People in Business
What this domain tests
People questions cover recruitment and selection, training, motivation, leadership style and organisational structure. You must apply theory to a scenario - for example, recommending a training method or leadership style - and interpret simple structure diagrams.
Core concepts
- Recruitment process: identify vacancy → job analysis → job description (duties) and person specification (qualities) → advertise → shortlist → interview/selection → induction.
- Training: induction (orientation); on-the-job (coaching, job rotation - cheap, realistic); off-the-job (courses, day release - broader, but costly and away from work).
- Motivation: Maslow's hierarchy (physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualisation); Herzberg's hygiene factors versus motivators; Taylor's scientific management and financial incentives.
- Leadership: autocratic (fast, low consultation), democratic (consultative, better commitment), laissez-faire (freedom, risky with inexperienced staff).
- Structure: chain of command, span of control, tall versus flat, delayering; centralised versus decentralised decisions.
Worked example
A firm has 24 operational staff and 3 supervisors, so each supervisor's span of control is 24 ÷ 3 = 8. After delayering, each supervisor manages 12, so only 2 supervisors are needed. Saving one supervisor's €35,000 salary less €5,000 retraining costs gives a net annual saving of €30,000. Reasoning: the calculation must include the one-off cost, and the answer should note risks - wider spans can reduce supervision and increase stress, so cost savings are not automatically a benefit.
Traps that cost marks
Mixing up job description (the job) with person specification (the person); confusing redundancy (job no longer needed) with dismissal (conduct); treating pay as a Herzberg motivator rather than a hygiene factor; claiming delayering always improves motivation without weighing the loss of support.