assignment cover sheet name: course name: hnd business and human resources tutor name

Unit 21 Assignment: Human Resource Management

Jack Halsall

ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

Name:

Jack Halsall

Address:

44 Roebuck Ridge Jump Barnsley

Post code / Zip:

S74 0LJ

Telephone No:

07850880039

Email Address:

[email protected]

Date:24/05/2013

Course Name:

HND Business and Human Resources

Robert Smith

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mailto:[email protected]


Jack Halsall

Tutor Name:

Assignment Name:

Unit 21: Human Resource Management

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Section 1 – Explain the difference between personnel management

and human resource management

Distinguish between personnel management and human resource

management

CIPD (2013) suggests that the development of personnel management

began around the 19th century and was created on a reaction caused

by harshness of industrial conditions. The First World War

accelerated change in the development of personnel management

with women being recruited in large numbers to fill the positions

of men going to fight. It wasn’t till the 1920’s when large

industries that had large factories started to introduce jobs

with titles such as Labour manager or Employment Manager to

handle the absence, recruitment, dismissal and queries over

bonuses.

The 1930’s saw the economy beginning to pick up and big

corporations saw value in improving employee benefits as a way of

recruiting, retaining and motivating employees. By 1945

employment management and welfare work had become integrated

under the broad term ‘personnel management’. Experience from the

war had shown that output and productivity could be influenced by

employment policies. The 1960s and 70s showed a significant

development in employment and personnel techniques developed

using theories from social sciences about motivation and

organisational behaviour. Selection testing was more widely used

and management training expanded.

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Sison refers to personnel management as ‘the handling, directing

and controlling of individual employees rather than employees as

a group’. Sison (1985)

The aim of personnel management was to bring together the men and

women of an organisation and take an interest in there wellbeing

and in return get a strong work force that provides results.

Assess the function of the Human Resource Management in

contributing to organisational purposes

The Management Study Guide (2008-13) suggests that there are four

main functions of personnel management:

1) Manpower planning is putting the right amount of people in

the right place at the right time to ensure the

organisations goals are achieved.

2) Recruitment is divided into internal and external

requirements

a. Internal requirement takes place within the

organisation this can be in forms of transfers,

promotions and re employment of ex employees.

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b. External requirement comes at a cost and takes time.

The external sources of recruitment include -

Employment at factory gate, advertisements, employment

exchanges, employment agencies, educational

institutes, labour contractors, and recommendations.

3) Employee Selection is the process of putting right person on

right job. It is the process that matches skills and

qualification to the organisation and job requirement.

4) Training is the process that enhances current skills and

updates knowledge to ensure performance is kept to a high

standard.

The term ‘Human Resource Management’ originated from the USA and

arrived in the UK around the mid 80’s and seemed to suggest that

employees were an asset or resources like machines. Today’s HR

profession encompasses a number of specialist disciplines,

including, diversity, reward, resourcing, employee relations,

organisation development and design, learning and development.

CIPD ( 2012)

Mullins states that ‘The Personnel Management/HRM debate

generally centres on the extent to which either: HRM is a new and

distinctive philosophy with a paradigm shift towards a more

strategic approach to people management; or simply new wine in

old bottles and in reality no more than a different term of what

good personnel managers have always been doing’. (Mullins, 2007,

p.480)

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Human Resource management emerged as a result of heavy employment

legislation, and from this, core issues were established such as,

methods of requirement and selection, training, and working

conditions. Personnel Management emerged into

Human Resource Management where it could focus on partnership

agreements with emphasis on the management of employees and where

the function generally now is seen as a strategic function

participating in corporate strategies as the core values are in

place that only need tweaking when employment legislation and

best practices prevail.

Some say Personnel Management and Human Resource Management are

the same; they have no difference in there meaning and can be

used interchangeably. CIPD (2013)

Prabhat Suggested “Personnel management is regarded to be more

administrative in nature dealing with employees their payroll and

employment law. On the other hand Human Resource Management deals

with management of the work force and contributes to an

organisations success”. Prabhat (2011). Pinnington and Edwards

expand on this suggesting that ‘Human Resource Management is the

new way of thinking about how people should be managed as

employees in the work place’ (Pinnigton and Edwards, 2000). A

case study published by The Times goes on to say that ‘Human

Resource Management is an important asset to any business. It

provides expertise in:

managing change and facilitating training and development

recruitment selection and employee relations

pensions and benefits

communicating with employees

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(The Times, 2013)

Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers in Human

Resource Management

A HR department has several functions and in many organisations

many functions have been devolved down to the line managers. Foot

and Hook designed a tablet that discusses several activities of

HRM and also what type of involvement the line manager has.

Functions of Human

Resource Management

Involvement of Human

Resource Management

Involvement of Line

Manager

Recruitment &

Selection

Design policies and

procedures for fair

recruitment and

selection in order

to contribute to the

fulfilment of the

organisation’s

Carry Out interviews

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corporate strategy.

Carry out interviews

or monitor and give

advice on interview

technique or on

terms and conditions

of employment.

Employee Motivation Involvement in

design and

implementation of

techniques to assess

effectively

performance of

employees in a way

that links with the

organisations

strategic plan.

Train, inform and

involve people in

performance

management

techniques and

encourage

line managers to

work towards a high

performance work

force.

Contribute to

achievement of a

high performance

workplace by taking

an active role in

people management

and performance

management of his or

her own department.

Involve teams and

individuals in

setting and agreeing

targets and

monitoring

performance. Monitor

their success and

give feedback.

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Training and

Development

Involved in planning

learning and

development

opportunities for

the whole

organisation, to

meet the needs of

the organisation as

expressed in its

strategic plan and

to meet the needs of

individuals. These

could be formal

training courses,

online materials or

less formal

approaches such as

coaching and

mentoring.

May also be involved

in planning and

provision of

training and

development

opportunities to

meet the needs of

individuals and

their departmental

needs linked to the

organisations

strategic plan,

primarily for

employees in his or

her own department.

Employee Welfare Establish

appropriate systems

for employee welfare

in accordance with

the objectives of

the organisation.

Ensure the well-

being of employees

in his or her

department and draw

their attention to,

and encourage use

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Monitor the cost and

effectiveness of

this provision.

of, any provisions

designed by the

organisations to

improve their

welfare.

Managing diversity Developing policies

about diversity and

promoting and

ensuring a diverse

work force so that

the organisation can

benefit from ideas

generated by

individuals from a

range of different

backgrounds.

Equality of

opportunity

Involvement in

design of policies

to encourage equal

opportunities. Train

and inform managers

and all employees

throughout the

organisation in

these. Monitor the

May also be involved

in and contribute to

the design of

policies. Will be

responsible for

ensuring that all

employees for who he

or she is

responsible do not

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effectiveness of

equal opportunities

by collecting and

analysing

information.

suffer from any form

of unfair

discrimination while

at work.

(Foot and Hook, 2008)

HRM works alongside every department within an organisation to

ensure each department is meeting there individual targets that

make up the overall strategic plan. According to Rama Rao, good

human resource practices help:

1) Attract and retain talent

2) Train people for challenging roles

3) Develop skills and competencies

4) Promote team spirit

5) Develop loyalty and commitment

6) Increase productivity and profits

7) Improve job satisfaction

8) Enhance standard of living

9) Generate employment opportunities.

Rama (2010)

A lot of the activities that HRM carried out have now been

devolved to line managers. According to Foot & Hook ‘a line

manager is a person who has direct responsibility for employees

and their work’. (Foot and Hook (2008).

It is important for line managers to have the expertise of human

resource specialist available. It is important for line managers

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to be involved in the functions and activates of HRM as line

managers have the knowledge, understanding and expertise of how

their department is running. Using the skills and expertise of

both line managers and HRM organisations should respond better to

changes and developments within organisations and the economy.

Analyse the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on human

resource management

One of the main functions in Human Resource Management is to

ensure the organisation is fully aware of any relevant

legislation. All policies and procedures should be in line of

current legislation. Legislation is something that is

continuously changing so it is an ongoing task for all

organisations. The Equality Act 2010 brought together acts such

as Race Relations Act and the Sex Discrimination Act. The table

below lists elements of the Equality Act 2010.

Acts Description

Sex Discrimination Employers should not discriminate

on grounds of sex. Sex

discrimination covers all aspects

of employment – from recruitment to

termination of a contract, and

training and pay. (ACAS, 2010)

Thorrington states that ‘The only

groups excluded are ministers of

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religion, soldiers who may serve in

front line duties and employed to

work abroad’. Thorrington ( 2008)

Race discrimination The Equality Act makes it illegal

to treat a person less favourably

due to their colour, nationality,

and ethnic or national origins.

Race discrimination covers all

aspects of employment – from

recruitment to termination of a

contract, and training and pay.

Equal Pay Employers must give men and women

equal treatment in the terms and

conditions of their employment

contract if they are employed on:

‘like work’ – work that is the

same or broadly the same

Work rated as equivalent under

a job evaluation study, or

Work found to be of equal

value.

(ACAS, 2010)

Disability Discrimination A person has a disability if they

have a physical or mental

impairment which has a substantial

and long term adverse effect on

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their ability to carry out normal

day to day activities. Employers:

must not treat a disabled

person less favourably because

of a reason relating to their

disability without a

justifiable reason.

are required to make

reasonable adjustments to

working conditions or the work

place where that would help to

accommodate a particular

disabled person.

(ACAS, 2010)

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European Working Time

Directive

Pinnington says that European

Working Time Directive ‘creates a

legal maximum of forty-eight

working hours per week averaged

over a four month period although

employees can work longer if they

wish and a number of groups are

exempt. It also creates a right to

four weeks paid holiday – something

that had not previously existed in

the UK’. Pinnington (2000)

Most Acts cover all aspects of employment – from recruitment to

termination of a contract, and training and pay. CIPD say that

‘Demand for legal information from HR professionals continues to

rise, particularly in light of legislative changes and European

initiatives’. CIPD, (2013).

The demand of HR professionals is clearly increasing and more

pressure will be passed down to Management teams to ensure all

policies and procedures are in line with the current legislation.

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Section 2 – Explain how you would recruit employees

Analyse the reasons for Human Resource planning in organisations

and the stages involved

Thorrington suggests that ‘human resource planning was

traditionally known as manpower planning and was concerned with

the numbers of employees and the levels and types of skills in

the organisation’. Thorrington goes on to suggest that a typical

model of manpower planning reflects in the structure below:

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Environment

Organisational objectives and strategies

Assess external manpower supply

Analysis of internal manpower supply

Project manpower demand

Reconcile

Project manpower supply

Manpower plans


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Thorrington (2008, p53)

The models emphasis is on balancing the projected demand for and

supply of labour, in order to have the right number of the right

employees in the right place at the right time.

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Mondy states that ‘the main goal of human resource planning is to

ensure that a company always has candidates lined up to take on

new positions so that time and productivity are not lost’. Mondy

(2008) Lam and Schaubroeck (1998) expanded identifying three

specific ways in which HR planning is critical to strategy as it

can be used to identify.

1) Gaps in capabilities which would prevent the strategy being

implemented successfully – in other words lack of sufficient

skills, people, knowledge and so on in the organisation;

2) Surpluses in capabilities that may provide opportunities for

efficiencies and responsiveness – in other words the skills,

people and knowledge that may be underused, so the

organisation could consider new opportunities and ventures

that would capitalise on these human resources – in other

words to influence or shape or strategy;

3) Poor utilisation of people in the organisation – suggesting

inappropriate human resource practices which could be

reviewed and altered.

Compare the recruitment and selection process in two

organisations

The selection and recruitment process is the start of an

employee’s journey within an organisation. Wolf and Jenkins state

‘the recruitment and selection of an effective workforce

consequently can be viewed as central to the success of an

enterprise and a key function in HRM’. Wolf, and Jenkins, (2006,

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p.193) Cole identifies the stages of selection and recruitment in

the process map below.

(Cole, 2002, p.183)

Dearne Valley College (DVC) is a further education establishment

that specialises in vocational courses. ASOS is a fashion

retailer with over 50,000 product lines. Both organisations offer different products and services to the general public and

both recruit and select staff in different ways.

DVC recruit for the following reasons:

To ensure the college has the right mix of appropriately

qualified, experienced staff.

To attract applicants who have the qualifications, training,

experience, skills, knowledge and abilities to deliver the

strategic objectives and make a positive contribution to the

values and aims of the college.

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Applications Application forms CVs

Shifting/shortlisting

Interviews One-to-

one Two-to-

one

Selection &Decision

Selection tests

Intellectual

References


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To ensure recruitment practices comply with legislative

requirements and reflect best practice.

DVC vacancies are identified by the management team this could be

the college management team, senior management team or board of

governors.

Vacancies are advertised using local newspapers such as the

Dearne Valley Weekender and the DVC website. The closing date is

usually noon 2 weeks from the date advertised and the interview

date a least 1 week after the closing date.

The college website holds generic documentation for all

advertised posts:

1) Application for Employment

2) Application Guidelines

3) College Profile

4) Working Together at Dearne Valley College

DVC (2012)

ASOS recruitment consists mainly of warehouse operatives due to

its ‘50,000 product lines across womenswear, menswear, footwear,

accessories, jewellery and beauty’. ASOS (2013) Due to retail

being a seasonal sector a lot of the employees are recruited for

temporary positions during peak times. ASOS use various

recruitment methods for temporary positions including internal

recruitment, agency recruitment and even training recruitment.

ASOS hold a contract with a company called Qommunicate who work

with individuals that are claiming job seekers allowance.

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Qommunicate train the individuals up giving them qualifications

in warehousing and health and safety so that they are ready for

work during the peak times. ASOS also recruit for new employees

via their website these are for positions such as IT, Marketing

and business support. Vacancies are published online and an

online application is available to complete.

Vacancies for both organisations are done online and via other

websites such as Job Centre Plus and FE Jobs. Due to the nature

of the retail sector ASOS will recruit at different times of the

year and do bulk recruitment. For example several temporary jobs

will be available around October ready for the Christmas period.

DVC recruitment needs to be identified by management and not many

vacancies will be available compared to the scale ASOS recruit

on.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment and selection

techniques in two organisations

The selection process begins once the ‘organisations recruitment

activities have succeeded in attracting sufficient numbers of

relevant applicants from the external labour market. (Cole, 2002,

P.183). The selection process begins at shortlisting application

forms, then moves onto interviewing and testing candidates before

making the final selection and decision. DVC and ASOS are both

ask for applications to be submitted electronically. The main

difference is the volume of applicants both organisations get.

ASOS interview in two stages. Stage one being with your ‘Line

Manager and a member of the Recruitment Team’. ASOS (2012) and

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stage two being more of a testing process where they would ‘set a

business challenge to complete. For example, a presentation on

key trends for a season, a SWOT, or perhaps a strategic solution

based on the business. If it is a more technical role, it may be

that they test skills in that area. ASOS (2012)

DVC Selection process varies on the vacancy. Senior Management

and College Management positions have several interviews and

tests usually spread over a number of days. Curriculum candidates

might be asked to deliver a micro teach as well as interview and

support candidates are asked to interview and to short test. Both

organisations use both interviews and testing strategies to

ensure they are recruiting and selecting the right person for the

organisation.

A recruitment policy represents the organisations code of conduct

and usually consists of:

1) Advertise all vacancies internally

2) Reply to every job applicant with the minimum delay

3) Aim to inform potential recruits in good faith about the

basic details and job conditions of every job advertised

4) Aim to process all applications with efficiency and courtesy

5) Seek candidate on the basis of their qualifications for the

vacancy concerned

6) Aim to ensure that every person invited for interview will

be given a fair and thorough hearing

The company will not

1) Discriminate unfairly against potential applicants on

grounds of sex, race age religion or physical disability.

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2) Discriminate unfairly against applicants with a criminal

record

3) Knowingly make any false or exaggerated claims in its

recruitment literature or job advertisements.

Within the context of such a policy the detailed plans and

procedures for recruitment can be devised and put in place. These

are necessary to ensure that recruitment practices are

systematic, consistent and responsive to internal needs. (Cole,

2002, p.173)

Having polices and procedures in place ensures both the

organisation and applicants are aware of how the recruitment

process works, when the applicant should be contacted and other

information such as interview information, and discrimination

information with regards sex, race age religion or physical

disability.

The main aim of the selection process to get the right candidate

for the job, Foot and Hook expand on this and say that it is also

about ensuing ‘that the candidate fully understands all major

aspect of the job and that they are not likely to become

disillusioned and leave within a short period of time’ (Foot and

Hook, 2008, p85). Ensuring all candidates have a full understand

of the job role is important in both DVC and ASOS, proving this

in such a short amount of time can be difficult but testing and

activities during the interviews can make this a much more

effective process.

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‘Job analysis is the term used to describe a process of examining

jobs in order to identify their main features, in particular the

duties they fulfil, the results they are expecting to achieve,

the major task undertaken and the jobs relationship with other

jobs’. (Cole, 2002, p.152-3) The Hay Group from Newcastle

University expand on job analysis by stating the 3 main stages of

job analysis as:

Gathering of information about the content and context of

jobs and the

relationships between them. This information may be obtained

by

interviewing a manager or job holder, from existing job

descriptions,

from statistical or financial data, organisation charts,

etc.

Analysing and organising the job information. The skill of

job analysis

is about really understanding the job in order to break it

down into its

key components.

Presentation of the information in a concise and systematic

manner.

This is normally in the form of an individual job

description, generic

role profile or job family descriptor. There are, however,

other ways of

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presenting job information such as annotated organisation

charts,

generic job matrices, and so forth.

(Hay Group, NC Uni)

ASOS will overall have a bigger staff turnover than DVC because

of its peak trading times, temporary contracts and the size of

the organisation. ASOS like any organisation work on a strategic

plan that has been forecast by their senior management team the

strategic plan will look at the political, economical, social,

technological and environmental factors that affect the

organisation. They will go on to look at the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats within the organisation,

and take into consideration their previous year’s sales to

forecast how many staff are needed for their peak times such as

Christmas. DVC will use the same methods and again work from

strategic plans but fewer vacancies will be available because of

the limited funding within a public funded organisation.

Vacancies only tend to come up if present employees leave, new

funding has been granted or the senior management team identify

the need for a new role.

The interview stage is a fundamental part of the recruitment and

selection process and various methods of interviewing are

available. The American Military university say ‘Interviewers

choose from different styles and methods of interviewing. An

interviewer wants to find out as much about a candidate as

possible, including how they might react to different situations.

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Different styles and methods of interviewing enable an

interviewer to do just that: extract from the candidate important

information that could affect the outcome of the interview.

Unknown (2013). There are different interview methods that can be

used such as

In person - the traditional in-person, one-on-one interview

is your opportunity to shine and to show a prospective

employer why they should hire you.

Phone Interview - Despite the fact that a phone interview is

the least formal method of interviewing, phone interviews

can be challenging because of a candidates inability to

sense subtle non-verbal cues, which would be otherwise

obvious in an in-person setting.

Being asked to return for a second interview could mean a

few different things. It might mean that you made an

excellent impression, but the prospective employer is having

difficulty deciding between a few exceptionally strong

candidates.

A group or panel interview may be the most challenging type

of interview. This type involves being interviewed by

multiple people simultaneously.

Part of the interview might be a test scenario, as previously

stated ASOS and DVC use tests within their interviews. These

could be scenario tests, written tests, presentations Pinnington

and Edwards state that they are two main types of tests

‘reasoning and personality’ they go onto say that ‘reasoning

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tests assess qualities such as aptitude, cognitive and

intelligence where as personality testing examines how

individuals behave and react to different situations’.

(Pinnington and Edwards, 2000, p108-9) Dependent on the vacancy

will depend on the test use for example an administrative roll

might do an in tray exercise where a management role might also

do an in tray exercise but ask for a presentation so both

reasoning and personality can be tested.

Section 3 - Demonstrate how you would reward employees in order

to motivate and retain them.

Assess the link between motivational theory and reward

Thorrington, Hall and Taylor describe motivation as a word

generally used to reflect the effort or drive that an individual

puts into an activity. (Thorrington, Hall, Taylor, 2009, p.262)

Pinnington goes on to say ‘a basic understanding of what

motivates and de-motivates employees is a valuable underpinning

to management practice’. (A, Pinnington, 2000, p.123) Motivating

employees is linked to rewards such as performance related pay,

pension schemes and profit sharing.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs puts together the five basic needs

Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem and Self Actualization.

Maslow (1943) suggests that we start by seeking to satisfy our

physiological needs (food, water, sleep, oxygen, warmth and

freedom from pain) and once those are satisfied safety needs and

so on. The diagram shows Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs.

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Everyone has the ability to move up Maslows Hierachy of Needs but

as McLeod states ‘progress is often disrupted by failure to meet

lower level needs. Life experiences including divorce and loss of

job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of he

hierarchy’ Mcleod, (2007)

Fredrick Taylor published one of the earliest motivational

theories in 1911 and according to his research people worked

purely for money. Taylors theory is about paying workers at what

is called ‘piece rate’ which is payment for every item produced.

The approach was good for business but limited the creativity and

development of employees. Many organisations including Tesco have

some similarity to Taylor’s theory but also realise the

importance of employee’s life style and individual needs. (The

Times 100)

Organisations across Europe come together and discuss ways in

which employees can be motivated. There are groups such as a

quality circle that is a ‘small group of between three and twelve

people who do similar work and meet up on a voluntary basis to

identify, analysis and solve some of the problems within there

work place. The two main aims of a quality circle are the

identification of problems and suggestions of solutions and boast

the morale of the group through the attendance at the meeting and

the formal opportunity to discuss work related issues. Economist

(2009)

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Another Group is the European Works Council Directive. ‘Employees

of large multinational companies based in the UK and with a

presence elsewhere in Europe have a right to ask for a European

Works Council (EWC) to be set up. A EWC is a body that represents

employees of the multinational in the European Economic Area

(EEA) in discussions with management on transnational issues’.

Direct Gov (2012)

Reward to employees doesn’t just come in terms of pay; it can

come as a package such as, access to pension schemes, attractive

holiday entitlement, discounted living costs and access to

private medical organisations. In 1968 Fredrick Herzberg argues

that there has been a series of myths about motivation and says

that ‘Fringe benefits have become an expectation and are unlikely

to motivate. People take for granted having to work only five

days a week and for less than ten hours per day’. Herzberg (1968)

Herzberg like Maslow assume first that needs can be subdivided

into higher and lower order needs and second that healthy and

well-adjusted individuals will aspire to the fulfilment of

higher-order needs once lower-order needs have been adequately

satisfied.

Evaluate the process of job evaluation and other factors that

determine pay

Job evaluation does not determine the correct payment level for a

job but provides a possible ranking of a job relative to other

jobs. Foot and Hook explain the tree stages involved when an

organisation is deciding how much to pay for each job.

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1) Evaluate the jobs in the organisation and get a ranking for

them

2) Decide which jobs are similar in terms of the job evaluation

exercise and group them together

3) Decide what pay to attach to the jobs partially on the basis

of market value.

(Hook and Foot, 2008, p.331)

The process of job evaluation can be done in four basic steps

1) Compensable factors – compensable factors represent the

aspects of jobs for which the organisation is willing to

pay. Examples include knowledge and skills judgement and

decision making, freedom to act and responsibility for

financial resources

2) Gather data on jobs – some information might already be

available in the form of a job description or job analysis

3) Job evaluation – job evaluation schemes can be divided into

non-analytical schemes and analytical schemes. Non

analytical job evaluation compares whole jobs rather than

analysing the components of each job and assessing them

factor by factor. The three main non – analytical scheme:

a. whole job ranking

b. paired comparisons

c. job classification

Analytical schemes break the jobs down and try to compare

skills or competencies needed in each job the main analytical

schemes are

a. points rating

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b. proprietary schemes

4) Assign specific pay values – the outcome of the job

evaluation is the pay scheme, a ranking or hierarchy of jobs

in terms of their relative value to the organisation.

Year 21 and over

18 to 20

Under 18

Apprentice*

2013 (from 1 October)

£6.31 £5.03 £3.72 £2.68

2012 (current rate)

£6.19 £4.98 £3.68 £2.65

2011 £6.08 £4.98 £3.68 £2.60

2010 £5.93 £4.92 £3.64 £2.50

Organisations need to take into consideration other factors that

can determining pay scales such as the equal pay act 1970 which

ensures that both women and men are not discriminated over pay

because of there gender, age or religion. In the UK there is a

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national minimum wage and the table below shows what this

currently stands at in the UK

Direct GOV (2013)

Assess the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts

There are three broad components of the reward system:

Direct or base pay – this is a fixed salary for the job and is

defined by market pricing and job evaluation. The pay might

increase over time which might relate to age or length of

service. The main advantage of direct or base pay is it is

consistent and a predictable basic income. Direct or base pay is

used widely across the UK because of its sense of security for

employees. Most organisation might use a direct or base pay with

performance related pay on top to make the package more

attractive.

Performance or variable pay – this is influenced directly by

performance or attainments there are various types including

Payment by results (PBR) - which was adopted from F.W Taylor’s

theory as previously discussed and according to Thorrrington,

Hall and Taylor it is ‘historically the most widely used

incentive scheme’ (Thorrrington, Hall, Taylor, 2008, p.682) it

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links pay directly to the quantity of output produced by the

individual. PBR is widely used within the telesales industry the

more calls turned into business the better the pay packet. This

is there to motivate staff but could have an effect on moral if

results are not made and payment is low.

Performance related pay (PRP) – this is used in more

academic roles and is generally assessed once per year on

the individuals previous year’s results.

Organisation performance pay – this is based on the

profitability of the organisation and could be value added

schemes, profit sharing schemes or employee shareholding

Indirect pay or benefits – these could be pension

contributions, legal entitlements for example sick pay or

maternity pay. Or fringe benefits such as company cars and

housing assistance. Most organisations offer some sort of

indirect pay or benefits.

Examine the methods organisations use to monitor employee

performance

The process of monitoring performance usually comes in the form

of an appraisal, Pinnington and Edwards state that appraisals are

the ‘main, formal method of setting measuring and achieving

performance expectations’. (Pinnington, and Edwards, 2000,

p.162). Traditionally appraisals were an opportunity of managers

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to give constructive criticism to employees but now it looks at

helping the employee, identify where an employee can improve and

setting targets and goals for further development.

Other methods of monitoring employee’s performance could be

Probation period – a probation period is usually at the

beginning of an employee’s time within the organisation.

Within DVC the probation period last six months and it gives

the organisation time to ensure they have employed the right

candidate for the job. If an employee passes there

probationary period there job will carry on as normal.

Sometimes probationary periods are extended because an

employee has not fulfilled the job role correctly in these

cases an action plan is developed and targets are set to

ensure the employee is in the right job.

360 degree feedback – 360 degree feedback looks at an

employee’s performance from different sources, stakeholders

and a self assessment. It builds up an all rounded view on a

employees performance. It could cause tension within an

organisation as employees might feel disloyal too other

members of the team.

Organisation might also use benchmarking, this is more

widely use as and corporate performance management tool

rather than an employees. Benchmarking looks at the

organisations strategic position within the sector compared

to other organisations. It focuses on improvements and from

results sets key targets and plans to improve and become

sustainable.

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Section 4 – Explain the mechanisms for the cessation of

employment

Identify the reasons for cessation of employment within an

organisation

Cessation of employment comes in many different ways whether it

is dismissal, end of a fixed term contract, redundancy, or

retirement. When a person’s employment is being ended it might be

that the employee works a notice period usually of 4 weeks. It

might be that the employer wants to pay the employee time in lieu

of notice to terminate there employment immediately or it may be

that the employee is entitled to no notice period because the

cessation has occurred because of the employees gross misconduct.

Dismissal from work could be because of conduct, capability,

statutory requirement, some other substantial reason, redundancy

or retirement. An employer must prove cessation of employment was

for one of the reasons just mentioned for it to be fair

dismissal. Foot and Hook state wrongful dismissal ‘is based on

contract law and relates to instances when the employer has

broken the contract. One of the most common examples of breach of

contract is when the employee is dismissed without notice in

circumstances where it is clearly not deserved because of any

wrongdoing on the part of the employee or where the employee is

dismissed but with the incorrect period of notice’. (Foot, and

Hook, 2008, p.450-1) Foot and Hook go on to mention some of the

fair and unfair reasons for dismissal:

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Fair

o Employee in problems of national security

o Employee taking part in an official strike or some

other form of official action

o Employees taking part in an official strike or some

other form of official action where all employees who

participated were dismissed and not reemployed within

the next three months.

Unfair

o Trade union related – dismissals

o Dismissal on maternity or pregnancy related grounds

o Dismissal for taking or proposing to take action on

health and safety grounds

(Foot, and Hook, 2008, p.448-9)

Other reasons for cessation are:

Redundancy – redundancies usually occur because of

businesses closing down, loss of contracts, or even the

reduction the a certain type of work. Employers will have

plans in place for redundancies to try and limit the amount

they have to make. When redundancies are being announced a

consultation period will be put in place which will outline

the jobs that are affected, what the reasons for the

redundancies are the time scales during which the

redundancies will occur and the calculation if different

from the statutory minimum.

Retirement – planned retirements are deemed to be fair but

the employer has to notify the employee of the date of their

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retirement at least six months in advance. An employee needs

to request to work beyond the retirement age this will then

be notified to the employee in writing allowing the right to

appeal. Unplanned retirements can occur when an employer

does not follow the correct procedure for example as

mentioned before not giving the employee six months notice.

This would be deemed as unplanned retirement and the

employee ma be able to claim unfair dismissal.

Describe the employment exit procedures used by two organisations

I have researched into the exit procedures for the Office of Fair

Trading (OFT) and Dearne Valley College (DVC), Both organisations

say employees must give written notice of their departure from

the company either handing it to a direct line manager or the

senior of that line manager. The OFT state that employee’s are

required to work the required notice period ‘one month for staff

up to and including SEO, three months for staff at grade 7 and

above’. (Office of Fair Trading, 2013). DVC state that ‘notice

periods are determined by an employee’s statement of terms and

conditions’ (DVC, 2013) Both organisations have put working

practices in place to ensure successful recruitment can take

place on the back of the employees departure, and any outstanding

duties can be preformed before the employee leaves the

organisation.

A leaving date will be decided by employee and line manager and

then both leaving date and copy of resignation will need to be

submitted. The OFT ask the line manager to submit as ‘leaver

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notification form’ (Office of Fair Trading, 2013) along with the

resignation and planned leaving date. This is different to DVC

whose HR team will complete a ‘P17-01 Exit Notification’. (DVC,

2013).

At DVC a line manager and employee will balance the holiday

entitlement and this will need to be taken by the employee in the

notice period any other outstanding holidays will be paid in the

employee’s final salary.

Both DVC and OFT conduct an exit interview which according to OFT

gives an opportunity for staff to ‘discuss their experience of

working for the organisation in a confidential and objective

manner. It also monitors the reasons for people leaving the

organisation and the effectiveness of HR policies and procedures

in providing a good working environment’. (OFT, 2013)

Both organisation use very similar exit procedures to ensure the

correct information and feedback have been gathered. Both

organisations will hold employees documents for a period of 10

years after cessation.

Consider the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on

employment cessation arrangements

Employment law address the legal rights of employers and

employees. It covers several aspects including bullying and

harassment, data protection, disability, discipline and

grievances, and many more. According to Thorrington ‘unfair

dismissal law dates from 1971, sex discrimination from 1975 and

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race discrimination law from 1976’. Thorrington goes on to say

that employment tribunals now oversee nearly 100 separate areas

of jurisdiction. (thorrington, 2008, p.491).

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