Strategic Human Resources
TASK TOPIC MARKS
One Audit introduction 18
Two Audit plan 18
Three Expected outcomes 18
Four Presentation, referencing 6
TOTAL MARKS: 60
INSTRUCTIONS:
Learning Outcome(s) Assessed
Learning Outcome Two: Evaluate the status of human resource practice within a given situation by conducting an audit to assess efficiency and contribution to strategic outcome.
ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS:
Scenario and Task
Imagine the following situation:
You were recently approached by Sarah, a new owner of an ICT company called XL-IT (this is a hypothetical organisation). The company was established 3 years ago and it has been operating from Christchurch serving customers all around New Zealand. It has an ambition to become an internationally recognised development company – their main focus is online game development and their first few products have been selling really well on the domestic market. Sarah took over the company approximately 3 months ago and discovered that despite its good reputation, XL-IT is a poorly managed organisation of 34-52 employees (this number keeps changing all the time) with extremely high levels of turnover, absenteeism, sickness and annual leave usage. The organisation had not reached its performance targets in 2018 and its performance this year does not look much better either. Sarah believes the organisation has enormous potential and has developed a great business strategy but finds people management it’s most critical element. The organisation was considered one of the most promising start-ups during its first year of existence, but its uncontrolled growth has created a lot of problems, mainly when it comes to managing staff.
She admits the existing approach to managing people looks very chaotic and she thinks that there is no proper HR system in place. The previous business owner – who acted as a CEO at the same time – had burnt out and sold the organisation to Sarah for a symbolic $1. One employee has been appointed a temporary CEO at the beginning of 2019 but he seems to be totally overworked and stressed – he spends long hours in his office but does not make an effort to communicate with Sarah or the staff. It is his very first management experience and Sarah suspects he might be looking for a new job as he looks very frustrated and his level of motivation has been extremely low since she has got involved. Sarah is aware that something needs to be done quickly to initiate a positive change and she believes that appointing an HR manager – the role that does not exist in the organisation yet – would be a good first step. Sarah now asks you for advice – she wants to provide the new HR person with a relatively smooth start and is uncertain what everything needs to be – and can be – done.
As a knowledgeable HR professional, you realise that an HR audit would be a great way to discover key operational and compliance issues – it would help to define the most critical areas that the new HR manager will need to deal with a priority.
Your task is to prepare an HR audit proposal presentation for Sarah.
For this assessment you are required to create a video presentation using PowerPoint support that outlines the following:
TASK ONE: AUDIT INTRODUCTION TOTAL: 18 MARKS
1 A brief summary in your own words of the existing situation of the organisation.
2 Description of your understanding of the organisation needs in the HR management area.
3 Proposal of a suitable (strategic, functional, compliance or any combination of those) audit that would be in line with the situation and the needs of the organisation where key focus areas (HR strategy, HR functions, projects, processes or systems) would be highlighted and explained.
4 Your proposed audit benefit identification for the organisation and key risks identification (at least 6 different hazards and related risks need to be specified) if no action is taken. ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW
TASK TWO: AUDIT PLAN TOTAL: 18 MARKS
5 Description and suggestion of the key audit parameters including – but not limited to – scope, methods, target audience. This description should include explanation and justification whether the audit will be done externally, internally or by a mixed team. It should also provide an explanation of at least 2 suitable methods that you suggest the audit team uses for this particular case.
6 Timeframe for the audit should be discussed and justified, it should include all audit phases (preparation, execution, report writing, presentation, and corrective actions check).
7 Key documentation list of at least 8 items that would be requested by auditing team to check the audited area (it should include internal documents as well as relevant compliance documentation).
TASK THREE: EXPECTED OUTCOMES TOTAL: 18 MARKS
8 Describe how this audit can improve organisational performance and identify at least 3 key questions that you believe the audit should answer to make this improvement possible.
9 Explain how the recommended audit methods will contribute to answering the key questions and provide an example how those methods will be applied in this particular case.
10 Provide a set of recommendations that need to be followed to make the audit execution as effective as possible. Your recommendation list should have at least 6 items.
TASK FOUR: PRESENTATION, REFERENCING TOTAL: 6 MARKS
11 Apply PowerPoint presentation skills your video. You are expected to use 10-15 slides and the length of your video should be between 5-7 minutes. The sound needs to be clear and easy to understand, the slides in the video need to be easy to read. You can seek help when producing the video.
12 You have to be the presenter but you do not have to physically appear in the video, it is ok if you tape the voice over the slides only. ORDER YOUR PAPER NOW
13 Apply an APA 6th style approach for listing all references/resources you have used in your assessment.
Submission Instructions
- This is an individual assessment.
- The assignment needs to be in the mp3 video format or PPT file (voiced over PPT).
- The assignment must be referenced using the APA 6th style (you can provide a list of used resources on the last slide of your presentation).
- A link to the video or the PPT file should be submitted in the course drop box provided on the course Moodle site before 1:00 pm on the due date. There is no need to submit a hardcopy of your PowerPoint slides. If you use mp3 format, do not submit the whole video – it might be too large for Moodle submission.
Use the Instructional Words below to guide your responses to the assignment questions.
INSTRUCTIONAL WORDS
Apply: Connect theory with practical examples. Make use of relevant theories
to justify actions.
Analyse: Break down and carefully examine the most important parts showing how they are related, whether they work together and why are important.
Critically evaluate: Give an in-depth and logical judgment of something. Support your judgment with reliable evidence and/or authoritative views.
Examine in detail. Explore alternatives, challenging and questioning. Discuss strengths and weaknesses (for and against).
Demonstrate: Use clear thinking to either:
- Prove by using statistics and reliable evidence etc., or
- Explain to show you understand, by using examples and/or experience.
Describe: Write in detail the main points or characteristics in a logical sequence
without interpreting the information.
Define: Give the exact meaning of a word or phrase. Be clear and concise.
Check with your tutor whether you need to show how the things being defined differ from other ideas or things.
Discuss: Examine carefully and completely. Give reasons for and against, or examine a range of views. Come to a conclusion.
Explain: Give reasons; describe how something happens.
Interpret: Explain the meaning of something in a clear way. Give examples or
comment on a subject.
Justify: Give evidence which supports an argument or idea. Show why decisions or arguments were made and consider objections that others may make.