Three functions/ responsibilities of a Human Resources (HR) department
- Recruitment and selection
recruits staff by advertising jobs, checks CV, shortlist candidates, arranging interviews, and issuing contracts. - Training and development
training to improve skills, performance, and career development. - Employee relations and welfare:
Value employees effort at work
Fair pay & compensation
No discrimination & conflicts
Discuss the concept of delegation.
3 reasons Why a manager should delegate
Delegation is assigning tasks and responsibility to others while the manager keeps overall accountability.
A manager’s time is limited
To make employees develop skills
Gives staff independence
To share workload
Improve team spirits
To improve efficiency
Define specialisation and discuss its utility for IT employees.
focusing on one specific work instead of doing many different tasks.
Builds expert skills
Improves work quality
Increases efficiency and speed
career progression
employees feel more valuable
Psychometric tests - Ability Test
measure an individual’s ability in numerical or verbally skills
psychometric tests - Aptitude test
a person’s potential to learn skills for a job
psychometric tests - personality tests
a person’s characteristics
about how they behave with other people
Reasonable adjustments
Changes an employer must make to help a disabled employee do their job fairly.
Access work fairly
No unfair disadvantage
Good support
Equality at work
2 selection techniques when seeking to make professional appointments
- one to one interview:
One interviewer, one candidate
Candidates are asked question to know their experience and thinking.
👍 Strength: Learn about the person
👎 Weakness: May not show real job ability.
- psychometric tests
3 types are: aptitude test, ability test, personality test.
Measure skills and ability
👍 Strength: Objective and fair
👎 Weakness: Costly and stressful
👉 Mnemonic: “Test the Talent”.
- CV / Application forms
Check qualifications and experience
👍 Strength: Quick and cheap
👎 Weakness: Info may be exaggerated
👉 Mnemonic: “Paper Proof”.
Three reasons justifying the dismissal of an employee
- Misconduct
When an employee behaves badly at work.
Examples:
Theft or fraud
Violence or harassment
Repeated breaking of company rules
👉 Mnemonic: “Bad Behaviour”
- Capability or competence
When an employee cannot do the job properly, even after support or training.
Examples:
Poor performance
Lack of skills
Long-term illness affecting ability to work
👉 Mnemonic: “Can’t Do the Job”
- Redundancy
When the job is no longer needed, not because of the employee.
Examples:
Company downsizing
Closure of a department
New technology replacing roles
👉 Mnemonic: “Job Gone”
Direct Discrimination
One employee is treated worse than another.
Because of who they are, not how they work
(e.g. disability, sex, race)
Indirect Discrimination
A rule applies to everyone,
But it unfairly disadvantages certain groups.
Examples include: requiring a certain height for a job or only offering full-time positions, which could disproportionately affect certain demographics.
JOB EVALUATION - analytical schemes
Break a job into small parts
Look at skill, responsibility, and conditions
Score each part
Add the scores to compare jobs fairly
👉B-S-S-A = “Break, Score, Sum, Assess”
JOB EVALUATION - Non analytical schemes
Look at the whole job, not the parts
Compare jobs overall
job ranking or classification methods rather than detailed analysis
👉W-C-R = “Whole job, Compare, Rank job”
Job Rotation
- Employees switch between different tasks or positions.
- Prevents boredom and burnout.
- Develops new skills and knowledge.
- Keep employee engaged and motivated.
Job Enlargement
Give employees a large variety of tasks at the same level.
Prevents boredom, keeps work interesting, boosts motivation.
👉 “EnLARGE = More Tasks.”
Job Enrichment
Add more responsibility, decision-making, or skillful tasks.
Makes employees feel trusted, valued, and more engaged.
👉 “EnRICH = More Responsibility.”
Management by Objectives (MBO)
It sets clear goals.
Managers and employees work together.
Progress is checked regularly.
It helps employees feel responsible and motivated.
It allows regular feedback and changes.
Examples:
- Sales Department:
Goal: Increase sales by 10% in one quarter.
The manager and sales staff agree on targets.
They check progress regularly. - Product Development Team:
Goal: Launch a new product in 6 months.
The team and manager set small goals together.
The manager gives support and resources. - Customer Service Department:
Goal: Improve customer satisfaction by 15%.
Staff set personal improvement goals.
They have monthly reviews for feedback and praise.
Constructive Dismissal
Employer makes work conditions unbearable
Employee has no real choice but to resign
Examples of constructive dismissal
→ Employer suddenly reduces pay or benefits.
→ Employee is forced to work excessive hours with no support.
→ Employer fails to fix health and safety risks.
→ Employer fails to act on complaints of discrimination.
Discuss the similarities and differences between the roles of director, manager and supervisor for a company
Similarities (what they all do):
Make decisions
Lead and motivate staff
Communicate information
Help achieve company objectives
Directors:
Set long-term strategy
Make major decisions
Focus on the whole company
Managers:
Turn strategy into plans
Manage departments or teams
Balance people and resources
Supervisors:
Oversee day-to-day work
Give instructions
Ensure tasks are done correctly
Definition of outsourcing
When a business hires another company to do certain work or services instead of doing it by itself.
This can also include hiring another company to help find better job candidates.
Three advantages of outsourcing
Cheaper than employing staff full-time
Experts can do the work better and faster.
Company can focus on what it does best
Disadvantages of outsourcing
Sensitive information shared externally
The quality of work may not meet expectations.
Less direct management of the work
Outsourcing (recruitment)
Organisations use agencies because:
Expert recruiters
More candidates available
Faster hiring, especially for specialists
Less work for HR
Good for temporary or urgent roles
