Case study
An invitation has been extended to your company to present a briefing at a regional People Practice event to share insights and good practices on a range of people practice processes and practices. Your manager has chosen ‘evidence-based practice‘ as the topic area and selected you as the company’s representative in creating the briefing paper for the event.
As part of your manager’s request, you have been asked to analyse and review three sets of performance data in preparation for the heads of department meeting.
Task preparation:
- You are encouraged to plan your assessment work with your Assessor at the start of the assignment and, where appropriate, to establish milestones so that they can help you track your progress.
- To guide and support your evidence, refer to the indicative content in the unit.
- It is essential to pay attention to your evidence since you are part of the People Practice Team.
- The evidence you collect for this assessment must remain your own.
As well as these benefits:
- Responding to formative feedback from your Assessor.
- Examine your own experiences with learning opportunities and training, as well as career development.
- Reading CIPD Insights, Fact Sheets, and other related online content on these topics.
Briefing Paper: Task One
To share insights and good practices at a regional event, you are to prepare a briefing paper presented to practitioners. In the paper, approaches must be explained that can help support practical critical thinking and decision-making within the HR sphere.
Briefing papers should:
- Analyse the concept of evidence-based practice and guide how practitioners can apply it to support sound decision-making and judgments across various practices and organisational issues. (1.1)
- Explore two micro and two macro analysis methods that can be applied to people practice to explore an organisation’s micro and macro environment and identify any future issues, challenges, or opportunities. (1.2)
- Provide examples of how you use critical thinking yourself when relating to ideas to facilitate rational and objective debate. (1.3)
- Explain how understanding ethical theories and perspectives can help inform and influence effective decision-making. (1.4)
- Give examples of different decision-making approaches for identifying possible solutions to a particular issue in people practice. (2.3)
- You may use the same people practice issue to illustrate points made in 2.3 by explaining the relevant evidence you have reviewed and by using one or more decision-making tools to determine a recommended course of action, explaining the rationale behind the choice and identifying the benefits, risks and financial implications of choice. (2.2 & 2.4)
- This article compares and contrasts various methods and approaches used to measure financial and nonfinancial performance within organisations. (3.1)
To ensure that your work is supported by analysis, you should refer to academic concepts, theories, and professional practice. Be sure to acknowledge the references and sources used correctly and provide a bibliography.
Task two: Analysing and reviewing the data
The manager of your department has asked you to prepare information and interpretations for the department heads meeting held in two weeks.
These are two sets of 360-degree data that have been collected for Department A. The feedback from the employees for their line managers is in table 1, and the feedback from the customers who use the Department A services and goods is in table 2.
Analyse the two data sets using one analytical tool to uncover themes, patterns, and trends (2.1).
Table 1.
The 360-degree feedback employees give to their managers
Two hundred fifty-six responses have been received from this department; 32 have not responded. |
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The line manager positively supports them in the role that they perform. | 100 | In the role they perform, they disagree with their line manager ‘s positive support. |
156 |
Accepted that their line manager’s performance targets were achievable. | 45 | The line manager did not think performance targets were realistic. | 211 |
Affirmed that their learning and development helped them achieve current and future working practices. | 95 | Disputed that the amount of learning and development they received helped them achieve current and future working practices. | 161 |
It was acknowledged that their line manager was sympathetic to work/life balance. | 112 | They were not empathetic towards the employee’s balance of work/life. | 144 |
They agreed that their line manager actively promotes their career development and advancement. | 68 | The line manager does not actively promote their self-development and career progression. | 188 |
It is acknowledged that the line manager is approachable. | 37 | There is disagreement over the approachability of the line manager. | 219 |
Their line manager maintains a non-biased attitude and treatment of their employees | 86 | Dissatisfied with their line manager’s bias-free attitude and treatment of them | 170 |
They agree that their line manager should resolve conflicts between team members. | 102 | They disagree with the way their line manager resolves conflict among team members. | 154 |
Agrees that their line manager delegated authority and independence to them. | 6 | They were dissatisfied with how their line manager delegated authority and independence. | 250 |
Affirms that their line manager communicates why changes and decisions are made. | 11 | Dissatisfied with the way their line manager communicates changes and decisions. | 245 |
Table 2.
360 Feedback from customers
The department received one hundred forty-five responses; 256 did not respond. |
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All agreed that the goods and services on offer were worth the price | 101 | Disagreed with the value for money offered by the goods and services | 44 |
It was agreed that products and services were delivered on time from the point of sale to the delivery location. | 45 | There were delays between the point of sale and delivery of products and services. | 100 |
Acknowledged that the quality of goods and services was acceptable | 114 | It was not acceptable that the goods and services were of good quality | 31 |
Agreed that customer service was accessible and responsive to all calls. | 34 | The customer service department was not assessable nor responsive to all phone calls. | 111 |
It was agreed that all complaints would be handled in a timely and professional manner | 54 | Dissatisfied with the promptness and professionalism of all complaints | 91 |
It was agreed that the after-sales service was good. | 27 | Disagree with the notion that they provided good post-sale services. | 118 |
Clients felt that their initial inquiry was handled in a timely and professional manner. | 3 | Customers were dissatisfied with the way their initial enquiry was handled. | 142 |
The packaging was deemed acceptable for protecting the goods upon delivery. | 143 | The packaging on receipt of goods did not protect the goods adequately. | 2 |
They accepted the company’s recommendation to a friend or business associate | 98 | They disagreed that they would recommend the company to a friend or business associate | 47 |
They agreed that the range of products and services offered satisfied their needs. | 31 | They were not satisfied with the range of products and services offered. | 114 |
- Use three or more different methods to present your results based on your analysis (3.3).
- Analyse the key systems and data used in effective people practices, to gain insights into work and person performance (3.2)
- Describe how people practices add value to an organisation and identify methods that can be used to measure the impact of people practices (3.4)
Department ‘A’ performance reviews were scored last year using a rating scale from 6 = high performer to 1= low performer.
Employees scoring four and above received a bonus of £400.00 each month. Last year, there was an allocation of £75,000 per department for bonuses.
Department A’s figures for the last year were:
- – 112 employees received a score of 6
- – 98 employees received a score of 5
- – 35 employees received a score of 4
- – 43 employees received a three or below. Using various tools and techniques and the data provided in tables 1, 2 & 3, identify the likely impact and value of these people management practices currently in place in department ‘A’. What might other people management practices benefit department ‘A’ to employ? 3.4