HR1

Level7AssignmentBriefing_EngagementAssignment_2019-11.docx

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Assignment Task

Please write a 2,000 word essay (excluding references), incorporating elements of the suggested readings and any other relevant journal articles or book chapters.

Please choose ONE of the following topics:

Critically discuss the importance of engagement for both individuals and organisations.

Describe, compare and critically evaluate two key models of ‘engagement’.

Detailed guidance and suggestions for each of these is provided below.

Option 1:

Critically discuss the importance of engagement for both individuals and organisations.

The word ‘engagement’ is used above to refer to all the approaches collectively, regardless of the definition or specific name given. You can therefore write about “employee engagement” as used in much HR and consultancy literature, or about “work engagement” or whichever concept you choose.

If you want to write with a specific sector, industry or organization in mind you can do so. Do not spend much effort on describing the sector/industry/organization. The focus of this assignment is on the task indicated in the title above.

In order to critically evaluate the sources you use you must consider what evidence underpins the models of engagement, or claims about its importance, and how good that evidence is. If you choose to describe a research-based model, you must draw on the original papers, and not rely on secondary accounts.

Suggested structure

Introduction

· Outline the purpose – what you plan to do

· Clearly state any assumptions you intend to make (e.g. that you will use the word ‘engagement’ to refer generally to all the different approaches, or that you are going to discuss ‘work engagement’, for example)

· Provide sufficient background to the main part of the essay (e.g. if relevant, briefly outline the approaches to the topic you are aware of, or the industry context you want to have in mind).

Main part (Analysis)

Address the question: Why is engagement important?

· What claims have been made about the importance of engagement?

· What evidence exists to support the claims? How good is that evidence?

Conclusions

· Summarise your conclusions clearly

· Do not introduce new information or ideas (except as they might arise from the conclusions)

· Discuss the practical implications for employers, HR managers, and employees.

References

· Focus attention on research-based materials wherever possible.

Option 2

Describe, compare and critically evaluate two key models of ‘engagement’.

You can choose models or frameworks from research-based literature, or practitioner/consultancy sources. You must include at least one research-based perspective.

Suggested structure

Introduction

· Outline the purpose – what you plan to do

· Provide sufficient background to the main part of the essay (e.g. if relevant, briefly outline the approaches to the topic you are aware of, or the industry context you want to have in mind).

Main part (Analysis)

Model 1

· Key characteristics

· Related research

· Critical evaluation (what evidence supports this model, and how good is it?)

Model 2

· Key characteristics

· Related research

· Critical evaluation (what evidence supports this model, and how good is it?)

Conclusions

· Summarise your conclusions clearly

· Do not introduce new information or ideas (except as they might arise from the conclusions)

· Discuss the implications for researchers and/or managers.

References

· Focus attention on research-based materials wherever possible.

Warning

DO NOT USE THIS ARTICLE: Azoury, A., Daou, L. and Sleiaty, F., 2013. Employee engagement in family and non-family firms. International Strategic Management Review, 1(1-2), pp.11-29. It contains many errors.

ASSIGNMENT DOCUMENT PREPARATION

General principles

It’s a good idea to follow general good practice for producing professional looking documents. So your document should have:

· A cover/front page with the module and assignment title and the word count

· Contents list

· Introduction

· Analysis (Main Part)

· Conclusions

· References

The pages, and any diagrams or tables, should be numbered. The document should be in Microsoft Word format, and have margins of at least 2.54 cm on each side. A font like the one in this document is advised. Please use the Harvard style for your referencing. If you use reference management software (or just copy the citation text from Google Scholar) you should be able to cited consistently in the correct style.

Word count:

All text except the contents list, references and appendices are included in the word count. (To exclude the Contents list – do the word count then create the contents list). You can exceed the stated word count of 2,000 words by 10% without being penalised.

Marking criteria (see below).

Allocation of Marks

Letter Grade	F	C-	C	C+	B-	B	B+	A-	A	A+
Percentage %	1-49	50-52	53-56	57-59	60-62	63-66	67-69	70-74	75-84	>85
PG Grade Band	Fail	Pass	Commendation	Distinction
Criteria
Introduction	Inadequate, insufficient or incomplete. Does not clearly indicate the topic, assumptions, or provide background information.	An attempt has been made to present the topic, some assumptions, and background information, but overall this lacks clarity. The reader is not well prepared for what follows.	Clear presentation of the topic, key assumptions, and relevant background information (with some gaps). The reader is reasonably prepared for what follows.	Excellent presentation of the topic, key assumptions, relevant background information. The reader is well prepared for what follows.
Analysis	Inadequate, insufficient or incomplete Very limited attempt to identify key facts and claims, or to evaluate them effectively.	An attempt has been made to identify key facts and claims but important aspects have been missed. Lacks critical evaluation of claims in terms of evidence.	Clear grasp of material under consideration showing description of key facts and claims, and some attempt at critical evaluation of them.	Outstanding description and analysis of key facts and claims, and critical evaluation of claims in terms of evidence.
Conclusions	Inadequate, insufficient or incomplete.	An attempt has been made to summarise the analysis but is unclear or lacking in focus. Limited consideration of practical implications.	A good summary of the analysis, and some consideration of practical implications.	Excellent summary of the analysis, and detailed consideration of practical implications.
Written quality. Structure and fluency, spelling and grammar, referencing, proof reading	Inadequate, insufficient or incomplete Inconsistent, unclear structure, many errors, poor proof-reading and/or referencing	Satisfactory presentation but weak structuring overall, and in terms of argument presentation within sections.	Good presentation, fluent style and sound logical structure and referencing, minimal errors.	Excellent presentation, structure, written style and referencing, with no errors and with clearly expressed arguments.

GENERIC POSTGRADUATE GRADE CRITERIA:

CLASS	%	GRADE	OVERALL DESCRIPTION	GUIDELINE GRADE DESCRIPTIONS
Distinction	85-100	A+	Outstanding	Your work is of an exceptionally high standard which has the potential for submission for publication in a peer reviewed journal or equivalent.
	75-84	A	Excellent	Your work demonstrates a sophisticated and comprehensive knowledge of the subject area. You have shown an exceptional ability in the appropriate use of the relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices or tools to analyse and synthesise at Masters level. Your work is well-constructed and demonstrates a professional approach to academic practice (citation and referencing; appropriate presentation format; clear, accurate English). It addresses the learning outcomes/assessment criteria fully.
	70-74	A-	Very Good	Your work demonstrates strong knowledge of the subject area and the ability to develop an independent and sophisticated argument or evaluation. The ideas you put forward demonstrate exceptional clarity and focus and your work adheres to the principles of good academic practice (citation and referencing; appropriate presentation format; clear, accurate English). It addresses the learning outcomes/assessment criteria fully.
Merit	67-69	B+	Good	Your work demonstrates a well-developed critical and comprehensive understanding of the topic. It shows evidence that you have thoroughly researched the topic(s) and are able to construct an independent, logical argument or evaluation. Your work demonstrates a high degree of ability in the appropriate use of relevant literature, theory, methodologies, practices or tools to analyse and synthesise at Masters level. Your work is well-structured and logically written and demonstrates good academic practice (citation and referencing; appropriate presentation format; clear, accurate English). There is a good attempt to address the learning outcomes/assessment criteria, meeting all of them to some extent and some of them well.
	64-66	B
	60-63	B-
Pass	57-59	C+	Satisfactory	Your work demonstrates knowledge of the subject area and the ability to develop an independent, logical argument or evaluation. It shows competence in the appropriate use of literature, theory, methodologies, practices or tools. The development of some ideas in your work is limited but it attempts to analyse materials critically. At times the expression and structure of your work is not clear and you have not consistently followed good academic practice (citation and referencing; presentation format; clear, accurate English). Your work provides some level of response to the learning outcomes/assessment criteria but does not fully address all of the criteria.
	54-56	C
	50-53	C-
Marginal Fail	45-49	MF	Unsatisfactory	Your work contains some weaknesses. It provides some evidence that you have understood the topic and that you are able structure arguments or evaluation. Your work demonstrates some ability in the appropriate use of literature, theory, methodologies, practices or tools but not at Masters level. Your work fails to address one or more criteria fully.
Fail	35-44	F	Poor	Your work is unsatisfactory in it demonstrates very limited knowledge of the subject area and does not succeed in grasping the key issues There is little evidence of development of ideas and critical analysis is very limited. The presentation is confused and lacks coherence. Your work does not meet the learning outcomes/assessment criteria.
	0-35		Very poor	Your work demonstrates no real knowledge of the subject area and does not display the critical ability required at this level. Your work does not attempt to address the learning outcomes/assessment criteria adequately.

Avoiding plagiarism

When you write an essay, report or dissertation you should always cite the published sources to which you quote, refer to or use as evidence, otherwise you are likely to be committing plagiarism, which is a form of academic misconduct with potentially very serious consequences. References need to be made both within the text and in a list at the end.

The aim in doing this is to ensure that somebody reading your work can easily find these sources for themselves. This applies to whether you are using a book, a report, a journal article or an Internet site. You will probably know from your own experience how much easier it is to find a reference when a reading list or bibliography is clear and unambiguous.There is help available for referencing from the library and online:

https://mykingston.kingston.ac.uk/library/help_and_training/Pages/referencing.aspx .

http://www.citethemrightonline.com/basics

Do remember you can submit your work as many times as you like before the final deadline. It is a good idea to check your Originality Report and ensure that any potential plagiarism is eradicated for your work by rewriting in your own words and referencing correctly. The staff on the BLASC desk in the library will be able to advise on this.

Additional helpful resources about how Turnitin works can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yYf8AihndI

The best way to avoid academic misconduct or plagiarism is to use your own words at all times; do not cut and paste from other work.

Illness or other mitigating circumstances

By submitting an assignment you are declaring yourself fit to take the assessment therefore please make sure that if you are unwell you understand our mitigating circumstances process. The most important thing to do is keep us informed if you are experiencing problems! See our regulations on this link: http://www.kingston.ac.uk/aboutkingstonuniversity/howtheuniversityworks/policiesandregulations

Group work and academic misconduct

Work submitted by a group is the responsibility of the group as a whole. In the unfortunate event of the work being judged to have been plagiarised, the only circumstance in which it is possible that the responsibility for the misconduct would only fall on the group member who actually committed it, would be if there were clear evidence that that member had dishonestly misled the rest of the group as to the source of his her contribution. This would require clear and contemporaneous evidence of group discussions of the sort which should be available if groups follow the advice given about keeping a log of group proceedings. If the group work is simply allocated amongst the members of the group without any sort of group review of the outcomes, then all the group members are taking on themselves the risk that some element of the work is tainted by academic misconduct. If you are unclear about any of this, you should refer to the University’s guide to Plagiarism for further explanation.