Human Resource Management
HRM tests how organisations structure work, lead people, motivate employees and manage recruitment and training. SL case questions often ask you to diagnose a people problem and justify a practical response.
Core rules and concepts
- Structure terms: hierarchy, chain of command, span of control, delegation, delayering, centralisation and decentralisation. A tall structure has many levels and a narrow span; a flat structure has fewer levels and a wider span.
- Leadership styles: autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, paternalistic and situational. The best style depends on task urgency, staff skill and organisational culture.
- Motivation theories: Taylor's scientific management links pay to output; Maslow ranks needs from physiological to self-actualisation; Herzberg separates hygiene factors from motivators; Adams compares perceived inputs and outcomes; Vroom links motivation to expectancy, instrumentality and valence.
- Recruitment: job analysis leads to a job description and person specification. Selection may use interviews, tests and references.
- Training and appraisal: induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training; appraisal can motivate but may demotivate if unfair.
- Labour turnover = leavers ÷ average number employed × 100.
Worked example
A call centre has 40 leavers in a year and an average of 100 employees, so turnover is 40 ÷ 100 × 100 = 40%. Interviews reveal repetitive work and close supervision, not low pay alone. Using Herzberg, pay is a hygiene factor: raising it may reduce dissatisfaction temporarily but will not create motivation. Job enrichment, more autonomy and clearer appraisal could address motivators. Before recommending expensive pay rises, compare the cost of recruitment and lost productivity with the cost of redesigning jobs.
Traps that cost marks
Use average employee numbers, not the year-end figure, for turnover. Do not call salary a motivator in Herzberg's theory. Span of control is not the same as chain of command. Redundancy is a job no longer needed; dismissal is termination related to conduct or capability. Democratic leadership is not automatically best in a crisis.