HR: The People Puzzle
This is the process of making sure the business has the right number of employees with the right skills at the right time.
What is human resource planning?
A manager’s number of direct reports, or what a TikTok creator hopes happens to a video overnight.
What is span?
This leadership style assumes management acts in employees’ best interests, but still keeps decision-making fairly top-down.
What is paternalistic leadership?
“Buy vans or machines for a long-term stash;
This kind of spending is not routine cash.”
What is capital expenditure?
Fear of job loss, weak communication, and lack of trust are major causes of this.
What is resistance to change?
Business growth, technology changes, and employee turnover are examples of these influences on HR planning.
What are internal factors?
The people a business employs, or the kind of competition a coach might enter before varsity.
What is staff?
This style may work well with highly skilled, self-directed experts but can fail badly with inexperienced teams.
What is laissez-faire leadership?
“Pay wages and rent so the shop won’t crash;
These day-to-day costs fit this spending class.”
What is revenue expenditure?
Clearly explaining why change is happening is this management strategy.
What is communication?
Labor market conditions, unemployment, and government regulations are examples of these influences on HR planning.
What are external factors?
The levels of authority in a tall organizational structure, or what you wear when the classroom AC is acting ridiculous.
What are layers?
If employees need buy-in during a change process, this style may help more than autocratic leadership because people feel heard.
What is democratic leadership?
“Spend big on expansion with dramatic flash;
Too much too soon can create this cash-pressure clash.”
What is cash pressure?
Involving employees in the change process increases commitment; this strategy is called this.
What is participation?
A company expanding internationally may need language skills and cross-cultural marketing knowledge. This shows HR planning must respond to this.
What is organizational strategy or business growth/expansion?
The HR process of finding and attracting candidates, or what a college program hopes to do with top athletes.
What is recruitment?
If the correct leadership style depends on context, urgency, and team capability, IB would describe that as this.
What is situational leadership?
“Delay all investment to protect your cash;
Old assets and weak future growth may follow that dash.”
What is underinvestment or avoiding capital expenditure too long?
Providing employees with the skills and support needed for a new system is this strategy.
What is training?
A tight labor market makes recruitment harder, even if the business wants to hire quickly. This best illustrates that HR decisions are shaped by this type of factor.
What is an external factor?
Teaching employees the skills needed for a new role or system, or what half the class says they’ll “totally do” over break.
What is training?
A business has strong pay incentives, but staff still underperform because instructions are inconsistent and unclear. The deeper issue is probably this.
What is communication failure or poor communication?
“A routine repair recorded as a long-term asset is finance-class trash;
Classify it correctly to stop the accounting bash.”
What is revenue expenditure?
If management sends one formal email but supervisors answer questions differently, the most likely communication problem is this.
What is inconsistency or a barrier to communication?