Factors Affecting Current Labour Market - Essay Example

Factors Affecting the Current Labor Market Q1. What factors are affecting the current labour market – whether local, national and/or global? There are various factors affecting current labour market which ranges from social, political, economic, environmental factors or technical. The demand and supply of the required workforce, availability of technical institutes to impart training to the workforce, government policies and competitiveness within the labour market are some of the dominating factors (Armstrong 2003).

How do these affect employment for women, graduates, older workers? In a condition of higher supply than demand of the workforce affects the employment of women and older workers inversely as recruiters might prefer the young male graduates. However the government policies and framework restricts any such activities and ensures the corporations adopt equal opportunity policy for all. At some places the political conditions are not favourable for women to work. These are extremist countries like Afghanistan or uncertain political situations bring them back to their natural responsibilities of being homemaker.

The technical aspects like lack of desired technical qualification and knowledge becomes an obstacle for many of the applicants irrespective of their gender or age group (Bearwell and Claydon, 2007). The older age group face certain prejudice of being difficult to be trained or will have problem in reporting to younger executives and others. This leads to the age biasness. The complexity intensifies when the competition is high. Q2. SME Case study: Books4U Please complete the activities associated with this case study, located on Blackboard under Resources. i) Given the current business situation, assess the need for succession planning and management development of your Team Leaders The business model is based on internet and the business requirements are also increasing.

In such case a proper planning for all the respective departments is required. In the three years the human resource requirements have increased in the following ways: The problem is lack of technically trained employees and unavailability of time with the two longest serving employees. However in the given scenario, I can consider the offering part time employees the full time job. At the same time, these part time employees are already been trained by the longest serving employees. The new recruits can be associated with them for different period of time.

They can be gradually shifted to the mainstream jobs after getting experience of the work culture of the organisation. Hiring from the local market and training them will be cost effective than looking to other labour markets (Torrington et al 2005). ii) Construct an HR plan for the next 3 years In the next three years if company follows the same trend than the requirement might increase 3-4 times of the current requirements At the starting of business: 4 staff Three years later: 2 team leaders, 10 part time and 8 others= 20 staff Assume for next three year= 20*3=60 This is an assumption based the fact that the requirements increased five times in the first three years, the next three years it should be 100 but the growth in the initial years will be higher the growth of the growth in the later stage (Torrington et al 2005).

Since the business is into internet selling, the employees should be technically skilled. Therefore company will have to develop the employees according to the growing needs of business. iii) Identify the HR implications of recruiting more staff The HR should be ready for the complexity of job profiles, clarity of roles, ensure that there is no discrimination against any employees; employees should be paid according to the market, their roles and qualifications. There should be a system of handling grievances and transparency of the processes and communication should be there (Torrington et al 2005). Q3. Recruitment and selection How do you identify and recruit talent?

There are various sources to find talent from the internal and external sources of the organisation. The source of the talent can be decided on the basis of the need and requirements. The HR manager may utilise the internal sources and may invite the existing employees to apply for the vacancy. In the case requirement can not be fulfilled by the internal sources the advertisement containing the requirement, desired candidate profile and other important details (Torrington et al 2005). Organisation can find a recruitment agency or consultant for the lesser and regular placement requirements.

It depends on the requirements and importance of the job. What are advantages and disadvantages of recruiting from the internal and external labour markets? In the case of internal labour market, organisation has to find replacement for the person he is recruiting to some other position. The chances of favouritism and nepotism can be there. However these issues can be in the case of recruitment from the external sources as well. The internally recruited employee will not require organisation’s introduction as he is already working there.

Internal recruit would be familiar with the organisational processes and the risk of adjusting in a new environment will be less. Produce an up-to-date personal CV that you could send to a prospective employer. (Please check the end of the paper) Q4. Equal opportunities and diversity Whose responsibility is it to ensure fair employment practices? This is a responsibility of the top management to ensure that the fair employment practices are adopted and accepted at all the levels of the organisation.

Externally government ensures by making policies enforcing fair employment practices. Is it acceptable for managers to discriminate against certain employees? This is never acceptable in any organisation to discriminate against certain employee on the basis of colour, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability or any other discriminatory factor. Individuals should have equal opportunity to compete for the job and grow within the organisational ladder. Have you have ever been discriminated against in the workplace?

How did you feel? How was it resolved? I have faced gender biased and was discriminated with one of the employee of the opposite gender. Initially I was not informed about the task even when it was directly related to my role. Later I got to know and I approached the concerned authority and ask them the reason for the same. The person gave his view and I justified my point of views and counter protected my right of the opportunity. The person understood that his prejudice was unreasonable and I got the chance.

I felt very bad due to this and thought that I would prove them wrong and did that successfully. CV Kindly furnish your information: PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY Brief introduction CORE COMPETENCIES Communication Concept & Strategy Development • Creative writing skills • Leadership skills • Strong communication and interpersonal skills PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Organization Duration Key responsibilities Organization Duration Key responsibilities Organization Duration Key responsibilities OTHER EMPLOYMENT EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CERTIFICATIONS Languages Known: Certifications References: Armstrong, M. (2003) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (9th Edition).

Kogan Page: London Beardwell, J & Claydon, T (2007), Human resource management: a contemporary approach, 5th edition, Pearson Education: London Torrington, D., Hall, L. & Taylor, S. (2005) Human Resource Management (6th Edition). Pearson Education: Essex