BTEC Business: Managing People, Motivation and Training

This material trains content areas C and D of Unit 6, Principles of Management, in the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Business qualifications: managing human resources, and the factors that influence the management, motivation and performance of the workforce. Unit 6 is a mandatory, externally assessed unit in the Diploma and the Extended Diploma.

The human resources part covers people as a factor of production, labour market analysis and forecasting labour demand, and the choices in human resource planning: core against peripheral workers, full-time and part-time staff, sub-contracting, zero hours contracts, temporary and agency staff. The specification asks for labour turnover and absenteeism to be expressed in words and numbers, so you calculate both from figures, together with a change in productivity, and then explain what the results mean for the business and what management can do about them, including skill shortages and workplace stress.

The motivation part works through the four theorists the specification names: Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's hygiene factors and motivators, Taylor's scientific management and Mayo's findings on social needs, with financial and non-financial motivators. It then turns to meeting skills requirements (recruitment, upskilling and reskilling, outsourcing, changing job roles and restructuring), training and development (training needs analysis, internal and external, on-the-job and off-the-job, mentoring and coaching) and performance appraisal (its purposes, self-assessment, management by objectives, rating scales and 360-degree appraisal, and its impact on the individual and the business).

The quiz has twelve questions, four of them calculations, each with a worked or reasoned explanation. The flashcards hold the formulas, the theories and the training and appraisal terms. The written work has eight longer tasks marked against key points: labour turnover and absenteeism with causes and remedies, core and peripheral workers in a seasonal business, Maslow compared with Herzberg, Taylor and Mayo applied to a factory, training for a call centre, appraisal and its impact, and techniques for a skills shortage. The exam is a conversation with an examiner who presents workforce problems, asks for analysis and recommendations and gives brief feedback at the end.

All organisations and figures are invented, and every question is original practice material, not taken from Pearson case studies or set tasks.

• Calculate labour turnover, absenteeism rates and changes in productivity and interpret them
• Explain HR planning choices: core and peripheral, part-time, sub-contracting, zero hours, temporary and agency staff
• Apply the motivation theories of Maslow, Herzberg, Taylor and Mayo to workplace situations
• Compare techniques to meet skills needs and types of training, including coaching and mentoring
• Evaluate types of performance appraisal and their impact on individuals and the business

Practice material written by Zestly, based on Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Business (2016 suite), Unit 6 Principles of Management, content areas C (managing human resources) and D (factors influencing management, motivation and performance of the workforce) (specification Issue 15, April 2023).