Investing in People
Staff are resource similar to machinery, buildings or raw materials so if you invest in them to make them
efficient as possible therefore making the business more profitable. To get the best of the staff is important.
Staff need to be trained properly for two reasons:
1. Health and safety so staff use it properly without posing a danger to themselves and others.
2. Also to get the best out of the equipment as you spend a lot on expensive equipment and you want
the best return so they don’t break the machinery and increase the costs even more.
Examples of Poor Planning:
If you have too many staff for current demand staff are not working at their maximum rate or
reaching their full potential. This means they are inefficient and resources are lost/wasted.
If you have not enough staff but they may not meet demand and consumers may buy from a
competitor. This results in a loss of sales and a competitive advantage.
May not be able to make the product that consumer want as they don’t have the skills- can’t meet
demand which results in a loss to competitors.
They may not be as efficient as possible which loses the company money e.g. Christmas-> firms
employ staff to maximise sales over the period and then released them as they have maximised sales.
It is important to have to correct number of staff with the right skills to meet demand.
To forecast employee numbers you must forecast future demand. Therefore it is important that your market
research is accurate to make sure that the correct numbers of staff are employed. However, this is difficult to
predict for 3 reasons:
1. Market research may be wrong; therefore any decisions made in relation to staff are wrong.
2. The market conditions may change which means market research is irrelevant and means staffing
levels are wrong.
3. Staff always leave which means you may not have the right number of staff. The business has no
control over this. This wastes the businesses plans and means they are wrong and have to change
them.
In order to get the right amount of staff, the business may have to do 3 things:
1. Redundant/Sack staff if you have too many -> reducing work force to meet demand.
2. Recruit staff if you don’t have enough.
3. Train staff if they don’t have the right skills.
There is no point doing this if it is a reaction to changing market conditions as by the time you go through this
process, the conditions may change again and your plan is still out-of-date. Therefore, it is important to plan to
the future/ predict future demand.
Recruitment: This is the process of appointing someone to a post in the company.
1. The company grows and needs more staff.
2. Somebody leaves and a job has to be filled/replaced.
3. Somebody gets promoted and their job needs to be filled/replaced.
The recruitment process starts with:
Job Analysis: What the job actually entails and what had to be done. What you are doing and does it
exist? What skills and qualifications would be necessary to undertake this job and what the job plays in
the company. This will help you draw up a job description.
Job Description: This is a document a firm will produce and will be included in applications forms. It will
describe what the job is and what has to be carried out and the qualifications and experiences required
for the post.
Person Specification: What skills/ qualifications/experiences etc. which make them suitable for the job.
By reading the person specification and job description a person should know if they are suitable for the job.
Staff are resource similar to machinery, buildings or raw materials so if you invest in them to make them
efficient as possible therefore making the business more profitable. To get the best of the staff is important.
Staff need to be trained properly for two reasons:
1. Health and safety so staff use it properly without posing a danger to themselves and others.
2. Also to get the best out of the equipment as you spend a lot on expensive equipment and you want
the best return so they don’t break the machinery and increase the costs even more.
Examples of Poor Planning:
If you have too many staff for current demand staff are not working at their maximum rate or
reaching their full potential. This means they are inefficient and resources are lost/wasted.
If you have not enough staff but they may not meet demand and consumers may buy from a
competitor. This results in a loss of sales and a competitive advantage.
May not be able to make the product that consumer want as they don’t have the skills- can’t meet
demand which results in a loss to competitors.
They may not be as efficient as possible which loses the company money e.g. Christmas-> firms
employ staff to maximise sales over the period and then released them as they have maximised sales.
It is important to have to correct number of staff with the right skills to meet demand.
To forecast employee numbers you must forecast future demand. Therefore it is important that your market
research is accurate to make sure that the correct numbers of staff are employed. However, this is difficult to
predict for 3 reasons:
1. Market research may be wrong; therefore any decisions made in relation to staff are wrong.
2. The market conditions may change which means market research is irrelevant and means staffing
levels are wrong.
3. Staff always leave which means you may not have the right number of staff. The business has no
control over this. This wastes the businesses plans and means they are wrong and have to change
them.
In order to get the right amount of staff, the business may have to do 3 things:
1. Redundant/Sack staff if you have too many -> reducing work force to meet demand.
2. Recruit staff if you don’t have enough.
3. Train staff if they don’t have the right skills.
There is no point doing this if it is a reaction to changing market conditions as by the time you go through this
process, the conditions may change again and your plan is still out-of-date. Therefore, it is important to plan to
the future/ predict future demand.
Recruitment: This is the process of appointing someone to a post in the company.
1. The company grows and needs more staff.
2. Somebody leaves and a job has to be filled/replaced.
3. Somebody gets promoted and their job needs to be filled/replaced.
The recruitment process starts with:
Job Analysis: What the job actually entails and what had to be done. What you are doing and does it
exist? What skills and qualifications would be necessary to undertake this job and what the job plays in
the company. This will help you draw up a job description.
Job Description: This is a document a firm will produce and will be included in applications forms. It will
describe what the job is and what has to be carried out and the qualifications and experiences required
for the post.
Person Specification: What skills/ qualifications/experiences etc. which make them suitable for the job.
By reading the person specification and job description a person should know if they are suitable for the job.
