Centre name: ICS Learn

Candidate name: -
CIPD Membership - ICS student -
Number: number:
Qualification title: Home Course for CIPD Level 5 Diploma in HRM
Unit title(s): Unit code(s): 5RST/05
Resourcing and Talent Planning

Assessment number R50-5RSTOLG2

*Online Class Date 22nd October 2018 *Tutor Name Keith Watson
* Not required when submitting a Formative assessment

Please Note - You cannot submit your assignment until you have
attended your Level 5 Online Classroom – all details must be filled in
above before your work will be marked.
1st Submission Date 6th November 2018 Word Count 3513
2nd Submission Date Word Count
3rd Submission Date Word Count

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1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3

Medical Research Network specializes in the conduct of clinical trial visits in the patient’s home. MRN’s
main head office is in the UK and they have another office based in the US. The organisation differs in the
two countries as per below:

In the UK the government has cut spending to reduce public borrowing, which results in labour markets
to be loose which means job-seekers are competing for a smaller number of opportunities. Also, for few
years unemployment remains high in the UK with currently being at its lowest for more than 40 years, for
employers this means that they can easily recruit people with the skills and experience that they require.
On the other hand, the US has a tight labour market through strong consumer spending and the
continued recovery of the housing market. This means that there are more job opportunities available
than there are active job-seekers. the employment in the US has strong growth, the employment rate in
the US has increased to 60.40 percent. This means the organisations can focus on factors such as
development/ recruitment initiatives, retention strategies etc. This is because when markets are tight the
organisations and employers need to focus on being creative with regards to strategies etc. to stay
competitive and attractive. Also, in the UK salaries are higher than the average UK person. Recent study
showing that US was the fifth highest in the world at $4,893 per month, on the other hand UK was in 14th
position with an average of £3,461 per month. Lastly the employment contracts have also very different
types due to the US law and English law being different, one of the examples being ‘’at will’ employment
that is in the US which means the employer is able to terminate employment without notice where is on
the other hand in the UK the employer must show a cause of termination due to the UK employment law
being much more formal.

1.4

The main role of the government is to provide a stable set of institutions and rules, promote effective and
workable competition, ensure economic stability and growth, provide for public goods and services, and
adjust for undesired market results. In the recent years there has been a concern for the skills needed for
jobs with the level of skills that is actually available in the UK, therefore the Government has gone
through a review in order to improve the levels of basic skills, and technical skills by funding for more
apprentices and now having 500,000 people running on this scheme with a target of recruiting 3 million
apprentices by 2020 as this will ensuring future skills needs are met by support the skills development
through the apprentice schemes.

A new, employer-led model has been developed t o ensure skills needs are met under the pilot trailblazer
apprenticeship funding model enabling employers to drive up apprenticeship quality by setting
apprenticeships to last for a minimum of 12 months, also by including maths and English to as
mandatory, also for employers to make a mandatory cash contribution towards the training costs of
the apprenticeship.

The role of trade unions has changed over the past years. Trade unions play a big role in directly
shaping people’s working lives. The contribution of union learning representatives involves
promoting the value of learning, supporting learners, arranging learning/training, supporting
workplace learning centres to embed learning in the workplace and offering support and guidance to
learners by offering information, advice and carrying out initial assessments of skills that can help
plan for next learning steps.
2.1

Workforce planning is a process where

the organisation analyses the current
workforce by looking at the current
organisational structure and what
plans to input in order to increase
productivity within the business, and
the future workforce needs by Identify
what future capabilities and predict
the timeframes involved. also, a
process where you identify any gaps
and relevant strategies for focussed
people development in order to
understand the organisations current
gaps in knowledge or skills. This
analysis can be done by the using the gap analysis method that assess differences in performance
and show whether the organisations requirements are met or not. Lastly monitoring action plans in
order to being able to conduct regular reviews of the outcomes.

2.2

Succession planning involves identifying potential future leaders for the organisation, succession
planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees for roles as they become
available in an organisation. The first step an organisation takes is identifying positions for which
succession is required which normally applies to senior roles within an organisation. The
organisation then identifies possible successors. This can be analysed through performance review
process where you can assess current skills and agree on any development plans and activities that
can be used to help the individual to get to the next level for example training programmes. It is also
important for the organisation to give all employees a fair chance when opportunities become
available by communicating the available vacancies to everyone in the organisation and having a
formal selection process.

Career development involves the organisation increasing the extent to a point where employees can
do different activities and tasks within the organisation. This can be done by job rotation, this means
assigning employees to different jobs throughout their employment which enables the organisation
to allocate their employees to where they are most needed. Also, things that can be considered is
determination how to best use existing resources, for example formal training of people, coaching
and mentoring.

2.3

Downsizing is a reduction in size and costs implemented by management in order to improve

efficiency/ productivity or for competitiveness. The organisations needs to communicate and keep
the workforce informed of what is happening, also educate the workforce in order for them to learn
that the downsizing is happening in the organisation, the organisation will also need to provide
leadership in order to keep the productivity and morale levels up by being able to answer any
questions during that time but also ensuring equity and fairness as one of the mandatory rules and
maintain a managed approach by keeping an eye on everything, for example, making sure that the
management is following the process that has been set up.
2.4

Contributing to the development of job descriptions, person specifications and competency

frameworks by advising and supporting managers, as human resources often gets involved in the
writing of job descriptions. Human resources would also support and advise managers for example
by providing appropriate frameworks for example advising to use the seven-point plan as a useful
framework. Also making sure that the organisation is compliant with the law and good practice. For
example, advising that it is illegal to refuse to employ someone on the grounds of their disability as
discrimination is very relevant. Developing a job description is summarising the tasks that make up
the job. Human resources would support in order to ensure that the following are included:

 job title
 grade/rate of pay
 main location
 supervisor’s name/post
 details of any subordinates
 summary of the main purpose of the job
 list of principal job duties together with very brief descriptions
 reference to other documents (such as collective agreements) that may clarify or expand on
other items.
Developing a person specification focuses on the human attributes that are necessary for someone
performing the role. Human resources would support to ensure that the following are included:

 skills – such as a certain level of IT competence, a foreign language, familiarity with certain
tools and techniques
 experience – in a similar job role, company or industry
 qualifications – generally vocational
 education – mostly referring to a specific level (such as GCSEs, A-level or degree)
 personal attributes – such as professionalism, creativity, interpersonal skills.

2.5

The main legal requirements in relation to recruitment and selection is to ensure compliance with
the law Under the Equality Act 2010 which ensures consistency in what employers and employees
need to do to make their workplaces a fair environment and comply with the law but also that no
unlawful discrimination occurs in the recruitment and selection process. This is known as ‘protected
characteristic’ for people with the following protected characteristics: sex, race, nationality,
disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. There are two types of
discrimination one of them being direct discrimination, this happens at recruitment stage when a
failing to shortlist a suited person based on protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination occurs
for example when the employer has a practice, policy or rule that applies to all in the same way,
however has worse effect on some people than others. Legal requirements in relation to recruitment
and selection is also the Data Protection Act (1998). This protect people from the misuse of
information about them, for human resources this means that all data must be managed correctly
with the current knowledge of all data protection principles.
2.6

First example of a method of recruitment and selection is recruitment agency. The advantage of this
is there is a large number of agencies now therefore you have a large choice to choose from when
looking for best suited agency to your organisation and what you are looking for, also when
recruiting through an agency a lot of admin work is covered by them and because they work in
recruitment on daily basis they have more knowledge of where best candidates can be found or may
even have a suitable person on their records already.

The disadvantage of this is mainly being expensive as normally recruitment agencies will take a
percentage of the employed person’s salary once they have been successful, and normally a
recruitment agent will be working on multiple roles therefore your role wouldn’t be a priority for
them which means less quality time is spent looking for best suited candidate.

On the other hand, advertising in the media would cut that cost down in comparison to recruitment
agency. The advantages of advertising in the media is that there are a lot of websites that can now
be used it is also the main place where people would go to look for a new job. However, the
disadvantage is of excluding those who do not have access to this that could potentially be a good
fit.

A method of recruitment and selection can also be a face to face individual interview. These are
normally conducted by the line manager recruiting for the role. The advantages of this method is it
gives a more accurate and in-depth information however they are very time consuming if you cannot
find a suitable person for long time which in that case another method of recruitment and selection
can be used for example assessment centres which in comparison to face to face interviewing can be
much more effective. This is because you can interview all candidates at once and assess a wide
range of skills at the same time however the disadvantage of this is it puts a lot of people off
therefore an organisation can miss someone that could potentially be good.

3.1

People choose to remain being employed by an organisation for reasons such as when career
growth, learning, and development is offered within the organisation. This is because people want
the opportunity to develop and to promote within an organisation and feel that their role is
important in the organisation. This is also the opposite of boredom for employees which normally
leads to a loss in productivity and focus therefore challenging employees will have a positive impact
on the organisation overally. At the same time this is beneficial to the organisation because the
business will be meeting its goals as people will gain new skills that will make them more efficient at
a job which means they will be capable of handling different responsibilities and challenges.  Another
reason why people chose to stay with an organisation is fair pay, this is because it is one of the key
factors affecting motivation and relationships at work. Fair pay can also help the organisation. This is
because it increases efficiency and productivity, but also it will help to attract the best employees,
reduce staff turnover, increase commitment and reduce absenteeism.

People will choose to leave an organisation if an organisation offers opportunities to advance

talented and gifted employees. This is because people want to feel like their job and work is
important and that they cannot just easily be replaced, people will also want to feel like they are
being challenged. People will also choose to leave organisation if the working relationship with their
line manager is uncomfortable. Your line manager needs to be supportive by giving feedback and
spending time with their employees.
Another example of why people mainly chose to leave an organisation is dissatisfaction with reward.
This is because a lot of companies are very competitive therefore it is important to do an external
benchmarking to make sure your organisation is staying competitive in the market. For example,
including a flexible benefits scheme so employees can decide based on their needs what would be
best suited for their needs.

The costs associated with dysfunctional employee turnover can be very expensive for an
organisation. This is because for example, there are increased costs in advertising for replacements.
This includes agency fees, advertising costs, human resources and management time, and the
possibility of hiring temporary staff before the new role started. The costs for advertising in
organisations reliant on recruitment agencies which is typically 15-30% of salary and can also be
higher if the organisation uses executive search companies. There is also time to hire factor which
normally takes 10-12 weeks. In this time there is no productivity or diverted to another person in the
organisation which has a negative effect on remaining colleagues. Time to hire will show how quickly
the candidate has been identified which shows if the hiring team is effective. Another example of
costs to the business if productivity is affected include indirect costs such as possible damage to
client relationships as employees don’t feel motivated to make sure the organisation is made to look
professional – this can damage the organisation reputation, also there will be no of return on
investment if there has been training and development included with a leaver. Also departing
employees with most probably be leaving for a competitor taking their knowledge and information
with them.

3.2

There are many different approaches to retention of talent in an organisation. For example,
considering financial benefits. The main advantage of this is it boosts the organisation
competitiveness in the market by becoming a recognised organisation that offers great financial
benefits and that people want to work for which can help the organisation attract top talent. Other
advantage of this is stability. This is because if you are satisfied with your benefits and pay you will
focus more on your current role rather than looking for better opportunities. On the other hand, the
disadvantage of this is companies that mainly focus on competitive pay will lack organisational
culture which is a high motivational factor. This is because over time it will take other tools to
motivate and retain talent.

Other approaches to retention of talent can be offering flexible working. This is because it creates
productivity but also happier employees as it enables them to save time and money on travelling but
also people will be happier to pick up workload outside of the normal office hours. However, the
disadvantage of this is can cause conflicts at work if other people are not allowed to do the same,
but also the communication and contact with other colleagues may break down.

Lastly an approach of job enrichment can be considered for retention of talent. This is because it
reduces the levels of repetitiveness at work, which is a common issue why people leave when they
get bored of their role and fancy a new challenge in their career. This also creates room for
advancement as people will gain new skills and become more knowledgeable about the company.
All in all, this approach is designed to increase employee satisfaction which will reduce turnover and
increase productivity. However, the disadvantage of this is does increase the workload of an
individual which may result in stress or other issues if they are not able to priories tasks as well as
others but also it can result in poor performance. This is because due to lack of training some people
will need more clarity on the new tasks which may result in the employee feeling incompetent.
4.1

Dismissals

Dismissals happens when employment is terminated with an employee by the employer, often
happens when an employee has failed to meet certain requirements of the job role. The main
requirement when managing dismissals is having a valid reason for termination and following the
proper and standard procedure which is fair. The main reasons often fall into the capability or
conduct category which is divided into two categories – misconduct and gross misconduct. Conduct
happens when company rules are not being followed or have been broken. When dealing with
misconduct the organisation must follow the below steps:

o conduct a full investigation

o organise a hearing at which the accused employee can put his or her case and can be
represented by either a work colleague or a trade union representative
o if appropriate, issue a formal warning
o permit an appeal to be made to another/more senior manager.

It is important that a warning has been issued before going further into a dismissal only in minor
cases, however when an employee breach is serious they may be dismissed at first instance as a
result following a discussion, hearing and right of appeal.

On the other hand, capability refers to inability to do the actual job which may be due to loads of
different reasons. For example, the employee is not trying, and is performing poorly. Dismissing
individual based on this process has similar steps when dealing with conduct where a formal
meeting must be conducted following a warning due to poor performance. However, when dealing
with poor performance due to illness can be a challenging process where the organisation needs to
be much more careful to not be considered in unfair dismissal but also disability discrimination law
will need to be considered also. In some cases, the employer may not be able to dismiss if all
possible actions have been considered that may enable the individual to return to work.

Employer must act fairly and reasonably when dismissing an employee by following the right
procedure. Sometimes even when an employee is guilty of a misconducted it may not always be
necessary to result in dismissal; therefore, a detailed investigation needs to be carried to consider all
the facts relation to the conduct and what level of proof there is. When dealing with performance
the organisation may take an informal route where coaching and counselling is given to create
improvements by continuing feedback spending time between individuals and their manager which
helps to identify the issues and problems, establish the reasons for under-performance and finally
agree action to be taken to success.

Retirement

Retirement is normally a scheduled departure of an employee due to reaching the set age for
departure from the overall workforce This is 60 years (women) and 65 years (men). However, these
days when employees reach the certain age it is not compulsorily for them to retire.

However, if the employee is unable to meet the needs of the job role because of the age factor, this
should be treated as performance and capability issue. However as good practise in the
management of retirement the organisation may consider the propositions such as offering that
they step down for less responsibility, reducing their working hours by offering a flexible/phased
retirement or retiring from permanent employment but remaining on the company books as a
consultant. This is because more people would prefer to stay in work even after their expected
retirement date. The organisation should also be discussing retirement plans as it is good
practice but also helps to identify any training or development needs.

Redundancies

Redundancy is a dismissal because the job role that the employee is performing however is no
longer viable occurring only if there is a closure of the business, a closure of the workplace or a
diminution of a certain kind of work. As good practise the organisation first normally tries to find
alternatives for the individual to redundancy such as redeployment, pay cuts etc. However when
redundancy is necessary it is important for organisations to follow the correct process by planning,
identifying pool of selection to not act unfair, seek any volunteers by offering an exit package that
may be of interest instead, consulting, notifying that they can appeal against the decision to make
them redundant, and consider alternative employment and give those who have worked longer than
two years paid time off to look for new opportunities. All in all, the organisation needs to handle the
redundancy situation as sensitively as possible to help mitigate the negative impact on people.
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