Unit Title: People Planning and Resourcing Unit Reference Number: A/601/7506 Guided Learning Hours: 160 Level: Level 5 Number of Credits: 18

Learning Outcome 1 The learner will: Understand the principles behind the design, implementation and review of

people (human resource) plans. Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

1.1 Explain the purposes and potential benefits of people planning.

1.1.1 The purposes and goals of people planning, with special reference to the links between people planning and an organisation’s strategic goals, vision, mission, values and ‘Big Idea’. 1.1.2 The benefits of systematic people planning, especially for organisations relatively untouched by turbulence, uncertainty and discontinuous change.

1.2 Assess the disadvantages and dangers of people planning in a turbulent, highly competitive and fast-moving world.

1.2.1 The continuing debate about the value and relevance of people planning in today’s world of work and organisations, characterised by constant uncertainties, turbulence, discontinuous change, political disturbance (in some regions), and globalised competition.

1.3 Design a cost-effective people plan for a specified corporate scenario.

1.3.1 The development of people plans appropriate for specified corporate scenarios, incorporating the organisation’s high-level strategy, its people demand requirements and supply forecasts, plus proposed action plans to address any significant discrepancies.

1.4 Create mechanisms for measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of a people plan during its implementation, and where necessary devise remedial processes to ensure its continued relevance and value.

1.4.1 Mechanisms and techniques for measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of a given people plan. 1.4.2 The creation of risk assessments and contingency plans within people plans, plus remedial programmes for implementation where necessary in order to ensure that the people plan remains relevant and worthwhile.

Learning Outcome 2 The learner will: Know how to identify and take account of all the relevant internal factors

when designing the people plan. Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

2.1 Describe systematic methods for analysing the strengths and weaknesses of a workforce.

2.1.1 Systematic methods for analysing the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation’s current workforce in relation to the organisation’s future human resource requirements.

2.2 Identify methods for calculating key indices of organisational performance through people and show how the results may be interpreted in order to undertake remedial action if appropriate.

2.2.1 Principal techniques for assessing and quantifying various indices of people performance and contribution, plus a range of courses of action to resolve difficulties where necessary.

2.3 Explain the corporate benefits to be gained from securing high levels of employee commitment and engagement.

2.3.1 The commercial, competitive and strategic benefits to be gained from creating a workforce characterised by high levels of employee commitment and engagement.

2.4 Explain how to construct commercially-defensible plans for promoting employee commitment and engagement throughout a given workforce.

2.4.1 The methods and techniques typically used by organisations seeking to secure high levels of commitment and engagement from their employees.

2.5 Apply the above knowledge and skills to specified organisational scenarios.

2.5.1 The application of the above models, tools and principles to broadly-defined corporate scenarios.

Learning Outcome 3 The learner will: Know how to identify and take account of all the relevant external factors

when designing the people plan. Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

3.1 Describe the features of any given labour market (local, national, international or global) and their application in corporate people planning.

3.1.1 The principal features of any given labour market: geographic (local, national, international or global), demographic, political, psychological (whether work viewed as a central life interest or merely a financial necessity) and cultural features.

3.2 Construct a well-informed set of predictions concerning the future labour market, generally and in relation to particular locations, regions or types of labour.

3.2.1 The future of any given labour market both generally in relation to the above features, but also in relation to specified categories or ‘segments’ within the working population, e.g., skilled/unskilled manual workers, the service sector, IT, management, etc.

3.3 Evaluate the significance of key external variables – principally political, economic, social and technological factors – for the design of people plans.

3.3.1 The significance of all relevant external variables (PESTLE: political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental) so far as the development of labour markets is concerned.

3.4 Apply the above knowledge and skills to specified organisational and business-sector scenarios.

3.4.1 The analysis and application of the above principles, models and techniques to particular organisational scenarios.

Learning Outcome 4 The learner will: Understand the major approaches to people resourcing used by

organisations in the modern world. Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

4.1 Describe the high-level purposes for people resourcing, especially related to an organisation’s vision and strategic goals.

4.1.1 The goals and objectives for an effective, business-focused people resourcing strategy.

4.2 Identify the principal routes through which people resourcing may be undertaken, and the contingencies that may affect approaches to people resourcing in a variety of contexts.

4.2.1 The range of people resourcing routes, processes and systems (including traditional/systematic models and techniques, and transformational visions for employee engagement) identified and evaluated according to their generic suitability as well as their specific relevance to any given set of corporate and resourcing strategies (especially for organisations pursuing a transformational vision for employee engagement). 4.2.2 The contingencies which may affect the approaches used for people resourcing, i.e., size (local, national, multinational, global), geographical location, the nature of the labour market, the competitive environment (public/private, manufacturing/service).

4.3 Explain the legal, ethical and professional background to people resourcing.

4.3.1 The legal, ethical and professional criteria which govern the strategies and operational systems for people resourcing.

Learning Outcome 5 The learner will: Understand what is involved in recruitment and selection, including all

relevant ethical/legal and professional aspects and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment and selection systems.

Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

5.1 Explain how to design and embed cost-effective recruitment/selection strategies, procedures and systems, both in general and also when catering for specified contingencies.

5.1.1 The development and design of recruitment and selection strategies/practices targeted towards specific resourcing scenarios and functioning within appropriate legal/ethical/professional criteria and standards.

5.2 Explain how to design recruitment/selection processes which do not unfairly discriminate on grounds of gender, ethnic differences, age, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

5.2.1 The establishment of recruitment and selection systems which do not discriminate on any grounds: religious, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability.

5.3 Describe the specific recruitment and selection processes used by

5.3.1 The development and implementation of recruitment and selection processes used by organisations when recruiting across national borders.

organisations when resourcing across national borders.

5.4 Explain the necessity for systematically measuring the effectiveness of recruitment and selection and identify the problems of accurate measurement.

5.4.1 Methods for analysing and measuring effectiveness (the ‘validity’ and ‘reliability’) of recruitment and selection. 5.4.2 The complexities involved in calculating the effectiveness of people resourcing strategies and practices, including the problem of defining cause/effect relationships, the potential impact of intervening factors or variables and the selection of meaningful criteria.

Learning Outcome 6 The learner will: Understand the processes and activities which together comprise systematic,

cost-effective recruitment and selection. Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

6.1 Explain the various methods of recruitment available to organisations and identify relevant criteria for choosing appropriate methods.

6.1.1 The various methods of recruitment available to organisations and their characteristics, applications, cost-effectiveness (both generically and in specific recruitment scenarios), benefits and disadvantages. 6.1.2 The development of defensible criteria to be used as the basis of recruitment plans for resolving previously-defined requirements.

6.2 Describe and explain the growing use of technology within recruitment, with special reference to e-recruitment.

6.2.1 The applications of technology to recruitment, with special reference to the scope, advantages and disadvantages of e-recruitment.

6.3 Evaluate the use of different tools to underpin an effective recruitment process.

6.3.1 The design, use and evaluation of job descriptions (accountability profiles), and person specifications (competency frameworks).

6.4 Identify and evaluate the various methods of selection available to organisations and devise and justify appropriate methods of selection to be used when selecting for specific vacancies.

6.4.1 The principal methods of selection available to organisations and their characteristics, applications, cost-effectiveness (both generically and in specific selection scenarios), benefits and disadvantages, concentrating on selection interview, psychometric testing, assessment centres, application forms and references/testimonials. 6.4.2 Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of the selection interview, psychometric tests, assessment centres, application

forms and references/testimonials. 6.4.3 The construction of defensible selection plans to cater for specified selection scenarios. 6.4.4 The design and application of selection techniques which cater cost-effectively for special-case scenarios, e.g. transient organisations.

6.5 Assess the circumstances in which organisations may outsource parts of their people resourcing activities to recruitment agencies and/or other outsourcing providers and specialists.

6.5.1 The applications of outsourcing in people resourcing, including the use of recruitment agencies and/or other outsourcing providers and specialists.

Learning Outcome 7 The learner will: Understand systematic and businesslike methods for encouraging employee

retention and managing employee departures (through voluntary turnover, retirement, redundancy or dismissal).

Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

7.1 Describe both the benefits and risks associated with strategies and practices specifically intended to improve employee retention.

7.1.1 A review of the benefits and risks associated with employee retention and employee ‘loyalty’.

7.2 Identify the standard methods for measuring and analysing labour turnover.

7.2.1 Definitions for labour turnover and the principal methods for measuring the incidence of turnover.

7.3 Explain how to implement the various mechanisms available to organisations in order to manage employee retirements and redundancy programmes in ways that are legally and ethically compliant yet also businesslike and cost-effective.

7.3.1 Procedures for the systematic, legally-compliant, ethically-appropriate and cost-effective management of employee retirements and redundancy programmes.

7.4 Outline the principles and objectives that should govern the design and application of an organisation’s discipline and dismissal procedure.

7.4.1 The design and implementation of a legally- and ethically-compliant discipline and dismissal procedure.

7.5 Identify a range of standard techniques for measuring employee absence, and cost-effective routes for reducing employee absence when absenteeism has reached the point where concerted action is required.

7.5.1 Methods for measuring employee absence. 7.5.2 Cost-effective routes to reduce (or eliminate) unnecessary employee absence on the part of individual employees, groups of employees, or throughout the organisation as a whole.

Learning Outcome 8 The learner will: Know how to create and apply an ‘employer of choice’ or ‘employer brand’

strategy and process platform. Assessment Criteria The learner can:

Indicative Content

8.1 Describe what is meant by the ‘employer of choice’ or ‘employer brand’ attribution and identify the defining features.

8.1.1 The concepts of ‘employer of choice’ and ‘employer brand’ defined and explained. 8.1.2 The key ingredients found in an ‘employer of choice’ or ‘employer brand’ organisation, so far as the personnel/HR function and people-management strategies/practices are concerned.

8.2 Outline and explain the benefits of becoming an ‘employer of choice’ or an ‘employer brand’.

8.2.1 A review of the benefits to be gained by the organisation (and by its workforce) from securing an ‘employer of choice’ or ‘employer brand’ status.

8.3 Identify and justify the actions to be taken by an employer when seeking to become an ‘employer of choice’ or an ‘employer brand’.

8.3.1 The construction of action plans intended to transform an organisation into an ‘employer of choice’ or ‘employer brand’.

Assessment:

Assessment method: written examination (unless otherwise stated).

Written examinations are of three hours’ duration.

All learning outcomes will be assessed. Recommended Reading: Please refer to the Tuition Resources section of the Members Area of the ABE website (www.abeuk.com) for the recommended reading for this subject.