Employee participation is where organisations will offer the chance for employees to have an opinion in decisions.
This shares a connection with the democratic leadership style where you can have a say. The chief executive or the head of the business may still make the final decision. The employees get some authority to make decisions in the work place without having to run it past the manager which is what they call empowerment.
One of the main ways in which employees are now getting involved in helping with decision making and managers are allowing them to get involved is by the use of social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace. These have their advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that they can easily be read by managers because they are easily accessible and they can give the business a wide variety of suggestions of what decisions to make.
A disadvantage on the other hand is that people outside the organisation may be able to see these comments and decisions that are being made and therefore competition may be able to see what the business is planning. This can be avoided by privacy settings and such but there may still be other problems occurring if they make their planning so public.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Week 14 - Equal Opportunities
Equality stands for ‘Equal Opportunities’. The purpose of it is that it is based on the legal obligation to comply with anti-discrimination legislation. It protects people from being discriminated against on the grounds of race, age sex, disability etc. Diversity recognises the differences among individuals, and entails a variety of conditions and characteristics. Diversity entails respecting individual differences.
Week 13 - Selection
There are many methods that businesses use for selection of employees. Here are a few of them:
· Interviews are the most popular form of selection as they can get to know the candidate better in the sense that they can see what their body language is like and they can notice by their facial expressions what kind of person they are and how they react in different situations. They are usually conducted face-to-face and this can sometimes be a problem because some candidates may feel nervous and uncomfortable which may show in their interview and this may not get them the job even though they may be the perfect candidate for the job.
· Telephone Screening is when an interview is conducted over the phone. These are usually conducted when there are many people for them to go through as they are quick and easy to conduct and they can be the starting point for a second interview to be conducted face-to-face. However a disadvantage of this method is that it may not be completely reliable as some people may react different on the phone than they are in person and therefore some of their answers may not be completely accurate.
· References are also used to get an idea of what a candidate is like in a previous or existing job. These can be useful as they can give an organisation an insight into what the candidate is like before they give them an opportunity for an interview. However, these can be quite risky as it may not be a reliable person writing the reference or you may not get to talk to the right person and they may give you unreliable information.
The interview that I had for my job was very simple and I thought it was quite ineffective. I went into the interview and I had to fill out an application form. Once this was done, I was asked a few questions about myself and what I am currently doing. Then I was asked to read out a script as I work in a call centre and the way in which we talk is the most important aspect of the job. Once this was done, I was told I had got the job and was asked to come in for training. I felt that it was a rather unprofessional interview and that it could have been improved by asking more detailed questions.
· Interviews are the most popular form of selection as they can get to know the candidate better in the sense that they can see what their body language is like and they can notice by their facial expressions what kind of person they are and how they react in different situations. They are usually conducted face-to-face and this can sometimes be a problem because some candidates may feel nervous and uncomfortable which may show in their interview and this may not get them the job even though they may be the perfect candidate for the job.
· Telephone Screening is when an interview is conducted over the phone. These are usually conducted when there are many people for them to go through as they are quick and easy to conduct and they can be the starting point for a second interview to be conducted face-to-face. However a disadvantage of this method is that it may not be completely reliable as some people may react different on the phone than they are in person and therefore some of their answers may not be completely accurate.
· References are also used to get an idea of what a candidate is like in a previous or existing job. These can be useful as they can give an organisation an insight into what the candidate is like before they give them an opportunity for an interview. However, these can be quite risky as it may not be a reliable person writing the reference or you may not get to talk to the right person and they may give you unreliable information.
The interview that I had for my job was very simple and I thought it was quite ineffective. I went into the interview and I had to fill out an application form. Once this was done, I was asked a few questions about myself and what I am currently doing. Then I was asked to read out a script as I work in a call centre and the way in which we talk is the most important aspect of the job. Once this was done, I was told I had got the job and was asked to come in for training. I felt that it was a rather unprofessional interview and that it could have been improved by asking more detailed questions.
Week 12 - Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring best-qualified candidates (from within or outside of an organisation) for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner.
I looked at www.monster.co.uk. When you first enter the website, my first impressions were that it looks quite user friendly and quite attractive with a professional yet helpful look to it. The first thing I saw was the power search option where you can search for a certain job in a certain location. This is helpful as it narrows down any options that people have and can help choose a job that fits their requirements. There are also many other aspects to this website that are very helpful which are things like giving tips for job interviews, CV advice and how to fill in application forms.
Advantages of using online recruitment are:
· Layout of an online recruitment site is usually very easy and simple to use. It is usually jobseeker friendly and will guide to them on how to use the site.
· Easily accessible. These websites can also be used on the phone which is also very popular.
· Set’s out the job descriptions and clearly defines what the business are looking for e.g. qualifications and experiences.
· Includes a whole range of jobs to meet qualifications and experience and also gives recommendations.
· Details are already registered and you don’t have to keep applying because they can e-mail you job alerts.
Disadvantages of using online recruitment are:
· The internet might not be accessible at times because of network connections.
· There may be security issues as they can pass on your date to third parties and you may not even know about it.
· Discrimination because they got details but this is in extreme cases.
· There may be too many candidates applying for the same posts so there is less of a chance of getting the job you desire.
· The popular job seeking websites will always have the best recruiters because they are always the first to come into the search engine.
Constraint attraction- this can occur to the people of those unable to fully utilise technology for example certain disabled groups.
A psychological contract is the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other. These obligations ca often be informal and imprecise and they may be inferred from actions or from what has happened in the past, as well as from statements made by the employer. Some obligations may be seen as 'promises' and others as 'expectations'. The important thing is that they are believed by the employee to be part of the relationship with the employer.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/recruitment.html
http://www.monster.co.uk/
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/psycontr.htm
I looked at www.monster.co.uk. When you first enter the website, my first impressions were that it looks quite user friendly and quite attractive with a professional yet helpful look to it. The first thing I saw was the power search option where you can search for a certain job in a certain location. This is helpful as it narrows down any options that people have and can help choose a job that fits their requirements. There are also many other aspects to this website that are very helpful which are things like giving tips for job interviews, CV advice and how to fill in application forms.
Advantages of using online recruitment are:
· Layout of an online recruitment site is usually very easy and simple to use. It is usually jobseeker friendly and will guide to them on how to use the site.
· Easily accessible. These websites can also be used on the phone which is also very popular.
· Set’s out the job descriptions and clearly defines what the business are looking for e.g. qualifications and experiences.
· Includes a whole range of jobs to meet qualifications and experience and also gives recommendations.
· Details are already registered and you don’t have to keep applying because they can e-mail you job alerts.
Disadvantages of using online recruitment are:
· The internet might not be accessible at times because of network connections.
· There may be security issues as they can pass on your date to third parties and you may not even know about it.
· Discrimination because they got details but this is in extreme cases.
· There may be too many candidates applying for the same posts so there is less of a chance of getting the job you desire.
· The popular job seeking websites will always have the best recruiters because they are always the first to come into the search engine.
Constraint attraction- this can occur to the people of those unable to fully utilise technology for example certain disabled groups.
A psychological contract is the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other. These obligations ca often be informal and imprecise and they may be inferred from actions or from what has happened in the past, as well as from statements made by the employer. Some obligations may be seen as 'promises' and others as 'expectations'. The important thing is that they are believed by the employee to be part of the relationship with the employer.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/recruitment.html
http://www.monster.co.uk/
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/psycontr.htm
Week 11 - HR Planning
HR Planning is vital for an organisation. It is the process which regards and maps out the consequences of business strategy on an organisation’s human resources.
The main areas in which HR deals with are:
· Training and re-training.
· Career progression
· Recruitment
· Selection
· Redeployment and transfers
· Earlier retirement
· Skills shortages expectancy
· Redundancies
· Retention difficulties
Person Specification for a university lecturer:
· Physical makeup
· Attainments
· Intelligence
· Special aptitudes
· Interests
· Disposition
· Circumstances
If Waitrose were to consider opening a new store in High Wycombe; five key labour questions would be:
1. How many employees and managers will this store need?To start off this process they will need to come up with the jobs and work out how many employees they will need in order to successfully open the new store. Planning is needed and only once it is found out how many will be needed that recruitment and selection can begin.
2. Where would Waitrose be able to advertise and publicise their jobs?Job centres would need to be informed about the new store and the jobs so that they can provide their contacts with the opportunity to take part in this new store. Online job websites are also a useful place to advertise and the internet is now more popular than a newspaper and more people are likely to see it online than in written form.
3. Does High Wycombe have good public transport near to where the new store will open?It is very important that this aspect is looked into because many people use public transport and some people may not live in High Wycombe yet still want the job so they need to consider how easy or difficult it is for people to easily access the new store.
4. What kinds of shifts will people be doing? Shift work is very popular these days as people like to be able to work flexibly and in hours that can suit them best so it would be a good idea to consider the idea of having different times of shifts so there is more opportunity to get more employees because of the flexibility of the hours.
The main areas in which HR deals with are:
· Training and re-training.
· Career progression
· Recruitment
· Selection
· Redeployment and transfers
· Earlier retirement
· Skills shortages expectancy
· Redundancies
· Retention difficulties
Person Specification for a university lecturer:
· Physical makeup
· Attainments
· Intelligence
· Special aptitudes
· Interests
· Disposition
· Circumstances
If Waitrose were to consider opening a new store in High Wycombe; five key labour questions would be:
1. How many employees and managers will this store need?To start off this process they will need to come up with the jobs and work out how many employees they will need in order to successfully open the new store. Planning is needed and only once it is found out how many will be needed that recruitment and selection can begin.
2. Where would Waitrose be able to advertise and publicise their jobs?Job centres would need to be informed about the new store and the jobs so that they can provide their contacts with the opportunity to take part in this new store. Online job websites are also a useful place to advertise and the internet is now more popular than a newspaper and more people are likely to see it online than in written form.
3. Does High Wycombe have good public transport near to where the new store will open?It is very important that this aspect is looked into because many people use public transport and some people may not live in High Wycombe yet still want the job so they need to consider how easy or difficult it is for people to easily access the new store.
4. What kinds of shifts will people be doing? Shift work is very popular these days as people like to be able to work flexibly and in hours that can suit them best so it would be a good idea to consider the idea of having different times of shifts so there is more opportunity to get more employees because of the flexibility of the hours.
Week 10 - Role of the Line Manager
Five benefits of line managers being more involved in HR activities are:
· Line managers are always available easily to all other employees therefore they are more suited to dealing with day-to-day matters and it is helpful to have line managers as it does not get the HR department involved so much.
· Line managers have a closer relationship with higher managers which means they can easily pass on messages and tasks to each other which is useful because it does not involve other departments and reduces the risk of messages not getting passed on or lost.
· As line managers are more accessible, the employees can easily talk to them about any issues at work but within the limits and this can be useful to employees as line managers can help them and give them the right advice without taking any further action.
· Line managers can learn from the skills they see around them with aspects such as recruitment and selection and this can help to broaden their experience and knowledge to move up the managerial line in a business and gain a promotion.
· Giving line managers more responsibility will help to motivate them as they will feel as if they belong to the organisation and have a key part to play to keep the organisation at its best.
Five drawbacks of line managers being more involved in HR activities are:
· Line managers may not be used to the workload of HR activities and therefore this may have an effect on their health such as their stress levels.
· As a line manager, they may not have that many employees to look after but if they start to take on HR work as well, they may not be able to deal with all the extra work and this work may be done to a poor level and not to their potential which will in turn have an effect on the business.
· Another problem is that because line managers are trying to deal with both their work and HR work, they may find it difficult to balance the two and therefore production levels may decrease.
· If they are not fully trained in HR, they may not be doing what is asked of them correctly and therefore they may cause problems for the organisation.
· HR has a lot of rules and if a line manager cannot live up to these rules and enforce things that cannot happen then this may cause problems for an organisation.
Line managers have a strong influence on how individuals do their job. Some managers encourage people to be responsible for their own jobs whereas others can suppress initiative through controlling or autocratic behaviour.
To encourage good performance from staff, managers need to:
· Build a good work relationship with their employees
· Treat all employees with respect so that they receive respect as well.
· Help to resolve their problems
· Ask for employee’s suggestions
· Appraise the employees so the employees strive to do better and are appreciated.
· Help and support employees to take more responsibility for how they do their jobs by coaching and guidance
· Build effective teams.
At my workplace, the line managers are always there in the same office as all the other call centre staff. This is useful because whenever there are any problems they are always at hand to talk to and help deal with the issue. The attitude of these line managers is one that comes across as friendly and caring yet they still have a desire to get all the work done. They are normally very easy to talk to and this is a motivational factor as it allows us employees to feel like we have somebody to talk to if ever there are any problems.
Here are some of the tasks and skills that Personnel and HR managers needs:
· Organise and co-ordinate the recruitment and selection of new staff.
· Design and implement staff appraisal systems and develop effective training policies.
· Advise general managers on disciplinary issues.
· Monitor employment legislation.
· Advise senior management on pay and conditions, retention rates and business policy affecting employee relations.
· Keep up to date with best practice in recruitment and selection.
· Maintain staff records.
I believe that my skills would be better suited to a line manager as I am a better listener. I would be able to help employees with their problems and listen to anything they want to talk about as well as resolving any issues they have. As well as this, I would be able to do all the other tasks that a line manager does. HR managers usually need to be able to motivate people and deal with the bigger problems but I think I would be better suited to being a line manager.
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/maneco/general/rolefrntlinemngers.htm
· Line managers are always available easily to all other employees therefore they are more suited to dealing with day-to-day matters and it is helpful to have line managers as it does not get the HR department involved so much.
· Line managers have a closer relationship with higher managers which means they can easily pass on messages and tasks to each other which is useful because it does not involve other departments and reduces the risk of messages not getting passed on or lost.
· As line managers are more accessible, the employees can easily talk to them about any issues at work but within the limits and this can be useful to employees as line managers can help them and give them the right advice without taking any further action.
· Line managers can learn from the skills they see around them with aspects such as recruitment and selection and this can help to broaden their experience and knowledge to move up the managerial line in a business and gain a promotion.
· Giving line managers more responsibility will help to motivate them as they will feel as if they belong to the organisation and have a key part to play to keep the organisation at its best.
Five drawbacks of line managers being more involved in HR activities are:
· Line managers may not be used to the workload of HR activities and therefore this may have an effect on their health such as their stress levels.
· As a line manager, they may not have that many employees to look after but if they start to take on HR work as well, they may not be able to deal with all the extra work and this work may be done to a poor level and not to their potential which will in turn have an effect on the business.
· Another problem is that because line managers are trying to deal with both their work and HR work, they may find it difficult to balance the two and therefore production levels may decrease.
· If they are not fully trained in HR, they may not be doing what is asked of them correctly and therefore they may cause problems for the organisation.
· HR has a lot of rules and if a line manager cannot live up to these rules and enforce things that cannot happen then this may cause problems for an organisation.
Line managers have a strong influence on how individuals do their job. Some managers encourage people to be responsible for their own jobs whereas others can suppress initiative through controlling or autocratic behaviour.
To encourage good performance from staff, managers need to:
· Build a good work relationship with their employees
· Treat all employees with respect so that they receive respect as well.
· Help to resolve their problems
· Ask for employee’s suggestions
· Appraise the employees so the employees strive to do better and are appreciated.
· Help and support employees to take more responsibility for how they do their jobs by coaching and guidance
· Build effective teams.
At my workplace, the line managers are always there in the same office as all the other call centre staff. This is useful because whenever there are any problems they are always at hand to talk to and help deal with the issue. The attitude of these line managers is one that comes across as friendly and caring yet they still have a desire to get all the work done. They are normally very easy to talk to and this is a motivational factor as it allows us employees to feel like we have somebody to talk to if ever there are any problems.
Here are some of the tasks and skills that Personnel and HR managers needs:
· Organise and co-ordinate the recruitment and selection of new staff.
· Design and implement staff appraisal systems and develop effective training policies.
· Advise general managers on disciplinary issues.
· Monitor employment legislation.
· Advise senior management on pay and conditions, retention rates and business policy affecting employee relations.
· Keep up to date with best practice in recruitment and selection.
· Maintain staff records.
I believe that my skills would be better suited to a line manager as I am a better listener. I would be able to help employees with their problems and listen to anything they want to talk about as well as resolving any issues they have. As well as this, I would be able to do all the other tasks that a line manager does. HR managers usually need to be able to motivate people and deal with the bigger problems but I think I would be better suited to being a line manager.
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/maneco/general/rolefrntlinemngers.htm
Week 9 - Team working
Team working is the process of working collaboratively with a group of people, in order to achieve a goal. It is often a very important part of a business as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together in order to co-operate, use their individual skills and provide constructive feedback, despite having any personal conflict between individuals.
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/teamwork.html
Bruce Tuckman developed a model in 1965 about team development. This influential theory proposes that when a team comes together to fulfil objectives, they go through a series of stages that eventually lead to a ‘mature’ stage that leads to the team being finally effective.
The main stages of Tuckman’s theory are:
Forming: This is the beginning stage of the team where the group is not actually working as a team and is undeveloped. The people in the team are working as individuals rather than a team. The attitude of the whole team is most likely to be friendly as they are starting to get to know each other and begin with the work rather than being argumentative and controlling.
Storming: Compared to the first stage where everyone is being friendly with each other, this stage is when the team passes through some conflict in order to achieve their objectives. The attitude of the people in the team becomes more aggressive. This relates to both the people inside the group and with competition to other teams and with any rules and requirements for the team. With the tension being caused, this can lead to some of the team feeling de-motivated and not wanting to take part in the tasks that they are meant to be doing or any other tasks that are allocated to them.
Norming: This stage could also be considered as consolidating. This stage is where the members of the team are beginning to realise the potential that they have and are starting to act upon it. By acting on the realisation they will have developed a process to overcome any conflict and focus on the work ahead of them. They will most likely do this by setting rules and meetings in which the team members have the confidence to tell each other what to do and not feel like they are raising an issue of conflict.
Performing: The team is now very much open and flexible. In this stage of the theory, all the team members are working together perfectly as they have spent enough time together and have gotten to know each other in a way that allows them to work together without creating any problems and without the tension that was present in previous stages. The team may challenge each other but they do this in a way that does not cause conflict but rather placing a priority on the development of the weaker team members.
Mourning: This is the final stage of the theory where the team comes to an end as the work is completed.
http://www.teambuilding.co.uk/belbin-team-role.html [accessed on 14/02/2010]
A time when I have worked in a team and felt successful is when I did my last marketing assignment. Compared to any other group work I have done at university, this group work felt much more comfortable as we all managed to work together nicely and all put the effort in. My previous experiences of working as a team have led me to become a bit wary of who I should be working with but this time, the team worked together better as we all got along with each other anyway so working on an assignment together was quite easy as we understood what we were all like.
The first assignment for People and Organisations was team work. This piece of team work was not as successful as the most recent team work I have done. Tuckman’s theory could be related to my team in which there was no set routine of stages that we went through. As the team began we thought we were confident and could get everything done efficiently however, this changed quite quickly when one of the team members took control and there was no other input from anyone else. This could be argued to be due to a lack of communication or because of a controlling personality in the group. We went from Forming to Norming and then Storming, and then after that there was not a clear stage. Once the work was done there was no clear closure as I was asked for my part and once that was handed in there was no discussion about the work whatsoever.
When looking at ‘The Times Top 100 Companies to work for’, I have found a company who has identified that teamwork is a major contribution to the success of their company.
The company is:
Office Angels – Teamwork is encouraged in this recruitment consultancy as groups are competing for rewards that can include holidays to Dubai, New York and Barbados. “Employees feel a strong sense of family within their teams, giving 86%, the top positive score nationally, for this statement. They believe colleagues care about each other (87%), say working together gives them a buzz (82%) and that team-mates are fun (89%).”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/best_100_tables/
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/teamwork.html
Bruce Tuckman developed a model in 1965 about team development. This influential theory proposes that when a team comes together to fulfil objectives, they go through a series of stages that eventually lead to a ‘mature’ stage that leads to the team being finally effective.
The main stages of Tuckman’s theory are:
Forming: This is the beginning stage of the team where the group is not actually working as a team and is undeveloped. The people in the team are working as individuals rather than a team. The attitude of the whole team is most likely to be friendly as they are starting to get to know each other and begin with the work rather than being argumentative and controlling.
Storming: Compared to the first stage where everyone is being friendly with each other, this stage is when the team passes through some conflict in order to achieve their objectives. The attitude of the people in the team becomes more aggressive. This relates to both the people inside the group and with competition to other teams and with any rules and requirements for the team. With the tension being caused, this can lead to some of the team feeling de-motivated and not wanting to take part in the tasks that they are meant to be doing or any other tasks that are allocated to them.
Norming: This stage could also be considered as consolidating. This stage is where the members of the team are beginning to realise the potential that they have and are starting to act upon it. By acting on the realisation they will have developed a process to overcome any conflict and focus on the work ahead of them. They will most likely do this by setting rules and meetings in which the team members have the confidence to tell each other what to do and not feel like they are raising an issue of conflict.
Performing: The team is now very much open and flexible. In this stage of the theory, all the team members are working together perfectly as they have spent enough time together and have gotten to know each other in a way that allows them to work together without creating any problems and without the tension that was present in previous stages. The team may challenge each other but they do this in a way that does not cause conflict but rather placing a priority on the development of the weaker team members.
Mourning: This is the final stage of the theory where the team comes to an end as the work is completed.
http://www.teambuilding.co.uk/belbin-team-role.html [accessed on 14/02/2010]
A time when I have worked in a team and felt successful is when I did my last marketing assignment. Compared to any other group work I have done at university, this group work felt much more comfortable as we all managed to work together nicely and all put the effort in. My previous experiences of working as a team have led me to become a bit wary of who I should be working with but this time, the team worked together better as we all got along with each other anyway so working on an assignment together was quite easy as we understood what we were all like.
The first assignment for People and Organisations was team work. This piece of team work was not as successful as the most recent team work I have done. Tuckman’s theory could be related to my team in which there was no set routine of stages that we went through. As the team began we thought we were confident and could get everything done efficiently however, this changed quite quickly when one of the team members took control and there was no other input from anyone else. This could be argued to be due to a lack of communication or because of a controlling personality in the group. We went from Forming to Norming and then Storming, and then after that there was not a clear stage. Once the work was done there was no clear closure as I was asked for my part and once that was handed in there was no discussion about the work whatsoever.
When looking at ‘The Times Top 100 Companies to work for’, I have found a company who has identified that teamwork is a major contribution to the success of their company.
The company is:
Office Angels – Teamwork is encouraged in this recruitment consultancy as groups are competing for rewards that can include holidays to Dubai, New York and Barbados. “Employees feel a strong sense of family within their teams, giving 86%, the top positive score nationally, for this statement. They believe colleagues care about each other (87%), say working together gives them a buzz (82%) and that team-mates are fun (89%).”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/best_100_tables/
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