THE ROLES OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) DEPARTMENT:

1. Recruitment and selection: attracting and selecting the best candidates for job posts
2. Training programs: give the employees in the business training opportunities in order to give out better quality goods/services and increase productivity
3. Wages and salaries: they set wages and salaries for their workers in order to motivate them and attract people looking for jobs
4. Health and safety: they make sure that all health and safety procedures are followed
5. Redundancy and dismissal: dismissing employees due to their unwanted or unsatisfactory behavior in the business or making their jobs redundant (will be discussed in detail throughout this chapter)

You can remember the roles using the acronym “Riley Richards Has Winter Tops”

RECRUITMENT:

• Recruitment is the process of identifying that the business needs to employ someone up to the point where applications have arrived at the business
• When an employee leaves their position in a business, a job vacancy arises. In order to take that employee’s position, the person applying for the vacancy has to prepare a job analysis which includes the job description and the job specification 

Job Description	Job specification
Job Title	Experience
Job Location	Skill
Job Summary	Training
Job Duties	Qualifications
Working Conditions	Responsibilities
Hazards	Emotional Characteristics
Machines that will be used	Sensory Demands

• Job description: showcases the responsibilities and what is expected of the person applying if they get accepted. As shown in the table above, the job description mainly includes the contract of employment characteristics
• Job specification: its very specific to every person applying – it outlines what is required (as shown in the table above) by the person who wants to take on the job

After the vacancy arises, it will need to be advertised in order to get people to sign up. This can be done in two ways – either internal recruitment or external recruitment

1. INTERNAL RECRUITMENT:

• When the vacant the business wants should be an existing employee in the business
• Advantages: 

1. The person is already familiar with the business and the ways of working
2. It is cheap and time efficient
3. Can motivate other employees to work harder to get a better job

• Disadvantages: 

1. Jealousy can arise between the employees 
2. No new skills/experience are brought into the business 

2. EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT:

• When the vacant the business wants should be new to the organization (not an existing employee)

This will need to be advertised in order to catch people’s attention, unlike internal recruitment which could be advertised by sending the existing workers an email. So how can a business promote external recruitment?

1. Local newspapers/job centers: jobs advertised there do not need high level of skill (either unskilled or semi-skilled jobs). They usually include office or manual factory jobs
2. National newspapers: jobs advertised there need high level of skill and experience
3. Specialist magazines and journals: jobs advertised there attract technical people
4. Recruitment agencies: they include specialists who recruit the candidates and send them to companies when they are needed (costly)
5. What to include in the advertisement, where to advertise it, and how much will it cost/how much the business is willing to pay

*Note that job centers are run by the government and not individual/private people

Now, after the advertisement catches a person’s attention, they can apply to it by sending their CV (curriculum vitae) or resume that includes their name, experience, education, etc. Once the CV is submitted, the business will check to see if the requirements match the job specification.

INTERVIEW AND SELECTION:

• After the applicants applied for the vacancy and were short-listed, they will be interviewed in order to check who is the best option for the business
• The purpose of the interview is to assess the ability of the applicants to do the job, personal qualities of the applicant, as well as their character and personality
• Tests can also be conducted to find the ideal candidate. They include:

1. Skill test: the ability to do the job
2. Aptitude test: the ability to measure the potential of gaining new skills (often found when applying to art school or architecture in universities)
3. Personality test: to check if the personality is fit for the job (example: will this applicant’s personality be right for a hotel receptionist who needs to have a good first impression?)
4. Group situation tests: to check the ability to work in teams/groups

• Whoever succeeds in the selection process will be sent a formal letter of the job offer while the ones who fail will receive a letter of rejection

In a nutshell, vacancy arises → job analysis → job description → job specification → job advertisement → application forms and short-listing → interviews and selection → vacancy filled. 

CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT:

• It is a legal agreement between the employer and the employee (it’s a legal requirement) that includes:

1. Name of employer and employee
2. Job title
3. Salary/wage
4. Date of employment
5. Hours of work
6. Holiday entitlement
7. Amount of notice to be given to end employment. 

• Employment could be either part-time or full-time

FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT:

• Where the employee is required to work more than 35 hours per week

PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT:

• Where the employee is required to work from 1 to 30-35 hours per week
• Advantages to the employer of hiring a part-time employee (disadvantages of full-time):

1. The employees would work less so they would expect lower pay
2. More flexible working hours
3. Easier to ask employees to work at busier times (example: holiday season)
4. Less expensive than employing, training, and paying full-time workers

• Disadvantages to the employer of hiring a part-time employee (advantages of full-time):

1. Less likely to be trained since they see the job as temporary
2. Less likely to be promoted due to their lack of skill/experience in that field
3. Less committed to the business 
4. Harder to communicate with part-time workers as they’re not always present in work

TRAINING:

Training is essential for a business since it enhances workers’ skills and knowledge, allowing the company to be more effective and productive as well as increases the workers’ potential of promotion and boost their morale while decreasing the supervision needed and the accidents from occurring. There are 3 main training methods: on-the-job training, off-the-job training, and induction training.

ON-THE-JOB TRAINING:

• It occurs when the employee is watching a more experienced worker do the job 
• More appropriate for unskilled and semi-skilled jobs
• Advantages:

1. Cheaper than off-the-job training
2. Training is tailored to the company’s needs (the employee isn’t learning something unnecessary)
3. Production is still guaranteed even while training

• Disadvantages:

1. The trainer’s bad habits can be passed down to the trainee
2. Production time can be wasted so it can reduce the amount of output 
3. If the trainee were to go to another business, this may not be seen as a qualification

OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING:

• Where the trainee is trained by a specialist outside of the business premises
• Advantages:

1. The trainee will gain a wide array of skills which can make him/her multiskilled and can perform various jobs 
2. The training process is of high quality since it is done by a specialist who is up-to-date with business practices

• Disadvantages:

1. Very expensive
2. It gives the employee the qualifications in order to leave this job and apply for another
3. Wages are paid but the trainee isn’t working
4. Trainee may learn skills on machinery the business does not have

INDUCTION TRAINING:

• An introduction given to a new employee, explaining the firm’s activities and procedures and introducing them to their colleagues 
• Advantages:

1. The new employee would settle in faster
2. They would be less likely to make errors/mistakes
3. It could be a legal requirement to give health and safety training before starting the job

• Disadvantages:

1. It delays starting the job
2. Time-consuming
3. Wages are paid but the employee isn’t working

WORKFORCE PLANNING:

Workforce Planning: the establishing of the workforce needed by the business for the foreseeable future in terms of the number and skills of employees required. Sometimes, a business would have to cut down the number of employees by a process known as downsizing. This can occur because of:

1. The business is closing down
2. The business was merged/taken over
3. Falling demand of the business’ goods/services
4. Relocation of the business abroad
5. Introduction to automation

HOW CAN THE WORKFORCE BE DOWNSIZED?

1. Redundancy: when the employee’s job is no longer needed so they lose their job. Some businesses may give the worker money as a compensation for redundancy. (example: Louisa Clark in the movie Me Before You when she lost her job at the cafe)
2. Dismissal: when the employee’s performance is unsatisfactory so they are told to leave (in other words, they’re fired).

Workers can also resign (they leave willingly because they found another job) or retire (they stop working because they reached the age of retirement)

LEGAL CONTROLS OVER EMPLOYMENT ISSUES:

They are laws that aim for equal employment opportunities. Therefore, employees would be treated the same in the business and would be paid the same for the effort contributed.

EMPLOYEES ARE PROTECTED IN SEVERAL AREAS INCLUDING:

1. Unfair discrimination
2. Unfair dismissal
3. Health and safety at work (hygiene conditions, broken/dangerous machinery, etc.)
4. Wage protection: some countries have a legal minimum wage to avoid exploiting employees

An industrial tribunal is a legal meeting that hears workers’ complaints about wrongful dismissal or workplace discrimination