Key Idea: A business needs the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at a cost it can afford. This topic is how it plans for them, finds them, trains and reviews them, and handles change and leaving.
Planning and change
- HR planning: how many people, with which skills, when, and at what cost.
- Outside factors shape the plan: demographic change, labour mobility, immigration, flexi-time, the gig economy.
- People resist change they fear or were not asked about; the fix must match the reason.
Getting and growing people
- Recruitment: job description, person specification, advert, shortlist, interview, choose.
- Internal recruitment is quicker and cheaper; external brings new skills and ideas.
- Training: induction for new starters, on the job at work, off the job away from it.
Reviewing and leaving
- Appraisal: formative to improve, summative to judge, 360-degree, self-appraisal.
- Dismissal is about the person; redundancy is about the job no longer being needed.
- Labour turnover = staff leaving ÷ average number of staff × 100.
New ways of working
- Flexi-time, part-time, job sharing and working from home change when and where people work.
- Zero-hours and gig work give the business flexibility and pass the risk to the worker.
- Every arrangement trades flexibility against loyalty and control.
The words to know
| Word | Means | Do not confuse with |
|---|---|---|
| Human resource planning | working out the people the business will need and how to get them | recruitment, which is only one way of filling the gap |
| Internal recruitment | filling a job with someone who already works for the business | a transfer that fills no vacancy |
| External recruitment | filling a job with someone from outside the business | outsourcing the work to another firm |
| Induction training | training that introduces a new employee to the business and the job | on-the-job training, which teaches a task |
| Formative appraisal | a review during the year that helps the employee improve | summative appraisal, which judges the year at the end |
| Dismissal | ending a job because of the employee's conduct or performance | redundancy, where the job itself goes |
| Labour turnover | the share of staff who leave in a period, as a percentage | absence, where staff are still employed |
| Gig economy | work paid by the task, often found through an app, with no permanent contract | a zero-hours contract, where the worker is still an employee |
Name the HR method, say what it does, then show what it means for this business with a detail from the case: a name, a number, a job. For change and resistance, find why people are resisting first; the right strategy follows from the reason.
Exam-style question
Lena's Bakery Ltd needs a head baker to run its new night shift at Mill Lane. Priti, who has baked at the High Street shop for four years and knows every recipe, has asked for the job. Explain one advantage and one disadvantage for Lena's Bakery Ltd of recruiting the head baker internally.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Dismissal is about the person; redundancy is about the job. Formative helps during the year; summative judges at the end. A gig worker is self-employed; a zero-hours worker is an employee. Use the exact word the case needs, and keep using it.
Tap each card to check yourself.
Name two external factors that affect HR planning. Any two: demographic change, changes in labour mobility, immigration, flexi-time, the gig economy, new laws.
Rosa learned of the move from a notice on the wall. Why might she resist? She was not asked. Change imposed without consultation feels like a threat, even when the job is safe.
On the job or off the job: Priti shows a new baker how to shape loaves on the night shift? On the job. The training happens at work, while the job is being done.
Goldcrust closes its Riverside ovens and Hanna's post goes. Dismissal or redundancy? Redundancy. The job is no longer needed. Nothing about Hanna's work caused it.
Two of 20 staff leave in a year. What is the labour turnover? 2 ÷ 20 × 100 = 10%.
Who carries the risk of a quiet day in gig work? The worker. Paid by the task, a gig worker is paid nothing when there is no work.
Exam tips
- Every HR planning factor changes how many people, which skills, or what cost. Say which one.
- Match the strategy for change to the reason for resisting: consultation for not being asked, training for fear of new work.
- Internal recruitment: quicker, cheaper, known person. External: new skills and ideas.
- Dismissal is the person; redundancy is the job.
- Show the labour turnover working: staff leaving ÷ average staff × 100, with the answer as a percentage.