Contribution of the administrative function of the HR department Essay

Introduction: Business organizations are made up of people. These often termed ‘human resources’ and they are the most important resources in the production of goods and services. Managers and the owners of organization need to understand the nature of the labour market in the areas where they operate, and how they work together in groups so that they can achieve maximum output. They also need to understand what motivates employees do that the goals of the organization can be achieved. Many tasks that are undertaken in business are complex and therefore need the combined skills of different people. The human resources functions have been modified into four (4) main sections these are Human Resources planning, Recruitment and selection, Training and Development and performance management. In an organization without these four main departments the company can’t stand as one this is the reason why the have stated above. I will be looking at each department and how effective they are to the Human resource management. Human Resources planning; this is the adding up of the internal and external staffs in an organization, in other to know the number people to employ to the right department and at the right time. The Human resources don’t just decide that they need to employ new staffs. There are some certain factors they consider before they can employ new staffs. These factors includes; the skills and competences they will need the new employees to have, how many people with these capabilities will it be able to recruit, and also the ways of training and developing people to meet these skill requirements. The Human resource planning department has various ways of forecasting the demand for employees in future. The process are as follows; forecasting demands for members and skills of employees, analyzing current employee, and account for internal employees and lastly taking actins e.g. recruiting, transfer etc. The human resources planning are very important in an organization they help the business with its long term planning and objectives setting of the business. Recruitment and selection; the objectives of recruitment is to attract the ‘best candidates’ for a job and then select the most suitable. It is an extremely important process because organization depends upon their human resources to survive and be successful. If the wrong person is recruited, a business can be severely damaged. In large organization the human resources will be in charge of the process. The first stage is to analyse what sort of person is required. The second stage is to decide how the vacancy is to be advertised or announced. Finally, the selection process needs to be planned and conducted in such a way as to ensure that the best candidates are successful this can be done internally and externally. The first stage of recruitment procedure is to carryout a job analysis. This enables the tasks and activities to be carried out by a new employee. The process is more difficult if the post is new, i.e. where no one has experience of the tasks to be performed. In other for the tasks and activities to be performed, a job analysis will specify the skills required and the role and responsibilities to be held. Thereafter a ‘job description’ is produced this contains what the job is; it gives candidates details of what the job entitles. Once the job description has been completed, the next stage is to specify the skills, knowledge and qualification necessary to perform the job. This is therefore known as a ‘person specification’. This is used to form the selection process and is used to ‘short list’ applicants. This specification may include; level of education, length of experience, special skills knowledge or aptitude. Once the job description and person specification has been drawn, the next stage in the process is to decide how a vacancy is to be filled this may be done internally i.e. from within the organization Training and development; this is the process of systematically guiding or teaching employees to do something by subjecting them to various exercises or experiences, so that they improve job-related skills and knowledge. Lack of tanning may lead to a reduction in the possible production level, to errors and waste. Training is key part of working life. It adds to the skills abilities of the labour force and thus increases its supply; it is also a great motivators. This helps to give employees a sense of purpose, also helps to improve performance this also helps to facilitate secondment, transfer or promotion Training for future needs is long-term investment. Performances management; this is a process of monitoring the performance and managing a particular activity going on in a business. This is commonly done for the employees. This helps to know how well employee is managing and performing in their different departments. This process can be done in various ways these includes appraisal scheme, reviews, self-evaluation, peer evaluation. All this helps to know how well each employee is doing. The processes stated above helps to motivates staffs therefore this signifies that if all this process of managing employees are meet there is likely to be improvement in the business. At the end of this portfolio I’ll be giving information about a large business, each specializes in beverages. Shayo Bright HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING Human resources function The human resources management covers a variety of activities. Some responsibilities covered by the human resources function are policy-making role, welfare role supporting role, bargaining and negotiating role educational and development role and administrative role. The type of work covered by Administrative role; this is concerned with the payment of staff’s wages at Kudirat Enterprises UK (payroll) and implementation of health and safety rules, sex discrimination act . Also at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) this includes human resources record keeping. The administrative role is important to the business because the work performed under this role act as incentive to staffs. This role is important as payment of staffs salary determines the quality of work a staff perform and the labour turnover. Managers use the HR record keeping during promotion to be able to know who is doing well. Welfare role; this role is concerned with looking after people working at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd UK and their need. At Kudirat Enterprises staffs compliance, communication and employees relation are under the welfare role. This role is important to Kudirat Enterprises Ltd UK as it determines the extent of staff motivation. If at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) their welfare role were poor, then staffs would not feel motivated, as their needs are not satisfied. Lack of motivation also leads to low productivity therefore affecting the business in general. Educational and development role; this role is concerned with the training and development of the workforce at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) responsibilities covered under this role is recruitment, training and development. This is important because employees are thought modern trends in the business and updated about changes during training. This helps Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) to be more modernized and updated and this enables them to compete effectively among competitors. Supporting role; this role is concerned with helping other functional managers to develop their work. In Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) the HR department does some work of the finance department. E.g. payroll. Also at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) other functional areas such as production and marketing are supported by the HR department in the training and recruitment of staffs. This is important as cooperation among different functional department bring about the growth of the business. It also enables them perform their jobs effectively. Contribution of the administrative function of the HR department of Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) to the activities of the business. The main contribution of the administrative role to the department of Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) is to maintain an effective workforce. This is done by paying salaries to workforce and giving them adequate and right benefit. This makes staffs feel more valued. Therefore they are motivated and their productivity increases. This therefore helps them perform the activities if the business amore effectively. Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) main activity is production done by producing shoes. Also if the department of Kudirat Enterprises can maintain an effective workforce it means the labour turnover will be lower and the organization will be filled with competent people who have a fair knowledge of the business. In addition the administrative function of the human resource department at Kudirat Enterprises helps to ensure that the organisation is a safe place to work in, thereby eliminating direct or indirect discrimination and victimization. Internal staffing information These are internal factors with the business that enables them to carry out an effective human resource planning. Factor considered at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK). Labour turnover; this is used in Kudirat Enterprises to determine the type of people leaving i.e. experienced or inexperienced people and section of the organisation with a high turnover. Also determine if there is need for a check in the reason for a high turnover. Labour turnover could be calculated in 2 ways: Labour stability rate (this is not the most accurate way of measuring turnover as it does not really give the exact). Wastage rate: this is used at Kudirat Enterprises. It is calculated: Wastage rate = Number of staff leaving in time period X 100 Number of staff leaving in time period Due to the fact that the HR department of Kudirat Enterprises (UK) ltd is young the labour turnover just started last year (but will continue to be done yearly). The labour turnover was recorded as 14%. This means that out of 240 employees 34 left i.e. 1 in 7 employees left the organisation. This is a very high turnover, which means productivity will be reduced. Also after the labour turnover was done at Kudirat Enterprises result showed that 19 out of the 34 employees who left were from production department. An ‘exist interview ‘was conducted in attempt to reduce this high turnover. Through this they found out that people felt the job was strenuous and boring. On the order hand, compared to the industry turnover of 20%, the turnover for Kudirat Enterprises was quite low. Age, skills and training; this information received last year as regard the age of employees working at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) . Age as to do with the length of services. The above information shows a most of employees at Kudirat Enterprises are aged between 25-50. This is good as it reduces the number of employees leaving as a result of retirement and old age sickness. It also shows that most employees are female staffs thereby increasing the leave vacation e.g. maternity leave and sickness leave (this is because women are prone to sickness than men).this might have a negative effect on Kudirat Enterprises Ltd. The skills and training is important to Kudirat Enterprises as it helps determine skills they need in future and identify the skills the work force posses a minimum of G.C.S.E. certificate and behavioral skills. Other internal staffing information are not used at Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) because department is still young. This internal staffing information not used by Kudirat Enterprises Ltd (UK) is succession, sickness and accident rates. As the department is young statistics such as these as not taken in this regard formally but will soon be done. External Labour Market Information These are external factors that affect human resources planning. This factor includes; Government policies, Employment trends, Skills shortages, Competition from employers, Availability of labour. Not all external factors listed above affects Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd. factors that affect human resource planning at Kudirat Enterprises includes the following: Competition from employees Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is interested in knowing whether it competitor such as E Map, IPC, Natmags are contracting or expanding. This is because if they are expanding labour wages will be increased and supply will be less. This usually have a negative impact on Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd. On the hand if they are contracting will have a positive effect on Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd as supply of labour increase and it is easier to recruit right sort of staffs. Availability of labour This will depends on such factors as age distribution of the population, attitude of working women and the extent to which young people stay at school. In the publishing industry there is always labour available, as it one of the best industries. Employment trends and Government policies As at April 16 2004, employment continues at record level.28.330 million people in work, in December to February according to the labour force survey -up to 183 thousand in the last 3 month and 318 thousand over the last year -a rate 74.9%. This is up 0.4% on the last quarter. This is gotten from the labour market statistic website. Human resource planning at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is relevant to the labour market information as a fair knowledge of it helps in the planning of the human resources Labour market information relates to the HR planning because if these factors are not considered before planning then the plan is irrelevant as it is not updated. This helps Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd in the following ways to plan their Human resources: This therefore has to do with the amount of money to be collected to the areas of human resources. This may be indicated through government policies. Secondly the number of workers to be employees. This indicated through competition from employees and availability of labour. Finally, the types and money to be allocated to training. An evaluation of the use of external labour information to plan human resources Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is affected by skills shortage because in this industry there are high level of skilled employee shortages a lot of unskilled and semi-skilled labour in the market as the skilled labour has employed. This has affected Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd human resource planning as recruitment is planned mostly to be done internally. Also employment trends have little impact on Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd. This is because recruitment is done internally. Government polices such as incentives given to organizations that employees train people affect Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd HR planning in the sense that it determines the amount of money that want to allocate to recruitment and training The most essential external factor that affects Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is competition from employers. As Kudirat Company is a small business and therefore more likely to be impacted by action than macro changes in labour market. Popular sector never find difficult to find staff, but getting the BEST people requires engagement with competition. E.g. a competitor recently announced the closure of teen shoe, so they are now actively pursuing their people to join their teen shoe production titles. From the above it is clear that Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is using their external labour market information effectively to plan their Human resources. Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is not affected by availability of labour. This is because there is always adequate labour in the market. There is just question of is the labour well skilled or not. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION This is the process whereby an organization selects the appropriate applicant or staffs fill the vacancies in the organization. Different organization use different recruitment documents e.g. application letters, application forms, curricula vitae, bio data, resumes etc. External Document At Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd the following recruitment documents are used: Curricula Vitae This is a brief summary of your career to date and a little about yourself. This is used for initial application. Features of CV: * Name * Date of birth * Address * Telephone * Education and training * Qualification * Achievements * Interest and hobbies * Work experiences * Reference Some organization requires photographs at this stage, but at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd they are concerned about the equal opportunity implication and discourage this practice. The CV presents Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd adequate information about application but Kudirat Enterprises does not rely on the CV only because: applicants omit negative statement about themselves thereby not presenting their true self, at times the applicant themselves might not prepare the CV, and also most times applicants are almost identical in terms of qualifications. Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd uses this recruitment document because as it present adequate information at this stage of selection and enables them determines if the applicant is capable of performing the work through the work experience and qualification. The purpose of the CV is to determine how capable the applicant is of performing this job and it contains adequate information in this regard. Application letters and biographical data Due to the fact that Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is a manufacturing house they use letters of applications and bio data. This is used to check how interesting the applications are. This is necessary to Kudirat Enterprises because the need staffs with good fashion and designing skills. Application letters have no basis features but it must contain your: i. Name ii. Address iii. Contribution you can make towards the organization. iv. Skills and knowledge you have acquired. Bio data consist of systematic information about hobbies, interest and life history. It helps HF to reduce staff turnover as candidates are matched with existing staff with similar interest can be found. This recruitment document doesn’t provide enough information enough information as nothing is known about the applicant’s disability or criminal distinguishes them from others. It purposes is to find out how interesting the application is it contains adequate information for this purpose. Application forms These are the best recruitment document as it contains every detail of the applicants but Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd does not use it. This is because the HR of Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is just a little over 2 year old. An application form would develop later in future. Internal recruitment documents The internal recruitment documents at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd are not formally developed yet. They are currently developing recruitment standards and the important thing for us is to develop a range of templates and guide lines that will enable managers to manage their own recruitment legally and effectively. Managers must complete an authority to recruit form to get permission to start the recruitment process. This is the only formal paperwork they have at present. Factors to consider in planning filling a vacancy and carrying out interviews Organisation recruit because many reasons. At Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd recruitment is done if there is a dismissal, resignation or retirement and changing job roles within the business. Different factors are considered when planning to a fill vacancy by different organisation. Some of the factors considered at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd are; whether there will be need for a role (spread work between others, special project)? Can it be filled internally (internally means the employees at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd), could it be filled via referrals/word of mouth (this is when employees at Kudirat Enterprises recommends people for the job). Can it also be filled via ‘free to use’ channels; advertising (this is mostly used when looking for managers)? Also at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd following procedures are carried out; Advertisement: When it is discovered that the vacancy can’t be filled internally Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd advertise for the job. Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd advertisement is carried out in Media Guardian, press Gazette mainly and also some website for specific jobs. Advertisement done by Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd contains the following information such as job titles, duties and responsibilities, salary expectation, Address and contact, qualification and experience needed, closing date of qualification. Short listing: After the advertisement has been places different application letters and CVs are dropped at the head office of Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd. After all these has been received i.e. a week after the closing date, the short listing process is carried out at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd. Short listing is the process of ejecting application letters and CVs that does not meet the set or required standard. Factors considered at Kudirat Enterprises during short would include Qualification; people with higher qualification are selected, as qualification is an ingredient in person specifications. Also this helps prepare you for the job. Experience and competencies; it has a greater advantage as people with higher experience perform their work in the most effective way. Applicants with higher experience have an advantage as they are selected. Competence is the ability of someone to perform a particular job. At Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd competence is measured or checked through what is stated in the application and contribution the applicant can make towards the organization. Hobbies and interest; this is also considered by Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd because it is a production factory. This is mostly considered by them to give them a competitive edge in there designing of shoe. This also considered when recruiting people in the marketing department and journalist. After this process kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd send letter to the list of successful candidates whose name has been short-listed. At Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd for every one job ten people are chose at this stage. The letter inviting them for an interview contains information such as; Venue of the interview, time and date of the interview and letter also indicates that they were successful. Interviews: After the letters have been sent, then the interview process is next. The interview done at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd is an informal interview (i.e. an oral interview). This is because they believe words of mouth applicants are likely to stay longer. The interview is conducted by a penal of 5 people including a member of the board of governor, HR director and a representative of the department, which has the vacancy. The other 2 people are chosen randomly. The panels assess the following: body language, eye contact, ability to give the right answer to the question asked and fluency in English. This form of interview is not the most suitable as it discriminatory as the panel already knows who they want the minute the applicant walks in. It tales them 2 days at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd to comply their interview result and decide the applicant they want. The panel does not only takes the decision but also everyone in the HR department and the department in which the vacancy is to be filled. This enables them to select the most competent and outstanding applicant. Recruitment process at Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd At Kudirat Enterprises (UK) Ltd job vacancies are filled internally. This is done through promotion and spread work. Recruitment is done internally because; it helps in innovating employee,