What does the human resources theme cover in OCR Business?

It covers human-resource objectives and organisational design (tall and flat structures, span of control, chain of command, centralisation and decentralisation), the workforce metrics of labour productivity, turnover and absenteeism, the motivation theories of Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor with financial and non-financial methods, workforce planning, recruitment, selection and training, and leadership styles, organisational culture and employee relations including trade unions and collective bargaining.

How do you calculate labour turnover?

Labour turnover is the number of staff leaving in a period divided by the average number employed, times 100. A high rate raises recruitment and training costs and may signal poor pay, management or conditions, though some turnover is healthy. It should be judged against the firm's past or the industry norm.

What is the difference between Herzberg's hygiene factors and motivators?

Hygiene factors, such as pay, conditions and supervision, prevent dissatisfaction but do not create lasting motivation. Motivators, such as achievement, recognition and responsibility, create genuine motivation. Herzberg argued that improving pay alone removes dissatisfaction but does not motivate.

What are the main leadership styles in OCR Business?

The main styles are autocratic (the leader decides alone, fast and clear but demotivating), paternalistic (the leader decides but considers staff welfare), democratic (the leader consults and shares decisions, motivating but slower) and laissez-faire (the leader delegates fully, freeing skilled staff but risking drift). The best style depends on the task, the staff and the situation.

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OCR A-Level Business: human resources complete overview

A complete overview of the OCR A-Level Business human-resources theme, covering HR objectives and organisational structure, the workforce metrics, motivation theory and practice, recruitment, selection and training, and leadership styles, culture and employee relations.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.88 min readH431Updated 2026-06-02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

Jump to a section

Objectives and structure
Motivation theory and practice
Recruitment, selection and training
Leadership, culture and employee relations
How to study this theme

Human resources is the theme that manages a firm's people: setting workforce objectives, structuring the organisation, motivating, recruiting, training and leading staff, and managing the relationship between the firm and its employees. People are often a firm's biggest cost and its biggest source of competitive advantage. Because OCR examines the same themes in all three components, these ideas recur in a local employer, a UK plc and a global firm. This overview maps the theme; each section links to a full dot-point answer.

Objectives and structure

HR objectives target productivity, turnover, absenteeism and engagement. Structure can be tall or flat, with choices over the span of control, chain of command and centralisation. The workforce metrics measure performance.

Motivation theory and practice

Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor explain what drives effort, applied through financial methods (piece rate, commission, bonus) and non-financial methods (job enrichment, empowerment, teamworking).

Recruitment, selection and training

Workforce planning forecasts needs. Internal and external recruitment fill vacancies, and on-the-job and off-the-job training, with induction and appraisal, develop staff.

Leadership, culture and employee relations

Leadership styles (autocratic to laissez-faire) and organisational culture shape behaviour. Employee relations are managed through communication, trade unions, collective bargaining and dispute resolution.

How to study this theme

Learn the formulae. Labour productivity, turnover and absenteeism must be automatic, with interpretation against a benchmark.
Apply the theories. Link Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor to specific methods and firms.
Match style to situation. No leadership style or structure is best in all cases; judge in context.
Revise from the official specification. Use the current OCR H431 document.

For the full specification, see OCR.

Sources & how we know this

OCR A-Level Business (H431) specification — OCR (2015)