Processes of HR Mgmt

Human Resource managers are specialists are responsible for recruiting, screening, interviewing and placing workers. They may also handle employee relations, payroll, benefits, and training. Human resources managers plan, direct and coordinate the administrative functions of an organisation.

• Acquisition is the process of attracting and recruiting the right staff for roles in a business.

• Development refers to enhancing the skills of the employee in line with the changing and future needs of the organisation.

• Maintenance is the process of managing the needs of staff for health and safety, industrial relations and legal responsibilities, including compensation and benefits, of all staff.

• Separation is the process of employees leaving voluntarily or through dismissal or retrenchment processes.

Acquisition- the stage in the human resource cycle that involves identifying staffing needs, recruitment and selection. 

o   In order to examine whether it has the appropriate staff to meet the firm’s needs, it needs to:

§   Identify the skills and number of employees required in the future

§  Analyse its existing workforce

 o   Identifying staffing needs- If staff cannot cope with changes, more employees are needed. 

§  The job needs to be identified and analysed and a job description (a written statement describing the duties tasks and responsibilities associated with the job) needs to be created. 

§  A job specification (Written statement describing the key  skills, experience and  qualifications needed for a job) must be made after. 

o   Recruitment- To accumulate a pool of potential candidates for a job. It is from this pool that the business must make its selection.  The business can fill a vacancy by recruiting applicants internally (from existing staff) or externally (from outside the business). 

§  Existing staff could receive a promotion, resulting in other staff to improve their performance. 

§  The business can advertise externally for job applicants through methods such as:

· Outsourcing to private employment agencies e.g. https://www.michaelpage.com.au/ 

· Interviews on university campuses e.g. Mr Hinton with Microsoft

· Trainee positions may be offered to HSC students to complete ‘cadetship courses'.  https://sydney.edu.au/students/cadetships.html  

 o   Selection- A screening process in staff acquisition. The information gathered about job applicants is reviewed and the most appropriate applicant is chosen.  The individuals are assessed on their ability to interact with each other. The process may involve:

• • • •  Interviews

      • Application forms

      •  Written tests, such as mathematics or English 

Staff development

· Businesses need to develop the skills and capabilities of its staff to maintain its competitive advantage. 

 · Each business has different cultures.

 · Induction –a procedure which introduces the new employee to the business. It allows them to become familiar with the workings of the firm.

Development (SLG examples)

•  Development- involves preparing employees for future responsibilities within the organisation due to a change in the business’s strategies or a growth in its size  or market share.

• Performance appraisals - A formal assessment  of how well a person is  working – the person’s  strengths. It provides a  basis for such matters  as future training needs,  pay rises, promotions  and possible further  development.  

•  Training and development results in increased motivation of employees, greater business flexibility, and improved use of technology and innovation. 

Training

•  New employees should feel they know where they fit in and where the business is headed; that is, its goals. This enables them to feel secure.

• Training- any activities aimed at improving an employee’s present and future performance in the workforce. Some methods include on-the-job training (traineeships, apprenticeships) and off-the-job training (TAFE and university courses).

Maintenance of databases

•  A database is used to maintain the records of a business, including its employee information.

• A skills inventory is a database that contains information on the skills expertise and qualifications of the current staff. The advantage of this register is to be able to call up or search for specific information when needed.

Staff can be maintained through:

o providing the working conditions and work environment that motivate staff to be increasingly productive, gain satisfaction from their work

• If staff remain loyal and stay, then the business:

o Increases productivity

o Improves morale among workers

o reduce the level of absenteeism (taking time off work)

o reduce the cost of recruitment and training

Monetary benefits ($$$$)

•  In Australia, minimum wage rates and minimum working conditions are set out in an award.  Some firms provide over-award payments in order to gain benefits from their staff.

• Wages- received are based on hourly rates of pay and may include overtime payments

• Salaries- involve an annual rate of pay, divided into equal pay periods. 

• Remuneration packages - the total pay or reward to workers and managers for their labour services and may include both monetary and non-monetary benefits.

• Some benefits include monetary, non monetary and intrinsic rewards.

Monetary benefits may be paid:

• • • According to sales – for instance, a real estate agent will receive a commission

    • Based on an individual’s output – payment of piece rates for fruit picking

    • As bonuses – these are often paid at Christmas time or at the end of the

    • Through a shared ownership scheme- pay increases and the incentive of workers ‘owning’ part of the business.

    • As fringe benefits – examples are a company car

Non-monetary benefits

• • • greater job variety, 

    • more flexible working hours, 

    • increased status in the job or community, 

    • being allowed to manage yourself

    • access to an employee-subsidised cafeteria. 

Intrinsic rewards-  A reward that comes from within the person. In the case of employment, it could be the feeling of satisfaction that comes with doing a job well. 

Some of the common benefits are:

o  4 weeks’ leave with full pay after working one year in the same job

o Australian workers on awards are entitled to 17.5% loading on their annual leave.

o After working full-time for the same firm for a continuous period of 10 years  people are entitled to  long-service leave, which is at least eight weeks pay.

o Employees are currently entitled to have an additional 11% of their annual wage or salary paid into a superannuation account.

Legal compliance and corporate social responsibility

A major focus of maintenance is for human resource managers to minimise the exposure of the business to risk by implementing a range of proactive and preventative strategies in health and safety, anti-discrimination and conflict resolution. Problems that arise over misconduct in employment relationships, particularly regarding sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination, can be very costly and damaging to the business and destroy individuals.

Examples

See Brodie's Law snapshot and workplace building at ClubsNSW. 

Separation - the ending of the employment relationship. It may come from either the employee or the employer. 

Separation may be voluntary or involuntary. 

o  Voluntary separation- Voluntary separation may take the form of retirement, resignation or voluntary redundancy.

• • Retirement- When an employee retires, the employee has decided to give up full-time or part-time work. People may retire due to ill health, lack of motivation, or leisure activities.

  • Resignation- when an employee leaves their jobs for reasons such as a need for change in their lives or moving interstate. The employee needs to provide the employer with notice of the intention to leave.

  • Voluntary redundancy- where their existing job is no longer required by the firm and may have been offered a redundancy package

o  Involuntary separation- where  management decide which employees will no longer be required.

• • Involuntary redundancy- the termination of employment due to the firm closing down or the job no longer being required due to rationalisation, restructuring or new technology.  The Employment Protection Act 1982 (NSW) provides a minimum scale for severance payments for all permanent employees under NSW awards who work for an employer with more than 15 employees. 

  • Dismissal- occurs when the employer terminates an employee’s employment contract due to the unacceptable conduct or behaviour of the employee.  It can be an instant or summary dismissal or an dismissal after a series of warnings.

  • Instant or summary dismissal - the immediate termination of the employee’s contract without notice. E.g. theft, drunkenness 

  • Dismissal after a series of warnings - follow incidents such as continual lateness or failing to perform the duties as required.  E.g. lateness or failing to perform duties.

o Workers may be classified as on probation or temporary. 

• • Probation- where workers are often hired and given a probationary period of approximately 3–12 months to ‘prove’ themselves.

  • Temporary- those employed for short periods of time to replace an absent worker. This could be for one day or several months. 

Unfair dismissal

Selecting staff for dismissal can be risky and requires awareness of legislation and industrial agreements. Documentation of processes undertaken is also required to avoid claims of unfair dismissal.

The Fair Work Commission provides these grounds for unfair dismissal claims for employees covered by the national system. ‘An unfair dismissal occurs where an employee makes an unfair dismissal remedy application and Fair Work Commission finds that:

•  the employee was dismissed, and

•  the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable, and

•  the dismissal was not a case of genuine redundancy. 

Employees are able to claim unfair dismissal if:

•  The business has more than 15 employees, either full-time or the equivalent, who have been employed for more than six months. This includes casuals with six months service.

•  The processes for dismissal have not been carried out correctly. 

The claim may be resolved through informal conferences, telephone conferences (the most common method) or by a formal hearing. Reinstatement will be the remedy for a claim that is upheld, unless it is not in the interests of either of the parties, in which case compensation may be ordered. A cap of six month pay is the maximum compensation, but most cases would not reach this level. An employer has the right to object to a claim on the basis that it is  frivolous, not submitted in an appropriate time frame, not reasonably likely to succeed, not a case of unfair dismissal or that the person making the claim is not eligible. Businesses can be badly hit by such claims. Many have found the need for a lengthy procedural approach frustrating, particularly the need to give employees time to improve their performance after a warning has been given.

Many businesses have preferred to avoid the risk by hiring casuals and contractors. Other businesses have tightened their employment contracts (often called ‘corporate pre-nuptial agreements’) and included job descriptions, probation periods and measurable targets to allow for dismissal of staff if required. They are keen to avoid unfair dismissal claims, which create adverse publicity for the business internally and externally, with the potential to lose customers. For many it has been regarded as cheaper and less time consuming to settle the claim, regardless of whether or not it is valid. Many have needed to consult specialists in the area of termination to avoid these problems

2012

24(a) TextMore is a global communications business that is facing increased competition. Management has decided to reduce the size of its factory workforce by 25% but also employ more information technology (IT) specialists.

(a) Identify the TWO human resource processes that will be used in this situation. 2 marks

2013

3   A business places a job vacancy advertisement on its website. 

Which aspect of human resource management is this an example of? 

(A)  Development 

(B)  Maintenance 

(C)  Recruitment 

(D)  Selection

20   Which of the following is an example of developmental performance management? 

(A)  Reviewing the reward system for all employees 

(B)  Evaluating an online payroll system for employees 

(C)  Improving an individual employee’s leadership skills 

(D) Collecting data to manage the human resources function more effectively 

2015

2  Which of the following occurs during the acquisition stage of the human resources management process?

(A) Training 

(B) Induction 

(C) Developing a job description 

(D) Conducting performance management

2017

1    A recruitment officer is employed by a business. In which specific business function are they most likely to be engaged? 

A.  Finance 

B.  Human resources 

C.  Marketing 

D.  Operations

Question 23 (12 marks) 

A business has been rapidly expanding and requires additional staff. 

(a) 

(i) Describe ONE monetary reward that could be offered during the recruitment process

(ii) Describe ONE non-monetary reward that could be offered during the recruitment process.

(b) Outline an issue that could arise during the acquisition process. 2 marks

2021

2. Which pair of business functions is conducted by human resource management? 

A. Pricing and scheduling 

B. Scheduling and induction 

C. Induction and recruitment 

D. Recruitment and receivables

17 Joe was made redundant by his employer but believes that he was dismissed unfairly. He takes his case to a lawyer. What evidence would effectively support the employer’s decision? 

A. Video of Joe stealing goods from the storeroom 

B. Consistent warnings over ongoing poor performance 

C. Financial records showing ongoing losses due to poor sales

D. Documents showing that a new employee is doing Joe’s job

Question 23 (10 marks) 

(a) Outline how corporate culture can affect staff turnover. 2 marks

(b) Why might a business use a contractor to recruit staff? 2 marks 

2022

2 Which of the following is a type of voluntary separation in the workplace? 

A. Dismissal 

B. Layoff 

C. Resignation 

D. Retrenchment 

d) Explain the importance of carrying out an induction program for new employees. 3 marks