Using information in Human Resources

5UIN Live Sessions

Tutor: Stuart Haden

Agenda

Unit Introduction

What is the unit about?

Assessment Strategy

Best Practice

Questions

What is this unit all about?

This unit will introduce you to:

• Understanding of the research process and different research

approaches;

• Different data collection methods;

• How to critically review information sources and analyse the findings;

• Be able to draw meaningful conclusions and make recommendations

for improvements based on the research you have completed;

• The ability to deliver clear and business focused reports to identified

stakeholders

A.C. 2.1 Identify an area of HR practice for investigation

A.C. 2.2 Conduct a critical review of different information sources relevant to the chosen area of HR /

business practice

A.C. 1.1 Summarise the stages of the research process and compare different data collection methods

A.C. 3.1 Draw meaningful conclusions from the review and make justified recommendations for

improvements in practice.

A.C. 4.1 Formulate a business report for identified stakeholders that include an appropriate mix of

diagrammatic and narrative formats.

Assessment Criteria

More about this unit

It is your research

project

It is based on an area

of HR Practice within

your organisation that

you want to solve.

The weekly content will

teach you “how” to

complete this unit but

not give you any

“content”

You will need to find

your own research

articles/sources

You will need to find

the data to produce

your own graphs and

charts

The recommendations

must come from the

literature review

How to Tackle the Assessment

Download the assignment brief and make sure you follow it – it is your checklist

Identify a problem for the research project

Write a research question

Identify the stakeholders – CEO/Managers/Employees/Customers etc

Find at least 3-4 research articles that are relevant to your study

Make notes against each study and then identify similar or different themes

Write your literature review – must include compare and contrast of author viewpoints

Add in a critique of the literature

Write recommendations and conclusions based on your research

Link to Course and Word Count Report Element – (2500 Words +/- 10%) Week Number Suggested

Word Count

Introduction: • What researching and why?- include graph/chart – bar/pie/line • Identify and Introduce Stakeholders – and their interest in the project

Week 1- Planning for research Week 2 - Research Q

200

Main Body Methodology • Stages of the Research Process (image and summary in own words) – VLC • Select 2 research methods ((Questionnaires/interviews/focus groups etc) • and Table showing adv/disadv of the methods • You MUST include a paragraph comparing these methods.

Week 1 – The Research Process Week 1 – Data Collection Methods

300

Literature Review – * reference your research articles correctly * • Source 1 – one paragraph summarising key findings from the research and one

paragraph validity/reliability of the sources • Source 2 – one paragraph summarising key findings from the research and one

paragraph validity/reliability of the sources

• Source 3 – one paragraph summarising key findings from the research and one paragraph validity/reliability of the sources

• Paragraph comparing and contrasting all three sources by theme – eg what have they said that is the same and what have they said that is different

Week 2 – Literature review Week 3 – Bias, limitations and correlations

1200

Conclusion – bring the review of the sources together to answer your research question – NO NEW INFORMATION

Week 3 - Conclusions 400

Recommendations • Brief introduction and then: • Recommendation 1, Recommendation 2, Recommendation 3 • Include discussion how these align to the interest of the stakeholders you have

identified in introduction

400

YOU MUST

USE THESE

HEADING

S

2.1 - Identify an area of HR practice for investigation You must link this section to your organisation or one you know well

Carefully select an area of HR to review and develop a research question around this area

• You must provide:

• A discussion of the chosen area of HR (2 paragraphs)

• A justification for having chosen this area, for example;

• Your particular interest in this area

• Highlight any problems/issues within this area

• Current trends and/or benchmarking linked to the area

• Provide some context (briefly) around your organisation

• You must explain; how will this benefit/impact your organisation

Why does this topic matter to the organisation?

• You must include a discussion of the key stakeholders the report is going to interest

What is there level of interest? Why would they be interested?

Week 1 & 2 VLC

In this section you need to include a graph or chart related to the chosen area

of HR practice which is your own work to support why you are investigating this

area. Your narrative needs to link to the graph.

Fig 1: Employee engagement comparison 2017 to 2020.

(Authors own work)

Example Research questions

What best practices can

Organisation X

implement to improve

induction?

What methods can

Organisation X implement to

improve performance

management ?

What employee wellbeing

initiatives can Organisation X

introduce to improve

employee engagement?

What factors can

Organisation X develop

to introduce new

wellbeing programme?

What approaches can

Organisation X introduce to

improve absence?

What employee engagement approaches can be

implemented to improve business performance in Organisation X?

What techniques can

Organisation X introduce

to improve management

performance?

What approaches to remote

working can Organisation

implement to improve

employee engagement?

What methods of

improving employee

retention can Company X

implement?

2.2 Conduct a critical review of different information sources relevant to the chosen area of

HR/Business practice

Week 2 & 3 VLCThis list is not exhaustive, so you can select other secondary sources relevant to you research topic

You must provide a general discussion around the three chosen sources, your discussion must

include:

• What the literature as a whole suggests about the topic (a review), including;

• An overview of the content of research

• An evaluation of the effectiveness of the authors argument

• The most persuasive points of each source • What the literature suggests about the topic

• Whether the research is;

• Authentic - credibility of the sources used in the research/author

• Valid - offers true reflection

• Reliable - sample size, sample demographic, any potential bias

• Current – publication date

• A comparison of the sources pointing out where they agree or disagree – this could be

placed in a table but further narrative bringing the findings together must be provided, for example; People Management (2016), state that poor turnover is linked to employee health and wellbeing, where The CIPD Outlook Autumn Report (2015) states that turnover can be linked to many areas…..

2.2 Conduct a critical review of different information sources relevant to the chosen

area of HR / business practice cont’d …

Week 2 & 3 VLC

Week 1 VLC

Searching for Sources

Use the Publication Finder tool to quickly access the

journal or magazine you want

Use Advanced search to look more specifically around

a topic

Absence Management – 63770 sources

Between 2010 and 2021 – 41012

“Absence Management” and “methods” – now 37.

This is Key to narrowing your search

- Find sources

- Save sources

- Annotate sources

- Choose best 3 to answer research question

- May need to amend research question

CIPD EBSCO – Free to members

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/journals

Recording Sources – Themes – Make notes of your sources

1.1 - Summarise the stages of the research process and compare different data

collection methods

You must provide summary of the research process either based on one of the

models from the campus or a clear and logical flow of stages in a research project

Week 1 VLC

Brief introduction – what is primary research?

You must identify and evaluate two different primary methods of research, for example;

The evaluation must include main features, advantages and disadvantages of each primary

method.

** you could put this information in a table, however you must provide narrative underneath

your table comparing the methods against each other – similarities and differences? Why

would you choose one method over another?**

1.1 - Summarise the stages of the research process and compare different data collection methods cont’d…..

Focus Group Observation Interview Survey/ Questionnaire

Week 1 VLC

3.1 - Draw meaningful conclusions from the review and make justified recommendations for

improvements in practice.

You must bring together your review and analysis of the sources together to answer the research

question. NO new information. MUST COME FROM LITERATURE REVIEW

This must include:

•A brief conclusion of your research (what does the literature review say?)You can discuss all 3

sources together here

•A minimum of 3 justified recommendations based on the findings of the research (your secondary

information from 2.2) e.g.

•Recommendation 1: To introduce xxx within Organisation xxx (brief specific

recommendations)

•Justification to be added – must be linked to the research and should outline briefly how they

can be implemented.

•An explanation of how the recommendations will be of interest or benefit to the stakeholders

you identified in the introduction. Week 3 VLC

Part 1 of this criteria:

This criteria is mainly embedded around the other criteria as it mostly covers the structure of your

work – so you must structure and include the following within your work to satisfy this criteria:

• Title page (Report title, your name, submission date, wordcount)

• Executive summary (overview, methods of analysis, findings, recommendations) optional

• Table of contents (list of numbered sections)

• Introduction

• Main body/findings (headings and sub-headings – these could be for each information source reviewed).

• Conclusion

• Recommendations

• Reference list

• Appendix if used i.e. information supporting your analysis but not essential to its explanation.

**Items in blue are not included in the word count**

4.1 Write a business report for the stakeholders including an appropriate mix of

diagrammatic and narrative formats

Week 4 VLC

Part 2 of this criteria:

You must identify the key stakeholders who the report will impact.

• Outline and identify in your introduction who the stakeholders are that the report is for

• You could provide a stakeholder analysis to enhance this section.

• You then need to make your recommendations to the same stakeholders at the end of your

report in the recommendations section.

You must include presentation of information in diagrammatic format (one diagram)

• This must be your own work (please label underneath as ‘authors own’)

• Some examples are: Pie Chart, Pictogram, Bar Chart, Line Graph, Frequency diagram

• Examples of where this could be inserted within your report;

• Introduction – figures of absenteeism

• Conclusion – average absenteeism figures for a particular industry/sector

• Recommendations - projected increased productivity figures

4.1 Write a business report for the stakeholders including an appropriate mix of

diagrammatic and narrative formats

Week 4 VLC

Front Cover/Title Page Title of Report, Name, Cohort, word count

Contents Page Present your headings and page number

Introduction

(See VLC week 1 & 2)

Context and the area you are researching & why? Include graph/chart in this section you have created.

Identify & Introduce stakeholders who have interest in your report

MAIN BODY

Methodology

(See VLC week 1)

Stages of the research process – can use diagram from campus (See VLC week 1)

Brief introduction – what is primary research?

Identify 2 primary research methods (e.g. Surveys, Interviews).

You could put in a Table showing Adv/disadvantages

But you MUST Include a paragraph underneath comparing the methods against each other – similarities and differences? Why would you

choose one method over another?

Literature Review

*Ensure correctly referenced literature

(See VLC week 2 & 3)

Source 1: Summary of findings and Evaluate quality

Source 2: Summary of findings and Evaluate quality

Source 3: Summary of findings and Evaluate quality

- Provide an overview of the research

- what does the literature suggest about the topic?

- Evaluate the effectiveness of the author’s argument – do they agree or disagree?

- Discuss if the research is authentic, valid, reliable and current

Summary Paragraph - A comparison of the sources pointing out where they agree or disagree – this could be placed in a table but further

narrative bringing the findings together must be provided.

Conclusion (See VLC Week 3) What can you conclude from the findings? - NO NEW INFORMATION HERE (See VLC Week 3)

Recommendations Brief Introduction, then:

Recommendation 1, Recommendation 2, Recommendation 3

Include a discussion of how there will impact the stakeholders you identified in your introduction.

Reference list/Bibliography Harvard format

Appendices Make sure labelled and signposted in your main body of your work.

How to best tackle this assessment (Hints and Tips)

• This is a study of the purpose, value and relevance of secondary research

• Do not carry out topic related primary research

• Pick an area of the business / organisation that would benefit from improvement –

include a graph/pie chart (your own work)

• Select three key secondary sources

• Critically review them

• Feel free to make assumptions about the methodology (primary research) used

• Write a report (2500 words +/- 10%)

• Draw conclusions from your review of these texts

• Make recommendations to your identified key stakeholders

Do’s and don'ts

• Read the criteria and guidance carefully.

• Diagrams and Tables should be numbered e.g.; (fig 1, fig 2)

• Refer to relevant Appendices in your narrative.

• A Bibliography is good practice to show your wider reading.

• Do not use sources like WIKIPEDIA or personal blogs – these are unlikely

to be reliable.

Useful Links to Help

How to write a persuasive report : https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/students/study-guides/business-report-

writing

Information on Stakeholder analysis : https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm

Information on SMART targets : https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm

Information on how to write a mini Literature Review: https://www.oxbridgeessays.com/blog/top-10-tips-

writing-dissertation-literature-review/

Information on what Primary and Secondary material is :

https://laverne.libguides.com/c.php?g=34942&p=222059

Information on advantages and disadvantages of research methods:

http://www.learnmarketing.net/primaryresearch.htm

CIPD EBSCO discovery service – journal articles: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/journals