General Assessment Guidelines.
The completed coursework deadline is midnight on 26th April 2016
The pass mark for this assignment is 40%. Please see all marking guidance for details on how marks are allocated.
You are required to submit your assessment via Turnitin online access on the VLE. Only submissions made via the specified mode will be accepted.
The maximum word count is 2000 words. The word count excludes titles, bibliography and appendices. You must specify total word count on the front page of your assessment.
For coursework, please use standard font size 12, with standard typeface (such as Arial or New Times Roman) and a minimum 1.5 spacing. For headers and titles please use font size 14.
Please use page numbers.
Please use standard English (UK) as your language in the submission.
DO NOT put your name or contact details anywhere on your submission. Only use your Student Recognition Number (SRN).
The references should include academic, authoritative web-based and professional sources. It is important that you understand the limitations of the web sources and appreciate the significance of the professional and academic ones. This is evidenced by the number and quality of the sources referenced. References must be cited using the Harvard referencing style.
For more information on this use the following link:
http://my.bpp.com/vle/mod/data/view.php?d=223&rid+596
Please be advised that the University has a strict policy regarding plagiarism
You should include a completed copy of the Assignment Cover Sheet. Any submission without this completed Assignment Cover Sheet will be considered invalid and not marked.
Case Study Article.
Tutors guidance
The case study below discusses the issues around diversity in the workplace with regards to gender diversity, which is still the biggest area of discrimination in the workplace in the UK today
.
Please use this article as background information on gender diversity issues and make your responses based on the questions asked, some of which are related to gender diversity, some of which are general diversity issues.
Use your own research to explore diversity issues and ensure you discuss these across all of your answers.
Boosting the female talent pipeline
Employing more women in senior positions has the potential to increase productivity and boost the economy, says Jo-Ann Feely, Alexander Mann Solutions’ Head of Consulting
With just three female executives in the FTSE100, and the percentage of women joining boards standing at 17.3%, the challenge of how to increase gender diversity at senior management level and beyond has never been more acute. That’s why clarifying the business case for boosting the female talent pipeline is vital to enabling more female middle managers to attain senior positions.
Barriers to career progression
Currently, just 40% of HR leaders consider improved business performance to be a benefit of increasing the number of women in senior roles . This is a real barrier to the career progression of the many thousands of talented female middle managers in the UK, leaving some dissatisfied with their jobs, concerned about career progression, or even tempted to resign. Also, as most senior management positions are filled by internal candidates, the internal talent pipeline is clearly not delivering true gender diversity.
Exploring the business case
Ensuring that female professionals’ capabilities are harnessed more effectively could significantly enhance company productivity, providing areal boost to the economy. With more than two million women in the UK working in managerial positions, we estimate that the potential benefit to the country from unblocking the female talent pipeline could be £5 billion.
Employing more women helps to catalyse innovation, increases the representation of consumers in employee teams, ensures compliance with legal and moral obligations, and builds more effective team participation. The net result is that companies achieve higher levels of employee engagement, with operational performance improving by nearly 20% .
So what can businesses do to ensure that more female middle managers achieve their full potential?
Karen Gill, founder of everywoman, the membership organisation that champions the advancement of women in business, believes that, “Businesses are increasingly aware of the benefits a diverse workforce brings, but some still do not know where to start to develop their female talent pipeline. Evolving women in your succession planning is key this will encourage your female staff to focus on their career goals and strengthen your business, taking them both to the next level.”
Tackling the gender diversity challenge
Recognising that gender diversity has a positive impact on company performance is vital to unlocking the full potential of female staff and multiplying the number of diversity initiatives in place.
Listening to the ambitions of female middle managers will then help to close the gap between their career aspirations and HR leaders’ perceptions. We recommend that HR and Learning and Developing professionals focus on the training and development needed for female middle managers to succeed, as it’s often the case that they don’t prioritise their own development, believing ability and drive alone will lead to promotion.
Extending flexible working options would also be a great help to women in reaching more senior roles. While 74% of female middle managers are satisfied with the level of flexibility in their current jobs, they agree that lifestyle choices are a major obstacle to career progression . In some cases, women with children who can’t achieve the work-life balance they desire may leave the pipeline altogether.
Finally, senior female ‘role models’ could potentially be doing more to help other female colleagues progress. More should be done by companies to ensure that role models are relevant and accessible.
We anticipate that improving women’s progression from middle to senior management will have a ‘multiplier effect’ by generating a healthy pipeline of female talent for executive and board-level appointments. For now, the responsibility rests with employers to engage with their female middle managers.
Reference
Mayson, R., 2013.’Building Female Talent’ [online] Available at https://www.i-l-m.com/Insight/Inspire/2013/July/building-female-talent#sthash.2c4biZ5y.dpuf[accessed 19th December 2015]
END OF CASE STUDY ARTICLE
Student Task
Please answer each question clearly. The maximum word count is 2000 words. The word count excludes titles, bibliography and appendices.
Question 1.
Explain the external and internal business factors that make recruiting and retaining a fair gender balance in the workforce an important issue in today’s workplace.
Question 2.
Analyse how HRM practices within an organisation can help drive gender equality in the workplace.
Question 3.
Identify what ethical issues may arise from developing diversity in the workforce and explain how this can affect managing people at work.
Question 4.
Explain the range of recommendations would you make as a HR professional to increase overall diversity within an organisation.
Student marking guidance
Question
Question Marks Approach
1) Explain the external and internal business factors that make recruiting and retaining a fair gender balance in the workforce an important issue in today’s workplace.
25 Identify internal and external factors such as those discussed in the case study and more, then analyse why they are important to any organisation. Make good use of research to support your answer.
For an excellent mark, use research and HR Best Practice to support your answer.
2) Analyse how HRM practices within an organisation can help drive gender equality in the workplace.
20 Analyse how the day to day roles and responsibilities of HR can drive gender diversity. What is it HR do in a business and how can it be adapted to ensure a focus on gender equality issues.
Fore an excellent mark use research to benchmark other organisations ‘Best Practice’
3) Identify what ethical issues may arise from developing diversity in the workforce and explain how this can affect managing people at work. 20 Identify a range of ethical issues which could arise in the workplace in any area of the organisation and explain how this may affect for the management of people at any level.
For an excellent mark, use research and examples to support your answer.
4) Explain the range of recommendations would you make as a HR professional to increase overall diversity within an organisation. 25 For an excellent mark the student will make several strong well explained and fully justified recommendationsthat are practical to implement from a HR and organisational perspective. The answers should be well thought out and fully justified. Use ‘Best Practice’ research to support your answer.
Use of relevant structure and layout and Harvard referencing 10 marks
For an excellent mark, students will use 100% correct Harvard referencing and clearly structure their paper, using appropriate titles, subtitles and a reference page.
The language used should be appropriate to the academic context and business communication as outlined, avoiding colloquialisms informal terms and jargon.
MARKING CRITERIA
Level 4 Assessment
PASS FAIL
Criterion 80-100% 70-79% 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% 30-39% 0-29%
Knowledge & Understanding
(a) Systematic Understanding
(b) Emerging thought
(a) Thorough, explicit knowledge & understanding of the topic with some clear understanding of, and explicit links to, some aspects of a wider field of study.
(b) Excellent usage of recent emerging thought and/or practices from a range of appropriate disciplines (a) Very good knowledge and understanding of central topic issues explicitly identified with some appreciation of, and explicit links to, a wider field of study.
(b) Application of recent emerging thought or practices from the discipline (a) Good, partially implicit, knowledge and understanding of central topic issues with some appreciation of a wider field of study.
(b) Some clear evidence of the application of thoughts and practices at the forefront of the discipline (a) Evidence of a sound factual and/or conceptual knowledge base and the ability accurately to use appropriate terminology.
(b) Clear evidence of an understanding of thoughts and practices at the forefront of the discipline. (a) Some indications of a limited ability to identify appropriate ideas, concepts and principles.
(b) Some evidence of the understanding of the thoughts and practices related to the discipline indicated. (a) Signs of an emerging knowledge and understanding of topic issues but unable always to select or apply them appropriately.
(b) Not clear or precise understanding of thoughts and practices related to the required discipline indicated (a) Little knowledge or understanding of any of the central topic issues withnumerous factual errors and use of a great deal of irrelevant material.
(b)Significant gaps in the understanding of practices related to the discipline indicated
Argument
(a) Analysis, Synthesis & Evaluation
(b) Numerical Analysis
(c) Independent Research
(a) Sustained and fully substantiated analysis including contrary perspectives.
(b) Numeric analysis that is complete and free from errors with application of methods that may be insightful or original
(c) Evidence of an innovative or original use of extensive personal research which has been thoroughly evaluated conceptually (a) High level of awareness and the questioning of assumptions.
(b) Numeric analysis that is complete and mostly free from errors with fluent and appropriate application of methods.
(c) Substantial research and evidence of an innovative use of a wide range of personal research with clear and consistent evaluation conceptual (a) Ability to analyse drawing on a range of perspectives. Some questioning of assumptions.
(b) Numeric analysis that is complete and mostly free from errors with relevant and effective application of methods
(c) Clear evidence of considerable personal research and the use of a diverse range of appropriate sources but may contain problems with consistency in the conceptual evaluation (a) Some ability to analyse within guiding principles. Some evidence of critical thought.
(b) Numeric analysis that is complete and mostly free from significant or critical errors with appropriate application of methods.
(c) Appropriate use of a wide range of personal research which is critically evaluated for key conceptual issues although this may not be consistent throughout (a) Largely descriptive but with some limited evidence of significant thought and with a growing awareness of assumptions.
(b) Numeric analysis that is mostly complete but contains errors that have some limited effect, or methods that are not applied wholly appropriately
(c) Evidence of a consistent argument but may have weaknesses or be unconvincing. Clear use of information gathered but may not be sufficient to sustain he argument. (a) Generally descriptive and indecisive.
May include generalisations and assumptions and may lack coherence.
(b) Numeric analysis that is incomplete or contains errors which have critical effect, or methods that are applied inappropriately
(c) Over reliance on very restricted range of personal or secondary research much of which may not be evaluated and may not be directly related to the question or area (a) Wholly descriptive and insignificant with many generalisations, assumptions and illogical claims. Discussion irrelevant to the task set.
(b) Numeric analysis is almost non-existent and also incorrect
(c) Generally only a very restricted range of personal research which is not evaluated and is not directly related to the question
Presentation
(a) Structure
(b) Referencing
(c) Use of Language (a) Excellent structure and presentation
(b) Precise, full and appropriate references and notes.
(c) Subtle use of language expressing a high degree of thought with clarity and precision to a level appropriate for submission for publication. (a) Excellent structure and presentation
(b) Precise, full and appropriate references and notes.
(c) Precise use of language expressing complex thought with clarity, accuracy and precision which furthers and enhances the argument (a) Good structure and presentation
(b) Full and appropriate references and notes with minor or insignificant errors
(c) Clear and precise use of language allowing a complex argument to be easily understood and followed (a) Adequate structure and presentation
(b) Good references and notes with minor or insignificant errors or omissions
(c) Generally clear use of language sufficient for arguments to be readily understood and followed (a) Adequate structure and presentation
(b) Competent references and notes but may contain inconsistencies, errors or omissions
(c) Generally understandable use of language but significant errors in expression affecting overall clarity (a) Poor structure and presentation
(b) Poor references and notes with multiple inconsistencies, errors or omissions
(c) Serious errors in the use of language which makes meaning unclear or imprecise
(a) Very poor standard of basic English. Much more care needed with language construction and checking of the text. Very imprecise/ non-academic writing style.
(b) Very limited or nil referencing with numerous errors and omissions
(c) Extreme errors in use of language and an extreme lack of clarity
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