Individual report, 3,000 words, excluding references

Most importance: Assessments must be submitted via Turnitin, and the similarity must below 20%.

Instructions for assessment

You are required to produce an individual report (3,000 words) based on a given HRM case scenario exploring and proposing recommendations to resolve the key HRM issues highlighted in the case scenario, together with an outline implementation on plan to support your recommendations.

You are able to choose from one of three case scenarios as the basis for your report. You will find the case scenarios at the end of this assessment brief, together with the marking rubric.

This information is also available on Moodle, together with some examples of previous assessment, so you get a better understanding of the expectations.

The word limit for this assessment is 3,000 words, excluding references

How will we support you with your assessment?

· Seminars designed to help you practise the skills you will need to be successful in the assessment

· Formative feedback on a draft of your report outline (provided by your Seminar Tutor after reading week)

· Links to the assessment throughout your seminars

· Examples of previous coursework discussed in seminars, as well as extracts of coursework on Moodle from different grade boundaries where available

How will your work be assessed?

Your work will be assessed by a subject expert who will use the marking rubric provided on Moodle. When you access your marked work it is important that you reflect on the feedback so that you can use it to improve future assignments.

Referencing

You MUST use the Harvard System.

Case scenarios N.B. Please refer to the guidance notes on Moodle when choosing a case scenario for your assignment. You only need to choose one of the case scenarios below for your individual report. Case scenario 1 – Age Diversity in a High Performance Car Design and Manufacturing Company WWBM Luxury Cars is a multi-national car design and manufacturing company. It currently employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates in 80 different countries. Although the organization has placed increasing emphasis on diversity in recent years, it recognizes that that there is still more that can be done to be recognised as an exemplar organization. . WWBM Luxury Cars is becoming more aware of the issues relating to age diversity, given the changing demographics amongst the global workforce. The average age of its current employees is relatively high, 48 years. However the average age of employees in some of the more specialist technical roles is much higher. The organization is concerned that it is not attracting sufficient new talent to fill the gaps as its current highly skilled staff choose to retire. . The organization is aware that this challenge will become more difficult in the future for several reasons: increasing global competition for talent, particularly in certain geographic regions; dwindling supply of graduates who see engineering as an attractive career prospect; new and emerging automotive technologies that require new skills. Although employees in many of the countries that the organization operates in are no longer expected to retire at a specific age, the company has recognised some of the challenges associated with changing age demographics. The engineering sector more broadly is expected to lose valuable skills and experience over the next ten years, as older workers approach potential retirement age. This demographic change will leave a potential skills void for organizations like WWBM Luxury Cars. Although many of the technical roles in the organization are not as physically demanding as those in the manufacturing area, the senior managers have started to raise concerns about the reluctance of technical staff, both older and younger, to work on International projects. Staff too have expressed concerns about the personal tensions associated with extensive travel, including spending long periods of time working away from home. To-date the organization has relied on its older and more experienced engineers in Europe to work on International projects to support business growth. As the newly appointed Talent, Diversity and Inclusion specialist within the corporate HR team in WWBM Luxury Cars, you have been asked to review the organization’s talent management policies and procedures and make recommendations on how these could be changed to ensure that the organizations attracts and develops an age-diverse workforce. Case scenario 2 – International expansion in a gaming software development company VirtualGaming Ltd. is a growing UK-based gaming software company. The company was founded in the early 1990s by the current Managing Director. The company’s Head Office is currently located in the South West of England. The company has grown rapidly since opening in the 1990s and now employs 200 employees. As with many organizations in the gaming industry, most of its employees are male even though some of its products are aimed at women. Over the next three to five years the company plans to expand the business, initially into Eastern Europe, then internationally, especially North Africa. The company realises that to achieve its growth plans it will need to develop and retain its current employee base, whilst at the same time attracting new talent. The senior management team are concerned that as the company grows it will be difficult to deliver the same quality products unless they are able to attract and retain the best employees. Only a few of the current employees have any experience of working Internationally. Whilst the Directors are open to new ideas and implementing leading-edge HR practices they are very nervous about expanding into new geographical locations. Above all the company is keen to retain its reputation of being innovative as it expands the business. Some existing members of staff have expressed an interest in working overseas. They are attracted by the opportunity to travel and live overseas and thus enhance their careers. However, some employees have expressed concern about the implications for their work-life-balance should they be asked to work overseas. One of the current Directors has recently been reading an article that refers to the high rates of expatriate failure, so he is keen to find a way for the company to avoid similar issues. You have just been recruited as an HR specialist to help the company develop an HR resourcing strategy to support the company’s International growth plans. When producing your strategy you will need to ensure that existing talent is fully utilised, whist at the same time looking for new sources of talent. Case scenario 3 – Work-life-balance and well-being in a professional services firm CWP Services is a professional services firm that provides change management and HR consulting services to organizations, across a range of business sectors. CWP Services currently employs 13,500 staff, across Europe; 65% of the workforce is male and 35% female. One of the firm’s diversity management goals is to increase the percentage of female employees, especially those working in senior roles. However as with other professional service firms the nature of the work – client-focused, long hours working, often working away from home – is making it difficult for the organization to achieve this particular diversity goal. Whilst in the past the firm has not found it difficult to attract and retain key talent, the organization has started to notice that the number of both young male and female applicants has started to decline. In addition, the number of staff leaving after 3 – 5 years with the firm has started to increase, particularly amongst those aged 35-45. Results from the latest employee survey indicate that:  Only 40% of staff is satisfied with their work-life balance. The survey results indicate that female employees and those working with International clients are the most dis-satisfied.  Only 50% of staff feel that their manager is supportive when they raise personal issues relating to work-life-balance.  Only 40% of staff feels that the range of flexible work options is sufficient to meet their changing needs.  Staff that have opted for flexible working feel that their career has plateaued. The senior partners of the firm have expressed concern about the latest employee survey results, as well as other key HR metrics. As the Director of HR for UK, Europe and the Middle East, you have been tasked with identifying what changes the firm could make to its flexible working and work-life-balance policies and procedures to address the concerns of staff, whilst at the same time providing a high level of service to clients.

AssessmentBrief

Instructions for assessment

You are able to choose from one of three case scenarios as the basis for your report. You will find the case scenarios at the end of this assessment brief, together with the marking rubric.

This information is also available on Moodle, together with some examples of previous assessment, so you get a better understanding of the expectations.

The word limit for this assessment is 3,000 words, excluding references

How will we support you with your assessment?

· Seminars designed to help you practise the skills you will need to be successful in the assessment

· Formative feedback on a draft of your report outline (provided by your Seminar Tutor after reading week)

· Links to the assessment throughout your seminars

· Examples of previous coursework discussed in seminars, as well as extracts of coursework on Moodle from different grade boundaries where available

How will your work be assessed?

Referencing

You MUST use the Harvard System.

Marking and feedback process

Between you handing in your work and then receiving your feedback and marks within 20 days, there are a number of quality assurance processes that we go through to ensure that students receive marks which reflects their work. A brief summary is provided below.

· Step One – The module and marking team meet to agree standards, expectations and how feedback will be provided.

· Step Two – A subject expert will mark your work using the criteria provided in the assessment brief.

· Step Three – A moderation meeting takes place where all members of the teaching and marking team will review the marking of others to confirm whether they agree with the mark and feedback. A provisional mark will then be made available through Moodle.

· Step Four – Work at Levels 5 and 6 then goes to an external examiner who will review a sample of work to confirm that the marking between different staff is consistent and fair.

· Stop Five – Your mark and feedback is processed by the School Office and following the Examination Board you will be informed of where to find the mark ratified by the Examination Board, plus any details about resist assessments, should you be required to complete a resit.

FINAL MARK:

FEEDBACK FOR STUDENTS AGAINST THE CRITERIA:

STOP

START

CONTINUE

Intellectual/transferrable learning outcome:

STOP

START

CONTINUE

Case scenarios

N.B. Please refer to the guidance notes on Moodle when choosing a case scenario for your assignment. You only need to choose one of the case scenarios below for your individual report.

Case scenario 1 – Age Diversity in a High Performance Car Design and Manufacturing Company

WWBM Luxury Cars is a multi-national car design and manufacturing company. It currently employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates in 80 different countries. Although the organization has placed increasing emphasis on diversity in recent years, it recognizes that that there is still more that can be done to be recognised as an exemplar organization. .

WWBM Luxury Cars is becoming more aware of the issues relating to age diversity, given the changing demographics amongst the global workforce. The average age of its current employees is relatively high, 48 years. However the average age of employees in some of the more specialist technical roles is much higher. The organization is concerned that it is not attracting sufficient new talent to fill the gaps as its current highly skilled staff choose to retire. .

The organization is aware that this challenge will become more difficult in the future for several reasons: increasing global competition for talent, particularly in certain geographic regions; dwindling supply of graduates who see engineering as an attractive career prospect; new and emerging automotive technologies that require new skills.

Although employees in many of the countries that the organization operates in are no longer expected to retire at a specific age, the company has recognised some of the challenges associated with changing age demographics. The engineering sector more broadly is expected to lose valuable skills and experience over the next ten years, as older workers approach potential retirement age. This demographic change will leave a potential skills void for organizations like WWBM Luxury Cars

Although many of the technical roles in the organization are not as physically demanding as those in the manufacturing area, the senior managers have started to raise concerns about the reluctance of technical staff, both older and younger, to work on International projects. Staff too have expressed concerns about the personal tensions associated with extensive travel, including spending long periods of time working away from home. To-date the organization has relied on its older and more experienced engineers in Europe to work on International projects to support business growth.

As the newly appointed Talent, Diversity and Inclusion specialist within the corporate HR team in WWBM Luxury Cars, you have been asked to review the organization’s talent management policies and procedures and make recommendations on how these could be changed to ensure that the organizations attracts and develops an age-diverse workforce.

Case scenario 2 – International expansion in a gaming software development company

VirtualGaming Ltd. is a growing UK-based gaming software company. The company was founded in the early 1990s by the current Managing Director. The company’s Head Office is currently located in the South West of England.

The company has grown rapidly since opening in the 1990s and now employs 200 employees. As with many organizations in the gaming industry, most of its employees are male even though some of its products are aimed at women. Over the next three to five years the company plans to expand the business, initially into Eastern Europe, then internationally, especially North Africa.

The company realises that to achieve its growth plans it will need to develop and retain its current employee base, whilst at the same time attracting new talent. The senior management team are concerned that as the company grows it will be difficult to deliver the same quality products unless they are able to attract and retain the best employees. Only a few of the current employees have any experience of working Internationally.

Whilst the Directors are open to new ideas and implementing leading-edge HR practices they are very nervous about expanding into new geographical locations. Above all the company is keen to retain its reputation of being innovative as it expands the business.

Some existing members of staff have expressed an interest in working overseas. They are attracted by the opportunity to travel and live overseas and thus enhance their careers. However, some employees have expressed concern about the implications for their work-life-balance should they be asked to work overseas.

One of the current Directors has recently been reading an article that refers to the high rates of expatriate failure, so he is keen to find a way for the company to avoid similar issues.

You have just been recruited as an HR specialist to help the company develop an HR resourcing strategy to support the company’s International growth plans. When producing your strategy you will need to ensure that existing talent is fully utilised, whist at the same time looking for new sources of talent.

Case scenario 3 – Work-life-balance and well-being in a professional services firm

CWP Services is a professional services firm that provides change management and HR consulting services to organizations, across a range of business sectors. CWP Services currently employs 13,500 staff, across Europe; 65% of the workforce is male and 35% female.

One of the firm’s diversity management goals is to increase the percentage of female employees, especially those working in senior roles. However as with other professional service firms the nature of the work – client-focused, long hours working, often working away from home – is making it difficult for the organization to achieve this particular diversity goal.

Whilst in the past the firm has not found it difficult to attract and retain key talent, the organization has started to notice that the number of both young male and female applicants has started to decline. In addition, the number of staff leaving after 3 – 5 years with the firm has started to increase, particularly amongst those aged 35-45.

Results from the latest employee survey indicate that:

· Only 40% of staff is satisfied with their work-life balance. The survey results indicate that female employees and those working with International clients are the most dis-satisfied.

· Only 50% of staff feel that their manager is supportive when they raise personal issues relating to work-life-balance.

· Only 40% of staff feels that the range of flexible work options is sufficient to meet their changing needs.

· Staff that have opted for flexible working feel that their career has plateaued.

The senior partners of the firm have expressed concern about the latest employee survey results, as well as other key HR metrics. As the Director of HR for UK, Europe and the Middle East, you have been tasked with identifying what changes the firm could make to its flexible working and work-life-balance policies and procedures to address the concerns of staff, whilst at the same time providing a high level of service to clients.

Structuring your report

1. Introduction

In this section you will need to summarise the key issues in the case scenario. If there is data contained in the case scenario comment on that – what is the data telling you about what the underlying organizational problems might be. This should help you focus on the recommendations section.

You then need to comment on the wider contextual factors that could be affecting the issues in the case study. For example, if you are looking at age diversity what are the wider social, economic and political factors that are making age diversity a growing area of concern for policy makers. What supporting evidence can you draw on e.g. feature in the economist, WERS data, CIPD research reports.

2. Proposed solutions (two/three max)

In this section you need to recommend and justify two/three key solutions for the key issues set out in your introduction.

For each recommendation, state clearly what the recommendation is. Then use a combination of academic sources, practitioner sources, and other case examples to support your recommendation. Remember managers will pay more attention to HR’s recommendations if these are supported with good evidence. For example, if you are looking at International expansion and resourcing in a technology-focused organization then look for comparable organizational examples. Who are the other well-respected technology companies that you could include. Try and find out how they dealt with International resourcing as they expanded.

3. Implementation plan, with key milestones and evaluation criteria

For any of you who have taken managing projects then you can apply your knowledge from that module to help with this section. Otherwise look for clues in other case examples, as well as research reports. Be careful not to be too ambitious, remember the SMART approach to objective setting.

This section should be presented in a table format: key activities, responsibilities, timescale milestones and a section on what data would need to be gathered to assess how well your recommendations have been achieved. An example layout is as follows:

Recommendation	Key actions/activities linked to recommendation	Who needs to be involved (e.g. HR, Senior Managers, Employee Forum, Trade Unions)	Timescale (e.g. weeks, months, year)	Success criteria (What HRM measures would you use to monitor if a successful outcome e.g. retention, better outcomes in staff survey)
Recommendation 1
Recommendation 2
Recommendation 3

Contemporary Case Studies in HRM – Individual Report Marking Rubric (Spring 2017)

Mark range

100

Exemplary

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Competent

Weak

Marginal Fail

Fail

Introduction: summary of key issues raised in case scenario, with commentary on broader contextual factors that may be contributing to the issues in the case scenario. (20%)

Extremely clear understanding of task demonstrated. Key themes in case scenario drawn out, supported with insightful wider contextual commentary, supported with relevant academic and/or practitioners sources.

Excellent understanding of task. Key themes summarised from case. Clear attempt to link themes in case with wider contextual factors (e.g. economic, social, political)

Very clear understanding of task. Essential themes from case summarised. Some wider contextual factors discussed, with some supporting evidence.

Clear understanding of task. Most of key themes from case summarised.
Some wider contextual factors discussed, but limited supporting evidence.

Reasonable understanding of the task. Key themes from case summarized, but quite limited contextual factors discussed.

Poor understanding of the task. Rather incoherent themes from case presented.
No contextual factors covered.

Poor understanding of the task. Incoherent introduction – unnclear what the aim of your report is.

Very poor understanding of the task. Incoherent introduction.

Proposed solutions to address key issues in organizational case: two/three clear recommendations, with relevant supporting evidence to justify these (40%)

Extremely clear and relevant recommendations, supported with a wide range of academic/practitioner sources, or comparable case example. Extremely clear evidence of wider research.

Very clear and relevant recommendations, supported with a good range of academic/practitioner sources, or comparable case example. Clear evidence of wider research.

Clear and relevant recommendations, supported with a good range of academic/practitioner sources, or comparable case example. Evidence of wider research.

Relevant recommendations, supported with a good range of academic/practitioner sources, or comparable case example. Evidence of wider research, but over-reliance on other cases, than case one type.

Relevant recommendations but supporting evidence limited. Over reliance on a particular type of resource e.g. practitioner sources, or supporting case example(9) not from comparable sector.

Recommendations not well thought out – unrealistic , or do not reflect the key issues in the case. Supporting evidence limited.

Recommendations not well thought out – unrealistic , or do not reflect the key issues in the case. Supporting evidence very limited.

Recommendations clearly not well thought out – unrealistic , or do not reflect the key issues in the case. Lack of supporting evidence.

Implementation plan: (30%)

This section is extremely well thought through. Clear actions, with responsibilities. Timescales are realistic. Very clear thoughts on how outcomes will be monitored.

This section is well thought through. Clear actions, with responsibilities. Timescales are realistic. Clear thoughts on how outcomes will be monitored.

This section is well thought through. Clear actions, with reasonably clear responsibilities. Timescales are quite realistic. Clear thoughts on how outcomes will be monitored.

This section is quite well thought through. Actions reasonably clear. Timescales rather ambitious. Good thoughts on how outcomes will be monitored.

This section needed more thought. Actions less clear and/or unrealistic. timescales. Reasonable thoughts on how outcomes will be monitored.

This section needed a lot more thought. Actions unclear and/or unrealistic. timescales. Limited evidence of how outcomes will be monitored.

This section needed a lot more thought. Actions very unclear and/or unrealistic. timescales. Limited evidence of how outcomes will be monitored.

This section needed a lot more thought. Actions very vague. Limited evidence of how outcomes will be monitored.

Presentation, structure, and referencing: (10%)

Extremely fluent and fluid assignment. Professional presentation. In-text referencing consistently conforms to Harvard standards. Reference list in correct Harvard format.

A highly fluent and fluid assignment. Professional presentation..
In-text referencing largely conforms to Harvard standards. Reference list largely in correct Harvard format.

Very fluent and fluid assignment. Professional presentation. In-text referencing largely conforms to Harvard standards. Reference list largely in correct Harvard format.

Overall quite fluent and fluid assignment. Good overall presentation and style of writing. In-text referencing largely conforms to Harvard standards. Reference list largely in correct Harvard format.

Your assignment is reasonably well presented, but structure needs working on, so that your points flow better. Style of writing rather journalistic. Referencing needs attention to ensure consistent use of Harvard format.

Poor overall structure. Unprofessional presentation – evidence of lack of attention to detail in places. In-text referencing and reference list does not conform to Harvard format.

Very poor structure. Unprofessional presentation – lacking attention to detail e.g. spelling and grammatical errors. Referencing and bibliography do not conform to Harvard format

Extremely poor structure – incoherent. Unprofessional – presentation, that lacks attention to detail e.g. contains spelling mistake, grammatical errors. In-text referencing and bibliography do not conform to Harvard format

Contemporary Case Study in Human Resource Management Report
Work-life balance and wellbeing

Table of Contents

1.. Introduction

. Improving Employee Voice/ Communication

Improving Leadership

Improving Wellbeing

. Action plan

. Collclusiott

Bibliography

Page

Introductioi}

Cooped Pai’ry Services(CPS) is an internationalorganization that lenders
engineering and HR consulting services to a numbed ‘ of different of businesses. A
i’event survey ol the worktotce was conducted anti the i’esult shows that there is
an ul’gent need lor the work-life balance [WLB) policy to be revised. Failure to clo
this may have a negative impact on the productivity and efficiency of employees.
This is particularly relevant to employees that work on client sites because if
they are unsatisfied with their own WLB then how can they effectively consult
other oiganisations?

The data pt’esentetl depicts that less than half ol the workforce is satist’incl with
tlleii WLB. It could be said that the individual has a control)uting effect to this. as
it is then resllonsibility to nla naga then lives. Yct. an organization also has an
3cti\re role in this pt’ocess as, they are legally obliged to pi’ovide flexible work
options to their employees (legislation.gov, 2014). Pasamar. et al.(2013) shed
light on the notion that when the economy is experiencing a downturn such as
the 200

i:ecession; some businesses react to this by improving employees’ WLB
This is justified, as their is il t’ealization that the organization needs to survive
after the economic crisis. Tllus. the need foi sustainable developnlcnt strategies
such as WLB becomes impet’alive.

The case fuithei suggests that only 40% of staff feels that the lange of flexible
work options is sufficient. The significance af this data. which [hc case failed ta
mention. is depended on the gender of the employees that makes up this
pclcentage. However, presuming that it is picdotninantly made up of tllale
employees, as 65% of the woikfolce is tnale, this suggests that tu,n-way
communication with employees is essentialin order lo develop appropriate
flexible options. Failuic to do this will inclcase CPS inability to retain key female
talents. Also, the I ikelihood of employee being motivated to walk effectively will
dcciease if they perceive stress clue to the imbalance in w ork and family lit’e.
Consecluently, insulting in a decline in ploductiviy levels which in-Hrn may
have a dctlimental effect on a service sector coiupatly like CPS,

[n adc]ition to this, an issue of diversity is highlighted in the case scenario. The
woikfoice consists of 13.500 employees of which only 35% arc female
employees. There is an agieemcnt amongst empjoycis that equality within the
workplace is an incl’easing strategic issue (Gov.uk, 2013). This justifies CPS
ctcating a goal to incicasc its number of female employees. However, clcating
goals is unproductive ifimplementation and measuicment strategies arc not in
place to judge its effectiveness. Thai’efore, in mitigate this issue CPS firstly need
to identify the reasons why they find it challenging to attlactand retain
einployecs. Fi’om tile excel’nal environment i’cseal’ch ShOwrS that in 2015 UK
employment rate has been the highest it has even ‘ been since 1971(Gov.uk,
2016). This suggests that a large pool of people is applying to get iDEa the labour
force. Therefore. the issue of attracting employees. in paiticulai female
employees is pi’inialily depended on CPS resources anti capabilities.

HR professionals aic incicasing I)ecoming aware of the know-ing and doing gal)
(Zheltoukhova. 2014; Pfeifer et al.. 2000). It is evident in the case scenai’io that
CPS is awake that the natut’e ol the walk acts as a deteiient to atu’acting female
employees. Therefore, the extent to wh ich they have altered or intioducc new
means ta remedy this probletn is questionable as there is a decline in both
female and male applicants. Simon eta1. (20

) staten that strategic citpabilities
aic essential to the success of an oiganisatioi}. Consequently, it can be said that
by exatnining then ‘ capabilities this c;In aid in developing and implementing
stnltegies that are deemed attractive to both potential and existing employees.

Anotllct key issue that was raised is unsuppoltivc managers. On the one hand,
this suggests that the primary i’eason why the company has a \ATLB policy is to
remain cuircnt with changes in society. One of tllesc changes includes the
incicasing amount of oiganizatinns that have now implenlentcd WLB policies.
Yet, it can be said that the driving force of this action is due to the t’act that it is a
legal recluirement t’oi ‘ organizations to oltbi ‘ this [o then ‘ employees (Ciov.UK,
2014). Not because they repaid it as an importantpol icy that is used to facilitate
employees in achieving a suitable balance between then work antlpi’ivate life. As
a result, some m;\nagets da not treat issues i’elated to WLB in a suppoi’tive
manner, as the organization culture hay not ptamote this within the workplace.

On the other ‘ hand, the data also suggests that the other 50% of the woikfoi’ce
feels that tlleii managers aie being supportive. This therefore irises conceit as
to whethci ‘ the ic is favoritism in the workplace OI whether the al)ptoach taken
by managers in clcaling with such issue varies. This is posed because son e
managers may handle the issue with a soft, maternal approach, which may lead
to tile employee feeling as if the manager is I)Cine sullpoitive legatclless of the
outcome. Whilst other m Imagers may adopt a hai’tier, autoci’citic approach
thcrefoie. some employees may feel that those managers aie not being
sullpoitive as WLB and wcllbeing is deemed a sensitive tolJic.

Consequently, there- is a need ta identify the approach that is more suitable ft’om
tile perspective of employees and then implement this as a fain of I)estpractice.
In doing so. this will be beneficial fot CPS as itwould acldiess a currcntsocial
lltctot ‘ I)y bridging the gap between employees demanding mai’e flexible
contracts. This is duc to the glowing tendency foi the ‘ gcilclation ‘ who arc now
entcling the woilcfoice to want the idcalbalancc between work and family life
(Truss, et a1. 20

, pp31).

Improving Employee Voice/ Commtmication

Fiona the case scenario a cormnon factor beUvecn majority of the issues CPS is
ruilently challenged with is the lack of effective conlmunicittion. There is a cleat ‘
notion in business that communication plays a vital idle in the success of an
otl;animation. konstantin ct al,(2014) suggests that intcinal communication is
the foundation on which organisation culture th i’ives. Theiefoi’e. by impi’oving
internalcommunication within CPS through dai’itying communication channels.
this will cicatc an organized wolkfoicc wheic etna)loyces can finely shale thai

issues to designated people. In doing so, employee issues aie more likely to be
I evolved in the short tei’m as this structure bypasses individuals such as team
leaders that may not be in the position to deal with issues at’V\rLB.

Clarifying these channels could be communicated to the workfot’ce by cheating a
hierai’chiral diagram of the different departments in the organisation anti bullet
point kcy functions that they co\rcr. This diagi’am call bc placed in employee
lounge area at work, on the company’s intranet page and in welcome package tor
new employees. slaving this transparent system may result in employees feeling
more suplloitive. Additionally. the use of this stiuctuie will make it easier foi
CPS to spot fiends on what form of WLB employees demand. This is because the
int’ormation is going to specific people w ho can make a record of it rather than
the nuineious amounts of nlanagets who tnanagc a woikforcc totaled at 13,000
employees.

ACAI (2014) i’epoited that communication is key to employee engagement. This
is particularly, iclevant to CPS employees who wnl k oH ‘ site and intcinationally,
as it is essentialto keep them inl’armed so that they can remain engaged.
Consequently, mitigating the glowing concern af i’staining key talents. Similar ‘ ta
CPS, Amp (cited in pclsonnel today, 2015) offered employees a range of flexible
work options initially hut atliust this based on employee demand. Thus.
suggesting that atfering e mplayees options that are not deemed lavoutable to
ttleill will be al] ine#ective use of lesouices. T1lei’ecole, it is recom! fended that
CF’S conduct further rcsealch sl)ecifically querying employees on what kind of
\VLB options they desire. In doing so. CPS w ill not only save on time ;incl I’inance
spent an un\4’acted options I)ut also incieasc employee satisfaction and
!etention.

However, it is advised tllat CPS should conduct this rcscaich electronically duc tn
the size of the w-oikfoice and Riot that some employees walk on client sites. As a
result. claki can be collected fhstei ‘ and the ability tu include all members ol stfltf
becomes more piabablex.

GIRD [2C)16) stated that the cHectivcncss ofcnlployce voice depends on the
oi’ganization t’ecognizing the importance of this. as it has the potential ta
contribute to high pciformance. Thus, possibly increasing the company’s
competitive advantage. In light of this, using employee survey as a means to
collate information on employee’s opinions of work related issues aie ineffective
if the sHIne problems persist. Therefore, it is lecommcnded that the data
collected must directly I)e used as [he I’masons to wrhy cei’lain change is made.

The survey shows that people who walk on client sites aie the most unsatisfied
employees. It is probably that this because they spend lengthy periods of time
away from their I’emily possibly in another ‘ counts . As a result, a conflict
beta-een walk and thnlily life arise which leads an employee to t’eel
aveiwhelmed and consequently unsatisfied. On this bases it is iccninmendcd
that CPS implements policy that put a limit on the amount of alf site jobs an
employee can take pei ‘ year. Doing this will be of benefit to both CPS i\nd the

employees as staff walking off site will be mole productive due to the knowledge
that they may not have to do this mole than a specific amount of time pel year.

Moicovcr, as CPS is a service-based organisation, an alternative to the I)ojicy
t’ecoinmendation loi ‘ employees wot’king on site, is that they could introduce
homeworking opportunities. This is quickly becoming very popular ‘ in the walid
of work as cmployeis aie aiming to provide reasonable adjustments to satisb
employee needs(ACAI. 2013). This option willallow employees to spend moi’e
time with then ‘ family whilst carrying out their job from the comfort of their own
home. CPS can be reassured that the advancements made in technology ale
sufficient to giant some employees the ability to work from home. However, this
extent to which this will be ett’active for CPS will depend on how closely they
monitor employee efficiency. This is I)ccausc failure to be productive at the
tcquircd late will cause CPS to duFFel loss as ei)lployees may leave pcifoimed
I)ette} oil site.

Improving Leadership

The I esults from CPS employee suivcy shows that llalf of the workforce feels that
managers aie unsuppartive when issues of \VLB aie raised. It could bc suggested
that this is a contributing factor ‘ as to why CPS is finding diff’iculty in retaining
key talents. Moreover, sector wide iescarch conducted by Appiovecl Index (cited
in CMI, 2015) imported that 42% of employees leave walk I)ecausc of their
bosses. It is thai’Clare retommentlecl that CPS inlpiove aspects cancel’Ring
leadclsll ip approach, as failuic tn do th is may sul)scquently lead to dctiimental
effects. because employees aic vital to CT’S success.

In aiming to improve leadclship it could firstly I)e suggested that CPS inquest
feedback flan managers on their pctspective of WLB and wcllbcing. This is
because the notion that some employees are t’esistance to change also applies to
managed’s. Thai’Crore, by taking into consideration their opinions and justifying
impiovenlent may lowci manager’s tcsistance to cha nge. as the advantages
would bc evident. CPS managcls hay cuircntly pciceive WLB to bc an additional
cost to the company, which theres’oi’c justifies the reasons wray they may be
deemed unsuppoitivc. Dickson-Swirl et al. (2014) shed light on the idea that
some cmploycis felt that they aie IJcing asked to do indie ttlan they should,
which implies that they clo not deem UTLB and wellbeing as then ‘ responsibility.
Yct, viewing WLB in this light would u,orson CPS cuitent piotllcms.

Consequently, it is lulthel ‘ i’ecommendecl that CPS adopt Kiel ‘ Group ‘formula t’or
success’ pioglam as it leads to a culture that piotnotcs teamwork beuveen
employees and managers (Aildeison et a1,, 2011). This is necessary fol CPS as it
could act as a continuous training opportunity for managers in pi’acticing and
developing their ability to listen to employees. Thus. effectively leading to an
increase in employee cngagenlcnt as tile relationship between managed and
employee develops. This relationship Goulet t’esult in employees feeling that their
managed’s calc about their opinions. Therefore, in tl)e event that managers fail to
giant cinployecs specific inquest, employees may not consider this to be

unsu])portivc. This is I)ecause the organizational culture, developed through this
program is symbolic in suggesting that manger’s aie there to support employees.
Thus. suggesting to employees that the rct’usd simply means that their request
may not be feasible at that moment.

Moreover, it is advised that CPS adopt then organisation culture to be one that
also lJionlotes openness af issues relating tn WLB and wejlbcing. Bray (2009)
states that senior management should initiate this process, as they are the
facilitators of organisation culture, in doing so. this I’urther increases the
likelihood of managers being mare supportive to employees as they’ie awalc of
the importance senior management place oll WLB. Therefore. othci mangers will
implicate this behaviour to ennui’e the success of the t:lsk. Consequently,
cnlployees willbe willing to address the sensitive issue ofWLB and wrcllbcing to
nlanageis. Managers will sce the importance of offs ting employees a suital)lc
solution. which may then lead to employee experiencing less sticks that will have
n positive impact on productivity.

Based on the figui’es pi'(itluced by the employee survey it can be saitl that CPS is
at a critical stage in satislVing employee needs on WLB. Theres’are. i\Iter ‘ the
implementation of the recommendations suggested foi improving leadership
feedback shoulclbe taken every two months from bo6 managed’s anclemployces
Eo establish whether the solutions are walking.

Improving Wellbeing

In 2013 UK oiganisations lost oval 13 Imillion days I)clause of sickness ielatcd
absences (Office ot ‘ Ni\tional Statistics. 2014). Th is shows that employee health
can have a significant impact on an atganizatio11’s bottom linc as it has the
potential to lead to cuiienthuman iesouice issues such as absenteeism and
ptocluctivity (Bray, 2009). This is of particular importance to organizations that
operate in the consulting industi ‘ as the nilture of the lob constniins them to be
lestiicted by time when carrying out projects for ethel mtllpanies.
Consequently, there is a n increasing need foi consistent highjevcls of
produc’tiviq ‘ as this conti’ibutes to a t’irm’s cotnpetiti\re advantage. As a resp)t, it
is tccnmmendcd that CP$ work towards improving employee weill)Cine I)y
introducing wellbeing piogratns.

Foi cxampje, PWC cicated a specific section on their intranet that allows
employees to have iillmediate access to a wealth nf information an heath and
wellbeing (PWC, 2015). By adopting this strategy CPS employees willgain access
to specialist infoinlatton that they ttlay otherwise not have because of the
negative stigma attic:hed to wellbeing. The data piescnted in the case suggests
that there is conflict between the e mployee’s private life and work life thus,
possibly leading to them experiencing stress. Thai’ecole, by pi’oviding a platform
that employees can gain access to tcgaidless of their location willie bcneficialin
acting as a source where they can find ct’edible infos’mutton. This will be
particularly i’elevant to employees who tlo not want to share issues associated

with then personal life as they may considci this to I)c too private ta discuss in
the workplace.

Fuitheimore, the case sccnaiio mcntianed that CPS teceivcs applications from
young males and t’emales. Research shows that women between the ages of 25-
35 years old tend to leave the woikfoi’ce for chijdcat’e puipases (Office National
Statistics, 2014). Tis is pleclomina ntly filet time mothers theicfoie, slaving the
suggested platform in place coulclaid in providing leassui’ance to employees,
which may reduce the I)ossibility of them feeling unsuppot’ted.

Moreover. Black (2008) states that Olganisations are investing in employee
u,ellbeing as it is belated to tlleir CSR. CPS should adopt this mindset, as
employees aic the driving foicc betlincl organisation success. Theicfore,
oiganisations sllould walk towards cnsuiing that these employees ienlain
mental, psychologically and physically stable. The result af the survey suggests
that CPS employees may be experiencing stress. Deloitte appt’ouch to mitigate
the issues of sticks management was to slave on-site gyms and activities iclated
to health and t’itness (Deloitte, 2016). By implementing this to employees and
promoting it as duality time foi ‘ themselves. could in the long tele lettuce levels
of sti’ess. However. the success of tills pl’tlgram depends on CPS making it
voluntai’y thercl’ot’e, preventing employees from feeling p i’essurize ta tlo
something against their will. This is vitalin stress management. as the one best
way of doing tllfngs allpioach may not apply in this case scenario due to the
difficulty of measuring and quantiDing stress in employees.

In addition to this, it is advised that CPS cnlllhasizing the benefits of actively
taking pair. One way in whicl} this can be done is by offs ling to give employees
30-60 minutes within woi’k-time to use the t’agility. In doing so, this will provide
employee time to focus oi} themselves and not their u-otkload OI fhniily I ife. As a
result, leading to a mole stress-free employee that can now stiategizc clearer on
developing a plan ol how to et’fectivcly manage their WLB whilst taking care of
then ‘ mentally and physically wellbeing.

Action Plan

Recommenciatio n Action to be
ukcn
Develop a
diagialli
cliirilying
departments and
th eie key
functions

By whom Time
ha ]ne
Two
weeks

Result/ live luation

Employee Voice/
(:oitlmu 11ica tian

Senior ‘

managers

and plead
clepartme nt
managers

HR department
should sec a mise
in the numbed of
employee
ptescnting WLB
issue not team
leaders/
su ])c IVIS01’s
The host popular
WLB options will
be identified and

Specific internal
teseaich on
devil’cd WLl3

HR Three
dcpaitmcnt I montlls

options ample n)etta tian
plans will
commence if CPS
does not: current
of’fe i ‘ certain
OPtiOns.
Employees can
ciloose wllethel
they want to
continue woi’king
off site after
completing the
required number
of olf site job s.
Therefore, making
them mole
satisfied as they
naw 1lavc a
ciloice.
E mployce attitude
town ids work
n\ily tnlpiove as
they can see that
the company is
taking steps to
improve their
WLB.
Senior managed’s
will find
justification on as
to why 50% ol ‘
employee t:eels
that managcts aie
unsuppoi ‘ Five .
From this sellior
ina11age ] ca ll
highlight reasons
lor ch:inge in
manage rs
approach.
A team-working
olga nizational
cultui c leading to
bette!’
iejationsh ip
betwee n mantels
and employees.
Ettll)loyccs tray
freely:address

Introduce a lin it
on the nuilttler of
off site jobs an
employee take
per year

HR
depaltmcnt
and
managers

Withi11 12
illotlths

Homeworking genial
opl)oitunities as jmanagei and
a form of WLB mangers

Within 9
months

Improving
[.eadeiship

Feetlback fi’om
nlallagets o11
[heil views of
WLB and
wellbeing

Senior
managers

3 weeks

Implementation
of ‘foltllula fol ‘
success’ sciie nle

HR
department

Within 12
I months

Piomotiol} of a
open culture to

Serial
niaiiagei’s

Within 24
months

cancel’nina WLB
and u-cllbeing

and all ot1ler issues ofWLB and
wellbeing and
gaining high levels
of support from
manage ment to
resolve the issue

iomntl
The
recommended
solutions will be
evaluated based
oi} feedlJack to
pete amine
whether it is being
successful. This
may show an
increase
pclccntagc of the
chile nt data.
Em])loyccs may
exllenences a
t’eduction in guess
as infornlatian
and guidelines aic
suggested on how
to take cai’e of
ones tlealtl}.

Employees are
happier anti feel
tllat the company
cares about their
wellbeing
insulting in an
increase in key
talent retention.

managers

Feedback from
employees and
m;tngeis ot ‘
whether ‘
iilipi ove lllents
have been mane.

HR
depp itmen t,
line
managers
and genial
managers

Once
every 2
months

limp loving
Wellbcing

Creating a
section on CPS
intranet that
provides
information on
health and
wellbeing.

IT I Within 4
department I months
;tnd health
specialist

siiiitii I WitliiiiZ=
relating to health I managers I months
and fitness such I and all other
as a on site gyn} I managers

Activities

Conclusio11

In conclusion, improving communication anclleadership approach may aid in
mitigating CPS issues concerning WLB. Also the recommendations made fol
wellbeing aims to piomate hcalthiei employees I)y inducing stress whicll in tutu
may improve employee engagement. This is beneficial fbi ‘ CPS as engaged
employees ai’e eiisiel to detain and ale mole likely to have consecutive high
levels of productivity. Additionally, through the implementing of the thief main
t’ecommendations CPS not only have a cui’e to the issues but also a prevention
fi’om t’utui’e data i’esemb]ing the ones highs ightet! in the case scenario.

Word count- 3298

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Individual Assignment Briefing (Individual report, 3,000 words, excluding references)

Assessment Task

This is an applied assessment, based around a particular HRM problem scenario. The overall aim is to further develop your ability to apply your knowledge on the theory and practice of HRM.

What you are expected to do is very similar to the assignment that you carried out in Year 2 HRM. However the approach is slightly different. Although you are expected to draw on literature (academic papers and research reports, as well as more practitioner focused reports and features) there is not a standard literature review section in your report. Instead you will need to use these sources, together with other relevant organizational case examples, to support your recommendations for change.

You need to start by choosing one of the three case scenarios that are on Moodle. The cases are based on contemporary HRM issues that we will be covering in class this year: age diversity, international HRM (growth and resourcing) and employee wellbeing and work-life balance.

Structuring your report

1. Introduction

2. Proposed solutions (two/three max)

In this section you need to recommend and justify two/three key solutions for the key issues set out in your introduction.

3. Implementation plan, with key milestones and evaluation criteria

Recommendation	Key actions/activities linked to recommendation	Who needs to be involved (e.g. HR, Senior Managers, Employee Forum, Trade Unions)	Timescale (e.g. weeks, months, year)	Success criteria (What HRM measures would you use to monitor if a successful outcome e.g. retention, better outcomes in staff survey)
Recommendation 1
Recommendation 2
Recommendation 3

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