BUSINESS STUDIES REVISION NOTES CHAPTER 14: RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING

Large businesses will have a Human Resources Department (sometimes called Personnel) within its organizational structure. In
small businesses the same tasks will be completed by a general manager. The main tasks of a Human Resources Dept. (HRD) are:
i. Recruitment – deciding when employees are needed, advertising and selecting them
ii. Training – new and existing employees to undertake new tasks and new processes
iii. Redundancy and Dismissal – letting workers go when they are no longer needed and sacking them
iv. Industrial Relations – dealing with complaints, requests etc. raised by workers often through unions
v. Health and Safety – ensuring that the workplace meets legal standards of health and safety

Recruitment: The specific process of recruitment can be time consuming and expensive for a business so it is vital that the HRD gets
its right. The higher in the organizational structure the new recruit will be placed, the more time and money will be spent on the
process. Typically the process will take the following route:
i. Job analysis – what is exactly needed? Is one worker leaving and needs to be replaced? Is the business growing and a new
worker is required to be added to the existing workforce? The HRD must explore the changing demands and structure of the
workforce of the business and investigate what is specifically required for the business to be able to achieve best efficiency.
Once this is known the next stage can be moved to:
ii. Job Description – This is a list of the specific duties and responsibilities that the new job contains, plus occasional duties as
well. The job description will also state the job title and possibly some information about where the new worker will be
located, how they will fit into the organizational structure and what hours they will work. The writing of the job description
will allow the new (and existing) workers to know exactly what is and isn’t their responsibility and can therefore help avoid
future disagreements. It also helps potential candidates for the position to be clear on what the job will entail and this
should help weed out applicants who are not up to the job or would not be motivated in the job.
iii. Job Specification – This is a profile of the ideal candidate for the job. It lists the essential and the preferred qualifications,
experience and personal characteristics of the applicant who will get the job. This can only be written after the job
description has been prepared and will again help prevent wasted time by deterring unsuitable candidates for the job from
applying.
iv. Job advertised in Appropriate Media – the HRD may look to appoint someone from within the business’ existing workforce.
This is called internal recruitment and has a number of advantages. It can save time and money. It is tremendously
motivating for employees to know that a business promotes from within and the organization will have a more
comprehensive idea about the strengths and weaknesses of an individual – more than they would have learned from an
interview. On the other hand, internal recruitment has potential disadvantages. It creates a vacancy which again has to be
filled, it can create jealousy and difficult relations where ‘equals’ become manager and subordinate, and it might lead to
missing out on an excellent candidate available from outside. If the HRD decides to recruit internally it will advertise on
notice boards and perhaps in a company newsletter, magazine or website. Alternatively, the business may decide to use
external recruitment – finding a new employee from outside the existing workforce. They must design an advert which will
contain job title, a summary of the job description, the job specification, probably details regarding pay and non-monetary
rewards and information regarding how those interested can apply. The HRD must then decide where to advertise the job
vacancy. The more senior the job, the widely it will be advertised – perhaps nationally or even internationally – because
only over a very large area might there be available applicants possessing the required profile to fulfill the specification.
Low pay, unskilled work can be advertised locally. Specialist jobs may be advertised in specialist trade journals (for
example ‘The Economist’ newspaper is full of adverts for economists!).
v. Applications and short-listing – the HRD will sort through all applications and create a short-list which is a list around six
applicants who are suitable on paper and are invited to interview.
vi. Interview and Selection – The candidates are interviewed perhaps once or more so that each side as a chance to see the
other and to judge whether they can work with each other. Shortly after the interviews the selected applicant will be
contacted and offered the position. The vacancy has been filled.
Training – the purpose of all training is ultimately to raise the productivity (rate of output) of workers. The three main types are:
i. Induction Training – for new employees. This is designed to familiarize the new worker with how the business operates, its
ethos, organizational structure and even the history of the business. Also more practical information is given such as where
the canteen, toilets etc are located, who they will be working alongside, how breaks, holidays are organized and the like.
Induction training should make the new worker feel more comfortable more quickly and help them settle into their new job
more effectively. However, induction training is not actually about teaching the worker their job and it does not itself result
in the production of any output. Induction training might typically last one day.
ii. On the Job Training – here a worker is shown, by an experienced worker demonstrating then watching over, how to do
their new job. Although some work will be achieved during the training, it slows down the productivity of the experienced
worker. This type of training is most often used in relatively low-skilled work which can be learnt quickly.
iii. Off the Job Training – most usually reserved for managerial and more highly skilled tasks, off the job training involves a
worker going to a special training centre, or college, over a specific time period to learn a skill. No output is produced
during training, but the business will have a far more productive employee at the end of the training.
The HRD also has to implement:
i. Redundancy (Retrenchment) – when workers are no longer needed. HRD calculates redundancy pay and notifies workers in
advance of their losing their jobs. It also supplies references for these workers as they seek new employment.
ii. Dismissal – when a worker is told (always in writing) that due to poor work, inappropriate behaviour, constant repeated
lateness etc. that they are no longer wanted. The HRD will also usually have written warning letters to the employee though
serious offences will lead to instant dismissal.