Approaches to Staffing

Approaches to staffingIn some businesses the owner is the only person working in the organisation. However, as a business grows there is usually a need to employ people to share the workload.Businesses can be defined according to the number of people they employ. For example, using the definition of size of a business in the UK:- small businesses employ between 1 and 49 people- medium-sized businesses employ between 50 and 249 people- large businesses employ 250 people or moreDifferent businesses have different approaches to their staff. Some view staff as assets, while others view them as costs. These approaches might have implications for productivity. Flexible workforceMost businesses prefer to employ a flexible workforce as this helps a business to adapt to change more easily. Business can increase the flexibility of their workforce using a number of methods:Multi-skillingThis describes the process of enhancing the skills of employees. It is argued that giving individuals the skills and responsibilities to deal with a greater variety of issues will allow a business to respond more quickly and effectively to problems. Certain motivation theories suggest that giving employees more skills and responsibilities can improve their work performance. A criticism of multi-skilling is that individuals are only given more skills so that they are expected to work harder without any extra pay. Problems may also arise if workers are not trained adequately for their new roles.Part-time and temporary staffPart-time workers are those who do not normally work for more than 30 hours a week (except where it is stated otherwise). Some people prefer to work part-time as it suits their lifestyle, e.g. students, single parent families etc.Temporary workers are those employed for a limited period only, for example farmers taking on more workers at harvest time, or courier companies taking on more workers during the Christmas period. Flexible hours and home workingThe workforce is more flexible if employees work flexible hours, however there are different ways of arranging this. For example staff might have to work a certain number of hours a week however they can choose when they do them. Others might be asked to do shift work, for example a factory that wants to remain open 24 hours a day might have three shifts of workers who work either from 10pm until 6am, 6am until 2pm or 2pm until 10pm. This enables the business to stay open longer and produce more products.Some businesses in the UK have started to offer their workers zero-hours contracts. This means that workers are only employed when employers need them and often at very short notice. This arrangement provides the business with a great deal of flexibility but is very unpopular with staff as they do not have financial security.A number of people in the UK work from home, they include farmers, hotel owners, some web developers etc. Some people prefer to work from home as it suits their lifestyle. It also reduces travelling time to and from work. Businesses benefit because certain costs, such as office space, equipment, heating and lighting are reduced. There will also be less staff absenteeism and less impact from things like bad weather or transport delays. However there may be communication problems and it is more difficult to monitor the quality and quantity of work produced by people working from home. Dismissal or Redundancy? Sort the following characteristics of dismissal and redundancy into their correct groups: Dismissal (5) Can be fair or unfair Workers treated unfairly can be reinstated Can take place if the worker is guilty of misconduct Sometimes this happens if the worker is incapable of doing the job well enough A period of notice is required, depending on how long the employee has worked for the business Redundancy (4) This happens when there is no work work for the employee to do Employees are entitled to severance payments This is likely to affect workers during a recession To benefit from financial payments the workers must have a contract of employment with the business Employee RelationshipsIf the relationship between the two is good then employees will be happy, motivated and productive and the business will benefit from a co-operative workforce, high skills and output. However relationships between the two can be difficult because the objectives of the two groups are often in conflict. For example workers want higher pay in order to have a better a quality of life whereas employers want to keep labour costs low to maximise their profits. Employers might also want to introduce new technology as it will improve efficiency however employees might be anxious about learning new production techniques or may fear losing their jobs if the machines can work better than them. The relationships between employers and employees can be shaped using two approaches, they are both concerned with finding solutions to areas of conflict between the two groups.Individual approachThis means that the terms of employment and any disagreements are settled through negotiation between an individual employee and a representative of the employer, either the owner (in the case of a small business) or a human resources manager (in a large organisation). The individual will negotiate wages, holiday and other entitlements, hours of work. If the employee has a grievance they would raise it directly with their employer. With this approach pay and working conditions vary between employees, those with good bargaining skills get better pay and conditions. This could cause conflict between employees.Collective bargainingWages, conditions of work and other terms of employment are negotiated through a process that involves both employers and employee representatives, such as trade unions. Trade unions represent the views of their members and try to negotiate in their interests. For example in a large organisation one person from a workforce of 10,000 would have very little power when trying to negotiate directly with their employer whereas a representative body would have more strength and influence to negotiate for its membership. Without such a bargaining process employers and managers would be able to set wages and conditions without taking into account the interest of employees.For collective bargaining to take place:- workers must be free to join representative bodies such as trade unions- employers must recognise such bodies as the legal representatives of workers and agree to negotiate with them- such bodies must be independent of employers and the state- bodies should negotiate in good faith, in their members' interests- employers and employees should accept negotiated agreements without having to use the law to enforce themA failure to reach agreement may result in industrial action. The worst thing that can happen is that workers go on strike and this can damage both workers and employers, workers will not be paid and the business will lose revenue.