5HR02 Talent management and workforce planning assignment guideline

Introduction to the unit 5HR02 Talent management and workforce planning

5HR02 is a unit that helps learners understand the labour market trends and their connotation in workforce planning to attract suitable candidates to join an organisation. Learners review employers’ role in positioning their organisation in the labour market. Professionals analyse the labour market before making resourcing decisions to ensure that they have the right people for the available job opportunities in the organisation.

Learners gain insight into the diverse workforce planning processes and techniques and the different recruitment and selection methods. These are significant in ensuring that effective workforces are built to enhance the retention of workers in an organisation. Additionally, the unit provides information on employee turnover trends in organisations and develops strategies effective to enhance employee retention and develop talent pools.

5HR02 Assignment guideline

The assessment introduces a case study of OcMara Industries, a global organisation operating in the energy sector. Students are expected to provide evidence to help understand the labour market trends. As the organisation expands into more sustainable energy sources and environmentally productive processes, the senior managers have developed people practice objectives. The objectives are to recruit staff members with skills and capabilities to serve in the new areas of development and retain them to protect them from being poached by competitors.

As the students prepare to complete the assessment, they must get insight from CIPD factsheets articles. Among the most important factsheets that will guide students in completing the assessments are the resource and talent planning factsheet that explains the talent management strategies and approaches to managing people. The employee and turnover retention factsheet identifies why employees leave the organisation and develop strategies and practices to retain talent. The CIPD Podcast “From surviving to thriving: key changes facing people practice in 2020” provides a discussion of changes that need to be implemented at work, such as work-life balance to build a fair, brave and equal workplace for all employees. 5HR02 assignment is divided into three tasks. The first task is a poster presentation for strategic positioning and the labour market, the workforce planning and recruitment pack, and finally, a proposal presentation pack on talent retention.

Task 1: Strategic positioning and labour market

The students will prepare a poster presentation to the people practice manager on research about the labour market trends in the UK. Students will refer to “SAP”, a company that won the Employer Brand Management Awards in 2019. The presentation will provide answers to the following assessment criteria sections;-

AC 1.1 An explanation of how “SAP” strategically positions itself in the competitive marketplace

Guideline

Students will review SAP engagement in positioning itself in the labour market. Learners bring evidence by analysing the organisation’s competitive environment and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of organisation positioning and employee experiences. Other characteristics that the students should look at while answering the question are;-

• SAP as an employer of choice
• Employer branding
• Organisational ethics and reputation
• Organisational image
• Rewarding and SAP culture

AC 1.2 An explanation of the changing labour market conditions and their impact on the UK

Guideline

Learners explain the differences between the tight and loose market conditions, with examples of the countries with the defined market conditions. For example, the UK has a tight labour market condition while Saudi Arabia has a loose labour market condition. Next, learners explain the trends in labour supply and demand in the energy sector and the reasons for the identified trends considering the external business environment. Essential factors to consider are the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal issues that affect resourcing decisions made within organisations in the energy sector. Students also explain how the crises affect employee retention and skills shortage in the energy sector.

AC 1.3 role of the government, employers and trade unions in ensuring future skill needs are met in the UK global energy sector.

Guideline

Governments ensure that future skills needs are met by funding for numeracy, literacy and IT skills. The government ensures that organisations’ policies are implemented to help analyse the future skills needs of the employees in the energy sector. Governments ensure that employers meet the workforce requirements that enhance the recruitment of skilled people into the job.

Employers provide development opportunities and programmes to improve employees’ skills. Training and development programmes help improve employees’ knowledge and quality of work. The energy sector benefits from employers who provide development opportunities and experiences adequate to support the accomplishment of future skills.

Trade unions develop agendas that support employee learning and development. They strive to keep the agendas real and identify representatives to work with employers in implementing the agendas.

Task 2: Workforce planning and recruitment

The second task in the unit requires students to present a report to the company manager in an HRBPS meeting on the workforce planning and recruitment concept. The section provides answers to the following questions;-

AC 2.1 Analysis of the impact of workforce planning in terms of forecasting demand for labour utilising both internal and external sources of supply

Guideline

Students explain the gaps between labour demand and supply explain the pros and cons of forecasting in workforce planning when utilising internal and external sources of supply for OcMara Company. In explaining this answer, students will examine the benefits and disadvantages of developing internal talent and how OcMara would benefit from developing talent from within the organisation. In the same case, the advantages and disadvantages of developing external talent at OcMara are explained to answer the question comprehensively.

AC 2.2 evaluation of the effectiveness of promotion/demotion rates, employee turnover rates and critical incident analysis techniques used to support the workforce planning process

Guideline

Students explain the techniques that managers use in workforce planning processes. Learners explain the importance of promotion and demotion in supporting workforce planning processes. They also explain the value of measuring employee turnover the pros and cons of supporting workforce planning. Learners then define critical incident analysis and its effectiveness in workforce planning. Finally, students explain these techniques by linking them to OcMara.

AC 2.3 an explanation of how the appraisal can be used to identify who is interested in progression, managing contingency and mitigating risks through OcMara developing their talent pools

Guideline

The learners define appraisal and explain how this can be used to identify employees interested in taking opportunities that will enhance their career progressions. Learners explain how OcMara would use appraisals to manage risks and develop talent pools to meet the organisational goals. Learners also explain how appraisals would be used in managing contingencies and determining the employee skills needs.

AC 2.4 Assessment of the use of social media and advertising to recruit employees. An assessment of interviews and job references as methods of selection.

Guideline

There are different recruitment methods that learners should consider when identifying talent in the organisation. This question focuses on the social media and advertising recruitment methods specifically. Students explain how they use these methods to attract and recruit the right talent whose values connect to the organisational values.

The unit helps learners gain insight on the different selection methods effective to evaluate the learners’ capability to perform in the available job position. Students explain the reliability and effectiveness of these methods in identifying employees’ capabilities to perform. Interviews connect employers with potential candidates, and they ask questions to allow candidates to explain who they are and their capability to perform. Job references are selection methods where employers engage with candidates’ former employers or colleagues to understand better the candidates’ potential in the new job position.

AC 4.1 Assessment of how OcMara could introduce zero-hours and contractor contracts for the new staff it is hoping to recruit

Guideline

CIPD provides a factsheet on zero-hours contracts, which offers no work guarantee. Contractor contracts identify the terms and conditions of work that establish the relationships between the employers and new staff in the organisation. When hoping to recruit talent, OcMara should be keen to avoid zero-hours contracts because there are no fluctuations in the energy sector. Contractor contracts

AC 4.2 Discussion on the differences between express and implied terms of contracts and what is meant by custom and practice

Guideline

The express and implied terms of contracts are the agreements that bind the employers and employees. The terms are defined according to Employment Rights Act 1996. Express terms are relevant to the law and govern the employers to respect employees’ legal rights. They are statements explaining employees’ statutory rights such as parental leave, flexible working hours, minimum wages and part-time working.

Implied terms of a contract are incorporated to develop agreements between employers and employees and create business efficacy. Examples include mutual trust and confidence, duty to provide a safe workplace, right for employees to receive minimum wages and equality between men and women’s pay. Express and implied terms are given to employees before they start working in an organisation and should be in writing.

AC 4.3 Explanation of how role information and socialisation can be included in an effective onboarding programme. Benefits of onboarding in terms of appreciation of the organisation culture and norms and employee effectiveness are also provided.

Guideline

Role information is an onboarding component where people professionals help new staff members understand the roles they will perform in the organisation. Socialisation is a component that helps employees understand organisational policies and culture. These functions help employees commit to the organisation and function effectively

.

The benefits of onboarding are that employees become successfully integrated into the new organisation. In addition, with a good understanding of the organisational culture, chances of induction crisis are reduced. Other benefits of induction are employees’ capability to appreciate organisational culture, increased employee retention and reduced turnover.