Employing People AS Business Studies

Aims and Objectives Aim: Understand options for start-up businesses of employing people Objectives: Define full time and part time workers Explain current trends in the UK labour market Analyse employing full and part time workers

Starter Explain the difference between part-time and full-time employees. Give two benefits of hiring full-time employees. Give two benefits of hiring part-time employees. Give two disadvantages of hiring full-time employees. Give two disadvantages of hiring part-time employees.

Employing People The majority of employees in businesses are permanent. This means that they only leave their job through resignation, retiring, redundancy or being sacked.

Temporary Employees One who is employed for a fixed period of time. Often these workers are seasonal. They rarely have the same benefits as permanent employees such as healthcare etc.

Temporary Workers Benefits and Drawbacks BenefitsDrawbacks If demand fluctuates the entrepreneur can keep staffing levels flexible. Temporary employees may not know the workings of the business or its culture. Temporary employees who perform well may eventually become permanent. Temporary employees may not as motivated as permanent ones. Temporary employees may help a business through a period of short term staff shortages. Constant changing of employees may make communication more difficult. Customers may not like a constantly changing workforce, particularly if the business is a service business.

Consultants and Advisors Business or individuals who provide professional advice or services for a fee. Often the advice is on how to make the business more successful or deal with a specific problem.

Consultants and Advisors In groups brainstorm the benefits and drawbacks of using a business advisor or consultant for a start-up business. In groups brainstorm the benefits and drawbacks of using a business advisor or consultant for a start-up business.

Consultants and Advisors Benefits and Drawbacks BenefitsDrawbacks Gain the benefits of expertise and specialist skills without the cost of employing someone full time. Consultants will not know the business as well as employees. Entrepreneurs can add to their skills base as and when they need to. Consultants may not be as motivated to work hard for the business. Avoids the need to search and recruit staff which can be risky if the wrong people are hired. In some cases consultants can be expensive. Useful advice for business start-ups which can use an advisor for a short period of time to help establish the business. What if the consultants give bad advice?

EV: What type of employees should businesses employ? What type of employees should businesses hire to have a productive and efficient workforce? It depends on the type of business! Retail may rely more on part time/ temporary staff. An accountants may rely more on full time staff. Generally it is a good idea to employ a combination of full/part time/temporary workers as you have a core of workers, but you can have a flexible workforce with part-time and temporary staff.