BTEC Level 3 Business Studies. Unit 8: Human Resources

Ability - Proficiency in a particular area or skill.

Absenteeism - Time taken off work by employees.

Agency staff - Employees with required skills provided by an external organisation for temporary period.

Aptitude - A natural ability to conduct a skill or a task.

Business culture - People within an organization's attitudes toward their work, relationships with one another, and interactions with external stakeholders. It is motivated by a set of common beliefs and values.

Changing job roles - Changes in the business environment have led to the need for roles with different skill sets.

Core workers - Employees who are employed on a long term or permanent basis who contribute to the main activities of the organisation.

Demand for products and services - The amount of a product that consumers are willing and able to buy. This will affect the staffing requirements needed to make them

Educational level - The level of schooling that was achieved by an individual employee.

Employee retention - The tendency of staff in a business to stay employed for longer periods of time without seeking employment elsewhere.

Employee satisfaction - How well an employees needs are met at work.

Employee turnover - The rate to which employees leave an organisation.

Employment contract - A written legal agreement between an employer and an employee which sets out their roles, responsibilities and rewards.

Exit interviews - Conversations between HR staff and members of staff who have decided to leave the company to uncover details about their experience.

Flexible workforce - A workforce whose members are capable of moving between different tasks.

Forecasting labour demand - Making predictions about future staffing requirements based on anticipated changes in the business and wider environment.

Full-time workers - An employee who is contractually obliged to work a minimum number of hours per week. Usually between 30 - 35.

Globalisation - The integration of the different economies around the world.

Human resource practices - Policies, guidelines and procedures that are used to improve the standard of employees in an organisation.

Human resources - The function of an organisation responsible for staff.

Induction training - Training given to new employees when they first start a job

Internal recruitment - the process of seeking employees who are currently within the firm to fill open positions

Internships - Working in an industry temporarily for little or no pay with the intension of learning skills

Labour market analyses - The process of investigating the supply and demand of labour in different markets and regions.

Labour market competition - When there are different businesses seeking to recruit staff with the same skills

Labour turnover - The proportion of employees leaving an organisation's workforce each year.

Location of work - Where the business places their activities. This may have an impact on staff available

Motivation - What drives people to behave in certain ways.

Nature of the work - Refers to the specific tasks that need to be accomplished by individuals in a workplace

Outsourcing - Hiring another business to perform certain tasks where the required skills are lacking internally.

Part-time workers - Employees who have agreed hours that are less than a full time contract.

Peripheral workers - Employees who are only on a temporary basis or who do not contribute to the core tasks that the company must do.

Productivity - The amount of units produced in comparison to inputs such as labour.

Recruitment - The process involved in finding and hiring suitable workers to fill a job position.

Reskilling - Training workers in a new skill set so they can move position within the organisation.

Restructuring - Changing the roles and responsibilities of members of staff to better match their skills to roles.

Secondments - A temporary switch of a worker to another position. Skill level - The level of competence employees have in performing specific tasks.

Skill requirements - The knowledge, experience and abilities that are required from staff to produce specific products and services.

Skill shortages - When business demand for specific skills is greater than the number of people available with them.

Skill transferability - The ability of an employee to become competent in new skills.

Subcontracting - The use of an external supplier to perform part of the business operations.

Temporary staff - Fixed-term, project- or task-based contracts include workers who are only employed for a particular length of time.

Training - The acquisition of skills, knowledge and competencies as a result of teaching. It usually focuses on skills that an employee needs to acquire to fulfil the requirements of their current role.

Upskilling - Facilitating continuous learning by offering training programmes and opportunities to address any skill shortages.

Work experience - Short-term experience of employment, typically arranged for older pupils by schools.

Workforce profiles - The attributes held by the staff in a workplace, e.g. skill level, ability, education etc

Workplace stress - The negative physical and emotional reactions that can occur as a result of job expectations on an employee.

Zero-hours contracts - A type of employment contract which the employer is not required to provide the employee with a certain amount of working hours.

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