Employing People

Employing People

1. Business expanding-may need extra staff to cope with the increased workload.

   • Demand increases-extra staff may be needed to keep up with demands.
     • Change in direction-new area, new expertise.
       • Quiet periods-paying staff when not needed (small business).

2. Part time staff.

   • Advantages
     • Save money
       • Flexibility to manage workloads
         • May have a better work-life balance, less time off.
           • Eases pressure on full-time staff.
             • Possibly happier-increased productivity
               • wider range of skills among the workforce.
   • Disadvantages
     • Difficult to find good part-time workers, most jobseekers looking for full-time work.
       • Can be less dedicated and loyal than full-time wokrers.
         • Maybe not as much experience of how the business works as full-time staff do.
           • Time-consuming and expensive.
   • Important for business to get right balance between full and part time staff.
     • At start may be unsure of how busy they might be unsure, or how many to cope with demand.
       • Usually best to take on part-time staff until sure demand high enough for full.
         • Job-sharing work part-time sharing the staff the same job. Usually work different days of week
           • Share responsibility and pay.
             • Allows higher-level staff like managers to work part-time without buss. disruption
               • Needs careful planning.

3. Permanent staff-on going contract, guaranteed salary.

   • Only stop employing by dismissing them or making redundant. Latter expensive.
     • Temporary staff-fixed periods of time. Or on a weekly basis.
       • Can renew contract-employed in high-risk periods when future uncertain, easily reduce number of employees.
         • Recruitment expensive, employment agencies find temp. staff. Fee to agency. Workers employed by agency.
           • Contractors used if specialist skills needed on short-term basis.
             • Charge set fee for a specific period. Staff employed by con.
               • Buss' use con for services such as gardening, cleaning, building work, It support and security.

4. Attracting new employees difficult.

   • Invest lot of time and money-must find right employees.
     • Hard for small businesses to find right employees-limited resources to spend.
       • Small businesses cannot also offer same salaries and benefits as larger co.
         • Must consider legal issues.
           • Illegal to discriminate for age, gender, race, religion sexual orientation or disability.
             • If do, could take to employment tribunal, buss. might have to pay compensation.

5. Advice

   • If wrong, big problems for business-not enough can't meet demand, too much costly.
     • Expert advice-free advice from Business link or small business advisor at their bank.
       • Business owners who are members of the British chambers of commerce, Fed of small buss.
         • Or institute of directors can get free expert employment advice-membership fee though.
           • Business' can pay specialist consultants to advise them, but expensive option for small business.