- The principles of effective workforce planning (e.g. gap analysis) and the tools used in the process (AC2.1) (minimum 150 words).
Strategic workforce planning is a process in a business that helps the firm to align its human capital program with the current mission and the objectives that they seek to achieve in future. To add on that, effective workforce planning also helps in the development of long-term strategies that can be used to acquire, develop, and maintain their staff for the purpose of achieving its goals (Mayo 2015, pp. 175). There are several principles of effective workforce planning. Some of the most important principles are; robust short term or realistic long term, align to the strategy of the business, adapt a strategic approach, and involve everyone in the organization from the management to the employees. Workforce planning is important because it helps organizations to forecast future changes in the market. Some of the tools used in strategic planning are the 9-box grid and HR dashboarding. Dashboarding contains all the information of the employee while the 9-box grid is used to compare the performance of employees’ overtime.
- Key considerations when planning and conducting a downsizing of an organization. (AC2.3) (minimum of 150 words)
Downsizing in organizations is the process through which a company permanently reduces its labor force through elimination those who are nor productive. The process is often associated with economic downturn as well as other market dynamics that might cause organizations to fail in the market. During economic hard times, many organizations usually run to this because is one of the fastest ways of cutting the costs. To add on that, downsizing in the organizations also helps in freeing some assets for sale and therefore raising money that can be used in other activities. Downsizing is usually a complicated matter and therefore organizations have to be careful by putting the following into consideration when downsizing; implications it might have to the employees, strategies and policies to deal with changes, and the need to shed off some employees who are productive in the organization (Friebel et al. 2016, pp 1-5)
- Guidance on practice in the development of job descriptions, person specifications and competency frameworks. (AC2.4) (minimum of 150 words)
When carrying out the recruitment of new employees in the organization PTP Soda Drinks should ensure that competency frameworks, person specifications, and job descriptions are put into consideration. A competency framework is a system that organizations use to communicate their values and other important messages to the employees. The system should always be updated to keep the employees informed. The person specification is a description of all the skills, knowledge, attribute, and the qualifications that an employee possess. When doing this, PTP Soda Drinks should be very accurate to enhance competency when an employee is allocated a certain task. The job description is one of the internal documents that vividly the duties, responsibilities, as well as the skills that are required for one to qualify for a specific role. When making these job description, PTP Soda Drinks should make sure that it does not encourage silo working. Additionally, the company should also be keen to ensure that only the best talents are hired.
- An explanation of the main legal requirements in relation to recruitment and selection. (AC2.5) (minimum of 150 words)
When carrying out the process of recruitment and selection of the employees, it’s important that for PTP Soda Drinks to consider some legal requirement to avoid lawsuits from members of the public as well as other organizations. Some of the main regal requirement when selecting and recruiting employees are; avoiding discrimination, the law requires that all the individuals seeking employment position not to be discriminated. Secondly, all the applicants should be treated equally without favours. Thirdly, the government has a minimum age that an employee should be paid. Under no circumstance should an organization pay its workers an amount that is below what the government has set? fourthly, PTP Soda Drinks should avoid harassing their employees in the workplace. Finally, when a photo of any employees is used in advertising, they should claim copyrights. To add to that, the audio advertisement should also be entitled to copyrights from the company.
- An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of 2 different methods of recruitment and 2 of selection (AC2.6)
Recruitment Methods
| Method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| 1-Advertising in the national press. | 1- Wide circulation. This is effective as a wide audience is reached. 2. Effective as it combines both audio and visual. 3. It is fast. The national press is always followed by almost everyone in the country. Therefore, getting an employee is a very fast. | 1-Hard to the target audience that you need. Different people follow the press. This makes it difficult to run the ad on the right time so as to get the right target 2. Very expensive. Running a job advertisement on national press such as TVs is very expensive and PTP Soda Drinks may not afford since the company has been affected by market dynamic |
| 2-Advertising use social media search like LinkedIn | It is cheap Most of the social media sites are free. However, those that charge is cheap and PTP Soda Drinks can afford 2. Wide coverage 3. Easy to get the target audience | 1. Social media disillusionment 2. Sharing of space with big companies which may be offering good incentive 3. Ads don’t have sufficient attention from the audience. |
| 3- Recruitment agencies | Effective compared to social media platforms.Save time | Priorities Advertising agencies have multiple have different customers. Therefore, they may have priorities for the organization. This may delay the recruitment process of PTP Soda Drinks. May not be accurate Since the recruitment is being by the agency on behalf company, the agency may not really recruit the most appropriate person |
Selection Methods
| Method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Unstructured interviews | It is flexible Sensitivity and rapport Easier for the interviewer to carry out the interview | Ethical issues Reliable May have practical problems |
| Competency-based interview | The interview is clear Safe for the employeeEffective in filtering out the best employee | Contains unanswered questions Contains routine answers |
| Assessment centres | The candidate can evaluate themselves and determine their strengths and weaknesses It is more valid compared to other methods Candidates can improve their performance | It is very costly Time-consuming The evaluation may be biased |
- Advice on good practice in the management of dismissals, retirements and redundancies that complies with current (the UK and/or local) legislation – 3 separate sections (AC4.1) (minimum 900 words).
Dismissals and redundancies are some of the reasons behind the number of cases in the tribunal. However, most organization do this because of economic recessions or any other factor that may affect the performance of an organization in the market that may make it not to perform according to the expectations.
Managing Dismissal
According to the UK employment laws, dismissal is when the employer terminates the employment of the employees at the workplace. In most cases, employers don’t have to give notice prior to dismissal (Government Digital Service 2012). To be fair to the employee on dismissal, PTP Soda Drinks must clearly demonstrate that the dismissal was due to valid reasons and the action was reasonably executed by the management. According to the UK laws, PTP Soda Drinks must ensure that the dismissals are consistent with all employees, e.g, A person should not be dismissed by doing something that, the company allows other employees to do. This would suggest that the company is not observing the equality law in employment. To add on that before dismissing an employee PTP Soda Drinks should fully investigate the matter. this would ensure that an employee is not dismissed on an allegation. Furthermore, this will also save the company on lawsuits that may be filed by the dismissed employee.
The company should know that all the employees have the right to get their dismissal in writing (Government Digital Service 2014). Upon receiving the dismissal news, an employee can make a follow-up and request their dismissal in printed or written with all the reasons as to why they have been dismissed. However, the employees must have served for at least two years to get a written report. When an employee is dismissed when they are in a leave, e.g. paternity or maternity leave, they must get their written dismissal regardless of how they have worked for. Furthermore, a written dismissal with valid reasons should be provided regardless of whether the employee has asked for it or not. Knowledge of the legislation regarding the dismissal will help PTP Soda Drinks to comply with the law and avoid lawsuits.
Managing Retirement
The retirement laws on retirement in the organizations are constantly changing. The changes have made it possible for the employees to retire when they want as compared to the previous laws when employee-only retired when their employee decided (Government Digital Service, 2014). It is important for the company to know that the UK legislation can consider retirement as a form of age discrimination especially when a person is forced or persuaded to retire. This may raise a lawsuit against the company unless they justify their reasons to do so.
It is also important for PTP Soda Drinks to note that different laws may apply depending on the changes in legislation. For example, in a situation when an employee who retired before the new law was put in place on 6th April 2011, the old retirement laws may apply. This would be critical in a tribunal because the old rules did not consider age as a force of discrimination if all the procedures were followed. The most important guidelines that PTP Soda Drinks should consider are; the legitimate aim of retirement, good practice in managing the retired employees, and the benefits of persuading the employee to retire when they are still productive.
PTP Soda Drinks should also know that the age at which a person retires does nor necessary mean that they are entitled to a pension. This is so because the law on equality is not specific on the age that a retired person should be entitled to the pension from the organization. To add on that, equality law does not affect the age at which a retired employee should start receiving their occupational pension. This is decided the rules set by the pension scheme. Furthermore, some workers may still be working beyond the age at which they are supposed to be receiving their pension.
Managing Redundancies
Redundancies occur when an employer makes a decision of reducing their workforce because their skills are no longer needed in the workplace (Government Digital Service 2014). However, is a person is fired and their position is immediately occupied by another person, that is not a redundancy. Therefore, the UK has some rules and regulation that helps to protect the employees from being dismissed in the name of redundancy.
In order to have a smooth redundancy, PTP Soda Drinks must follow all the rules regarding equality in the workplace. This would make sure that no employee is unlawfully dismissed from the workplace when all the procedures are observed. It is also important to note that in a situation where the organization have disabled people, failing to follow the right procedure when carrying out redundancies in the workplace may be considered as a form of discrimination and attract lawsuits against the company. Some considerations should also be observed when a redundancy decision affects a pregnant mother, a person from the minority group in the workplace, or a person who is on leave.
According to the UK law on redundancies, the person being dismissed from the workplace is entitled to pay if they have been working for their current employees for a period of 2 years or longer. PTP Soda Drinks should know that when an employee loses their job following a redundancy, they are entitled to get a half of week’s pay for one year if they are below 22, a full week’s pay if they are between 22 to 41, and one and a half week’s pay for one year if they are 41 years and above (Government Digital Service 2014).
- ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Please also comment on how you will transfer the new knowledge and skills gained during this assignment into working practices. You may also use this reflection for your CPD. (minimum 200 words)
The assignment has helped me to understand how the organizations respond to various problems during economic recessions. When working in an organization as a managing director or any other position, I will transfer these skills into real situations. During redundancy, I will make sure that I observe all the procedure to make sure that every decision made and action taken is reasonable and can be accounted for. I will ensure that the employee specification is accurate and regularly updated depending on the performance of the employees in various fields. This would help in increasing the accuracy and competency in operations as the weakness and the strengths of the employees are known. Furthermore, I have learnt that economic recessions can make organizations make decisions that make them face serious lawsuits. Therefore, when managing an organization, I will inform first to let the employees know about my decision before dismissing them. Furthermore, I will employ the cheapest recruitment and selection process. This would make sure that the organization saves on cost. To add on that, I will also consider the most efficient method which would help the organization achieve its aim and objective through efficient management of the resources available. This will help me improve my accuracy in the workplace.
References
Anon, Avoiding unlawful discrimination when making redundancy decisions. Avoiding unlawful discrimination when making redundancy decisions | Equality and Human Rights Commission. Available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/multipage guide/avoiding-unlawful-discrimination-when-making-redundancy-decisions guide/avoiding-unlawful-discrimination-when-making-redundancy-decisions [Accessed October 26, 2019]..
Anon, Dismissal Procedures: Factsheets. CIPD. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law/dismissal/factsheet [Accessed October 26, 2019].
Friebel, G., Heinz, M. & Zubanov, N., 2016. The effect of announced downsizing on worker teams performance – Evidence from a retail chain. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2016(1), p.17647.
Government Digital Service, 2012. Dismissal: your rights. GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/dismissal [Accessed October 26, 2019].
Government Digital Service, 2014. Redundancy: your rights. GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/redundancy-pay [Accessed October 26, 2019].
Mayo, A., 2015. Strategic workforce planning – a vital business activity. Strategic HR Review, 14(5), pp.174–181.
