To know the business environment
an organization operates in, three major trends must be considered:
-
Demographics: the characteristics of a
population/workforce, for example, age, gender or social class. This type of trend may have an effect in
relation to pension offerings, insurance packages etc.
-
Diversity: the variation within the
population/workplace. Changes in society now mean that a larger proportion of organizations are made up
of "baby-boomers" or older employees in comparison to
thirty years ago. Advocates of "workplace diversity" simply advocate an employee base that is a mirror
reflection of the make-up of society insofar as race, gender, sexual orientation,
etc.
-
Skills and qualifications: as industries
move from manual to more managerial professions so does the need for more highly skilled graduates. If
the market is "tight" (i.e., not enough staff for the jobs), employers must compete for employees by
offering financial rewards, community investment, etc..
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