A comprehensive overview and an analytical insight into human resource management at Barclays bank plc.

Four ways a job can be flexible is:

• Flexi – time:  employees have some freedom over what hours they work.
• Multi-skilling:  employees trained in variety of tasks.  Therefore, employees can cover for each other if any one is absent.
• Job-sharing:  two or more people the same job, e.g. one works in the mornings and the other works in the afternoons.
• Removal of job demarcation:  demarcation line defines the tasks involved in one job; by removing these, employees can undertake more tasks.

Flexible workforce, means of allocating the contracted hours of a member of staff to address more closely the needs and workflow of the business.  

It is also a means by which staff, in co-operation with one another, can influence their individual working patterns, whilst continuing to match the firm’s overall requirements.

Barclays tries to be flexible in staffing by having flexible working schemes that include:

• Maternity Break – if an employee is expecting a baby then they will be eligible for the Barclays Maternity Break.

• Career Break – this scheme is designed to enable certain staff to take a Career Break for up to 2 years, to look after their young children.  It is open to both male and female staff that satisfies the criteria.

• Emergency Carer’s Leave – if an employee is faced with an unexpected emergency, they are allowed to take up to 5 days per annum unpaid Emergency Carer’s Leave.

• Responsibility Break – this available to staff who face caring responsibility for sick, elderly or disabled people.  The scheme allows staff to reduce their hours of work or take a complete unpaid break up to 6 months, returning to work at their previous status.

The core jobs in the firm is to serve the customers, handling cash, deal with customer complaint and make sure the customer accounts are up to date.  Barclays recruit these types of staff themselves and train them for it. Where on the other hand, periphery jobs of Barclays is to clean the windows, vacuuming and sweeping the floor and, serving staff in the canteen.  These staffs are recruited through an agency on behalf of Barclays who do not have to be in the bank continuously.  The cleaners come only in the morning before the bank opens then go and come back after the bank has closed for the customers.  The lunch serving staffs only come in for 12 noon to 2 p.m. and then leave once the have cleaned their canteen area.

The problems that are likely to arise with flexible working is that some employees may want long, full time contract.

Employees may not want to learn new skills.  To meet changes in the demand, employees might have to be moved from one job to another, some employees might object to this.

Flexibility may lead to employees feeling insecure because they do not know which part of the firm they will be working on or what they will be doing.    Therefore, lack of security may make it difficulty t plan effectively.

In addition, some employees may be upset by the constant change and possible need to keep learning new skills.

Barclays is not experiencing many of the problems above except where there are employees that are not willing to learn new skills.  So to overcome this problem Barclays are recruiting new staff that are going to be fully trained.  Although Barclays is facing problems with the major flexibility that they provide, i.e.:

• Emergency Carer’s Leave
• Responsibility Break

They are facing problems because there are staff that are just taking advantage of that flexibility, the firm cannot actually do anything about it because the times they are absent the workers are not going to be paid, but they are allowed to comeback to work.  This is most disadvantage for the firm because may be during the employees break time the business could be struggling for staff and by the time they find a temporary replacement it might be too late.  Also too many staff could be leaving together which the firm cannot do anything about

it because coincidently there are staffs that are having family crisis at the same time.

The EU originated laws that now affect employers are:

1. The Working Time Directives = 

Minimum rest periods

Daily rest – Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that every worker is entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours per 24 hours period.

Breaks – Member States ensure that working days are longer than six hours, every worker is entitled to a rest break.

Annual Leave - Member States shall take measures to ensure that every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks in accordance with the conditions for entitlement to, and granting of, such leave down by national legislation and practice.

Night Work Shift

Length of night work - Member States ensure that normal hours of work for night workers do not exceed an average of eight hours in any 24 hours period.

Safety and health protection - Member States ensure that night workers and shift workers have safety and health protection to the nature of their work.

Pattern of work - Member States have to ensure that an employer who intends to organise work according to a certain pattern takes account of the general principle of adapting work to the worker. With a view, in particular, to alleviating monotonous work and work at a predetermined work–rate, depending on the type of activity. Moreover, of safety and health requirements, especially as regards breaks during working time.

2. Part Time Workers Right =

Part-time Work Directive workers and to facilitate the development of part-time work.  The government aims to remove discrimination against part-time has announced that it intends to implement the Directive by April 2000.  In the UK part-time work is fairly well established, but is arguably ‘ghettoised’ – representing lower paid and lower status jobs.

3. Health and Safety at Work =

This includes provisions like:

1. Adequate toilet and washing facilities must be provided
2. The inside of buildings must be properly heated and ventilated
3. Suitable lighting must be provided wherever people work or walk
4. Floors must not have slippery surfaces
5. Fire doors must not be locked or obstructed

Employers must take reasonable steps to protect employees as well as visitors and customers to the premises.

4. Discrimination =

It is unlawful to discriminate on the basis on sex, martial status, race, and colour or ethnic origin.

• Direct discrimination relates to how people are treated e.g. not interviewing applicants because of their gender.  Paying people less because of their martial status or ethnic origin.
• Indirect discrimination relates to terms or conditions, which certain groups are less likely to fulfil than others e.g. insisting applicants must not have a beard or having a dress code, which would have an adverse effect on some groups.

5. Equal opportunities policy =

This means employees are treated equally regardless of e.g. gender, martial status or ethnic origin in areas such as recruitment, payment and promotion.  Equal opportunities could involve:

• Equal chance, i.e. when applying for job everyone has the same opportunities and is considered equally.
• Equal access, i.e. everyone has the same access to training, promotion and staff development.

Those laws affect the employers because they might not consent to some of those laws, such as The Working Time Directive.  Not all employers approve to the daily rest and break hours.  In addition, if employers do not comply with those rules or do not carry out their responsibilities suitably employees in that case can take legal action against them.  Also, if the firm clearly sees that the employers are not carrying out his/her job properly they could get the sack and lose their job.

External Factors Affecting Labour Force Planning For Barclays Bank

Nationally, demographic changes and changes to the nature of the workforce are having significant effects.  Demographically, the number of young people entering the workforce has dropped dramatically, in 1989 22% of the workforce were under 25, by 2000 this will be down to 17% other age groups are expanding, the 35-54 age range in 1989 was approximately 41% of the workforce, by 2000 this is projected to rise to 47%.

This statement fits Barclays bank perfectly as most of the workers in Barclays are above 25, however this has not been a disadvantage to the firm because elderly staff tend to take work more seriously and always present work on a different level compared to the under 25 employees.  Staff are not always supervised therefore, if a problem arise the elderly employees would use their own initiative and solve the problem in a pleasant way possible.  Whereas if it were to be an under 25 staff that was in a difficult situation then most probably they would panic and make situations worse.

(source: )

Other features include greater numbers of women joining the workforce, and an increase in the number of part-time jobs and different ethnic background.

Barclays have adopted the ethnicity very firmly.  They modified few rules so that other cultures and religions would need to make adaptation for a multicultural workforce.  Barclays have stopped providing uniform for their employees because it does not fit everybody’s religion and culture.  They allow their workers to wear any type of clothes but have to be navy blue. For example, they allow Muslim women to wear scarf and men to wear their religious hat and Asian clothes are allowed as long as it matches the colour code.  Barclays also allows religious holidays and adjusts the timetable so that it is more flexible for single parents or a part-time worker.

(source: www.newham.gov.co.uk)

The structure of the labour force is also changing with more and more people employed in the service sector, and less in the manufacturing and primary sectors.

If the population of working age continues to increase but the total number of jobs in the economy does not, there will be more people wanting jobs than jobs available.  The consequences could be ever higher unemployment.  The economy needs to grow and expand every year in order to reduce this problem.

Another feature affecting labour markets is the increased use of the technology, which allows more work to be done by the same number of employees.  Computerisation and robotics have already transformed productivity rates in many areas and are partly responsible for reduced employment in agriculture and manufacturing.

National skills shortages means training implication but also meaning some jobs are now exported which is ideal for Barclays because data processing can be done from anywhere.  For example, India, they have high skills but the wages compared to UK is low.

Recruitment and Selection.

A vacancy might arise for various reasons an employee could resign from his/her post, a dismissal could happen if the employee does not meet the standards required by the management or a person is simply is to old to work and has retired.

If an employee wants to resign he/she may do so but he/she has to hand in a notice. The notice means an advance warning that he/she will be leaving. This notice has to be given in by a certain time before he/she is leaving depending on the contract this could range up to six months notice to a months notice. This is usually so that the firm can look for replacements and are not left with a hole in their staff as the person has suddenly left.

In Barclays vacancies usually arise during students summer holiday, this is not because of the students but because every student is on holiday and this is the time for their parents or elder brothers/sisters to take time off work to go on holidays as a family. Also during festive season such as Christmas Barclays would employ temporary staff, as they would have more customers to deal with during this season, mainly through the phone.  

This time of the year customers that work tend to send money to families by cheque or transfer money from one account to another, most common job occurs during these seasons is when customers take out overdrafts and expect their account to be up-to-date as soon as they get their salary paid to the account and then they will be informed about their transactions and all they transactions need to be done before the end of the month.  They do this in order to keep things running efficiently the work load would be more for the workers so having more temporary staff is a sensible way to keep there customer satisfaction high and this would motivate workers because more workers would mean the work load would be shared.

If Barclays were expanding this would mean more staff would be need to be recruited this is simply the same reason as there would be more work and to share the workload they would employ more staff. This is also because there would be higher demand and to keep this depend on the workers more workers would motivate the previous workers as they would not be rushed of there feet. Expanding could also mean the introduction of new technology if this is the case more skilled employees would be required to operate these new machines etc. this would also mean for Barclays that an increase of there wage budget as more skilled workers would need to be paid more.

When Barclays recruit new employees they have to take a look at its own targets and see if this candidate can help them towards it or not. In Barclays they usually recruit their people through Barclays out sources who take control over all the recruitment and selection and then the employees profile gets looked at by the

Human resources manager.  As soon as it is approved the employee is informed on whether or not they got the job.

Even then, they cannot recruit the right person for the job they may approach internally.  this basically means when a person already working at the firm is given the job that has just been vacated. This is a good idea as this keeps the workers energy levels boosted, as they would want a better job at better pay. This would also make sure its existing workers don’t look elsewhere for jobs.

The advantage of this is that you will be employing a person who already has settled in at the Barclays branch and can start his work immediately without any hassle. This worker would also require a minimum amount of training (if needed) this is because they would have seen the work done by the previous employee while the time he himself has worked there.

The disadvantage could be that Barclays would have to fill a vacancy this means they still have to employ some one else from the out side a new recruit this is because if a person is given the job internally the job which he has left behind still needs to be filled. This means going through the recruiting process and training the new employee this could cost a lot.

Holidays and sickness are all short-term vacancies while existing employees could cover it. This has an advantage as the person who covers for his colleague has a good knowledge of the task in hand and the work could be done efficiently. The disadvantage would be that the worker who is covering would have to be paid over time this is usually higher then the normal hourly pay. The other disadvantage would be that the workers would be tired and might not be willing to take on someone else’s task this could be a demotivator but on the other hand some employees could see this opportunity to make more money then they usually get paid.

The long-term holiday takers are usually women who leave on maternity basis or an employee who is taking a holiday. If their holiday is stretched for over a month then Barclays usually employ part time workers to do their duties while they are away. They are often referred as casual workers.

Employing internally has its advantages the main advantages which are that they save a lot of time and a lot of money this is because time is saved as little training has to be done as the employee already has inside knowledge. Money as the management does not have to go through recruitment process meaning publishing advertising there vacancies.

The disadvantage of employing internally is that this can cause conflicts within the work force simply because you would be promoting someone and another worker might think he deserved the promotion more then the person being promoted did.

This could also de-motivate the other staff members, as they were not selected for the position.

The only time when Barclays employ externally is when they are in need of staff urgently usually they would transfer some staff from one branch to another this is another good idea as they can employ staff from another branch as they would know before hand that the person they are getting is quality. Staffs from out side of the firm are very rare in Barclays. They are usually made by a recommendation from a current worker or an applicant might reply to one of their vacancies.

External recruitment is expensive this is mainly because of the advertising they have to do advertise their jobs in the newspapers and internet these are expensive but at the same time effective as a vast majority of the public read the newspaper and surf the net. Barclays use all types of methods of advertising to recruit, along with the newspapers and internet advertising Barclays inform their local job centres whenever a vacancy arises so half the job of Barclays is done by the out sources and the other half through the job centres.

Barclays give an application out instead of receiving C.V. this is a good idea as they can get the information they want and that they do not have to read through the whole of the C.V. they can ask questions on the form, which are relevant to them. This is a good process as they can eliminate all the candidates, which are not up to there standard immediately. This will also save time as in a C.V. they would have to read through all of it but in an application form they would know where to find certain information. This makes recruiting easier. I have attached an application form of Barclays.

Equal opportunities is an underlying theme in all parts of the recruitment process.  Few firms now recruit on the basis of letters and CVs but prefer to use their own formal documentation.  This is because in letters and CVs people do not put anything about their background or religion, so by filling in the firms’ documents the firm is aware whom they are interviewing or going to be recruiting.  This benefits the firms in a major way for example if they select a person that happens to be the same cast as the employer then the ones that have been turn down, in anger, may turn around accuse them of being racist or biased and some may just feel they have been a victim of discrimination.  When the fact will still remain that they were chosen because they met the criteria’s and no other reasons.

Below is a process that companies have to go through to employ personnel, and then considers the rights that employees have in their jobs.

Step 1

The first stage in employing people is to work out exactly what that person will be required to do. What will be their responsibilities, who will their manager be, what skills will they require and a host of other questions have to be answered before you can even begin to appoint someone. These may all be outlined in a 'job description'. From this the firm can write a 'person specification' setting out the profile of the sort of person required for the job.

What a person specification includes

• Skills, aptitude, knowledge and experience 
• Qualifications necessary to do the job
• Personal qualities relevant to the job

Step 2

Now that the firm has a person specification, it has to try to find the best person to fit that specification. The firm has two options:

1. Appoint an internal candidate - someone who works in the firm already
2. Appoint an external candidate

Advantages from appointing an internal candidate

• More familiarity with the company 
• Less induction and training required 
• Less risk - the candidate is already known 
• Quicker and cheaper

Disadvantages from internal candidates

• Could be a better person available 
• Creates another vacancy elsewhere in the company 
• Limits applications 

If you want to appoint an external candidate (maybe because an internal candidate couldn't be found or wasn't considered appropriate), then the post has to be advertised.

What a job advert include

1. The requirements of the job 
2. The necessary and desirable criteria for job applicants 
3. The activities and working practices of the organisation 
4. The job location 
5. The reward package 
6. Job tenure (e.g. contract length) 
7. The application procedure 

Another method of finding potential candidates is to use a job agency. There are a large number of them who have sites on the Internet.

Step 3

Hopefully you will now be bombarded by applications from suitable candidates. You need, however, to get written information on each candidate. You could do this by getting them to fill in an 'application form'.

The main characteristics of an application form should be:

• Realistic and appropriate to the level of the job 
• Be polite for readability and ease of completion 
• Not request detailed personal information unless relevant to the job 
• State the procedure for taking up references 
• Use clear language 
• Be accompanied by details of the job 

From these applications a shortlist of the best candidates will be drawn up and an interview time arranged.

On recruitment, the main things that should be done at interview:

• Always be conducted or supervised by trained individuals 
• Be structured to follow a previously agreed set of questions 
• Allow candidates the opportunity to ask questions 

Then the best candidate is chosen and offered the job. However, the company must ensure that the 'job offer' has all relevant information about what the person is being offered.

On recruitment a job offer should include:

1. Details of the terms and conditions that will apply 
2. Any conditions to which the offer is subject 
3. Time scale for notifying the company of the decision - accepting or refusing 
4. Start date 

Step 4

Employing someone should just be the start of the process. If you want to keep and develop the skills of your staff, then induction and training are absolutely vital.

On recruitment, to answer the following questions:

What is meant by induction

Helping a new employee to settle into the job fast by training them in company systems, getting to know relevant people and helping them with their job, if necessary, in the initial stages.

What induction include

1. Completion of employee documentation 
2. Specification and discussion of any training 
3. Explanation of domestic arrangements and people management policies 

           assistance to adapt to the job

Why is it important that the whole process of selection and recruitment is a positive one?

1. Leave a positive image of the organisation with unsuccessful applicants 
2. Give successful applicants a clear understanding of the organisation 
3. Reduce the risk of a bad selection decision 
4. Enhance the quality of candidates 

Employees have certain rights in their jobs that are set out in a variety of employment laws. These change regularly and so you would always need to check your rights carefully before acting in any way.

(Source: Internet = )

Interviews take place in a variety of different ways. This sometimes changes depending on what job is vacant. If a shop floor assistant job were vacant then most likely thing would be that the branch manager would take all the applicants and interview them. On the other hand, if it is a senior post like branch manager then it might be a group of seniors interviewing the applicant.

The interview could be one-to-one. This is where the applicant has to answer the boss’s questions. This sort of interview tends to be less formal but on the other hand, it may lead to biased decisions.

There also could be a panel where between two and six people may form a panel and each person will ask questions according to their specialise within Barclays. There might even be an observer present. This is to ensure that everything, which is asked, is fair along with the process. This is a good way as it would be a collective decision. This then means that the right person would be chosen for the job.

In an interview, there can be tests. Mainly psychometric tests. These are based on the psychological characteristics of individuals. Specific questions are written to focus on key characteristics and should be interpreted very carefully by trained psychologists. These types of tests cover five areas. Attainment, general intelligence, specific cognitive ability, training ability and personality questionnaires.

In Barclays, the interviewing procedure for any post is one-to-one. The branch manager usually does this. Barclays experience is always a bonus. They would like to have candidates who have previous experience of IT and Maths. This is because then it would be easier to train them up, as they already know some of the ins and outs. In addition, they could use their own previous experience to help Barclays achieve their objectives. If a candidate is accepted, he/she is told straight away. Although if there are many good candidates then Barclays let them know by phone or letter. This usually only takes a day or two. This is because its one of the small jobs which need to be filled. On the other hand if it was a big job with large responsibilities like a branch manager. Then Barclays would most likely take a lot more time in considering who to employ and who not to.

        

In Barclays the management draws up a job description when a vacancy arises. This is a document that simply outlines the duties and responsibilities required by the management to the possible candidate. This is good, as the person who is applying for the vacancy will know who to report to and what his jobs are this is also good as this shows the candidate where in the chain he is based. In Barclays they add a lot more in their job description they add things like requirements they would also write the things they expect the worker to be doing at what standard.  These come under two headings essential and desirable essential meaning that you have to desirable means that you don’t have to but Barclays would want you to have. Then the candidate can decide weather he/she is capable to the task if so he/she will apply for the position.

A job description also includes about what is the job the job title; the location of the workplace the minimum hours the employee has to be put in this is usually counted as weekly.

A person specification is another document, which is drawn up; this shows or outlines what sort of person is needed for the job. Barclays only recruit people who are up to the task if they are not then they would not employ the person. When a person applies he/she is given an application form, which he/she then fills. After the management have gathered all the applicants form they read them and select the possible people who are able to the job then they call them up for an interview.

The management would try their best to recruit fast but the best person for the job as they know that after they have recruited the person he/she would need to be trained up and this is time consuming, when the applications have been read they will then shortlists the applicants and call them up for a interview, so when the applicants arrive for the interview they are either interviewed by one person who is the manager or a panel depending on the position which is needed to be filled if its just a sales persons position they would not require a panel to interview him/her. Sometimes it is really hard to pick one person, as there are so many good people who have interviewed which are capable to do the job. But what Barclays do if a person is turned down but they know that he/she is capable to do the job they keep them in there books just in case they need to fill in another post later on.

Candidates  are always shortlisted for interviews this is because there may be a large number of applications for a particular job.  Not all of the candidates may be suitable and in this case it is inefficient, as well as unfair on the candidates, to interview them all.  Shortlisting involves working through the initial long list of applicants with the intention of selecting a smaller group – the shortlist – from which the successful candidate will be chosen.

Shortlisting begins with the key people who drew up the person specification using the items on this as selection criteria.  Each application form will be checked against these.  This should a completely impartial process and applications should be judged solely on merit.  Even where an applicant is known to the shortlisting panel, perhaps because they already work for the organisation, only the quality of the written application should be taken into account.

An applicant will only be shortlisted if all or most of  the criteria have been met.  Points may be awarded for each criteria as a way of comparing the quality of the different applications.  This may help with the second shortlisting if the initial list is too long.

The law is very important as big firms can’t go breaking them as they can be sued and that will give a big dent in there pride as these sort of things are given a lot of publicity.

Equal Pay Act 1970 is one which Barclays has to follow they have to pay both men and women the same amount of wage. They cannot give the men more and the women less this applies if both are working at the same position. In a contract of an employee there is a clause stating equal pay. The law states that the wage for the job has to apply for both men and women and not based their gender.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 this law is a law that means no one can be discriminated against his or her gender. In Barclays the bulk of their jobs are really simple and both men and women could take on the tasks. And that no one is or will be employed because of their gender a firm can only employ by looking at ability they cannot judge a person because of their gender.  A firm must have places so that men and women can have privacy form each other, e.g. a changing room-room attendant.

Race Relation’s Act 1976 this is just like the Sex Discrimination Act but this one is of race, no one can be employed or dismissed because of their skin colour or their faith.  In Barclays if you look at the staff, there are lots of different kinds of people from different faiths and colour of skin. This shows that Barclays only employ on ability. This is also good as if you have lots of different people working for you this would attract different sorts of people. For e.g. if you have a branch where there are only white people are working a black or Asian person would feel reluctant to go there. But with like Barclays all customers feel comfortable to being served in Barclays.

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 this act is for the disabled people this gives them more rights.

It describes disability as a physical and mental impairmant which has subtantial and long term adverse affection a persons ability to carry out normal daily activities. It refers to people who currently have a disability and people who have had such occurance.

Rehibilatation of Offenders Act 1974 this is a law protecting the people who have got a criminal record who are looking for work. This gives them a chance to get a job as they have gone through rehibilitation. But there are some jobs a person cannot take with a certain criminal record for example, if a person has been convicted as a rapists he/she cannot be given a job as a social worker as this involves a lot of close contact with people.  Or if a person has been convicted of being a paedophile he/she cannot get a job as a teacher this is just common sense.

Good techniques appplied by interviewing panals starts by meeting before the candidates arrive and deciding on the the type of questions to ask.  These can be put in either closed, open or problem style:

• closed questions can be asked to assess the candidate’s ability to carry out a specific job.

• Open questions allow the candidate to develop certain points and expand on the information suggested by the interviewer.

• Problem solving – a problem that may arise in the working environment is described and the candidate’s reaction is assessed in relation to decision-making and initiative.

Generally it is possible to use a combination of all three styles but the chairperson will start by introducing the members of the interviewing panel, each of who will ask specific types of question.  The interview will be structured into four sections controlled by the chairperson.

Interviews are not always used for recruitment.  HR Manager will use them to good effect.  For example existing employees can be interviewed for various reasons, such as:

• Appraisal = one-to-one interview with the employer to see how the employee is carrying out its job and whether or not they are comfortable with the working area and the colleagues.  Also for the employers to know if the employee is having any personal problems in the working place.  They will also discuss if the employee needs further training for the specific job or perhaps even might deserve a promotion to the next level.
• Promotion = if the employer thinks the employee has progressed and should be getting promoted then he/she might call an interview with the employee and talk to them about it and see what the employee actually feels.

Four ways a job can be flexible is:

• Flexi – time:  employees have some freedom over what hours they work.
• Multi-skilling:  employees trained in variety of tasks.  Therefore, employees can cover for each other if any one is absent.
• Job-sharing:  two or more people the same job, e.g. one works in the mornings and the other works in the afternoons.
• Removal of job demarcation:  demarcation line defines the tasks involved in one job; by removing these, employees can undertake more tasks.

Flexible workforce, means of allocating the contracted hours of a member of staff to address more closely the needs and workflow of the business.  

It is also a means by which staff, in co-operation with one another, can influence their individual working patterns, whilst continuing to match the firm’s overall requirements.

Barclays tries to be flexible in staffing by having flexible working schemes that include:

• Maternity Break – if an employee is expecting a baby then they will be eligible for the Barclays Maternity Break.

• Career Break – this scheme is designed to enable certain staff to take a Career Break for up to 2 years, to look after their young children.  It is open to both male and female staff that satisfies the criteria.

• Emergency Carer’s Leave – if an employee is faced with an unexpected emergency, they are allowed to take up to 5 days per annum unpaid Emergency Carer’s Leave.

• Responsibility Break – this available to staff who face caring responsibility for sick, elderly or disabled people.  The scheme allows staff to reduce their hours of work or take a complete unpaid break up to 6 months, returning to work at their previous status.

The problems that are likely to arise with flexible working is that some employees may want long, full time contract.

Employees may not want to learn new skills.  To meet changes in the demand, employees might have to be moved from one job to another, some employees might object to this.

Flexibility may lead to employees feeling insecure because they do not know which part of the firm they will be working on or what they will be doing.    Therefore, lack of security may make it difficulty to plan effectively.

In addition, some employees may be upset by the constant change and possible need to keep learning new skills.

Training and Development

This section will look in depth at Training and Development in Barclays plc.

Training and Development is a vital part of human recourses management.

Staff training is essential if people are to continue to be efficient members of an organisation.

It will help employees achieve maximum efficiency in their current jobs.  It will help the organisation meet its targets for developing and keeping people with the right skills to meet future needs.  Although it is important to balance the needs of the individual with those of the organisation, all work-based training should contribute to the performance of the business.

Training is like learning. Training helps an employee to learn more skills or improve on the current skills that they have.  Training is a repetition of skills it mainly includes practical work.

Education differs from training because it is based on ones knowledge. The more one learns about the business world and has an idea of how it works it will be easy and quick for them to fit into the working environment.

In Barclays, workers who apply for a position are usually qualified and have had previous jobs with some experience. However, Barclays likes the worker to work the way it thinks is best. Sometimes new workers need to be trained in technology, which is installed by Barclays.  This job specification training often involve non transferable skills

In insensitive economic times, training is one of the costs that businesses tend to cut because there may be no clear short-term benefits.  However, at a time where there are predicted shortages in skilled labour employers are gradually becoming aware that training is a vital investment for the future.  A trained workforce is crucial if a business is to remain competitive in a world where customers demand ever-higher standards of goods and services.

Training should be given to an employee once they have been selected but before their actual job starts.  This is because then the employee will know how to carry out their job without any hesitation.  During their training they should be told everything about the firm and where all the facilities are, what should be done when they need help or if they are lost, as their new.  If they are trained before hand then this will help them be more motivated towards their work because they will have enough confident in themselves to carry out their job.  This way they will not feel left out or the odd one out just because they are one of the new staff.

All staff should be trained during their working period so they will be up to date with the new technology and in this way the business would not come to a halt just because the staff were not trained for it.  This could be “off-the-job” training or “on-the-job” training.

Training model

This model shows how training needs to be continues but also that the results of training should be assessed before further training is given.

The problem with many training courses is that, due to insufficient feedback and assessment, over time they become increasingly less related to the needs of the individual.  This is particular problem in organisations with internal training courses are delivered on an annual basis.

Individuals also need to be given the opportunity to practice newly achieved skills, otherwise the benefits of training will be lost and, far from feeling motivated, individual will become frustrated.

Training may be designed to develop skill – these may be transferable or job specific (non-transferable).

Transferable skills

These are skills that, once learnt, may be applied in many different situations. The key skills of Application of Numbers. Communication and Information Technology are transferable, when you develop theses you are learning a technique rather than a body of knowledge.  For example:

• When you write an effective business letters, you can use this skill in a whole variety of situations – perhaps to request information or to apologise for a faulty product.

Barclays bank are writing letters to their customers everyday for one reason or another from different departments, so surely all their staff should know how to write formal letters.  Knowing this now, benefits all Barclays staff in writing professional letters and this might help them in future if they decide to take up another job in another firm

• If you can calculate percentage you can calculate changes in unemployment or changes in the prices on the market – the technique is the same.
• Once you can use a spreadsheet the same technique is used whether you are producing and expenditure budget or analysing sales figures.

The above two will benefit Barclay’s staff a lot because in any businesses it is very crucial that you know how to use figures correctly because this is a very good advantage for the business which will lead to the staffs advantage as they will be employed by anyone for this certain qualification

All three examples are used in Barclays and they are transferable because those skills could be used elsewhere and not just in Barclays.

Non-transferable skills

These are narrow skills that are job specific; they apply only to a particular situation.  It is often to do with memory rather than with understanding.  E.g. you may learn how your particular business completes its invoices and files them.  However, another business might do it differently so when a person changes job they would have to learn the new jobs system and not use their old system.

For instance in Barclays, all their files are in one big room that is always locked.  To gain access to the room you have to swipe in a card so they know who was in the room and when they were in there, for security reasons.  Now if a Barclay’s staff gets a new job then this will not be the same in another firm other firms may have the room locked or the files could be near each employee that holds a high position in the firm such as, the managers and the supervisors desk.

On the job training

On the job training means when an employee is trained inside the workplace while carrying out an activity. The advantage of this sort of training would be that the supervisors will be able to asses directly on how the new recruit is getting on.  This saves firms a lot of money as well.

In Barclays for instant, once the cashiers till are full of coins and some need to be put away then they are put in to big plastic bags and put away in the safe.  The money cannot be just put in to the bag and thrown away the coins need to be sorted into its own kind, i.e. all one pound coins in one bag and all one pence coins in one bag, etc.  They have to be sealed tightly then locked up in the safe.

For this you do not have to go for an “off-the-job” training because this could be learned in two or three days so “on-the-job” training will do.

Off the job training

Off the job training means when a worker is trained away from his/her workplace. This is not usually necessary for new workers. This could also be used for current workers who are trained to upgrade their skills, which are required at the workplace. This usually occurs when a new system is installed in the workplace and workers are sent to training centres to learn how to operate the new systems.

In Barclays when the new computers were decided to be brought in, staffs were split into four groups so that it does not affect the businesses.  One group were trained for one week each for the new system and when all staff new how to operate the computer and were ready to use it that’s when the new computers were brought in which helped the business run effectively.

Induction

This is an introduction to the organisation for new employees.  It is designed to familiarise new recruits with the organisation, its rules, facilities, policies and the key staff.  An induction programmes may include:

• A general introduction and welcome to the organisation
• A summary of the policies of the organisation
• Specifies rules and procedures including health and safety
• Benefits and terms of employment
• Job details

Mentoring

Mentoring can come in a number of forms. This could be that a current member supporting or helping a new recruit through his/her first weeks at the workplace. The meetings, which take place between the new recruit and the current worker, are usually informal. It usually helps when the current worker is at the same position as the new recruit as it would be easy to relate to each other.

Coaching

Coaching is when a person is required a person to help the new worker. This usually just happens one to one. The person who is to give the coaching might already have the skills which they have to coach the other person, but the question is that person capable of coaching, capable of putting his view across and can that person get results. This is very important because if the person cannot coach there is no point as he will not be able to teach his/her new colleague.

Coaching may also take the form of “sitting next to Nellie”, that is looking at how someone with experience performs a particular job.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeship involved a trainee working for a period of time with a craftsperson in order to learn a trade.

In the 1990s, a government-funded training scheme, known as Modern Apprenticeships, was introduced.  This provides young people with broad-based training in particular occupations coupled with essential key skills.  The aim is to develop a labour force to help British business compete in the modern world.

In house training

In house training means that the firm has training facilities within the firm. This is a very effective way of training as then they would not need to sent there employees of to another training scheme to be trained. At first, this would cost a lot of money to set up and keep running but in the long run, this could prove to be a vital part of the business.

External training

External training is where some of the workers go out for training to learn new skills to understand the systems, which have been installed in then workplace. Usually there are only a few workers, which are sent. This is because when a couple of workers have been trained they could come back to the work place and train the workers which did not go and do off the job training. This is good as it saves money and time. Money is saved as only a couple of workers go to training it cost less.

Self-Awareness Training: This is where trainees complete self-assessment questionnaires, such as a Myers-Briggs. Questions may be asked about personal values, individual learning styles, how the individual interacts with others, personality and interests. The trainee then receives feedback from the person carrying out the questionnaire.

Traditional Apprenticeships: In the past, businesses took on ‘trainee’ workers. They served and apprenticeship’ over a period of time, often in a skilled trade to become a tradesperson, such as a carpenter. When they ‘qualified’, they were made employees of the business.

Graduate Training: Some businesses run graduate training programmes. These are designed for graduates with degree qualifications and are often used to train employees for senior or management positions in the business. The Labour Force Survey estimated that employees with a degree or equivalent qualification are five and a half times more likely to receive job-related training than those with no qualifications.

Instruction Techniques

1. Telling is the least effective method of instruction, some information is necessary, but this can be more effective if given in small amounts and linked into what trainee already knows or has experience in.

2. Showing can involve practical demonstrations, questioning the trainee about key points at each stage and using diagrams and models to illustrate each stage.

3. Trainees learn most by actually doing the task.  The trainer can clarify points using a question and answer techniques.

The right combination of tell/show/do will lead to the best training environment for trainees.

                                        Basic instructions

                                

                                        Demonstration, illustration         

                                        Diagrams, models

                                        Practice questions and answers

Investors in people

Investors in people is a national quality standard backed by the government.  It is awarded for investment in the training and development of people in order to achieve business goals.  The standard, which was developed in 1990, provides a framework for ‘improving business performance and competitive’.

The standards is based upon four key principles:

           

                                                                        

There are 12 indicators against which businesses wishing to achieve the standard will be assessed.    

(Source: Business = Travitt and Lewis)

 

Vocational Courses: 

Many different organisations provide work related or ‘vocational’ training. Trainees usually work towards a vocational qualification. These are awarded by organisations such as BTEC (Edexcel), RSA (OCR), City and Guilds (AQA) and professional bodies such as The Institute of Personnel Management and the Royal College of Nursing. National Vocational qualifications (NVQs) are work-based qualifications in areas ranging from hairdressing to engineering. They are offered by businesses, often as a combination of work within the business and release to attend a college. Schools and colleges offer General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQ). They are aimed mainly at 14-19 year olds. Vocational training is simulated in areas such as art and design and health and social care. Universities may also provide vocationally related courses.

NVQs

NVQs are based on national occupational standards that are set by National Training Organisation.  The idea is to give people awards for being competent at their work.

NVQs are Job-specific that relates directly to the roles performed in particular jobs in the workplace.

Competence-based is a unit that is achieved when a candidate is assessed as being competent in applying all of the skills and knowledge within the unit.

Evidence-based asks for proof of someone is competent.

NVQs are offered at five different levels depending upon experience and ability of the candidates:

• Level 1 – competence in routine activities
• Level 2 – competence in a varied range of activities some of which are    

     complex, work in teams

• Level 3 – competence in a broad and varied range of activities, involves    

     responsibilities and might have to guide and supervise others

• Level 4 – a high degree of personal responsibility is demanded, might be

     asked to allocate resources

• Level 5 – a wide variety of complex skills is needed, have the ability to    

                     analyse, design, plan and evaluate works

NVQs may be achieved at work on the job, or at college or a training centre where the job is simulated.

GNVQs

GNVQs are mostly done at school and college.  GNVQs are work related alternative to the traditional GSCEs and A levels.  Unlike NVQs, they are not related to specific jobs or work roles but rather to broad vocational areas such as art and design, business, science etc.

The aim is to provide relevant education for students who are interested in entering in to further education rather than a specific job.

There are three levels of GNVQ:

• Foundation (level 1) – equivalent to four GCSEs grades D-G
• Intermediate (level 2) – equivalent to four GCSEs grades A-C
• At level three there is a vocational A level (double award) equivalent to two A levels, grades A-E

Progression from GNVQs can be take you in to work where NVQ may be taken or to the next level of GNVQ, i.e. from level 1 to level 2, or from level 2 to level 3.  Than from level 3 you can go in to higher education.

How Barclays training and development is linked to management of performance.

Induction – through training at this stage employee will have safety needs met.  As described by Maslow, an employee needs to feel safe at work and to know their work is well organised.

Appraisal – often an opportunity to give recognition and rewards to staff, this then increases self-esteem (Maslow) and is a motivator according to Herzberg.

Training for Change – will also help staff feel secure and meet their safety needs.  This will take their self-esteem high because they will have new and improved skills to work with and feel more confident.

Training for Promotion – will be a motivator according to Herzberg and shows Barclays take a theory Y approach to their staff and recognise they actually like work and want to get on (McGregor)

Performance Management

The term ‘performance management’ came into use in the 1980s.  It refers to the practice of setting targets, measuring performance against them and suggesting course of action.

A business needs to ensure that its employees are performing effectively.  It might wish to identify areas that are unsatisfactory, it will try to find out where employees need to be trained and developed.  It will also try and encourage and reward good performance by, may be, performance-related pay in the form of bonus or pay increase.

The manager will know that training is needed is when staff absenteeism goes up and poor quality work is being produced.  The firm will start having difficulties financially because of the lack of customers that is due to the lack of motivation within the firm.

The managers will know that the training has worked is when staff seem to be more motivated towards their work and are enjoying their stay.  Quality work will show that the training has been useful and worth it.

Evaluating appraisal.

As businesses have demanded greater value for money, it has become important to evaluate training. Evaluation is simple when the result of the training is clear to see, such as when training workers to use new technology. Where training is designed to give a certain result, such as:

A health and safety course;

A word processing course;

A design course;

Evaluation can be based on observed results. This may be a reduction in accidents, increased typing speed or designs with greater impact.

It is more difficult to evaluate the success of a management training course or a programme of social skills development. It is usual to use end of course questionnaires, where course members answer a number of questions. The problem is that the course will have been a break for most employees from the normal work routine. This can make the participants view of training appears of more value than it is. In addition, questionnaires tend to evaluate the course and not learning. This often means that the person attending the course is assessing the quality of the tutors and visual aids, instead of what has been learnt.

To overcome these problems the business might:

• Ask participants and managers to complete a short questionnaire at the start of the course to focus their minds on what they hope to get from it.
• Give out another questionnaire at the end of the course focusing on learning and what could be applied back at the job.
• Give further questionnaires to review the effects of the course on performance.

This helps employees to concentrate on what has been learnt. This process may, however, be costly for the business.

An increasingly important way of getting feedback on employee performance is through appraisal.  Appraisal may be closed, in which case the appraisee takes an active part in the review process and discusses the results.

The appraisal primarily looks at what an employee’s job is, how well it is being performed, and at what action should be taken for the future.  It consists of a number of stages.

Barclays Performance Management focuses work on activities on achieving business goals and objectives and identifies development needs that support achievement of these.

Barclays Performance Management aims to:

• Provide a communication system between the workers, their team leader and their manager.
• Set out in a Performance Plan what the worker expected to achieve over a 12-month period.
• Enable the worker to review their progress quartly towards achievement of business goals and objectives within their Performance Plan.
• Provide an opportunity for the worker to discuss their own career aspirations and development plans
• Provide support from the workers leader through regular reviews and coaching.
• Recognise areas for development and any factors that may be impeding effective performance.
• Provide a performance rating for the pay and bonus purposes.

(Source: Barclays staff handbook)

Peer evaluation

It is sometimes argued that appraisal by peers is reliable and valid as they have more comprehensive view of the employee’s job performance. The main problem, though, is that peers may be unwilling to appraise each other. This can be seen as ‘grassing’. This could then lead to unrest and conflicts. Another reason for this is that appraising someone on the same job title, as your self is hard. This is because you yourself would like to get ahead of your rival. Not push him forward. The disadvantage of this could be misleading information. However, in theory, they should have the most accurate information as they work day in day out together.

Self-evaluation

This is a relatively new idea and not greatly used. Individuals do carry out self-appraisals in traditional appraisal schemes, although the superior’s decision officially counts. The ratings that the employer has given maybe changed, however, in the light of the employee’s comments.

Superiors

The employee’s superior carries out most appraisals. The advantage of this is that the supervisor usually has intimate knowledge of the tasks that a worker has been carrying out and how well they have been done.

Upward appraisal

People ‘above’ the immediate superior can be involved in appraisal, such as the subordinates. They may approve the superior appraisal of the employee. A manager further up the hierarchy may also directly carry out the appraisal. This is more likely to happen when individuals decide if a worker has potential for promotion etc.

Barclays would have to monitor the performance of their employees effectively if the company is to succeed. Barclays in order to keep the staff motivated would have to keep a close contact with their employees. They should also provide training and monitor the individual after he has come back from training and note the improvements and reward him in whatever way they want to.

Appraisals by the superiors are a vital motivation booster. This is simply because it shows the employee he is being recognised for his work in the business. The bosses should take up appraisal very seriously. There are many reasons for this one of them would be that it keeps a good relationship going between the employer and the employee. The ideal appraisal would be when a boss makes a space for its employee in his diary, which shows the employee that he is a vital part of the firm. Then during the one to one talk between the employee and the employer, there should be no interruptions. Appraisals do not have to be long they might only take just 10 minutes. However, the point is that they have to be effective. So this means that there should be no interruptions no phone calls should be attended during this time. This is because the worker might feel that this is just a mock. Which instead of motivating the worker it would demotivate him/her.

Barclays carry out an appraisal scheme with their workers every six months.  They follow the “peer appraisal”, they believe that it best to have a one-to-one with their workers where they will be more comfortable and can talk about any kind of problem they have even if it has nothing to do with the work but is affecting their performance.

A successful appraisal should take the following in to account:

(Source: business, R Lewis and R Trevitt)

At appraisal, sales or other targets may be set for the individual.  Targets are also set for individuals and groups when new project start.  This helps to manage performance on that project.

Appraisal preference:

                                                                        

                    Self          Upward        Peer               Interested
                   appraisal         appraisal        appraisal     in 360 degree

                    used          used                 used               feedback

(Source: business, R Lewis and R Trevitt)

Measuring Performance

People are employed in order to help the organisation to produce its goods or services.  The efforts of human resources managers are directed towards improving the performance of employees and thereby enable the organisation to achieve its objectives.

Performance through profit

One measure of the performance of a business is to compare profits for different years, or with the profits of similar businesses in the same industry.  This will help the firm to get an idea of whether the business is performing adequately.

Performance through quality

Traditionally quality control was found in manufacturing industry.  Its function was to check that products were up to standard.  Now a day, quality is a word used in all organisations, those providing services as well as those manufacturing goods.  it is essential to identify problems and remedy them before the organisation’s reputation is damaged in the market place.

Performance related pay

This is a great booster not just for the employee who receives it but also for the workers around him/her. This is because the other workers would work harder in the belief that they would also get more pay then usually if they work harder. Couple of years back if a worker was working hard and was producing results he/she would be rewarded with a pay rise in his/her fixed pay band. Now what happens is that instead of increasing the pay if the worker has done hard work during the month he/she would be rewarded with a bonus. This is good idea because before when a persons salary would increase, whose to know maybe 6 months down the line the worker might get lazy but the pay would still be there. In the system that is used now does not increase the fixed salary but just increases it if the worker has earned it.  This is better because the worker would still carry on working hard for the next month and try to get the bonus. Therefore, the work rate would be much higher. The bosses would get more output out of the workers.  

Legislation relevant to performance

In managing the performance and flexibility of staff, employers must be aware of relevant legislation that affects pay, leave and working hours.

Working Time Directive

This law prevents workers for working more then 48 hours. This includes overtime. The people who work at nighttime should not exceed 8 hours in each 24-hour period. This is a good law. Not only does it help the worker but also helps the employers. This is because the employers would not be getting workers who are tired and exhausted. They would be getting workers who are fresh and ready to work. This would get more output from the worker. The employee would also be fresh and be able to undertake tasks, which are handed to him/her.

Minimum wage

The national minimum wage for adults is £3.60p per hour this came in April 1999. However, this only applies to adults over the age of 22. The people who were under this age limit had an £3 per hour wage. By February 2000, the government announce that the minimum wage was increasing to £3.70p per hour. The people who are younger but ineligible to work had a 20p increase to £3.20p per hour. Businesses argue that this pushes their costs up. Nevertheless, the government have to look at the workers welfare.

Parental leave

This law entitles all parents up to 13 weeks’ unpaid leave during the first five years of each child’s life.  Four weeks notice must be given and the employer can postpone leave where business makes this necessary but not for more than six months.

Parents and carers have the right to time off to cope with ‘families emergencies’, such as dependants’ illness or death and breakdowns in childcare arrangements.

Motivation – ways of improving performance

Good employers know they need to get the best out of the employees for the benefit of the company.

Getting motivated in the workplace could be a hard thing for some people as they do not enjoy their work, but for some its really easy as small things can encourage a person to do more in the work place. I mean little things like when the boss praises you or when you know by doing this job, you will gain more skills, which would benefit you in the future.

It seems obvious that staff should be motivated, however, from the point of human resources management this is only true if motivation leads to improvements in the work – such as better quality work produced.

Over the years, a number of management theories have been put forward in an attempt to explain the nature of motivation and suggest ways in which it may be improved.

Fredrick Taylor’s Theory “Scientific Management”

Taylor’s version of what motivates a person at his workplace was written in the 19 century. This time was when it was the industrial evolution when machines were being made to do the work instead of workers this was basically because you would get more output out of a machine and it would cost less money in place of a human.

His theory was to get more out of your workers and keep them happy pay them in piece rate so if they wanted to increase their earnings for the day they would work hard because the more they produce the more they would earn and the more output the manager got. So Taylor believed that the biggest and probably the only motivation a person needs is money. At the time when he wrote his theory was when workers were given no value and the workers took all the abuse for the money. In those days, workers were regarded as machines all the workers were told what to do and when to do it. Therefore, Taylor is right but for only the time that he wrote it in.

Taylor believed that complex jobs would be most efficiently performed if they were broken down into separate operations so that very little would go wrong.  Separate employee would perform each operation.  The whole job could then be completed in a series of stages by a number of employees working together.

Advantages to firm if they follow Taylor’s theory:

• Each task would be so simple that it would require little training.
• Since workers required little skill, they could be easily replaced if necessary.
• If jobs are standardised output could be easily measured, predicted and controlled.

The disadvantages of following his theory:

• Low motivation as a result of low job satisfaction – much of the job will be outside of the workers’ control, for example, the speed of the production line may be set from the outside.
• Monotony resulting from stress and boredom – may lead to errors and accidents.
• A breakdown in co-operation between workers and managers as an ‘them’ and ‘us’ attitude grows up.
• Repetitive work becomes boring and workers will lose interest.

The time at which Taylor wrote his theory were people only worked for the money and no other reason and that they would do practically anything for money so at the time he wrote his theory he was right in his way. They are not well suited to the service sector and are not widely used at Barclays.

Frederick Herzberg’s “Two Factor” Theory

Herzberg’s theories produced in the 1950s, concern job design and satisfaction.  From numerous interviews with accountant and engineers, he concluded that two sets of factors are important.

• Hygiene factors, which include reasonable pay, satisfactory conditions of work and benefits packages such as a sick pay, pensions schemes and so on.  These are well in place at Barclays.

• Motivators, which include responsibility, challenge, self-improvement – these provide job satisfaction and motivate people.  Barclays tries through its training and appraisal to put them motivations into people’s jobs.

Herzberg’s theories have rise o the following notions.

Job enrichment

• This involves including motivators in the job, perhaps by giving employers more responsibility and involving them in decisions.

Job enlargement

• This means broadening the job by putting together a number of similar functions.  This idea is to cut down on repetition by introducing a variety of activities.

Job rotation

• Employees swap jobs at regular intervals.  This provides some variety and is made possible (as Taylor suggested) where the tasks are simple to perform.

Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of needs”

Maslow had this theory set in a pyramid about motivation in the work place. The bottom being the one you need the least to move onto the next step. There is 5 steps top one being self-actualisation and the bottom one being Esteem need i.e.: food/shelter (the one you need to have first).                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                     

The diagram is the pyramid of Maslow’s theory the bottom is needed to reach the next step i.e.: you need Esteem need before you can think about Safety.

One of the questions is that do you need Belonging before Self Esteem. Alternatively, is it the other way? I believe that Self Esteem should come before Belonging this is purely because if you get recognized in the work place then the work colleagues will make you feel welcome so then you would feel you belong at the work place which would keep you fresh and motivated. But this view could be argued the other excessively. You could also say that you would need Belonging before Self Esteem (as Maslow has placed them). The point for that would be that you would need to be loved in the work place to show your full potential which would then help you to get recognized and would benefit you for a higher ranked place in the work place with more benefits and extra pay.

In practice Maslow accepted that variety of needs will exist at the same time, but suggested that once lower needs are satisfied then higher needs become the strongest motivators.

I think you can reach the top in a religious way this is because if someone is religious and have dedicated all their lives to god they believe god is happy that he is looking out for them they would get their self esteem from thinking god is happy for what they are doing. They would feel loved, as they would have their social life with people similar to them so in a religious way for a person I think you can be satisfied with life and reach to the top and say I have no regrets or that I need to do more.

This theory quite clearly relates to Barclays bank.  Most of the workers first started to work for Barclays so that they can feed themselves and have enough to buy clothes and shelter themselves so they don’t have to go to someone else, i.e. family and friends.

Then gradually they build good relationship between their colleagues so that the working environment is more welcoming and friendly for them to work in.  This will encourage them to come to work because they feel a self of belonging.  

Once these are all achieved then slowly workers try to build up stairs for themselves and move to a better position than the one they hold currently.  They would produce good quality work or service so they are recognised and feel their achievement.  

Finally, they hold a certain position in the firm that they are satisfied which leads to their self-actualisation.

Douglas McGregor’s “Theory X and Theory Y”

McGregor put forward two extreme views about the way which organisations manage their employees.  He called these ‘Theory X’ and ‘Theory Y’

McGregor split all the workers that work are in business world in two categories:

Workers in Theory X –

• Will not accept responsibility and prefer to be given orders
• Have no ambition, they are essentially lazy, they work because they have to
• Are motivated only by pay or by threats
• Do not like changes
• Do not care about the organisation they work for

Theory Y workers –

• Are willing and able to accept responsibility
• Are prepared to participate in changes and can be genuinely creative
• Will care about their organisation if it shows that it values their efforts
• Are not lazy by nature and can be motivated by work that is interesting

Barclays take a theory Y approach to management and trust that staff to take their work seriously.

Nevertheless, Maslow’s theory still has value until today this is because you can still relate today’s environment with Maslow’s theory.

Barclays have regular briefings usually once a week unless it is very urgent. That is why Barclays close late once a week only for staff. Briefings are very important. This is because in briefings news and information is past on. Whether the news is good news or bad news, it is a motivating factor for the staff, as they would know what is going on around them. They would know what the situation is. This is a motivating factor, as the staff would feel that they are also considered part of Barclays. That their views are also valued in the organisation. In addition, if the staff members are informed and up to date with what is going on then it would make it easier for them to answer customer questions. This is very important because if the customer thinks that the worker does not know what is going on then he/she might think that the problem is not a big issue, but in his/her head it might be a big issue, which he/she wants an answer to. This links in to the objectives of Barclays. If everything is working smoothly like it should. Then Barclays would gain market share they would increase their turnover along with it. They also need to ensure that the staff of Barclays can cope with change. This is very important in order to keep Barclays moving. This is because firms change for a reason. The main reason being to try to increase their turnover.

Conflicts

In all and every workplace, there is conflict or the potential for conflict of some sort. Some conflicts are between the management and staff some within the staff within. Some conflicts are serious and need to be dealt with an immediate effect. Some conflicts are insignificant and could be sorted out as soon as they arise.

Conflicts arise when there is a difference of opinions or priorities. Conflicts also arise when each department has there own ideas, which do not correspond with other departments.

Some departments might think that there is more need of funding in their departments the other department might think that their department needs funding. So the management has to think what to do in this situation they could either give one department a larger budget or they can split the budget between the two departments. The job of the management is to find out which department lacks funding. They need to know exactly what department needs funding this is simply because if they decide to give more funding to one department then they would need to have a good reason to the department which they declined to give the funding. If the excuse is not good enough then there would be unrest between departments and the workforce would be demotivated and then the firm would not be able to work as efficiently as they would like to. This would affect the turnover for Barclays.

Recruitment and selection can have a conflict with the training department. Recruitment and selection may only think on a short-term basis whilst on the other hand training department plan for the future. So there is a difference of opinion already. Recruitment and selection also have to consider their financial situation. This is an expensive part of human resources. On the other hand, the training department might say they are not getting enough money to produce the results required.  This is also an expensive part of human resources.  Still the recruitment and selection department have to draw the line somewhere.

Recruitment and selection department can also have conflict with the planning department. For example, the production department needs to have the right people on the job, who know what their duties are. When the recruitment and selection department have recruited a person for a job. Planning department has to look at the financial side of things.

They also need to be aware of the labour market. This is very important, as they need to know who is available for work. The conflict would be if the recruitment and selection department has given the wrong job to the wrong person.

Conclusion

Investigating on this report has given me an invaluable insight into how business recruit, retain and manage their people who are the key resources.

If businesses are to accomplish their objective then they must be plan their human resources function so that they have the correct number of employees with the right type of qualifications and training to meet the needs of the business.

Through this unit, I have learnt how businesses approach all these aspects of human resources planning and management.  I had the opportunity to draw on and extend my own experience of this very important aspect of business.

What I now understand about businesses having:

Human resources planning is that businesses have to plan carefully to ensure that they have the right number of suitable employees for their needs.  To do this they need a good understanding of the labour market in the areas where they operate.

Recruitment and selection – businesses recruit staff for variety of reasons.  The reasons include:

The growth of staff

Filling vacancies created by resignation, retirement, dismissal

I understand that the recruitment process can be costly, in terms of resources devoted to the recruitment process and costs associated with recruiting poorly performing staff.  It is important therefore to accurately select people for interview.  Businesses need to be very clear about the requirements of the job and about the kind of person they are looking for.

Training and development – is important to the competitiveness of the businesses so that the business is not thrown out of the market due to the lack of training within the business.  The following training and activities are very important to the businesses:

Induction training

Mentoring

Coaching

Apprenticeships

In-house training

External training

Performance management – a business needs to manage the performance of its employees effectively if it is to remain competitive.  The following are methods that businesses employ to manage the performance of their employees:

Performance reviews (appraisals)

Self evaluation

Peer evaluation

Target setting for individual and groups

Business should also be aware of employee motivation and the significance of both financial and non-financial factors in terms of motivation.  All businesses have to approach their business through one of the theorists below:

Frederick Taylor’s principles of scientific management

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Y

Frederick Herzberg’s two factor theory

Bibliography and Reference

Human Resources Management – Saun Tyson and Alfred York

Business Advanced – Dave Needham and Rob Drawsfield

Business Studies 4th Edition – Bruce R Jewels Et Al

Business Vocational A Level - Roger Lewis and Roger Trevitt

Vocational A Level Business - RG Bywaters

Internet site:  

                

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