Human Resources

What Human Resources covers

Human Resources is examined in Paper 1, Influences of operations and HRM on business activity. It covers organisational structures, span of control and delegation, recruitment, selection and contracts of employment, financial and non-financial methods of motivation and induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Organisational structures, span of control and delegationJob roles and the chain of command, span of control, tall and flat structures and delayering, delegation, centralisation against decentralisation, and how structure affects communication.Open →
• Recruitment, selection and contracts of employmentInternal and external recruitment, job analysis, job descriptions and person specifications, selection methods, full-time, part-time and job-share contracts, and zero hours contracts in a seaside café.Open →
• Financial and non-financial methods of motivationWhy motivation matters, wages, salaries and commission worked through examples, profit sharing and fringe benefits, management styles, and training and responsibility as non-financial motivators.Open →
• Induction, on-the-job and off-the-job trainingTraining and productivity, coping with new technology and keeping staff, induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training compared, apprenticeships, and why firms spend more or less on training.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Human Resources further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Tall structure vs Flat structure

  Tall structure: many management layers with narrow spans of control. Flat structure: few management layers with wide spans of control.

• Centralisation vs Decentralisation

  Centralisation: senior managers at head office making the major decisions. Decentralisation: passing decision-making authority to branch or regional managers.

• Span of control vs Chain of command

  Span of control: the number of staff reporting directly to one manager. Chain of command: the line of authority from top to bottom of a business.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is an organisational structure?

   Model answer

   An organisational structure shows how a business is arranged, including job roles and who reports to whom. An organisation chart sets out the structure.

2. 2

   Why do businesses have an organisational structure?

   Model answer

   A structure makes clear each person's role, responsibilities and manager. Staff know who to report to and how decisions are made.

3. 3

   What are the main job roles in a business's structure?

   Model answer

   Directors set the business's overall aims and strategy. Managers organise departments, supervisors oversee daily work, and operatives carry out tasks.

4. 4

   What is the chain of command?

   Model answer

   The chain of command is the line of authority from the top of a business to the bottom. Instructions pass down the chain and information passes up.

5. 5

   What is span of control?

   Model answer

   Span of control is the number of employees who report directly to one manager. A manager with eight direct reports has a span of control of eight.

6. 6

   What is a tall organisational structure?

   Model answer

   A tall structure has many layers of management and narrow spans of control. Each manager supervises only a few staff.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Human Resources revision questions

What does Human Resources cover in AQA GCSE Business?

4 subtopics: organisational structures, span of control and delegation, recruitment, selection and contracts of employment, financial and non-financial methods of motivation and induction, on-the-job and off-the-job training. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Human Resources organised?

By the AQA 8132 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.