1. Business Studies Reading ResearchHuman Resources The Human Resource Management (HRM) concentrates on developing the individual employee in order for the business as a whole to benefit. It involves all aspects in relation to the labour resource. Recruitment, selection, training and motivation of the workforce are all important considerations if a business is to prosper.Recruitment The aim of recruitment is to employ and retain the best possibly human resources. The stages of recruitment: Demand for Labour -> Nature of the job -> Job advertisement -> Selection -> Appointment -> InductionDemand for Labour: Every business has to establish that there is a demand for a particular job. This may be an increase in demand from a product, which means that the business will need extra staff. Another example is that Hotels often take on more staff during summer months, so they meet the demand. Nature of the Job: Once the demand is recognised, a job description should be shown up. This includes the job title, name of the person, and some details of the job. Example: Job title: Senior Physiotherapist (responsible to head of unit) Location: Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham Tasks/duties: Working with acute respiratory patients on intensive care, high-dependency units and medical/surgical wards. Working conditions: Opportunities for in-service training and on-site courses. 37 hours a week, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, Minimum of 2 years experience.

2. Internal recruitment: Cheaper than appointing from outside. Can act as a form of motivation to the existing business if they say that there is an opportunity for promotion. Fewer candidates if the appointment is made internally. Employers will already know who will be able to take the job, based on their previous experiences in the business. Internally would be less risky than external, because the knowledge of external candidates wont be as detailed as internal candidates. Giving the job to an internal candidate over another, may lead to jealousy. Better candidates may be missed who could bring new ideas to the business. External recruitment: Advertisement has to be drawn up and positioned in an appropriate area. It is more expensive. It offers the business a much bigger chance of attracting a wider range of specialised candidates. External candidates may not only bring new ideas into the business, but also talk about how other businesses operate. Job Advertisement: Normally appear in newspapers, professional magazines or the internet. Should give right prospective candidates some indication of what the post requires, and what sort of the person the business is looking for. Selection: Candidates are asked to fill in application form (Send in the letter of application) or compile a CV (Curriculum Vitae). Applications are sifted through, by the business, before making a short list on the candidates to interview. There may be a personnel department which is responsible for recruitment, if it is a large organisation. 3. Nowadays, just an interview to select the appropriate candidates for a job are highly unusual, because they have been found as unreliable, as people may be judged by appearance and personal biases. Different techniques used before selection: The nature of the job The budget for recruitment The cost of the process The likely number of applicantsAptitude tests (Or Role Plays): A candidate is asked to deal with situations that he/she is likely to face in the job. This is used to assess the level of skill that the candidate shows in the given situation. Interview Panels: Even though they are unusual, they are still important assessment tools in the search for the right person for the job. Important that there are not too many people on the panel, as people may be overwhelmed by facing several interviewers. A good interview will combine open and closed questions. By starting with simple questions to the applicant at easy before asking harder ones. Psychometric tests: These are designed to gain information about the personality of the candidate whether he/she is flexible, inflexible, assertive, passive, stable, unstable, team player, loner, or if they are able to solve problems. This is necessary to be interpreted by a trained person for the tests to be effective. Appointment: Care is crucial to ensure that the selection process is safe and non-offensive in any way, to protect from discrimination based on age, sex and race. Assuming that the applicant is appropriate, the employer must provide the new employee with a contract within 2 months of starting work. It must contain: Job title Location of employment Hours of work Rate and timing of pay Holidays and other entitlements, such as pensions Terms of notice 4. Induction: It is very important to ensure that he or she is trained. Losing staff affects labour turnover and means that the whole process of recruitment has to be reset, which wastes more time. In order to help new employees, inductions programmes are made to help them settle into the business. These inductions include: How the particular business operates Administrative procedures The location of different departments The corporate approach to differing situations The rules of the businessTraining: It benefits the business and employee. The employers benefit from motivated, and more skilled working employees. The two different types of training; On-The-Job and Off-The-Job, are used depending on several factors: The size of the business The cost of the training The skills available to train employees The rules of the businessMarket Research Market research is to describe different ways of gathering information. It is suggested that there are four reasons why it might be carried out. To describe the market, this involves: Exploring trends Comparing market performance Establishing market share Finding out who the customers are To explain the market, firms might want to know: Why market share has fallen Whether a price reduction worked Whether customers prefer their products or those of the competition How good a promotion campaign was To predict changes in the market it might be useful to find out: What customers will do if the company raises prices The effect of introducing a new model one existing sales The likely impact of increased competition The possible future impact on market share 5. To explore future customer reaction, a firm might use this to: Explore customers reaction to new ideas Find the target price Establish the most appropriate retail outlets Discover the best methods of promoting a new productTypes of information: Quantitative data: These are collected in such a way to allow numerical data. It works best when there are lots of data and conclusions to be made. Its useful for when trying to describe the market, i.e. 48% of our animals are male. Using numerical data has the disadvantage of it not being possible to assess genuine conclusions because it only concentrates on number, and not reasons. Qualitative data: These are collected from a smaller amount of people using a variety of methods. This focuses more on opinions and information gathered is difficult to quantify. This has an advantage for this is that it is possible to study the information obtained and to use it to explain customer behaviour, which enhances decision-making.