How can JFC design learning and development initiatives that are effective and are tailored to employee learning styles?
Assessment Information – What you need to do
This is an individual assignment (do not work in pairs or groups).
Individual HR solution based on Case Study – COVID-19 Junkway Food Company (JFC) Case Study
In order to address the question, you are expected to read widely and offer a considered, critical analysis of the key debates which demonstrates your ability to express the issues fully.
At the end of a critical emergency board meeting which you are attending as company’s Human Resource Director, the CEO has asked you to write to the relevant people in the organisation, providing answers to one (1) out of the following 3 questions based on the discussions at the meeting:
Redundancy:
Provide a response to the Finance Manager- What Human Resource Management (HRM) practices can be used as strategic alternatives to compulsory redundancies? Present recommendations to JFC regarding compulsory redundancies and alternatives
Provide a response to the Finance Manager – If JFC is to undertake redundancies does the company need to consult and with whom should they consult? Provide recommendations regarding the support JFC should provide to employees who are made redundant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reward Management:
Provide a response to the Marketing Manager – How can JFC improve employee performance using performance-related pay (PRP)? Should PRP be implemented at JFC taking into consideration the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the general economy and on JFC?
Provide a response to the Marketing Manager – What is the difference between the real living age and the government’s national living wage, and which should JFC use as a basis to pay its staff? Should JFC remove the transportation allowance if either the real living wage or an annual increase in pay through the national living wage is implemented? Provide recommendations.
Learning and Development:
Provide a response to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) – How can JFC design learning and development initiatives that are effective and are tailored to employee learning styles? How can such learning and development delivered to non-catering staff be tailored to learning styles in situations where the staff work remotely from home due to COVID-19?
Provide a response to the COO – Provide a justification and recommendations for investing in one out of the three shortlisted learning and development initiatives taking into consideration the effectiveness of the initiative using an online or blended format:
Coaching and mentoring and how can this be delivered using an online or blended format?
Job rotation, secondment and shadowing and how can this be delivered using an online or blended format?
Off-the job learning using external expert instructors and formal education courses and how can this be delivered using an online or blended format?
You are expected to provide an academic answer to one of the questions above that critically analyses relevant academic theory and uses academic references. Please note that a good case study answer goes beyond mere description of HRM practices to evidence-based critical analysis of the academic literature and organisational practices.
Criteria for Assessment – How you will be marked
The assessment will demonstrate your ability to:
Analyse a case-study
Comprehend and apply relevant models and theories to explain the issues raised
Offer realistic and practical solutions to organisational problems
Develop a logical argument, referring to evidence in support of it
Demonstrate the ability to critically interpret, synthesize and analyse the information presented as well as relevant models and theories
This assignment is designed to assess the following learning outcomes:
To demonstrate an understanding of the role of HRM in contemporary organisations. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To demonstrate an understanding of the key literature in the area. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To understand and explain the values and assumptions that underlie different approaches to HRM. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To make effective use of appropriate literature to locate specific HRM initiatives in key functional areas. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To analyse the effects of these initiatives from the points of view of different organisational actors. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To trace the outcomes of HRM for organisations and employees and to evaluate the benefits and tensions associated with HRM policies within organisations. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To analyse case studies using relevant theories and empirical evidence. (Other Coursework)
To demonstrate the ability to offer written and verbal argument that offers a critique of contemporary HRM practices. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To understand how legal and ethical issues impact upon HRM. (Essay and Other Coursework)
To understand how HRM is applied in different organisational contexts. (Essay and Other Coursework)
Assessment Details
The word count is 2000 words.
There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.
The word limit includes tables, figures, quotations and citations, but excludes the references list and appendices.
