Avoiding misuse of resources
Avoiding misuse of resources
Does your team have the resources it needs?
What rules and procedures control what resources you use?
The resources you need and use are affected by many things outside
your control.
Each job is different. It is different because of the tasks being performed. It is different because of the way that the organisation is
structured and the way that work is divided between people. It is different because the people who work in the organisation are different.
They have different skills and knowledge, and work in different ways.
That's why the resources your team needs to perform your job will be
specific to you, your team and your organisation. Your organisation
will be the most important, because managers will make the decisions
about what resources are to be acquired, used and disposed of. Acquired means bought, hired or, in the case of employees, recruited.
‘Disposed of’ means to throw away, sell or get rid of in some other
way. This session also looks at how the law can affect what resources
you use, how you use them, and how you may dispose of them.
The most important thing for any team leader to remember about resources - people, equipment, premises or materials - is that they cost
money. They cost money to acquire, to maintain and even to dispose
of.
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Avoiding misuse of resources
The cost of acquiring resources includes more than the wages or price
of the resources themselves. It also includes the time spent deciding
who to recruit or what vehicle to buy. Some organisations have a high
turnover of staff. This means that people leave their jobs frequently. It
may cost the organisation large amounts of money simply getting
enough people to keep the organisation going.
Most equipment needs regular servicing or maintenance. Computers
often need upgrading. People need to be ‘maintained’ or to be trained
and have their skills updated - the cost of training staff in using new
computer software is often far more than the cost of buying it in the
first place!
Premises need to be maintained. Left alone, factories, offices, warehouses and shops will start to deteriorate quickly. It costs money to
clean, redecorate and repair buildings.
Some resources can be difficult to dispose of. Sacking people is expensive unless their rights are respected. Environmental regulations
make it expensive for organisations to get rid of waste products, to
encourage them to clean up their operations and recycle materials if
possible. This case study shows you why this is.
Case Study
Jimmy is the team leader in the horticultural maintenance section of a
local council. He and his team look after the parks and other public
places in the council's area. Jimmy's team have got a major task to do.
They are due to empty and clean out a small lake in the town park.
Jimmy expects to hire a pump and pump the water down the drain,
but his manager, Alan, says they have to wait until Environmental Services have checked it out.
Jimmy: "Why, what's the problem. It's only water. It's a bit muddy, but
it's still only water."
Alan: "Yes, I know, but there's been a lot of fuss about the smell recently, and we're hoping it's just because the water's a bit stagnant.
But there's a possibility that it's been contaminated from somewhere
else. If that's the case, then we may not be able to put it into the
drainage system. We might have to pump it into tankers and take it
for treatment."
Jimmy: "That'll be expensive"
Alan: "I know. It'll take the whole of my maintenance budget for the
year if that happens. Let's just cross our fingers."
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Avoiding misuse of resources
Taking care of resources
Because of the costs of resources, most organisations are very careful
about how they acquire, maintain and dispose of them. Rules about recruiting people and purchasing materials are designed to make sure
that you get the right resources at the best price. Rules about how resources are used make sure that they aren't misused. Misuse means
not using them properly. It can mean that equipment, premises or materials need replacing earlier than they should be. It can also mean
that they don't produce goods and services as well as they should, or
do so more expensively than they should.
Misusing people can create health and safety problems, or it can make
people unhappy with their jobs. You will learn about the problems of
health and safety later. Making people unhappy with their jobs because they are not being used properly is something you are directly
responsible for, as a team leader. People may be misused if they are
asked to do a job:
they aren't trained for or able to do, and which they do badly
as a result;
they are over-qualified to do and are wasted by being asked
to do something which it would be more appropriate to assign
other people to do;
they don't like doing a task which other people do enjoy doing; or
they are not legally allowed to do.
Exercise
Are there any reasons which might justify asking someone to do a job
which:
they aren't trained for or able to do?
Yes/No
they are over-qualified to do?
Yes/No
they don't like doing a task?
Yes/No
they are not legally allowed to do?
Yes/No
Think about why you have answered how you have.
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Avoiding misuse of resources
There are always special occasions when a person is asked to do
something because nobody else is available and the job must be done.
This will excuse asking people to do something they don't like doing,
or which they are over-qualified for. Very occasionally it may justify
someone doing something they aren't trained to do, if nobody else is
available and the job has to be done urgently. But it never justifies
breaking the law, unless it prevents a worse event. (For example, an
uninsured driver might move a vehicle to stop it catching fire.)
An untrained person may perform a task under supervision, as part of
their training. People may take turns in doing unpopular jobs, to share
them out fairly. And an over-qualified person may do a job because
that is the only task that needs performing or which they are able to
perform. All these are good reasons for 'misusing' people.
Organisations have rules and standards about the use of resources to
ensure that they are used as efficiently and effectively as possible. The
BS2 session Using resources efficiently and effectively explains what
this means in more detail. Your task, as team leader, is to know what
these requirements are, and to make sure that they are met. You
should always make sure that you understand why they are in place.
That way you will be better able to keep to the rules and work to the
standards required.
The law and the use of resources
The law controls the way that certain resources are used, access to
them and how they are stored. The law about the use of resources
tends to be concerned with four key issues:
health and safety;
hygiene;
environmental protection; and
personal rights.
The reason that there are laws covering the way that resources are
used is to protect employees, customers and the wider community.
However much these rules might seem to be a nuisance, they are frequently there because, if they weren't, the effect would be even worse.
There are a number of BS2 sessions on health and safety. If you want
to learn more about this aspect of using resources, you should work
through them.
(Continued on page 5)
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Avoiding misuse of resources
Ensuring hygiene
Most people think that hygiene only applies in food shops and restaurants, and clearly it does matter there. But any organisation dealing
with food, drink or medicine must also ensure proper hygiene. This includes packaging suppliers and transport companies. And any organisation whose employees come into contact with customers has a duty
to ensure that sensible hygiene rules are observed. Do you want to
buy goods from shop assistants who have been to the toilet and not
washed their hands? Their germs will be passed to you and from you
to other people.
Protecting the environment
You should take care not to waste resources. This is expensive for
your organisation, but it is also bad for the physical environment. Pollution and dumping of waste are a cost which we, our children and
their children will all have to bear. The law is designed to make the
polluter pay the cost of clearing up their waste. It is less expensive to
spend time and money on being careful and cleaning up waste than it
is to dump it on the rest of the world.
Personal security
You and your team have a right to be safe from discrimination,
physical attack, from harassment and from abuse from members
of the public and from other employees.
Illegal discrimination occurs when people are treated differently because of their sex, their ethnicity (their race or cultural group) or any
disability. It is also illegal to discriminate on the grounds of age, religion or belief, and sexuality. You should always watch out for behaviour which, however unintentional, puts someone at a disadvantage for any of these reasons.
As a team leader you need to be alert to any threat to your team.
You should tell your manager if you suspect your team are at risk.
You and your team should never tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour. If you are in a role where you are likely to encounter it (like
the police), you should be trained to deal with it.
Harassment may be less physically threatening but can go on for
(Continued on page 6)
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Avoiding misuse of resources
longer. Harassment is any unwanted and inappropriate action by one
person towards another. It may be meant light-heartedly, but it is the
way it is received that is important.
This kind of sexual harassment - attempts to touch a person, suggestive comments and gestures - may be common in your workplace. Just
because nobody has complained, doesn't make it acceptable.
If you
suspect that a member of your team is being harassed by anyone you
should report your concerns immediately to a manager. Apart from the
distress it can cause the person, your employer may have to pay substantial compensation to the employee who was being harassed.
Your role as a team leader
It costs the organisation money to acquire resources, to use them and
to dispose of them. You should always make sure that resources are
used with care and in ways that meet any relevant rules, standards or
laws.
By taking care of resources you will help to ensure that they work well
and last. It will help to ensure that people stay and are committed to
the organisation and to their job.
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Avoiding misuse of resources
Comprehension Check
Complete the following exercises. Refer back to the session if necessary.
A. What are the three main types of costs associated with using all
resources?
1.
2.
3.
B. List the four ways in which people might be misused at work.
1.
2.
3.
4.
C. List the four key areas of law affecting how resources are
used.
1.
2.
3.
4.
D. Complete each sentence. Circle the letter in front of the answer.
1. Organisations have rules and standards about how resources are
used in order that they are:
a. controlled by managers.
b. used efficiently and effectively.
c. not stolen.
2. Harassment means that a team member:
a. is being misused at work.
b. is always complaining about something.
c. receives unwanted and inappropriate attention from another person.
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Making Connections
Answer the questions following this case.
Arlene is a team leader at the Office Times store. She leads the team
which receives deliveries of stock and puts them out on display. Her
team members leave quite often, and she regularly has to get people
doing jobs they aren’t really trained for.
The biggest problem is driving the fork-lift truck. There are all sorts of
rules about who can and who can’t drive it, but if there is nobody
available, then she uses the person she trusts most.
Her manager says that it’s not worth spending time choosing people
to join her team, because they all leave so quickly. He tends to offer
the job to whoever applies first.
The store also has a problem with all the material used to wrap goods
sent to them. The people who collect their rubbish charge by the
amount, so Arlene’s manager has asked her to burn as much as possible in a big old skip he has had delivered round the back of the store.
Arlene get complaints from businesses either side when she does this,
so she often stays on late to do it after they have closed.
If you were Arlene, what would you say to her manager to encourage him to spend more time on recruiting the right people
to her team?
What would you say to Arlene about how she allocates tasks to
her team?
If you worked at a neighbouring business, what would you say
to Arlene’s manager about the burning materials?
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Think and Apply
How well do you use the skills in this session? Think about the resources you use at work.
Do you know what rules your organisation has governing how
the resources you and your team use are acquired, used and
disposed of?
Are these rules always followed?
Is there anything you or your team can do to improve the way
that resources are acquired, used or disposed of?
1. Read the list of skills. Tick the boxes to show your strengths and
weaknesses.
Skills
strengths <- - - -> weaknesses
I’m
good
at this
I’m
I’m not
I’m
quite
so
quite
good
good
poor
at this at this at this
understand how resources are
acquired, used and disposed of
recognising when people are
being misused
recognising the legal
requirements affecting how
resources are used
2. Do you want to improve any of these skills?
3. How do you plan to improve the skills you listed in question 2?
(You might want to discuss this with your line manager or your tutor/mentor/coach.)
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