6.1.1 SETTING HUMAN RESOURCE OBJECTIVES

AQA Business

6 DECISION MAKING TO IMPROVE HUMAN RESOURCE PERFORMANCE

Draw a spider diagram to show how technology has affected decision

making and activities in relation to human resources.

6.1.1 SETTING HUMAN RESOURCE OBJECTIVES

In this topic you will learn about

The value of setting human resource objectives

Internal and external influences on human resource objectives and decisions

HUMAN RESOURCE OBJECTIVES

Human resource objectives are the targets that the function of a business responsible for all employee related issue want to achieve in a given time period

These include:

Employee engagement and involvement

Talent development

Training

Diversity

Alignment of values

Number, skills and location of employees

Voted #1 big company to work for. What do you think are the HR objectives at TGI Friday?

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND INVOLVEMENT

Employee engagement is the degree of commitment shown by employees to their individual work as well as towards the business objectives as a whole

Employee involvement is the amount of contributions an employee can make to their working practises and decision making

Engaged and involved workers will:

Be positive about the workplace

Be active rather than passive

Seek opportunities to influence the workplace

Want to be involved in decision making

Read the CIPD factsheet on employee engagement.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Talent development identifies those employees who have potential and nurturing this to help them progress

Talented employees have the potential to help the business achieve its goals in the future

It is important to retain these employees and give them opportunities to shine and progress

Discuss the aspects of the talent

development cycle.

TRAINING

Training is the process of equipping employees with the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out their job effectively

Training can take time and money but the benefits of a productive and motivated workforce are considered greater

With reference to Costa Coffee explain the difference between training and talent

development. What do you think are the HR objectives at Costa?

DIVERSITY

Diversity is recognising and respecting the fact that all employees are different

Employees have different priorities, backgrounds and beliefs

An objective of diversity will aim to ensure that personal differences do not hinder progress in the workplace and that employees are not discriminated against on grounds of:

Age

Gender

Race

Religion

Sexual orientation

Does the BBC have a diverse workforce?

What are the benefits?

What evidence is there of a lack of diversity in the public sector?

ALIGNMENT OF VALUES

Alignment of values is bringing the core values or beliefs of all employees together to focus on achieving a common aim

This can lead to a strong corporate culture where all employees fit in to “the way we do things around here” mind set

In year2 you will learn more about corporate culture including: Handy’s task,

role, power and person culture

Hofstede’s national cultures

Value alignment is the foundation of corporate culture. Read more.

NUMBER, SKILLS AND LOCATION OF EMPLOYEES

Matching workforce skills, size and location to business needs

This is important for the business to run smoothly and be able to match supply to demand Enabling all aspects of the business to function Meet new challenges to the business Meet seasonal fluctuations Respond to changes in the workforce e.g. people leaving, changing

jobs internally, taking maternity or paternity leave

How will changes to parental leave effect the ability of small and big businesses to match workforce skills,

size and location to business needs?

INTERNAL INFLUENCES ONHR OBJECTIVES

Corporate objectives

Cost minimisation

Market growth

Maximise shareholders’ returns

Increased competitiveness

Financial objectives and strategies

Allocating capital expenditure

Cutting budgets

Implementing profit centres

Increasing ROCE

How might a HR function respond to each of these

corporate objectives?

IN PAIRS

A business is looking to increase profitability. It has identified 2 possible strategies.

1. A move to more capital intensive production techniques

2. Relocate abroad to a place with cheaper labour costs

How might the HR objectives vary depending upon the option chosen?

INTERNAL INFLUENCES ON HR OBJECTIVES

Operations objectives and strategies

Labour v. capital intensive

Innovation

Effective time management

Lean production

Marketing objectives and strategies

Low cost v. differentiation

Market development v. product development

Consider how HR may respond to each of these

operational issues

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON HR OBJECTIVES

Workforce skills and availability

Number of school leavers and graduates

Skills shortages v. skills surplus

Demographics e.g. ageing population, immigrants

Technological change

Capital intensity

Skills

Market conditions

Growth, static or decline

Consumer habits

To what extent is the UK’s skills gap a major influence on HR objectives?

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON HR OBJECTIVES

Political factors

UK legislation Minimum wage

Age discrimination

EU directives Work time directive

Paternity leave

Social factors

Family commitments Mothers returning to work

Single parent families

Students working to fund university

How will ethical and environmental issues affect HR objectives?

HR APPROACHES

The overall way in which a business treats its staff

Has a direct impact upon the level of performance, motivation of employees and management styles

There are 2 opposing HRM approaches

Hard HRM

Staff are treated as a resource that must be managed in order for the business to control costs and output

Soft HRM

Staff are treated as an asset to the business that can contribute and help the business achieve its objectives

Office philosophy according to Dilbert.

HR APPROACHES

Soft HRM Hard HRM

• Opportunities for staff development• Training• Talent development• Internal promotion

• Empowerment• Consultation• Greater autonomy and

responsibility• Flatter organisational

structure

• Control mechanisms• Judgemental appraisals• Centralised decision

making• Tall organisational

structure• Fixed term contracts• Minimum wage• External recruitment

I N PA I R S T H I N K A BO U T T H E S T R E N GT H S A N D W E A K N E S S E S O F T H E S E 2 A P P R O AC H E S T O H R M A N D C O M P L E T E T H E TA B L E B E LO W

Strengths Weaknesses

Soft

Hard

6.1.1 SETTING HUMAN RESOURCE OBJECTIVES

In this topic you have learnt about

The value of setting human resource objectives

Internal and external influences on human resource objectives and decisions