Task One – Slide Deck for Team Day
Students will prepare a presentation on “The Business Environment” to help HR team understand issues affecting the business environment.
AC 1.1 Application of an analysis tool (such as PESTLE) to examine the key external forces impacting or likely to impact an organisation’s activities
Guideline
Students analyse the external forces using PESTLE, SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces model and BMC, which guide professionals understand how the organisation operates.
Battista (2021) explains the need to carry out a PESTLE analysis to examine the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. Professionals collect information and explore the risks that might affect the business environment. PESTLE analysis is an effective tool that supports organisational strategic business planning, helps in workforce planning, marketing, product development and organisation change.
SWOT analysis tool examines the organisational Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (Wilson, 2021). Students when analysing these tools should explain the advantages and disadvantages of each of the analysis tool, and explain how the tools influence decision-making within the organisation.
AC 1.2 An explanation of an organisation’s business goals and why it is important for organisations to plan for how they will achieve these. Your explanation should include examples of planning, such as how a business has been structured or specific policies introduced or people practices followed, in order for business goals to be achieved
Guideline
To answer this question, students may identify a specific company in their country. For instance, Unilever is a British multinational company that students may refer to when answering the question.
Business goals determine organisation progress and enhance successful running of the business. Business goals motivate employees and other organisation stakeholders to realise the organistaion vision. Unilever goals are to improve people’s health and wellbeing, improve people’s livelihood and provide products sufficient to halve the environmental footprint.
Businesses engage in planning to develop a positive employment climate for the employees, ensure that they develop policies that link to organisation practices and strategies. To achieve business goals, people professionals and managers should plan to enhance business continuity.
AC 1.3 An explanation of an organisation’s products and/or services and main customers
Guideline
Students identify the products and services that the organisation offers to the market. Unilever offers food products beauty products and personal care products to the customers. Unilever has a large customer target with customers ranging from small children to the elderly.
Students should provide a specific presentation on what each customer segment receives from the company.
AC 1.4 A short review of different technologies available to people professionals and how these can be used to improve working practices and collaboration. You might consider for example, technologies relating to communications, information sharing, record keeping, learning, wellbeing, productivity or security
Guideline
According to Mohdzaini (2021), technology highly affects the future of work and employees’ involvement to completing future roles and responsibilities. Students should identify different types of technologies such as-
- Internet
- Electronic forms of communication such as social media and use of smart phones
- Use of technologies on file management and document sharing
- Students further explain how technology improve working practices
- Technology approaches to communication, efficiency improvement, security and productivity.
Task two – Guidance leaflet on organisation culture and impact of change
AC 2.1 What is meant by workplace (organisation) culture
Guideline
According to Young (2021), organistaion culture refers to the norms, behaviours and values that determine people’s characteristics, interactions and relationships. Students further explain the positive and negative cultures and the role of people professionals in developing cultures that create meaning to work.
AC 2.1 Why it is important to foster an appropriate and effective workplace culture
Guideline
Culture helps employees understand the organisation and its operations, gives employees an opportunity to voice their views and develops connections with the employers.
An appropriate workforce culture values diversity and inclusion, promotes employee engagement, motivation and retention. Additionally, culture affects people and organisation performance.
AC 2.2 How organisations are whole systems in which different areas and aspects such as structure, systems and culture, are all inter-related
Guideline
Students explain the different types of organisational structures and systems (hierarchical, divisional functional and matrix). Students explain the significance of value-driven organisations. Students explain how people professionals strive to achieve holistic systems that influence people behaviours and organisation cultures.
AC 2.2 An example of how good people practice, and an example of how bad people practice can impact other parts of the organisation or beyond the organisation (for example through developing new and better ways of doing things or through poor practice stimulating new legislation)
Guideline
Students provide a scenario of how good people practice impacts the organisation. For instance, people professionals explain the value of learning and development and its significance in improving employees’ skills and knowledge. Students then provide a scenario of how bad people practice impacts the organisation. For example, lack of support to people’s mental and physical health is a bad people practice in the organisation. Managing the issue would require people professionals to develop practices that support good health. This involves developing counselling programmes to reduce stress and improve wellbeing.
It is crucial for students to note that they can use different examples depending on their engagements and experiences in an organistaion.
AC 2.3 How individuals may learn and develop in different ways in organisations and how this might be accommodated in assessing and developing skills and capabilities
Guideline
According to Hayden (2021), people professionals should develop learning policies to create a culture where people value learning for skills and knowledge development. Students may consider the following learning concepts when answering the question-
- Learning and competitiveness
- Importance of workplace learning
- Significance of learning to achieve high performance
- Learning trends (identifying employee learning gaps and causes of underperformance)
AC 3.1 Why it is important for an organisation’s business that change is predicted, planned and effectively managed
Guideline
George (2021) acknowledge that change in an organisation is essential and professionals should be keen to plan and manage change for positive outcomes. Concepts that students should consider include-
- Change triggers (for example;- competition, change in technology, discontinuity)
- How change impacts the business
- Planning for change (role and purpose of introduction change)
References
BATTISTA, M. (2021) PESTLE analysis. Available at https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/organisational-development/pestle-analysis-factsheet [Accessed 18th July 2022]
GEORGE, S. (2021) Change management. Available at https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/change/management-factsheet [Accessed 18th July 2022]
HAYDEN, D. (2021) Learning and development strategy and policy, available from https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/development/factsheet [Accessed 18th July 2022]
MOHDZAINI, H. (2021) Technology and the future of work. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/technology/emerging-future-work-factsheet [Accessed 18th July 2022]
WILSON, M. (2021) SWOT analysis. Available at https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/organisational-development/swot-analysis-factsheet [Accessed 18th July 2022]
YOUNG, J. (2021) Organisational culture and cultural change, available from https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/working-environment/organisation-culture-change-factsheet [Accessed 18th July 2022]
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