OP2 Plan what people your business needs

Summary

Why this is important

If or when you need staff, you need to make sure that you have got the right people and that they do what you want them to. To do this, you need to look critically at what skills your business needs and decide how best to meet them.

Who might do this

You might do this if you are:

  • setting up a new business or social enterprise and planning to employ people;
  • expanding your business or a social enterprise and need to employ people; or
  • changing or adapting the products or services offered by your business or a social enterprise.

What it involves

Planning what people your business needs involves:

  • deciding if you should employ staff;
  • planning how to get staff; and
  • planning how to train your new staff.

Other units that link closely with this

OP1 Review the skills your business needs
OP2 Plan what people your business needs
OP4 Sub-contract work for your business
OP5 Make sure people in your business can do their work

Links to other standards

If your business grows and develops a management team it may be appropriate to consider the following units from the Management and Leadership Standards.

B2 Map the environment in which you organisation operates
D3 Recruit, select and keep colleagues
D4 Plan the workforce

What you need to do

  1. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of employing people.
  2. Decide which ways of employing people best suit your business.
  3. Decide what effect employing people will have on your business aims.
  4. Work out clearly what people you need.
  5. Plan how you will advertise for staff and how you will decide who to employ.
  6. Work out what you will pay staff and match this with your business aims.
  7. Work out, in detail, what you will expect your staff to do and how this will help you provide your products or services to your customers.
  8. Decide how you will train anyone you employ.
  9. Decide how to put together training plans for the people you are going to employ.
  10. Work out how you will meet all the legal requirements for employing staff.

What you need to know and understand

Recruitment

  1. What skills your business needs.
  2. How you can employ people. (For example full and part time, permanent and temporary or using professionals.)
  3. How often and for how long you will need to employ people.
  4. What working conditions you will have to provide.
  5. How much it will cost to employ people and what effect it will have on your business outgoings.
  6. How to draw up and use job and people specifications and training plans.
  7. How staff can be recruited. (For example skills, experience and location.)
  8. How much it costs to recruit new staff.
  9. What terms and conditions you should use to employ people. (For example nature of contracts, pay scales, discipline and grievance system.)

Laws and regulations

  1. How to meet the laws and regulations for recruiting and employing staff.
  2. What laws and regulations you need to think about. (For example employment law, contract law, health and safety law or equal opportunities law.)

Developing staff

  1. What options there are for training staff. (For example taking time to train someone yourself, sending staff on courses or getting someone in.)
  2. How to identify staff training needs and draw up training plans.
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