Component 1: People in organisations (human resources) — Eduqas A-Level Business
Test yourself on Component 1: People in organisations (human resources) with EDUQAS A-Level practice questions.
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Component 1: People in organisations (human resources) explained
The department exists to get the right people, in the right numbers, with the right skills, doing the right work, at a cost the firm can bear.
Read the full explanation
In practice that is a handful of jobs: planning future staffing needs, recruiting and selecting, inducting and training, appraising and managing performance, setting pay and reward, handling discipline, grievance, redundancy and negotiation with unions, and keeping the firm inside employment and health and safety law. Each has a cost and a payback, which is where the decision sits: heavy investment in training raises productivity and retention but can be lost to rivals who poach the trained. Progress is measured, most often with labour turnover, that is the number of staff leaving in a year divided by the average number employed, multiplied by one hundred. A soft approach treats people as an asset to develop, a hard approach as a cost to control.
Your focus
- Explain the functions of the human resource department
Component 1: People in organisations (human resources) exam tips
Marking Points
- Name specific functions rather than the word personnel, for example recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, reward, employee relations and legal compliance
- Explain the purpose of each function in business terms, such as induction cutting early leaving rates and so reducing recruitment spend
- Apply to the named firm, for example a fast growing chain needing a recruitment pipeline and standardised induction rather than an elaborate appraisal system
- Use a measure to show the function working, such as labour turnover falling from twenty five per cent to fifteen per cent after a mentoring scheme
Examiner Tips
- 💡Explain questions here want cause and effect, so use because and so that rather than a list of bullet style sentences
- 💡If the case gives turnover, absence or productivity figures, use them to show which function is failing
- 💡Keep the hard and soft distinction in reserve, because it gives an instant evaluation frame if the question turns into an assess
Common Mistakes
- Listing functions without saying what problem each solves, which earns knowledge marks only
- Confusing recruitment with selection, when recruitment attracts applicants and selection chooses between them
- Assuming every business needs a large separate department, when a small firm may buy in payroll and legal advice
- Treating training as a pure cost and never mentioning the productivity or retention it buys