HR4052QA Managing People in Organisations - Individual Student Workbook

This workbook provides a reflection upon the learning developed from the seminar activities and class discussions on managing people in organizations. It includes ten weeks of questions and answers related to recruitment methods, selection methods, equality, diversity and inclusion, skills, training and development, performance management, academic writing, referencing and plagiarism.

INDIVIDUAL STUDENT WORKBOOK
Module Code: HR4052QA
Module Title: Managing People in Organisations
Session: RESIT - November 2021 Intake

Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Week 2..................................................................................................................................................4
Week 3..................................................................................................................................................5
Week 4..................................................................................................................................................6
Week 5..................................................................................................................................................7
Week 6..................................................................................................................................................8
Week 7..................................................................................................................................................9
Week 8................................................................................................................................................10
Week 9................................................................................................................................................11
Week 10..............................................................................................................................................12
Week 11..............................................................................................................................................13
Reference list.......................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
Managing people in an organization is one of the difficult and critical tasks. It is the showcase
of discipline as well as management of an organization. The management need to be strict so
that people in the organization obey the rules and regulations. The workbook involves all the
processes involved in managing a body. This workbook gives a better understanding of all the
steps faced by an employee in an organization from hiring till the development as a stable
leader. There are many employees in an organization with different mindsets and personalities.
Some believe in rapid growth while others are stable in their perception. Different types of
people are seen under one roof. To manage them properly and effectively is an hefty task for
the management. The people who are engaged in an organization are gone through strict
process of recruitment and selection. This is a way of choosing best fit for the organization. A
strict decorum is followed in employee engagement so that no issue arise in future.
This workbook provides a reflection upon the learning developed from the seminar activities
and class discussions.
The workbook includes ten (weeks 2-11), each includes one or two questions with each
answer in the region of - Weeks 2-6 (100-150 words per question) and Weeks 7-11 (100
words per question).

Week 2: Recruitment methods
1. Explain why line managers adopt the rational approach to recruitment?
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Line managers are directly responsible to senior manager. It is the manager of output and
performance of its employees. The line managers adopt rational approach for recruitment as
best talents help the company in achieving aim with appropriate efficiency (AlKhalifa and
Collison, 2022). Best talents are a basic need to company as they are representing the
productivity of a company. Line managers has to maintain cooperation between employees
and senior manager. According to mating theory approach, both prospective employees as
well as the organization search for right opportunity. Prospective employees look for better
organization for rapid growth. Organizations also look for right candidate so that it will
increase its efficiency. So, line managers are highly strict in their duties as efficiency and
productivity is their basic responsibility and it is only possible by hiring right talent for the
respective position. They always try to maintain good relations with employees so that better
employee retention is possible for the organization.
2. Describe the differences between a job description and person specification?
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
The job description gives an overall idea about the role in the job and specific requirements
to complete it properly while person specification is the person with right skills and
experience for the required job profile. The efficiency is seen in the work if right candidature
is filled for the particular job role. The job specification helps in determining the minimum
requirement that a seeker must possess for a particular job. Every person has different skills
and experience in their fields. There are number of jobs available in the company but each
job has a different requirement and it indeed filled by right individual. The person can learn
and develop relevant skills in their area of interest. The job description provide by the
company is indeed quite different as it requires a certain level of intelligence. The level of
intelligence needed for a particular job is developed with experience.
3. List three ways to encourage diversity when recruiting candidates?

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate
them with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
The best three ways to encourage diversity while recruiting candidates are as follows:
Relevant job ads, target sources for more candidates availability and employee referral.
These things will improve the company in representing their brand at a higher level and also
helps in sourcing right candidates for their job availability. Recruitment is the process of
hiring potential employees in an organization. Recruiting with advanced techniques will
surely help in searching right talent in an organization. Companies know that there huge
availability of right talent in the nation but the problem comes with the awareness. So,
advanced technology will help in this scenario. Employee referrals are trusted way of
recruitment as past employees will surely help in finding the right candidate for the
company. Target sources for pool of right candidature can be seen from specific job sites.
Job sites are pool of job seekers and it helps the recruitment team for choosing right
candidature.

Week 3: Selection Methods
1. What are the problems with using selection interviews to identify the best
candidate in relation to reliability and validity as a selection tool?
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
The problems faced in choosing the right candidature for the job are not identifying the job
need properly, candidates ability is incorrectly measured, candidate resume is filled with
false information. It happens many times that chosen candidates are not able to perform well
for the company and many times they reject the job in getting good opportunities. Hiring
incurs huge cost to company and if hired candidates are not able to give appropriate time to
company then whole process go in vain (Bankins and Waterhouse, 2019). The company
needs candidates but sometimes they are not able to meet the demand of employee hence
leads to employee turnover. In an interview, judging the right candidates is key aspect in the
selection process. If judged candidate is proved wrong for the company then it will surely a
burden in the future as it will lead to non-responsiveness or turnover in the future.
2. What are the advantages of using a competency framework to design selection
interview questions?
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
It will surely help in providing right and competitive individual for the company which have
high efficiency as well as productivity. The interviewer should have specific set of questions
which is quite tricky and not easy as it will give competitive edge over others. Selecting the
right talent for the company is not an easy task and it incurs huge cost for the company. The
company go for hiring when they want to compete in the market and the main requisite for it
to find right talent for it (Bedgood, 2021). Companies can increase their operational
efficiency as well as profitability as they can beat others in the competition. Employee
recruitment as well as selection is needed for survival of the organization as it give
competitive advantage in the industry. Competition can only be reduced with the sourcing of
right candidates for the organization. So, competency framework is highly needed in
selection process.

Week 4: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
1. A friend suggests that George should implement mandatory diversity
training. Based on your reading of the Dobbin and Kalev (2016) article, do
you agree with George’s friend?
Provide specific examples from the article to back up your point why you
agree/why you do not.
Yes, I am agreeing with George's friend. The diversity training is highly mandatory in
corporate. The diversity training change the perception of people towards caste, race and
cultural related factors. It brings equality among all and develop a sense of humanity
(Gould-Williams and Mohammed, 2021). Paluck and Green found that diversity training
reduces bias to a great extent. This report is generated on the basis of 985 studies. The
training can be more effective if it involves multicultural factors. Multicultural factor is a
way of giving equal respect to every religion and also reduce discrimination related to caste,
creed, gender as well as other factors. Organisation consist of vast group of people so there
is a need of better diversity training and this will produce a good environment at workplace.
It will increase productivity as well as efficiency at work and help in increasing the overall
output for the company.
2. Please recommend to George two alternative diversity management
interventions, that academic research has proven to be effective.
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.

The first diversity management intervention involves inclusive behaviours inventory which
gives a way of understanding the mentality of employees as well as provide them with
respective improvements. This technique is started with Aperian Global which has a
different way of understanding its employees as well as maintain a good workplace
environment. This is a very nice way handling diversity at work environment. The second
productive way to handle diversity management is the changes with respect to traditional
thinking. Change is the need of society and positive mindset will not tend to appreciate
discrimination (Kaufman and Covaleski, 2019). So, modern approach that is equality should
try to prevail in the society as well as the workplace. This will increase the productivity as
the cooperation will increase with the modern approach. Diversity is the measure of growth
and the only need is to understand the talent of others. A company can not succeed until it is
has a diverse culture as well as if it not give equal respect its customers.

Week 5: Skills, Training and Development
1. What are the challenges which Covid 19, has created for adult learners’
employability in the labour market?
The pandemic Covid19 has created a big problem in the employment sector. The pandemic
was highly communicable and it leads to reduction of crowd at workplace. The office
involves less number of employees at workplace due to government restrictions. The adults
or workers of the organization has to do work form home which is entirely a new concept
for them. The work which they do on registers or with the help of pen and paper need to do
on computer as they have become tech savvy. This is one of the most difficult as adult
employers are not much technology oriented and they face problem in it. This lead to
decreased efficiency as well as productivity of the company. The labour market need
efficient and tech savvy workers as they are capable of handling task with the comfort of
home (Keane, Zvarikova and Rowland, 2020). The need of laptop and internet become the
need of the hour at the time of corona and the work load also get increased as efficiency is
highly reduced at that time.
2. Why is coaching by line managers important for the performance of
their teams?
What benefits does conducting induction for new joiners have for
organizations?
Line manager is a team leader and well known the requirements of the company's need. The
line manager is well aware of the work and has the capability of leading a team in a well
way. An experienced person knows all pros and cons of a work. The person in a team is line
manager who have all experience in doing a particular work. Line manager can give the
detail of work in a most effective way and can manage a team in a well manner.
Induction gives idea about the organization as well as their business profile. New joiners
only know about their work till the time of joining but induction gives all necessary
information about the organization. Induction is highly needed for new joiners as it will
develop a sense of responsibility and give basic familiarity about job role (Kjeldsen and Van
der Voet, 2021). The induction give an overall idea of the company and their sector of
business as well as region of operations around the world.

Week 6: Performance Management
1. Please copy and paste a fully completed table assessing the performance
review practices that you have experienced in your current job role.
2. Identify one area of performance review in your current job role that is weak
and explain why this is a problem.
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them with
empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
I am an education counselor and with respect to my performance review the main weakness
observed is with my communication. My communication skills need improvement. The

main problem which I face is with connecting with new clients. As our organization is
diverse with large clientele across the world. So, there are huge possibility of coming new
customers with new variety of problems. Parents are highly secured for their child's future.
So, they come to me with all their doubts and I have to precisely answer them. As their
preparations are sometimes better than me which creates communication gap with me. I
need to be more better with my communication as well as improve my handling towards the
clients. The more I communicate with my connections, I will more progress in my job.
Communication is a way of analyzing others and helps in understanding others emotions as
well as providing them effective solutions (Lammers, 2019).

Week 7: Academic writing, referencing and plagiarism
1. What have you learnt about academic writing that will do differently as a
result of your learning from today’s lecture/seminar?
Academic writing is a scholar's way of writing. It can be a research work or academic
writing. It can be quite difficult for some writers as it involves different forms and each from
requires different thought process. To generate a thought process is most critical task
(Miković and et.al, 2020). The seminar has given a different way of approaching things in
academic writing. Academic writing involves referencing as well as plagiarism. The
academic work should not be too lengthy and should have abstract under it. Abstract gives a
basic understanding to readers about the essay or research. It helps in identifying the need of
reader whether the essay belongs to its requirements or not.
2. What have you learnt about plagiarism OR referencing that will
do differently as a result of your learning from today’s lecture/seminar?
Plagiarism in a report is not a good sign as it involves matching text with others presented
work. To make the report or academic work unique plagiarism is checked. It helps in
maintaining secrecy with other writer's work and stops copyright issues to a greater extent.
The level of plagiarism allowed in academic writing is below 10% as it tells about writer's
authenticity in work. Referencing is consideration of books and journals used by author in
preparing the work. References should be used linearly with the work and readings should
be appropriate with the writer's need. The writer should try to refer authenticated works of
other authors.

Week 8: Motivation and rewards
1. Identify the main pros and cons of “Payment by Results” (PBR).
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
The payment by results is the way of analyzing the employees work in their respective
fields. The employees are analyzed on the basis of their productivity. The main benefit of
this system is that the employees are getting their payments from the company after they are
properly judged on their result. The result oriented company are generally like this way of
payment as it bind other employees for properly doing the work (Mugge and Abbu, 2022).
The main drawback of this system is that the providers generally have higher risk with
respect to their payments as results are basis of payments.
2. Identify at least three of the more significant components of financial reward
other than salary. Argue the benefits and drawbacks of each of them.
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Bonuses – It increases the sincerity towards the work. This can be in the form of cash given
with employee paychecks provided on the basis of profitability. The main drawback is non-
performing employees got discouraged after these type of bonuses.
Extra allowances – This is a monetary reward given by an employee for a particular purpose.
Main benefit of allowance is that it will provide protection against inflation or uncertain
situation. The drawback is that it can increase employee expectation towards the salary
increment.
Commissions – It is an additional benefit provided to the employee for achieving their
targets within the stipulated time. The main benefit is that it push the employee for
performing better in their work and mostly in sales profile. The drawback is seen as it
increase competition and may lead ton employee turnover.
Competition leads to different form of rewards as it will increase employee satisfaction as
well as engagement.

Week 9: The psychological contract and employee engagement
1. Present a reliable definition of Employee Engagement.
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Employee engagement is the level of engagement employee have with the particular
organization. The organization as well as its employees have a direct relationship. The
employee efforts are directly responsible for the organization growth. The company can only
grow with their profitability and it is only possible with the employee efficiency (Park,
Ritala and Velu, 2021). Employee engagement is a way of increasing the strength of
relationship between the organization and its employees. The management team generally
focuses on managing as well as satisfying their employees to a greater extent. It is a way of
increasing employee satisfaction and increasing their retention in the organization.
2. Identify at least three of the benefits of Employee Engagement to
organisations.
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Increased employee productivity – Profitability depends on productivity of employees. The
employees satisfaction level decide their productivity as well as performance. Hence,
employee engagement helps in developing better output from their employees.
Improved retention rate – It has been seen that employees leave the organization in getting
better opportunities from other organization. Their retention is a big need for the
organization. So, companies try their best in improving their relations with employees.
Loyalty – Loyalty increases with employee engagement as it develops trust among
employees towards the organization. The more trust developed by the organization in their
employees, the more stronger relations built with them and also in turn enhances
productivity of the organization.

Week 10: International differences in organisations and management
1. What are the challenges of leading in global firms?
Language barriers – The language is the major barrier while leading a global firm. Language
is very important as it inhibits proper communication and may decrease the efficiency of the
organization (Razmian and et.al, 2021). Companies generally hire employees from host
country to save costing.
Cultural differences – The differences in culture creates a negative mindset towards the
organization and creates problem in employee engagement. Although diversity training is
provided but their effectiveness is quite low.
Trade barriers – The trade barriers are generally controlled by government. Government
generally impose heavy taxes on export and import of product. This can be solved by
maintaining good relations with host country government.
2. List the reasons for expatriate failure in global firms?
Poor relations between two nations – The host as well as home country do not have better
relations. This is like a combination of rival an there are high chances of business failure. As
the government does not provide any support in setting their business unit.
Insufficient capital – As capital is basic need of the organization and business requires huge
capital investment in other nation. Even they have to go for merger or acquisition to set their
business which requires billion of dollars. Sometimes, foreign direct investment is needed in
the host country.
Failure to get efficient employees – The business in host country is not possible with the help
of home country employees as it incurs heavy cost to company. So, to reduce it company
recruits talent of the host nation. This leads to inefficient employees or less productive as
needed by the company.

Week 11: Leadership style
1. Present definitions and give examples of these five concepts:
• Transactional Leadership
• Transformational Leadership
• Contingency Leadership
• Situational Leadership
• Inclusive Leadership
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Transactional leadership -This leadership depends on organization's rewards or totally depend
on results produced by the organization. Example – Monetary compensation.
Transformational leadership – This leadership brings change in the mind of followers and
generally develop a strong personality afterwards. Highly effective form of leadership.
Example – Oprah Winfrey.
Contingency leadership – This leadership is totally based on the personality of an individual.
An individual good in one may or may not be as effective in other work. Example – Cheapo
toys.
Situational leadership – This leadership considers the efficiency of an individual towards a
particular situation. Example – Political Campaigning.
Inclusive leadership – This leadership simply depends on the intuitive power of an individual.
One has to understand its perception with regard to work and take decision for several
improvements (Rutten and Flory, 2020). Example – McDonald.

Reference list
Week 2
AlKhalifa, H. K. and Collison, H., 2022. Adapting to local context and managing relationships:
A case study of a multinational SDP partnership in Bahrain. Journal of Global Sport
Management. 7(2). pp.289-309.
Week 3
Bankins, S. and Waterhouse, J., 2019. Organizational identity, image, and reputation:
Examining the influence on perceptions of employer attractiveness in public sector
organizations. International Journal of Public Administration. 42(3). pp.218-229.
Bedgood, C., 2021. Leadership transitions: Managing changes of the guard. Industrial
Management. 63(2).
Week 4
Gould-Williams, J. S. and Mohammed, A., 2021. Linking HRM Systems with Public Sector
Employees' Performance. Managing for Public Service Performance: How People and
Values Make a Difference. p.161.
Kaufman, M. and Covaleski, M. A., 2019. Budget formality and informality as a tool for
organizing and governance amidst divergent institutional logics. Accounting,
Organizations and Society. 75. pp.40-58.
Week 5
Keane, E., Zvarikova, K. and Rowland, Z., 2020. Cognitive Automation, Big Data-driven
Manufacturing, and Sustainable Industrial Value Creation in Internet of Things-based
Real-Time Production Logistics. Economics, Management, and Financial
Markets. 15(4). pp.39-49.
Kjeldsen, A. M. and Van der Voet, J., 2021. Leading Change in a Complex Public. Managing
for Public Service Performance: How People and Values Make a Difference. p.199.
Week 6
Lammers, C. J., 2019. Power and Participation in Decision-making in Formal Organizations.
In Managing Democratic Organizations (pp. 129-144). Routledge.
Week 7
Miković, R. and et.al, 2020. The integration of social capital and knowledge management–The
key challenge for international development and cooperation projects of nonprofit
organizations. International Journal of Project Management. 38(8). pp.515-533.
Week 8
Mugge, P. and Abbu, H., 2022. Managing Innovation in the Digital Age. Research-Technology
Management. 65(5). pp.9-10.
Week 9
Park, H., Ritala, P. and Velu, C., 2021. Discovering and managing interdependence with
customer‐entrepreneurs. British Journal of Management. 32(1). pp.124-146.
Week 10
Razmian, M. and et.al, 2021. Designing and evaluating a model of difficult experiences of
primary school principals in Urmia. Journal of Managing Education in
Organizations. 9(2), pp.207-235.
Week 11
Rutten, K. and Flory, M., 2020. Managing meanings, coaching virtues and mediating rhetoric:
Revisiting the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and
practice. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 33(4). pp.581-590.