Unit 4 – Human Resources

Introduction

I am going to be studying Astra Zeneca in my coursework and I am going to explore the human resource functions such as HR planning, recruitment and selection, training and development and performance management, appraisal and termination of employment, discipline, rewards and conditions of employment, working conditions and wage bargaining.

I will be addressing any areas of conflict between the functions and I will evaluate the effectiveness of the HR management towards the overall competitiveness of the business. I will investigate the employment trends and the availability of labour in the area and how that affects the business, also staff and sickness statistics, the recruitment and selection processes and also the training and development and also the performance management strategies in place such as F.Herzberg’s two-factor theory and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
    Astra Zeneca provides effective medicines designed to fight disease in areas such as: cancer, gastrointestinal disease, asthma, high cholesterol, hypertension, migraine and schizophrenia. The company spends over $14 million every day on research, has 60,000 employees worldwide (45 different countries) and made an operating profit of $4.1 Billion in 2003 (www.astrazeneca.com). Astra Zeneca sells to over 100 countries mostly through their own local marketing companies and their products are marketed mainly to physicians and other healthcare specialists. Astra Zeneca uses the internet to strengthen relationships with their customers, stakeholders and suppliers and to improve their speed and efficiency. Astra Zeneca has a major manufacturing presence in Macclesfield, Cheshire, (which is where I will be getting most of my information from as this is where I live.) and another at Avlon, near Bristol, and also Luton is their base for sales and marketing.
Astra Zeneca was formed on 6 April 1999 through the merger of Astra AB of Sweden and Zeneca Group PLC of the UK – two companies with similar science-based cultures and a shared vision of the pharmaceutical industry. The merger gave the company global power and it is now a leader in a number of specialist markets, including oncology and anaesthesia.

 

Ariel View of Astra Zeneca Manufacturing In Macclesfield

Task 2

Human resource planning attempts to anticipate demand for staff and to match this with the supply. It is important for the business to have a balance as if it is “over-manned” then it will be inefficient and if it is “under-manned” it will not be effective.

Employment Trends and Availability of Labour

Employment trends show what is happening nationally and regionally in terms of patterns of employment. It is important for businesses to know employment trends in their area and the U.K, as it may affect where they locate. It may also affect the amount of wages paid out as if there is a shortage of males in the area more females are employed so the amount of maternity leave in the future will be higher, maternity leave is paid so this means that the company is paying for that, as well as paying for someone to cover. However not all women take maternity leave as more women wish to focus upon their careers.
   A Business would choose to locate in an area with a high availability of staff, as in a low unemployment area it could mean that vacancies will go unfilled and the business will struggle to recruit. Also if a business locates near competitors it could mean that fewer employees are available, although on the other hand it may lead to economies of scale. An economy of scale like this is known as a “concentration”. A concentration of special benefits builds up as companies within an industry concentrate in a particular area. The benefits include: a skilled workforce and local college courses tailored to suit the particular needs of an industry etc. The grouping together of competitors in one area could also lead to a particular pool of skilled labour in that area, leading to further competitors locating in that area,  (e.g./ Macclesfield – Hurdsfield industrial estate, Astra Zeneca and Ciba,) The more employees recruited by competitors the less their will be available.

Availability of labour
A Business could examine the availability of labour in an area by looking at employment figures, which will show the amount of unemployed in the area; it will be shown as Skilled or Unskilled (Level of education – e.g./ Graduate.) A business may need to know the availability of labour for example if it were looking to employ a manger it would look for graduates in its staff or in the area.
   Figures like these are very useful to businesses as they could tell the business that it will be easy employing workers with the relevant skills. It is useful for a business to know its staff turnover (the rate at which staff are hired and leave the company) as a high turnover indicates a problem with the company that needs to be addressed by the HR Department.
Likely problems to cause this are:

  • Low morale amongst employees
  • Pay levels below the local average
  • High costs of recruitment and training
  • Lower production

The labour stability rate can also be linked with the staff turnover as it shows the tendency for employees with long service to remain within the organisation, thus linking the leaving rate with the length of service, this can be worked out by:

Stability rate = No. Of staff leaving with more than 1 years service
                       -------------------------------------------------------------------   X 100

                        No Employed 1 year ago.

Accident and sickness rates
The accident/sickness rates are useful to a business as a high rate could be a reflection of the quality of the equipment and also a de-motivated workforce.
   A detailed statistical analysis enables the organisation to keep an eye on where problems lie, with an individual, groups, or the business as a whole. Comparisons can then be made with other workers and with past records, trends can then be established which may help solve the problems. Absence records can be kept for individual employees, groups of employees and for the workforce as a whole.

Astra Zeneca keeps a record of the following:

Notified Absences – e.g. funeral, hospital, wedding

Absences due to sickness – when employees produce a doctor’s note

Unauthorised Absences – when employees do not turn up for work, without telling anyone.

Astra Zeneca has a health and safety committee that has the responsibility to:

  • Investigate and report accidents or incidents
  • Examine national health and safety reports/statistics
  • Review health and safety audit reports
  • Draw up works rules and instructions on safe working practises
  • Health and safety training
  • Promote and advise on relevant publicity campaigns
  • Maintain links with external health and safety bodies
  • Advise on updates to the company safety policy
  • Consider and advise on impending legislation

They will also need to ensure that accurate and up-to-date records are kept of accidents at work.

RIDDOR (reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1985)

This states that employees that have been incapacitated for three or more days due to an accident at work should be reported to the authorities within seven days. Fatalities should be reported immediately by the most suitable means (e.g. phone)

 

Accident rates can be calculated as the number of accidents per year for a chosen unit of employees e.g. team, firm, industry. The most accurate method is to calculate the statistics according to each employee working in the industry or per hour worked by employees in the industry. As different industries employ far more employees than others, and also because the numbers change overtime.

Staff turnover

This is used to show the rate at which staff are hired and leave the company. It can be used to predict the likely turnover in the future and to see if there is a need to examine the reasons for a high turnover. It is also useful to identify the leaver’s length of service, is it the most experienced people that are leaving or people with relatively little experience.

Age, Skills and training data

This can easily be accessed and shows the age, skills and training levels of workers currently employed within the business. This data is useful to a business as an ageing workforce could mean that all your skilled employees are about to retire, so then the business has to spend money on training to build up a new pool of skilled workers. The human resource team will seek to have a balance of new people entering an organisation in order to cover those who are leaving, and will also want to make sure that the skill levels are rising within the business and make sure that training programmes are devised to make sure that people have the skills to meet the firms job requirements.

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Succession
The rate of succession is useful to a business as it allows for promotion and may show the need to recruit externally for a post. A business should make sure that it is training people to take on responsibilities that may be required in the future, as it may find itself with positions that cannot be filled, as the staff are not trained appropriately. Astra Zeneca needs to allow for succession as it will allow workers to progress within the company and it will motivate the workforce and there is chance of promotion. The process of succession is linked ...

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