Unit 21 Human Resource Management

Introduction

Aim

This unit provides an introduction to the concepts and practices of human resource management within the United Kingdom and focuses on the management of recruitment, retention and employment cessation.

Unit abstract

Recruiting and retaining staff of the right caliber contributes to the achievement of organisational purposes. Staff must make a valued contribution to the work of the organisation. Eventually they will leave, more often than not because they find alternative employment or retire. Occasionally, however, employment has to be terminated. This unit considers how human resource management deals with these aspects of working. However, the focus of human resource management has moved beyond personnel management towards a more proactive approach that, in addition to the traditional roles associated with staff management, also considers how to get the best people and the best out of people so that they work in roles and ways that are closely aligned to organisational objectives. This often leads to the assertion by many senior managers that ‘Our employees are our most valuable resource’. Human resource management takes place against a background of organisational needs, policies and procedures that are themselves shaped by legal and regulatory requirements. The unit therefore gives consideration to the national and European legislation that has, for example, seen the introduction of a range of anti-discriminatory legislation, the significance of which can be seen regularly in high profile and often very expensive court cases. Organisations with effective human resource management policies, processes and practices will have committed, skilled employees who contribute effectively to the organisation. In competitive business contexts this is a significant contribution to maintaining a competitive advantage.

Learning outcomes

1 Understand the difference between personnel management and human resource management

Personnel management and human resource management:development of personnel management; change in contexts leading to human resource management
Human resource management function: tasks (selection, recruitment, payroll administration, employee motivation, reward management, employment termination); training and development; performance management (planning, monitoring, recording, actioning); employee relations; working in partnership with functional areas; involvement of line managers (selection, recruitment, training, coaching, mentoring, appraisal, grievance, discipline, termination); ethical issues; equality of opportunity
Employment legislation: Sex Discrimination Act 1995/97; Race Relations Act 1992; Race Relations Amendment Act 2000; Equal Pay Act 1970; Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005; European Working Time Directive; Employment Act 2008; Employment Relations Act 2004; Work and Families Act 2006; national minimum wage; Data Protection Act 1998; employment tribunals

2 Understand how to recruit employees

Human resource planning: definition, links (organisational purposes, organisational strategy, senior management); purpose (increased volume of business, changes to the required skills sets, employee turnover; labour cost control); time horizon (short term, medium term, long term); internal planning factors (organisational needs, demand for products and services, new products and services, new markets, technological change, location of production); workforce profiles (age, gender, ethnicity, ability, skills); external planning factors (supply and demand for labour (local, national international); government policy; labour market competition; changing nature of work; impact of technology
Recruitment and selection: recruitment policies, recruitment procedures, aims and objectives of the selection process; job analysis, job description (e.g. purpose, standard formats, responsibilities, scope of post, education and qualifications, experience); person specification (purpose, standard formats, job title, location in management line; essential and desirable attributes); recruitment methods (advertising vacancies, application methods including webbased methods, agencies, head hunters); interviews; assessment centres; tests (psychological, psychometric, aptitude, practical); resumés (CV); letters of application; references

3 Understand how to reward employees in order to motivate and retain them

Motivation: theories of motivation e.g. F Taylor, E Mayo, A Maslow, F Herzberg, D McGregor, D McClelland, V Vroom; relationship between motivation theories and reward; employee involvement techniques; membership of work groups board, works councils, quality circles, intra-organisational groups (transnational, national, site specific); devolved authority and responsibility; open communications; organisational culture (ethos, values, mission); national accreditation (Investors in People (IIP), Charter Mark, International Standards Organisation (ISO)
Monitoring: probation; appraisal, feedback; performance indicators (achievement against targets); goal theory; SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-constrained) targets (sales, growth, financial, waiting times, pass rates, punctuality, attendance); benchmarking
Reward management: job evaluation; factors determining pay, reward systems; pay; performance-related pay; pension schemes; profit sharing; employee share options; mortgage subsidies; relocation fees; bonuses; company vehicles; loans/advances; child care; school fees; corporate clothes; staff discounts; flexible working; leave; health care; extended parental leave, career breaks; cafeteria incentive schemes; salary sacrifice schemes; contracts of employment

4 Know the mechanisms for the cessation of employment

Reasons: dismissal (wrongful, unfair, justified); termination of employment (resignation, retirement, termination of contract); redundancy; redeployment; retraining
Management of exit: procedures (retirement, resignation, dismissal, redundancy); legal and regulatory framework; counselling, training; employment tribunals (role, composition, powers and procedures)