Understanding HR Objectives and Strategy

HR objectives might include:

1. Matching workforce skills, size and location to business needs.

This may involve 'retrenchment'. Click on the picture.

 

Or....the need for new staff.

 

2. Minimising labour costs.
In the news:

3. Making full use of the workforce's potential.

4. Maintaining good employer / employee relations.
Attempting to maintain good 'industrial relations' and avoid 'industrial action' such has occured on London Underground.

Click on the picture.

Internal and external influences on HR objectives:

HR strategies - Hard or Soft?

 

Developing and Implementing Workforce Plans

Workforce planning is a core process of human resource management that is shaped by organisational strategy.

It ensures the right number of people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time to deliver short- and long-term organisational objectives.

 

Components of workforce plans:

 

1. A skills audit of the current workforce

 

2. Data about labour turnover, absenteeism & wage rates.

 

3. Market research data and sales forecasts which will indicate the number of employees required.

 

4.Recruitment requirements (or redundancy requirements).

 

5. Training & development programmes. (including retraining & redeployment).

 

 

 

Assessing internal and external influences on workforce plans.

These should include:

Corporate objectives

Decisions made by other functional areas e.g. Operations & innovation

Legislation:

 

 

 Labour market trends including migration: 

 





Issues in implementing workforce plans:
Employer / employee relations
Costs
Corporate image
Training requirements - all of these can have positive and negative effects. Can you think of any? The video above addresses these issues.

The value of using workforce plans:
If the planning process is carried out effectively workforce plans will play a significant part in achieving corporate objectives.

Competitive Organisational Structure

From the A/S:

Considering working for Google? Click on the picture:

Other businesses tend to have a  more formal organisational structure.

Organisational structure refers to the relationship between different people and functions in an organisation - both vertically, from shop-floor workers through supervisors and managers to directors, and horizontally, between different functions and people at the same level.



Organisation chart: a diagram showing the lines of authority and layers of hierarchy in an organisation.

Organisational hierarchy: the vertical division of authority and accountability in an organisation.

Levels of hierarchy: the number of different supervisory and management levels between the shop-floor and the chief executive within an organisation

Span of control: the number of subordinates a manager is required to supervise directly.
If a manager has many subordinates answerable to him or her, the span of control is said to be wide.

If a manager has relatively few subordinates answerable to him or her, the span of control is said to be narrow.

Normally, the greater the degree of similarity in what a group of workers do, the wider the span of control can be.

Traditionally, organisations tended to have very tall hierarchical structures, i.e. many layers of management, each with a narrow span of control.
More recently, hierarchies have become flatter, meaning that the number of layers of management has been reduced and each manager has a wider span of control

Delegation is the process of passing authority down the hierarchy from a manager to a subordinate.
Delegation must be based on mutual trust between manager and subordinate.

Subordinates must be appropriately skilled, trained and informed about the particular task they will be responsible for.

Interesting and challenging tasks should be delegated as well as the more routine.
Responsibility and authority must be delegated.
The limitations of the subordinate's authority should be made clear too.

Managers must relinquish control to ensure that subordinates feel they are trusted and that the manager has confidence in them.

Advantages of Delegation:

It frees up time for managers to concentrate on strategic tasks.
It empowers and motivates workers.
Subordinates might have a better knowledge of local conditions and therefore might make more informed decisions.
Delegation may allow greater flexibility and a quicker response to changes.

Disadvantages of Delegation:

In some small firms, managers delegate very little, they may not trust the workforce.
Some staff may not be able to handle the responsibility.
In crisis situations it may not be appropriate.
Some staff may abuse the responsibility that they have been given.



More details on this topic here.
Socrative quiz:

Go to: m.socrative.com on your Smartphone.
Enter room: 151756 and give your team a name.

For BUSS3:
Methods of adapting organisational structures to improve competitiveness.

1. Centralisation

Advantages	Disadvantages
Easier to implement common policies and practices for the business as a whole	More bureaucratic – often extra layers in the hierarchy
Prevents other parts of the business from becoming too independent	Local or junior managers are likely to much closer to customer needs
Easier to co-ordinate and control from the centre – e.g. with budgets	Lack of authority down the hierarchy may reduce manager motivation
Economies of scale and overhead savings easier to achieve	Customer service does not benefit from flexibility and speed in local decision-making
Greater use of specialisation
Quicker decision-making (usually) – easier to show strong leadership

 

2. Decentralisation

 

Advantages	Disadvantages
Decisions are made closer to the customer	Decision-making is not necessarily “strategic”
Better able to respond to local circumstances	More difficult to ensure consistent practices and policies (customers might prefer consistency from location to location)
Improved level of customer service	May be some diseconomies of scale – e.g. duplication of roles
Consistent with aiming for a flatter hierarchy	Who provides strong leadership when needed (e.g. in a crisis)?
Good way of training and developing junior management	Harder to achieve tight financial control – risk of cost-overruns
Should improve staff motivation

3. Delayering
Details here.

4. Flexible workforces:
Core and peripheral workers
Outsourcing
Home working

Effective Employer / Employee Relations

Managing communications with employees

 

My Blubbr quiz on non-verbal communication:

 

 



Methods of employee representation

Works Councils

A group of employees representing a workforce in discussions with their employers. Click on the picture:

Works Councils can also be known as employee groups.

Trade Unions

An organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests.

Industrial disputes may involve Industrial Action

1. Strike action

Click on the picture

 



2. Overtime ban

Click on the picture

 





3. 'Working to rule'

Click on the picture

Methods of avoiding and resolving industrial disputes

1. Negotiations between employee representatives and management.

A nice theory to explain the balance of power is Lewins Force Field Analysis. Details here.



 



2. Using a government agency called ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).

You need to understand the difference between conciliation and arbitration. If you are not sure visit the ACAS website.