Task 2
The areas and trends that I have decided to look closely at are the following.
Claimant count (unemployment)
Average earnings
Number of students in university.
Unemployment for London in percentage.
As you can see from the following trend that in 1988 unemployment was at 6.6 percent and from this year on you can see that it kept on decreasing until 1991 were unemployment shot up to 8.0. After this period the unemployment rate consisted on growing until 1993, which it went up to 11.6%. After this, the figure kept on decreasing until 1998. From the following figures I can say that if Wickes building suppliers wanted to hire some more people that it would be difficult the reason being is because if you look at the graph that the unemployment rate is going down and that most of these people could be in their late years or to old to work at all which would mean that they would be no help to Wickes building suppliers.
Employment in UK for males aged between 18-34 between 1995-1999 as a percentage.
As you can see from this graph it represents data of males, which are employed between the ages of 18 and 34. From this you can see that the percentages are high. Ever since 1995 the employment rate has been rising. The maximum it has reached is 78.3%. From this I can say that if Wickes building suppliers were looking the recruit people then it would be hard since all of the people aged between 18 to 34 are all ready in employment. So if Wickes building suppliers were looking for people then the problem they would have is that the young people are already in employment. The reason Wickes building suppliers want young people is because it would to more cheaper and also because in Wickes building suppliers it is hard work so that is why they are looking for young people.
Employment in UK for females aged between 18-34 between 1995-1999 as a percentage.
As you can see from this graph it represents data of females, which are employed between the ages of 18 and 34. From this you can see that the percentages are high but not as high as the male’s percentage. Ever since 1995 the employment rate has been rising. The maximum it has reached is 66.5%. From this I can say that if Wickes building suppliers were looking the recruit people then it would be not be that hard. I say this because only 66.5% of girls are employed. But the problem Wickes building suppliers night have is that they only have girls on the tills and this will not be so good since they would need males to lift the heavy things. The only other thing Wickes building supplies could use the females to do the light lifting work and also paper work. The main reason to hire or take on young females is again because of the cheap labour.
Average earnings by age group for fulltime males in Great Britain
From this you can see that the younger the employees are the less they get for working fulltime. Also you can see the trend that the older the person gets the more money they earn. So from this I can say that if Wickes building suppliers were looking to hire some people then I would suggest that they hire the younger people because they get paid less and also because they are more harder working and energetic.
Average earnings by age group for fulltime females in Great Britain
As you can see from this trend the same thing is happening but the difference is that the female are getting paid less compared to males. From my point of view this is good because since Wickes building suppliers policy is that female sit on the till and males to the work on the shop floor then this means that it is good because the males are doing more of the work. So this is a good idea for the male to be paid higher wages then the females.
Males in full time education studying business and administrative studies in United Kingdom
From this trend you can see that there are more and more males doing business and administrative studies. Since 1987 there has been a rise in the amount of males doing business. From this Wickes building suppliers can use this information and see that there are a lot of students available to work full time with a degree in business, which will help the performance of Wickes building suppliers.
Females in full time education studying business and administrative studies in United Kingdom
From this trend you can see that there are more and more females doing business and administrative studies. Since 1987 there has been a rise in the amount of females doing business. From this Wickes building suppliers can use this information and see that there are a lot of students available to work full time with a degree in business, which will help the performance of Wickes building suppliers. The difference between males and females this that there are more females doing business then males.
I have decided to base this part of the assignment on just a certain store. The reason being on the Wickes building suppliers web site it does not give an information on the amount of people it has employed so I interviewed a friend who works in Wickes Building suppliers and asked them questions about the actual store that they work in. When interviewing the person I asked them about the following things: the majority of males and females and the different ages that work in Wickes Building suppliers in the particular store. From this I found out that in the store at Cricklewood that as a majority there are more male to female employed. I believe that the reason for this is because the males are capable of lifting the heavy things were as it is not that way for the women. The reason that females are employed is because as I have mentioned in the assignment they are used as cashiers. The reason is because this way they do not have to lift anything heavy. The way Wickes Building suppliers have used the information above by comparing what young males and females get on average. So they have decided that they should hire females to work on the tills. I also found out that there is a certain age range that works in Wickes Building suppliers. This age range is between 18-34. The reason being is because Wickes Building suppliers have looked at the figures and found out that it is more efficient to hire or take on younger people because it is more cheaper and also they are more enthusiastic to do the work.
Task 3
The key recruitment documents used by wickes building super store are as follows.
Application form. An application form can also be obtained from their websites, which is . It is very easy to get this and also to fill in. this can also save a lot of time. As you can see I have got an application form from the website. The application form is at the back.
The other thing needed is a job description. This is important because it says everything the job entails. In the job description it should have two types of things or information. These are the tasks of the job and also the behaviour the job requires in order for the job to be done properly. Below as you can see I have got job description off the web of wickes.
Responsibilities:
To sell and maximise sales of showroom products (kitchens, conservatories,
bathrooms and bedrooms)
To provide a planning and design service to customers utilising our computer aided design systems
Provide quality customer service and expert advice to all customers interested in showroom products, including the follow through of all sales and home visits
Work in accordance with company procedures and administrative reporting systems
Manage the general housekeeping of the showroom
Requirements:
Previous sales experience and successful sales record
Computer literacy skills
Thorough, methodical and good attention to detail
Related product experience useful, although not essential
Reports to:
Customer Service Manager or Store Manager
Apply in writing to:
HR Department, Wickes Building Supplies, 120-138 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2QB
Another thing, which is needed, is also a person specification. This will include several things i.e. the physical make up of the person meaning how the person should dress, achievements (qualifications), experience the person needs. Specific skills that are needed by the applicant to carry out the job i.e. using a computer programme. Interests the person has i.e. hobbies or past time activities the applicant has. Personality meaning the applicants attitude and also how motivated the person is. Personal circumstances meaning domestic arrangements the person might have. Below I have done a person specification for the job description above.
Physical Appearance:
Smart personal appearance and articulate speech.
Achievements:
6 GCSE’s B or higher, computer literacy skills, previous sales experience and sale records
Specific Skills:
Good communication skills, ability to listen to specific adjustments, offer advice and solutions.
Interests:
Any position of social responsibility or participation in team related activities.
Personality:
Polite and cheerful. Ability to solve problems and cope under pressure. Good team worker.
Personal circumstances:
Reliable, punctual, good timekeeper, willing to do overtime or come in at short notice.
Curriculum Vitae (C.V) is also another ways in which Wickes building suppliers recruits staff. The way a person will know this is by the person specification. E.g. the above one states that you have to apply in writing to the head office. At the back is an example of a C.V.
The factor to be considered when filling in a vacancy and carrying out an interview are that is if you want to vacancy to be filled externally or internally. The advantage of having the vacancy filled in internally is that the person is well aware of how the business works and runs. They are also familiar with the surroundings. This will also save a lot of money on the business because this will mean that the Human Resources department will not be wasting any time and effort to advertise in the right places. The disadvantage is that the person does not have the experience to do the job so then this will mean that the company Wickes will only have to pat for the training of the person. The advantage of external factors is that the person might just have come out of university doing a sandwich course meaning that the person has had experience in the sector or also that they are in the sandwich course and they are applying for the job at wickes building suppliers. The disadvantage is that the human resources department will have to spend time, money and effort advertising the job vacancy. After doing this they will then have to match the application forms to the person specification and then shortlist some of the people. After this the human resources department in Wickes building suppliers will then have to interview the applicants who are new and again this will then cost money and waste time. After interviewing they will have to gather information on the applicants and also match it again to the person specification.
The key recruitment documents I have maintained from Wickes building suppliers are the job description and the application form. In the following paragraphs I will evaluate the job description and also the application form.
In the job description the type of things that it usually includes is the title of the job, contact with, job outline, responsibilities, and requirements, full time or part time.
As you can see from the job description above that it clearly states how to apply (Apply to), the different responsibilities, requirements and reports to. For example there are a lot of responsibilities to consider as well the requirement for the job. One of the important requirements for this job is that they must have previous sales experience. The next part is important since they tell the person how to apply for the job.
From my point of view I think that this job description is very well laid out in the context that Wickes Building suppliers can then refer to what the person writes.
I also think that Wickes Building suppliers can also improve the job description by including the pay the person receives as well as additional benefits such as bonuses for recognised work.
In the application form it usually has the following things, which are the name, address, telephone number etc. These are the personal details. The type of high school or schools attended, colleges attended and finally the university studied at. This would mainly be under the educational qualifications. The next thing you might find are the previous places that the person has worked in. this might include the name and address of the company, the date they started and the last day they attended, if they worked full time or part time, the duties that the person carried out and also the reason for leaving. The next part they might have is the hobbies of he person and their interests, also a scenario for the candidate to state what they would do in the scenario and the last thing they might have to asked for references. These references could be from teachers and past employers.
As you can see from Wickes building suppliers application form you can see that at the top it is very clearly labelled with the type of information they are trying to find out e.g. Your Personal Details, Your Employment History, Your Educational Background and finally Your Future At Wickes. From this you can see that they are asking the position they are applying for as well as the store they are applying to, weather they can work AM or PM, then they ask for the most recent employer and also allow you to carry on, on a separate sheet if necessary, the type of school attended as well as university both of these include the (qualifications achieved) also professional qualifications, training courses and also special skills. Then what the candidate would do in the scenarios. Then lastly how the candidate heard about this vacancy.
By looking at the application form I can see that it is clearly presented and it is lady out in order for Wickes Buildings suppliers to compare the application form with the job description. The other thing I can see is that Wickes Building suppliers believe in equal opportunities so they have kindly asked for them to state their ethnic origin. The other thing that Wickes Building suppliers finds important is to complete their section on the scenarios. It also states that they this section helps to decide weather the candidate can be part of the Wickes Building Suppliers team.
In my point of view I think that the this application form is very well laid out so that it makes it easier for both the applicant and Wickes Building suppliers.
I think that Wickes Building suppliers could improve their application form by in the employment history part of the application for they should make it all into one big table and then ask them to start off with the recent employers then the one before that employer.
Task 4 and 7
Training and development programmes are done by the business because the business wants to make sure that the business functions properly. The reason it might not function properly is because the business might have new technology or new machines.
The other main reason they might send them on training and development programmes is to motivate the employees and increase job satisfaction, reduce wastage and accident rates, develop skills of existing employees, establish the most effective and efficient working methods and to reduce employees resistance to change e.g. new technology and also new equipment.
Wickes building suppliers has a training programme. Wickes building suppliers has their own national training centre, which include programmes to enhance the performance of their colleagues and also to prepare them for prospective future roles. Wickes building suppliers also has another NVQ programme. This is called a structured delivering excellence programme, which is about introducing the opportunity for all store colleagues to work for a NVQ. Wickes building suppliers also feels that it will help in a number of ways e.g. developing skills, measure against nationality set standards and also when this is done they get a qualification which is recognised in retail, customer service, administration or warehouse and distribution.
The training and development programme is important to the Wickes building suppliers because if they do not then the performance will not be so good or above a certain standard. The reason being is because if for example Wickes building suppliers got a new machine in a certain department then this would effect other parts of the business because department have to work together as a team in order to be successful. If for example one department wanted to know something about the financial side of the business they would go to the finance part of the business. It including working with a mass amount of figures and their was an easier way y of working it out using a new computer programme then it would be useful if a person was trained on using that programme then the information could be worked out much quicker saving a lot of time and effort for both departments.
I found out some of this information because I have a friend that is a supervisor in Wickes building suppliers.
The work is carried out by using the things that they have learnt on the training and development programmes. For example the person might not be so good at driving a forklift truck or the person might have just come back from the programme and is driving the forklift truck in a real situation. The work is carried out by first of all safely procedures must be followed and then the person proceeds with his or her work. This is evaluated by a manager who is giving marks for the driving standards of the person and also spotting mistakes then evaluates the work. The reason for spotting mistakes is because the driver might be endangering customer, staff or themselves. The other reason for spotting mistakes is because then the driver can then learn from his or her mistakes. The other way in which their driving skills are evaluated are by in each store their best driver is chosen and then from all the stores they have a competition in which the have to go around a course doing certain things.
Then from this they are evaluated on certain aspects and then there is a prize for the 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place. This makes a lot of contribution in a positive way and also a negative way. The positive way is that the business has to make a profit and in order to do so they need to be able to show products in a nice manner and this might include putting products high up because it might be heavy to lift be hand. The negative way in which it might contribute to the business is if the forklift truck hurts some one. Then this might then result in Wickes building suppliers getting sued and not just the store in which it happened.
Wickes Building suppliers evaluate their training program in different ways. The possible ways of doing this are by asking the employee them selves and also if the employee talks about it to other people. This method might include the employee filling in a questionnaire. Another way, which this is done, is by the line manager observing the employee before and after they have gone on the training. Another way of doing this is by in the certain department you can see that after training if the sales have increased and if the customer complaints have decreased. Or after the training if has happened the other way round the sales have dropped and the customer complaints have increased.
The way Wickes Building suppliers go about this is by using two of the above ways. One is that the line manager observes the manager before and after the training and then the second one is that he uses the sales records for whole store before and after. The way these two link together is that the line manager looks at the way the manager works before and after the training and then also using the sales records or figures and the amount of complaint before and after the training he then draws up an analyse of the whole store including the employees that he might see.
The effectiveness of having people go on training and development programmes is so that it benefits the whole business. For example at my work in Iceland plc we just received new tills which are capable doing much more with out us the staff calling the management for help. I say this because before to return things we had to call for the management but now it is possible for us individuals to have the chance to do this our selves. So this means that it is now saves time, which enable the staff to do other activities. The other way in which it benefits or helps the company is because it will give the business a better image since the customer will value this as a good place of customer service. Also it will benefit the company because if on the training programme the management learns something about team work then this advise could then be shared between others to improve the whole team at Wickes building plc.
Task 6 and 8
The purpose of performance management to a business is that then a business can manage the performance of its employees efficiently. So then this means that there must be effective management control at both at individual and organisational levels. These are achieved by planning by setting objectives and targets, establishing performance standards, monitoring actual performance against targets and rectifying mistakes and taking action
Many businesses use four theories in order to motivate their workforce. These theories are the following. Herzbergs two factor theory, Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, Maslows hierarchy of needs and Taylor’s principles.
Herzbergs two factor theory
Herzberg strongly believes in job satisfaction. He believes that there are two factors which effect job satisfaction. These two factors are motivators and hygiene. Herzberg believes that the first set of factor induce job satisfaction:
*Achievement in the job
*Recognition of good performance
*Satisfaction deriving from the work itself
*The opportunity for advancement at work
*Being granted additional responsibility.
The second sets of factors are things to prevent dissatisfaction. These are the following factors of hygiene.
*An employee’s salary
*Supervision and technical conditions
*Company policy
*Interpersonal relations
*Working conditions
Mc Gregor
Mc Gregor believes that it is up to the manager to motivate their employees. Then the manager then makes assumptions about the employee’s basic needs when deciding on a suitable motivation method. Mc Gregor believes that there are two types of employees and this is influenced by the manager’s method of management style.
Theory X
This is basically a negative view of the person. It is about the person being lazy, unambitious people who do not like work at all and need to be controlled by punishment. He believes that if a manager treats a person as if they are disinterested or do not want responsibility then they will fulfil this role and not give them no responsibility.
Theory Y
This is basically the opposite of theory X. this basically saying that employees crave the attention for responsibility and also they are self-disciplined who work appreciative. To sum this up it is saying that if they are given the right treatment and management style then employees can be motivated to work.
Maslow hierarchy of needs
Maslow believes that people are motivated both by needs, which are fundamental to their existence, and also which are associated with mental characteristics or attitudes. These needs can be presented as a hierarchy and Maslow believes that people in a workforce will try and work their way up the hierarchy. So this means that the employees physiological needs can be satisfied through basic pay and comfort from the working environment. Also the people will want to satisfy their security needs by gaining greater job security and perhaps pension arrangements.
Taylor’s principles
The job of management was to provide formal order and control in the working environment. Management did the planning and provided the support to show the workforce how best to do the job. From this Taylor believed that there was a clear line and that staff were only motivated by money. Taylor believed that because staffs were interested in money then they would believe that there would be an increase in productivity and staff organisational structure.
From these four theories’ I believe that Wickes building suppliers are following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and also Tailor’s principles. I say this because in Wickes building suppliers the every one starts at the bottom until they work them selves up the hierarchy. I say this because I have a friend who told me some of the main aspects of become a supervisor. Then when he went to a training and development programme he was told what steps needed to be taken to become a manager. Also the other reason is because has some appraisal schemes. One of the appraisal systems is that every employee has the chance to earn bonuses related to the business performance.
For example if in a business if the motivation theory is identified then it is possible that if it is effecting performance of the business then it is identified that there is training needed in order to boost the performance of the business.
The other way is that if there is a goods idea then the winner at the end gets to drive the company’s jaguar at the end of the month. The main thing they do is that the colleagues are regularly reviewed against their personal targets and Wickes building supplier’s principles. So part of the interview is that are encouraged to plan their own development and set future needs or targets. This then allows the colleague to check their progress and learn from their mistakes. The other thing to help them is the Self-Development Resource Guide. This helps them by developing the qualities and characteristics that are needed for effective performance. It also gives them pointers to activities that can be carried out on the job. The benefits that the staff have for working in Wickes building suppliers is that they are able to get a 25% staff discount only after three months service, they get 23 days holiday per year for colleges who work 5 days a week and also they have a long service award which is that they get vouchers.
5 years-£50 gift voucher
10 years-£200 UK break voucher
15 years-£450 UK break voucher
20 years- £1,500 general voucher
25 years- £2,500 general voucher
The other thing they get is health insurance. This covers health and dental insurance. This is only for mid managers. For the other employees they get a discount for medical cover.
Pension Plan
This is only for the colleagues that are over 45 who get a defined benefits plan and the younger colleagues get a persona plan facility.
Life Insurance
They provide a cover at the rate of three times the annual salary.
