HR4052 Managing People in Organisations: A Comprehensive Workbook

This document presents a student's completed workbook for the module 'Managing People in Organisations' (HR4052). It includes answers to questions spanning from Week 2 to Week 6, addressing key HR concepts such as recruitment methods (rational approach, job descriptions vs. person specifications, promoting diversity), selection methods (reliability, validity, competency frameworks), equality, diversity, and inclusion (diversity training, alternative interventions), skills, training and development (challenges of COVID-19, coaching, induction), and performance management (performance review practices). The responses reflect on learning from lectures, seminars, and class discussions, providing insights into the student's understanding of these crucial aspects of organizational management. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

INDIVIDUAL STUDENT WORKBOOK
Module Code: HR4052
Module Title: Managing People in
Organisations
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................3
Week 2: Recruitment methods..................................................................................4
Week 3: Selection Methods.......................................................................................7
Week 4: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion..............................................................8
Week 5: Skills, Training and Development............................................................10
Week 6: Performance Management........................................................................12
Week 7: Academic writing, referencing and plagiarism.......................................13
Week 8: Motivation and rewards.............................................................................15
Week 9: The psychological contract and employee engagement.......................17
Week 10: International differences in organisations and management.............18
Week 11: Leadership style.......................................................................................19
Reference list............................................................................................................21
Appendices...............................................................................................................22
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Introduction
This student workbook/handbook provides a reflection upon the learning
developed by students from the lectures, seminar activities and class
discussions.
The workbook includes ten sections (weeks 2-11), each section includes two
or three questions which students answer within the wordcount of 100 -150
words per question per week.
Please note: Not only 100-150 words for the whole weekly section. Also,
students must answer all the questions each week.
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Week 2: Recruitment methods
1. Explain why line managers adopt the rational approach to
recruitment?
Rational approach refers an approach in which there is a logic in thinking. As per this
approach, leaders and managers can treat people as purposive as individuals have goals and
they can make choices in order to achieve goal. The reason as managers use this approach
in recruitment is to employ talented workforce. It is based on set criteria relevant to job
role, job design and description.
Rational choice theory can be used by managers (Bassetti and et.al., 2018). This theory
states that individuals use their self-interest for making choices that can provide them
benefits. With the help of this theory, managers can hire skilled employees who have some
goals in their life and on the basis of requirement of job position along with proper reason,
they hire employees. It protects them from biased recruitment. For making companies and
employees beneficial as well as promoting diversity is the main aim of using this approach
to recruitment.
2. Describe the differences between a job description and person
specification?
Differences between job description and person specification include:
Comparison basis Job description Person specification
Definition It is written statement and
report in which major
requirements of particular
job is written.
It is a statement and format
in which eligibility
requirements for completing
job, is written.
Important elements Some important
requirements that are
mentioned in this report
include: duties, job title,
Employees' capabilities,
qualification and skills are
mentioned.
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tasks and responsibilities
(Khtatbeh and et.al., 2020).
What is it? It tells person about his/her
tasks that he/she needs to do
when he will be placed.
It lets person know as what
he must possess for getting
selected.
Describes It mainly describes job It describes job holders
Comprises of Workplace, designation,
working hours, salary,
responsibility, authority and
scope are comprised in this
job description template.
Skills, age, abilities,
experience, educational
qualification, work
orientation factors and other
person related information.
3. List three examples of how Diversity could encourage diversity when
recruiting candidates in organizations?
Diversity plays a vital role in recruitment process. It is important for HR and interviewer to
encourage diversity and hire diverse group of people while recruiting employees. Some
ways by which diverse group of people can be hired and manager can encourage promoting
diversity include: using set criteria for job role. Managers need to set criteria of hiring
employees and these criteria should be based on requirement of job role not on the basis of
racism. Age, gender and culture options should not be added in the form of recruitment
(Nehemiah and et.al., 2021). Candidates should encourage to provide their CV without
mentioning their age and culture. It can encourage managers to hire employees on the
basis of their experience, skills and capabilities, not on the basis of culture and gender.
Anti-discrimination is the act that should be implemented by companies and need to
encourage everyone for following all rules and regulations. By encouraging diverse
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employees to refer their friends for recruitment and interview within company, manager
can promote diversity.
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?
While utilizing selection interviews, human resource department face different issues such
as inconsistency between candidates, poor selection criteria, and lack of communication
between individuals such as interviewer and participant (Sakai and et.al., 2022).
Inconsistency between candidates may affect interview procedure, which unable HRM to
determine the best applicant in relation of validity and reliability as a selection tool.
Another issue that affect the overall process is poor selection criteria, which is important
for human resource manager to create appropriately. They accountable to develop and
select the criteria before hiring people, which is also essential and beneficial too. When the
selection planning or criteria is not appropriate, HR manager may unable to determine the
right person, which drive their attention toward using and developing strategic strategies,
that help to achieve target aim and objective related to selection. When the communication
between both parties is not appropriate, it may affect the expectation of individuals. They
may affect negatively and face number of challenges, which is essential for them to
overcome.
2. What are the advantages of using a competency framework to design
selection interview questions?
By utilizing competency frameworks, HRM may obtain varied benefits, such as making
them capable to collect additional information to make smarter and appropriate selection
decisions. It is quite essential for human resource manager to take right decision to hire
people, as it impact directly upon organizational success and growth. Thus, employees are
the main base of business success, without having or hiring right candidates HRM may
never support a firm to progress rapidly (Brown, George and Mehaffey-Kultgen, 2018).
Along with above benefits, by using a competency concept, they may design the best
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selection question and recruit those who are able to achieve target aims and objectives of
venture. It may allow interviewer to see beyond candidates who just look or talk part and
caters a particular set of answers. It may also contribute to prevent unconscious bias in
term of taking away certain subjectivity of a common form of interview. It can be said that
competency concept allows human resource manager or interviewers to stay open minded
and also permit to listen throughout entire process of selection interview.
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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?
From Dobbin and Kalev article, the best example has been determined and that is related to
financial services, where management focus on improving equality. Wall Street companies
continually shelling out million to settle down the discriminative lawsuits. On the bases of
that, George do not implement mandatory diversity training, because of varied reasons. It
has been identified that diversity training is one of those tools that firms are using from
longer time, that lead to decrease the proportion of female and minorities in administration.
Instead of providing required diversity training, firms may consider other approaches,
which enable them to offer fair growth chances to male and female candidates in the
workplace, and also provide opportunity to grow rapidly in the professional career. There
are varied ventures accessible in the financial sector to begin carrying a lot more about
diversity after a factor affecting businesses negatively in term of high profile lawsuits.
Diversity training is important, but management may focus on conducting this term into
practical manner in unique way.
2. Please recommend to George two alternative diversity management
interventions, that academic research has proven to be effective.
The best intervention that George can take into consideration is new taken pool
identification, which enable them to manage and build diversity in the workplace, where
individual person coming from a specific background can work appropriately (Condorelli,
2018). It is one of the best approaches or methods that they can utilize to achieve the
outcomes as expect while using the current technique. It provides George the benefits of
building wide and strong workforce among which different forms of people can attempt to
work appropriately and in productive manner, which is quite essential and beneficial for
them to do so.
Creation of safe and creative workplace is another diversity management intervention, that
George can also take into their consideration, which enable them to work even better and
perform well in the company. This intervention can change their mind and also fulfil the
need as well as expectations, which is also essential for him to do so appropriately. By
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applying both interventions he can create the best workplace.
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Week 5: Skills, Training and Development
1. What are the challenges which Covid 19, has created for adult
learners’ employability in the labour market?
COVID-19 is one of those factors that has impacted adult learner’s employability in the job
market, negatively. It has created varied challenges for them, which they attempt to
overcome appropriately (SHAHRIAR and et.al., 2021). The biggest challenge that they
face and create by the pandemic is emerging skill requirement, which they effort to
develop, as some of them are unable to do so because of required resources, such as money
that invest to join a training session. Another challenge create by the same factor for adult
learner employment in the labour market, is getting employment in the companies because
varied firms has been collapsed or wind up their ventures due to loss. There two challenges
are quite enough to make the journey of adult learner complicated and challenging. These
terms may drive their attention toward strategic tactics formulation, which may affect
positively upon their success and growth in the current job market. Along with above two,
another challenge is increasing level of competition, that impact in negative manner upon
individual learner employability.
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?
Coaching is quite essential for team performance because it make line manager capable to
build productive team of players, among which talent and skilled people are working
together (Drinka, 2018). It is a part of team formation, for which varied concepts accessible
in the world of business such as Belbin and Tuckman’s team formation, which allow line
manager to conduct effective practices to enhance performance of their group.
By conducting induction, companies can provide a lot of benefits to new joiners, such as
develop understanding among them about organizational values and culture which is
important for a new candidate to know that.
Another benefit is to make them productive quickly, which is as essential as above thing.
By making them productive, companies can obtain desire outcomes in form of aim
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achievement. They can gain competitive advantages and give tough competition to rivals
that is not an easy task for them to do so. It drives the attention of individual candidate to
be productive and effective in the workplace.
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.
Performance review
practice
Benefits Drawbacks
Track employee progress The current practice is quite
effective because of
examining the performance
of candidates, who work
hard and attempt to achieve
the goals of company, in
which I am working as a
line manager.
It can be critically assess
that current performance
review practice may have
some drawback as it do not
provide overall information
about staff performance
(Wu and et.al., 2019).
One on one session This practice in the
company conduct by the
human resource
management and project
manager, who attempt to
ask few questions to
employees and then review
how they work within the
firm.
It just only help to know the
things like issue and other,
instead of reviewing
performance strategically.
Effective communication It can be critically analysed
that performance review
has been possible in term of
making a good
communication with
leaders, who can provide
It enable project manager to
get information about how
work well, not for those
who may grow rapidly and
but still their performance
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them data about who are
working well or not.
is not recognized.
2. Identify one area of performance review in your current job role that
is weak and explain why this is a problem.
Communication is one specific area of performance review in my current job role that is
weak. The main reason behind this weakness is lack of planning and discrimination, due to
which communication become less effective. It is quite essential for individual to have
good communication and interaction between management and employees, who are
working at high and low level. It is one of those sources that management utilize to review
staff performance and boost their morale, even better than last few months or weeks, that
put positive impact on organizational performance and productivity. It contributes to
overcome the negative environment in the workplace and boost confidence level of
candidates. There are different types of strategies and methods available in the world that
manager and leaders in the company where I work can utilize to overcome the adverse
impact of chosen area that affect everything from productivity to performance and
profitability. Communication makes performance review effective and useful for everyone
as it provide varied benefits to individual.
Week 7: Academic writing, referencing and plagiarism
1. What have you learnt about academic writing that will do differently
because of your learning from today’s lecture/seminar?
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