W 3: Human Resource Management

Cameron Balloons, though employing over 70 people, is not really large enough to have a specialist Human Resource Department (although Production Director Mr Lindsay Sadler and Hannah Cameron are primarily responsible for HR). The accounts department carry out all the wages and 'clocking in and out' functions. The Heads of each department support and look after their staff, and Mr Cameron himself also ensures he is fully involved. The staff is a very happy one, and so how do they do this?

A printable version of this worksheet is available for filling in answers.

Step 1 - How do you motivate?

There are various theories of motivation that have been developed over the years. Use a textbook or your notes to find out about the following theories, and write a brief summary of them:

• Taylorism
• McGregor (Theory X and Theory Y)
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Draw a diagram to show each level of Maslow's hierarchy.

How could Cameron Balloons apply these theories to their staff management?

Which might be the most useful and why?

Step 2 - How do you motivate (part 2!)?

Another theory of motivation developed in the 1960s by Fredrick Herzberg looks at the factors that cause satisfaction and dissatisfaction in a job. These two categories were called motivators (sources of satisfaction) and hygiene factors (sources of dissatisfaction).

Imagine that you are a balloon designer at Cameron Balloons. Try to think of what motivators and hygiene factors may arise from this job, and list five of each.

What policies could Cameron Balloons management put in place to help overcome some of these hygiene factors?

Now imagine that you are a machinist, helping to sew up the envelopes. Again make a list of five motivators and five hygiene factors.

How do these differ from your previous list?

What different policies might the management need to put in place to help reduce the hygiene factors in this case?

Step 3 - Command and control?

Dave McGibbon is the Artwork manager at Cameron balloons. For a bit more information about him, you could look at the section on production staff. He is also one of the Production Directors. Under Dave McGibbon's care are five other departments. They are:

• Graphic design (Chris Leaman and 4 other employees)
• Plotting (Craig Moore)
• Planning (Andrew Futter)
• Artwork (Ian Lewis and 2 other employees)

The person named in the brackets is the key person in that department who Dave McGibbon would liase with. Use this information to try the following questions:

Draw an organisation chart to show this part of the production team at Cameron's.

What span of control does Dave McGibbon have in his area of production?

What advantages might there be for Cameron Balloons in widening the span of control in the production department?

What disadvantages might this result in for the company and for Dave in carrying out his job?

Use this further information to try to draw up an organisation chart for the whole of the production department:

Mr Lindsay Sadler and Dave McGibbon are Production Directors, and under their guidance are four main areas:

• Artwork (headed by Dave McGibbon with staff as above)
• Despatch and export (headed by Lindsay Sadler)
• Engineering (headed by Steve Dunk)
• Machining (headed by Marion Wassell)
• Special projects department (headed by Gavin Hailes)

The machining department has seven teams of five machinists. Each team has a section head who reports to Mr Lindsay Sadler.

What is the span of control for Mr Lindsay Sadler

Step 4 - Training

Machining the envelope is a highly skilled job. It takes a minimum of one year's experience before a machinist is able to work independently on an envelope, and the learning process continues long after this. The more experience a machinist has the greater their level of productivity is likely to be.

Cameron's tend to find that about 1 machinist out of a staff of 30 leave each year. This figure can be expressed as a labour turnover index:

LABOUR TURNOVER INDEX = Number of staff leaving per period / Average number of staff in post per period

What is the value of this index for the machining department at Cameron Balloons?

What problems would be caused if this labour turnover figure was to start to rise?

What policies would the management need to consider to reduce the level of staff turnover?

Training can either be run as in-house courses or as external courses. Which form would be most appropriate for the machining department at Cameron Balloons? Why?

Training could also be on-the-job training or off-the job training. What factors will affect Cameron's decision on which type to use?

What four types of on-the-job training might be appropriate for a recently employed machinist?