainty for employees.

An employee who reveals unethical or risky practices that line managers have been trying to keep quiet. The secrets may be passes up the hierarchy or (if that has no effect) be revealed to the media/outside world.

total labour costs
---------------------------
unit of output produced

employee costs
----------------- x100
sales turnover

output per time period
-------------------------
number of employees

model based on the belief that the TASK itself is key to employee motivation.

there are certain factors in the workplace that cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors cause dissatisfaction.

motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

workers are motivated mainly by pay. His Theory of Scientific Management argued the following: Workers do not naturally enjoy work and so need close supervision and control. Therefore managers should break down production into a series of small tasks.