Developing professional practice

2. Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed.

AC 2.1 Analyse forces shaping the HR agenda

Maximum score2

AC 2.1 REFER You on the right lines Ayed. You have provided a good analysis of two internal factors which can shape the HR agenda – the culture of the organisation and management structure – showing a good understanding of how they each affect the HR function – well done. Whilst you have mentioned HR outsourcing your analysis is of recruitment, training and mentoring rather than of the outsourcing model itself. What this section is looking for is for you to analyse how the HR model shapes the the agenda of the HR function. You have provided a good overview of the structure of the HR function at Walmart but not related this to the use of outsourcing. ACTION Please develop your this response to analyse how HR outsourcing shapes the HR agenda of an organisation. You could use Walmart as your example, though Walmart don’t use outsourcing but instead use the Guest and Storey model.

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1. Understand the key contemporary business issues and main external factors affecting different organisations and the impact on HR.

AC 1.1 Assess a range of different factors which impact on an organisations business and its HR function.

Maximum score2

AC 1.1 REFER Ayed, you have provided an assessment of some factors which shape the HR agenda based on the CIPD Profession Map such as insights, strategy and solutions. Unfortunately, this is not what this section is looking you to assess. What is required here is an assessment of three external factors which affect the organisation and in turn the HR function. For example, you could use a PESTLE analysis and these select three factors, such as economic, i.e. interest rates, or social, i.e. an ageing population. ACTION Please redraft this section to provide an assessment of three external factors which impact on an organisation’s business and its HR function. You could use a PESTLE analysis to identify these factors.

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2. Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed.

AC 2.2 Compare different tools for analysing the business environment.

Maximum score2

AC 2.2 REFER Again, you are on the right lines Ayed. You have described they key features of two tools which can be used to analyse the business environment – Porter’s Five Forces and PESTLE – showing a solid understanding of their application. What you need to do though to pass this criterion is to compare and contrast the two models, i.e. what are their similarities and differences, can be they be used in conjunction with each other, are they applicable for different aspects of the business environment. ACTION You need to compare and contrast Porter’s Five Forces and PESTLE in terms of their similarities and differences and what aspects of the business environment they are most suitable for analysing.

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2. Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed.

AC 2.3 Explain the key stages in strategy formulation and implementation and the role of HR.

Maximum score2

AC 2.3 REFER Ayed, you appear to have misunderstood what this assessment criterion is about. You have focused here on performance management whereas what is required is for you to explain the stages in strategy formulation and implementation and the role HR plays in the process. You could use the five stage strategy formulation model – analysis, formulation, evaluation, implementation and control. You can find more information in Week 4 on the VLC: https://campus.avadolearning.com/mod/book/view.php?id=261462&chapterid=72521 ACTION For this section you need to explained the five stages in strategy formulation and the role of HR in the process of strategy formulation and implementation.

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2. Understand how organisational and HR strategies and practices are shaped and developed.

AC 2.4 Examine HR’s contribution to business ethics and accountability.

Maximum score2

AC 2.4 REFER Criteria not assessed as no content submitted. ACTION In this section you need to examine the contribution which HR makes to business ethics and accountability. You can find more detail in Week 4 on the campus: https://campus.avadolearning.com/mod/book/view.php?id=261463 and https://campus.avadolearning.com/mod/book/view.php?id=261464

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3 Know how to identify and respond to changes in the business environment.

AC 3.1 Evaluate business performance and the role of HR in business planning and the change management agenda

Maximum score2

AC 3.1 REFER Unfortunately Ayed, you appear to have misunderstood what this section is looking for you to do. You have focussed on performance management of the individual rather than how the performance of the business itself can be evaluated. What this section is looking for you to do is think about some of the financial and non-financial indicators which can be used to evaluate business performance, for example, return on investment or profit (financial) and labour turnover or employee engagement (non-financial). You should explain the purpose of these indicators and how they are used to measure business performance. Also, you need to examine the role of HR in business planning, you could use Walton & Burgoyne’s seven star model to help you determine the involvement HR has in the process of business planning, racing from 1 (no involvement) to 7 (full strategic involvement). Whilst you have explained how change affects organisation what you need to do is look at the role of HR in change management, for example, you could apply a specific model to a piece of organisational change, for example, Kotter or Lewin, and explain the role of HR. ACTION For this section you need to explain how financial and non-financial indicators are used to evaluate business performance, the role HR plays in business planning and change management. You can find more information in Week 5 on the campus https://campus.avadolearning.com/course/view.php?id=4028#section-6

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3 Know how to identify and respond to changes in the business environment.

AC 3.2 Assess and utilise different sources of business and contextual data for planning purposes.

Maximum score2

AC 3.2 PASS A solid section in which you have assessed how different sources of internal and external business and contextual data can be used for planning purposes. You clearly understand how a range of different sources of data can add objectivity to the planning process. DEVELOPMENT There was perhaps scope here to explain how data can be either primary or secondary and qualitative or quantitative to provide some further context.

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Feedback comments

There was much to admire in this assignment and it is clear you have a grasp of the requirements of this unit but you seem to have …