Human Resource Management business proposal
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Word count – 3,000 words (this excludes bibliography and other items listed in rule 6.75 of the Academic Regulations.
This is a report format. As this is an academic report, this should be written in a formal style and use Harvard Referencing technique both for citations and full references.
The list of references at the end of the essay should be in alphabetical order. You should only use reliable sources.
Report Format consists of:
• Cover Page
• Executive Summary
• Contents Page
• Introduction
• Findings Section – the main body of the report, separated into any number of sub-sections as required.
• Conclusion
• Recommendations section
• Reference List
The Assignment Question
Write a report of 3,000 words to the following brief:
You are required to develop a Human Resource Management business proposal with a specific focus on the approach to managing employees that can strengthen the employment relationship.
1. Outline the development of strategies and the use of techniques that can be used to enhance employee involvement and engagement. Underline the theories and analysis of these recommendations, including advantages and disadvantages of the strategies selected. (30 Marks)
2. Propose the communication approach that will assist greater “Employee Voice”. Outline the benefits for both employers and employees, theories, and best practices in the area of upward problem solving and representative methods (employee voice). (30 Marks)
3. Outline any training and development considerations in your business proposal to enhance both managers and employees’ understanding, roles and responsibilities, quoting relevant theories and best practices. (30 Marks)
4. Use correct academic writing technique, including effective structure, grammar, spelling, use of in-text citations, and a full reference list, all of which should use the Harvard referencing convention. (10 Marks)
Dedicated chapters on core textbook, Hook and Jenkins, 2019, Ch.1, Ch. 2 and Ch. 8.
Let us look at each section in more detail:
1. Outline the development of strategies and the use of techniques that can be used to enhance employee involvement and engagement. Underline the theories and analysis of these recommendations, including advantages and disadvantages of the strategies selected. (30 Marks)
What do we mean:
• Research and outline various methods and techniques that when used can enhance employee involvement and engagement.
• Your development ideas and strategies must strengthen the employment relationship.
• Also, very important for your development ideas and strategies to be supported with academic theories and industry best practices. Be specific on the theories you are applying and reference your work. There is no point in highlighting/paraphrasing key points but lack the citation to support your statements.
• Be critical and analytical in your approach, and also outline the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed methods and techniques on employee involvement and engagement.
2. Propose the communication approach that will assist greater “Employee Voice”. Outline the benefits for both employers and employees, theories, and best practices in the area of upward problem solving and representative methods (employee voice). (30 Marks)
What do we mean:
• Research and outline in your proposal a communication strategy that can enhance employee voice and greater employee participation.
• Outline the benefits for employers and employees of having appropriate communication mechanisms in place. Outline any supporting theories to these recommendations. As mentioned previously very important for your communication approach to be supported with academic theories and industry best practices. As mentioned earlier be specific on the theories you are applying and reference your work. There is no point in highlighting/paraphrasing key points but lack the citation to support your statements.
• Upward problem-solving methods of employee voice is described as tapping into employees’ opinions and ideas and it includes communication strategies that “target” employees.
• Also on representative methods, what we mean, to research and outline any Legislation which dependent on the organisation (size etc.) may apply. And state any legislative directives. For example, National works council (NWC)
3. Outline any training and development considerations in your business proposal to enhance both managers and employees’ understanding, roles and responsibilities, quoting relevant theories and best practices. (30 Marks)
What do we mean:
• Outline training and development in your business proposal which assists employee engagement and the employee voice rather than training in general.
• Furthermore, research and outline in your proposal training approaches and best practices to enhance managers’ skills and abilities and give them the competencies and behaviours needed to enhance greater employee engagement.
• Including training and development approaches to build team collaboration through greater understanding of each roles and responsibilities. Specifically focused on line managers and employees.
• Outline supporting theories including industry best practices on the correlation, the role of line managers and the link on employee engagement.
• As mentioned previously very important for your training and development ideas to be supported with academic theories and industry best practices.
4. Use correct academic writing technique, including effective structure, grammar, spelling, use of in-text citations, and a full reference list, all of which should use the Harvard referencing convention. (10 Marks)
What do we mean:
• Overall excellent skills in academic quality of the work, word formation and sentencing.
• No grammar/spelling errors. Remember edit your work prior to submission on Turnitin to avoid any errors.
• Excellent citing and referencing and overall rigour and robustness of your sources.
• Students scoring high in this section have very few technical errors in their overall work, especially with referencing.
• Some attention to your references and sources. Use multiple academic sources and expand your knowledge and your ability to apply greater analysis and critical thinking.
Organisations for Benchmarking
When designing a HRM business proposal it is important that you benchmark your plan and proposed methods. You can use any organisation of your choice as an example of success and best practice.
You must apply critical thinking in your analysis in relation to your selected organisation against the areas outlined above. Before selecting the organisation, you are strongly advised to discuss this with your lecturer and ensure that there is sufficient online material available.
Note: The purpose of benchmarking is to measure your HRM business proposal against a real company as an example of success and to give you a better understanding of your business proposal and potential. As an analytical approach to what you are proposing against a real example of practice.
Benchmarking is not about describing what the company you have selected is doing.
Organisations for Benchmarking
Virgin Media talks about:
• “Employee Engagement the Virgin Way”.
• How they reinvented HR in practice and boosted “High Flying management approaches”.
• Explore their Employee Voice approach and strategy.
Barclays talks about their strategy “Dynamic Working” and how it improves employee engagement.
Core Reading and Research
You must use academic text-books and papers.
• Kortext Book; Hook. C., Jenkins. A., 2019. Introducing Human Resource Management. 8th ed. Pearson.
• Other HRM text books
• Academic Journals
• HRM Journals
• Official Government sources, for example, Gov.uk
• ACAS
• CIPD
• UK Government Legislation Website
Involvement and Participation Association (IPA)
Websites, such as:
• https://www.legislation.gov.uk
• https://www.ipa-involve.com
• https://www.acas.org.uk
• https://www.cipd.co.uk
