Study Notes: People Management

Communication - Benefits

What would be considered good or effective communication?  It would be communication in which:

• The sender and receiver of information are properly matched
• The message is communicated clearly – i.e. without misunderstanding or misinterpretation
• Communication is made using an appropriate communication channel and/or method
• The receiver of the communication is able to pass on any relevant and appropriate feedback (i.e. two-way communication)

There are many reasons why it is important for a business to achieve effective communication:

• Motivates employees – helps them feel part of business
• Easier to control and coordinate business activity – prevents different parts of business going in opposite directions
• Makes successful decision making easier – decisions are based on more complete and accurate information
• Better communication with customers will increase sales
• Improve relationships with suppliers
• Improves chances of obtaining finance – e.g. keeping bank up-to-date about how business is doing

The link between communication and motivation is particularly important. Good communication is an important part of motivating employees and the main motivational theorists recognised this:

• Mayo emphasised importance of communication in meeting employees’ social needs
• Maslow and Herzberg stressed importance of recognising employee’s achievements and self-esteem needs

Amongst the other reasons for using communication to boost motivation are:

• Ensures that everyone is working towards same company goals
• Enables employees to be involved in decision-making
• Employees can offer feedback and give suggestions
• People are motivated by having clear targets set for them
• Recognise employee achievements

HRM Strategy

HRM introduction  HRM objectives  HRM influences  Hard & Soft HRM  

Organisational Structure

Org charts  Delayering  Span of control  Centralisation & decentralisation  Matrix structures  

Motivation at work

What is motivation?   Theory - Maslow  Theory - Herzberg  Theory - Taylor  Theory - McGregor  

Financial motivation  Pay Package  Time rate  Piece rate  Commission  Performance pay  

Share options  Job rotation  Job enlargement  Delegation & empowerment  

Recruitment & Training

Recruitment intro  Internal / external  Job descriptions  Interviews  Job analysis  

Job advertising  Person specification  Training - intro  Induction training  On-the-job training  Off-the-job training  

Workforce planning

Workforce planning  Flexible working  Benefits & issues  Labour supply  Workforce roles & workload  

Annual hours  Job sharing  Temporary staff  Teleworking   Flexible hours  

Communication

Overview  Barriers  Benefits  Employee Representation