INDIVIDUAL STUDENT WORKBOOK

Module Code: HR4052QA

Module Title: Managing People in Organisations
Session: November 2022 Intake

Student ID: XXXXXXXXX

Name of
Seminar Tutor:

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Table of Contents

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Week 2..................................................................................................................................................4
Week 3..................................................................................................................................................5
Week 4..................................................................................................................................................6
Week 5..................................................................................................................................................7
Week 6..................................................................................................................................................8
Week 7..................................................................................................................................................9
Week 8................................................................................................................................................10
Week 9................................................................................................................................................11
Week 10..............................................................................................................................................12
Week 11..............................................................................................................................................13
Reference list.......................................................................................................................................14
Appendices..........................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction

This workbook provides a reflection upon the learning developed from the seminar activities
and class discussions.

The workbook includes ten (weeks 2-11), each includes one or two questions with each
answer in the region of - Weeks 2-6 (100-150 words per question) and Weeks 7-11 (100
words per question).

Submission Date: Tuesday 18th July 2023 before 3.00 pm on Weblearn – Online
Submission

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Week 2: Recruitment methods

1. Explain why line managers adopt the rational approach to recruitment?

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.

Reasons why line managers adopt the rational approach to recruitment

1. Better decision making

In the study of Iyeke, and Lawrence, (2022), they found that the line managers gather
information from different job sites and structure their recruitment process and find the
competent candidate according to the predetermined criteria making the whole process
more efficient and effective helping the line managers to make a better decision for
recruitment.
2. Prediction of job performance

Putka, et al., (2022) conducted a meta-analysis revealed that the cognitive individual

ability test and a structured interview have a great contribution to the strongest job
performance emphasising the usability of a rational approach to recruitment.

2. Describe the differences between a job description and person specification?

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.

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A well-defined job description in the process of recruitment positively influences the
decision of applicants applying (Eberhardt, Facchini, and Rueda, 2022). On the contrary,
another research by Seraphin, et al. (2022) on the recruitment outcome and impact of
person specification found that a clearly outlined and well-designed person specification
attracts the most suitable candidates reducing the time needed for the selection process.

3. List three ways to encourage diversity when recruiting candidates?

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
(a) Using targeted job advertisement

From a study Hakkola, and Dyer, (2022) found that targeted job advertisements attract a
significantly more diverse pool of candidates. They also added that by using that method
the underrepresented group of candidates feels more inclined to apply for this job.
(b) Maintaining diversity goals and (c) training

Gallegos, et al., (2022) found through their research that if the organization is already
working with a diverse group of people and giving proper training to the recruiter, it is
more likely that there will be less biasness regarding differences and this diverse group of
people would prefer working for this types of organisations.

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Week 3: Selection Methods

1. What are the problems with using selection interviews to identify the best
candidate in relation to reliability and validity as a selection tool?
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Reliability problems regarding selection interviews
Because of interviewers’ judgement, personal biasness and prejudices against the
candidate may make the interview suffer from low reliability making wrong and
predetermined assumptions about the candidates and their skills resulting in
inconsistencies in the candidate’s evaluation process (Infante, and Darmawan, 2022).
Validity problems regarding selection interviews
Using a short pool of selection tools to observe candidates’ behaviours with predictive
outcomes because of the presumption of the interviewers’ biasness can cause
imbalance while recruiting and making run away the quality candidates because of this
and recruiting less qualified candidates for the post (Sabesan, et al., 2022).

2. What are the advantages of using a competency framework to design selection

interview questions?
You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Fairness and reliability
A study by Huang, Zhang, and Li, (2022) found that biased and more accurate
assessments create more acceptability and validity of the organisations among the
candidates focusing majorly on the competence of the candidates and their performance
resulting successful selection process.
Positive candidate experience and well-qualified employees
Competence designed selection framework attracts more than usual competent
candidates for the job resulting in better-performing employees for the organisation
making a positive perception of the selection process leading to create more competent
and fair interviews the authors added (Xu, et al., 2022).

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Week 4: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

1. A friend suggests that George should implement mandatory diversity

training. Based on your reading of the Dobbin and Kalev (2016) article, do
you agree with George’s friend?

Provide specific examples from the article to back up your point why you
agree/why you do not.
Yes, I agree with George’s friend on implementing mandatory diversity training in
the workplace. From the article by Dobbin and Kalev (2016), it has been found that
diversity training could be for a variety of reasons. Suppose, there comes a candidate
named Marium who is a Muslim and struggling to cope with the environment. It is the
company’s responsibility to make the company diversity-friendly and unbiased so that
Marium does not feel like an alien in the company and can easily get along with all.

2. Please recommend to George two alternative diversity management

interventions, that academic research has proven to be effective.

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.

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Interview panel of diversity

A study by Ayyala, et al., (2022) shows that if the interview panel is diversified the diverse
pool of candidates feels more comfortable and can unleash their true potential through an
unbiased and fairly inclusive selection process mitigating all the environmental barriers to
performance.

Sponsoring diversity inclusive program

The study has also discussed that sponsoring and promoting diversity-inclusive programs
attracts more valuable candidate to the company and create a positive perception of the
company among the potential candidates.

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Week 5: Skills, Training and Development

1. What are the challenges which Covid 19, has created for adult learners’
employability in the labour market?

Disrupt education and skill development opportunities

The pandemic hindered the traditional educational system and making it harder for rural
students to get under the shelter of online education and get legged behind from developing
a traditional way of skills (Manoharan, Hua, and Sultan, 2022).

Changed labour market and unmatched skills

The pandemic also brought a great change to the labour market teaching the world how so
much work can be done with less physical effort but it made it harder for adult learners to
adapt to this new normal making many of them lose their jobs (Stracke, et al., 2022).

2. Why is coaching by line managers important for the performance of their

teams?
What benefits does conducting induction for new joiners have for
organizations?

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Coaching by line managers makes the team, more motivated and engaged in their work
influencing them to perform their best to bring out the best possible outcome for the
company

Proper guidance from the line managers makes the team work more efficiently with
learned skills by coaching from them via knowledge transfer.

Conducting induction makes it easier for newcomers to adjust to the team members and
saves time to figure out the members. It also helps them to focus on their work quickly and
get adapted to the work environment sooner.

Week 6: Performance Management

1. Please copy and paste a fully

completed table assessing the
performance review practices that you
have experienced in your current job
role.
Category of performance Rating (1-5) Remarks
review
Communication Skill 4 The most important skills
which were needed is
communication skills for
me to cope with the
environment and gather
information from and about
my teammates
Leadership skills 5 While performing in my
current role, I contributed
through my leadership with
the gained knowledge from
my line manager

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 Team Work 3 The corporation of the team
members made it easier for
me to work swiftly in a
team.
Problem-solving skills 4 While working in the team I
faced many problems which
I overcame with self-
analysis and with the help
of my assigned line
manager.
Feedback for improvement 3.5 The feedback I got from my
line manager, I worked on
them and performed better
the next time.
Personal Development Plan 5 I made a PDP for myself
and acted on that
accordingly throughout my
work

2. Identify one area of performance review in your current job role that is weak
and explain why this is a problem.

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.

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 Team Work
Working as a team sometimes gets hard if all the team members do not want to
corporate and thinks of each other as a competition rather than a companion. That is
why a corporation mindset is needed to work together and look at the greater benefit of
the organistaion rather than personal benefit.
Feedback for improvement
A study by Rodríguez-Sabiote, Olmedo-Moreno, and Expósito-López, (2022) shows
that it is hard for human beings to deal with criticism and work constructively on it.
That is why the person who is giving the criticism mustn't be criticising from personal
aggression rather than doing it for the greater benefit and the receiver should also have
the mindset to work on it.

Week 7: Academic writing, referencing and plagiarism

1. What have you learnt about academic writing that will do differently as a
result of your learning from today’s lecture/seminar?
From today’s lecture, I have got some major knowledge on academic writing which I will
use from now on. They are discussed here.

Academic style and tone give a proper objective to the whole writing such as only using
third party references and if needed first but never second person references. Along with
that clarity, consciousness and critical thinking in the writing are also very important to
deliver the proper message to the readers.

2. What have you learnt about plagiarism OR referencing that will do

differently as a result of your learning from today’s lecture/seminar?

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I have gained a different aspect on plagiarism and on referencing today from my lecture.

To give the writer credit for their hard work, it is important to paraphrase their work if
needed and properly cite them in the writing and reference them at the end of the writing
following the required style such as MLA, APA or Harvard. Referencing provides the
acceptability of the writing and gives the actual author credit for his or her intellectual
contribution.

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Week 8: Motivation and rewards

1. Identify the main pros and cons of “Payment by Results” (PBR).

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Pros of payment by result (PBR)

PBR is cost-effective and only incentivizes an individual’s performance directly to the

outcome and pays accordingly. It also keeps the work transparent and makes one
accountable for the work he or she has done.

Cons of payment by result (PBR)

PBR can manipulate an individual’s work without the proper realisations of that
individual’s capacity and skills and measuring all of them with the same predetermined
outcome (Mathew, et al., 2022). In the same process, it can also create inequality and only
focuses on the consequences rather than focusing on the broader spectrum of
performances.

2. Identify at least three of the more significant components of financial reward

other than salary. Argue the benefits and drawbacks of each of them.

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Employee recognition and rewards

A monthly or yearly best performer can be celebrated by recognition and reward to

motivate them and others to achieve the title but at the same time, there is much scope for
biases which also might result negatively if the work culture is not positive.

Performance-based bonuses

Engaging the bonus according to the target performance has been a long-practiced formula
according to which bonus is served as a motivation to work to enhance the satisfaction and
engagement of the employees (Manoharan, Hua, and Sultan, 2022). Though it is presumed

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greatly beneficial It is only effective for the short time goal and has a major gap for
manipulation.

Competitive advantages

Giving competitive advantages such as work-life balance, flexibility at work and different
gift cards may keep the best performers up to the head though it would be hard to design a
personalised beneficial program for each performer each month or year.

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Week 9: The psychological contract and employee engagement

1. Present a reliable definition of Employee Engagement.

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Employee engagement depends on various reasons. People work to get their initial needs
met first gradually they look for validation and recognition and better advantages once they
get attached to the work. Employee engagement also greatly depends on the work
environment S/he is working (Iyeke, and Lawrence, 2022). If the work environment is
motivating, and fulfilling all the psychological and physical needs, employees tend to
engage more.

2. Identify at least three of the benefits of Employee Engagement to

organisations.

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.
Increasing productivity

Getting engaged with employees makes them more productive in their responsibilities and
helps them perform better as they work with satisfaction and comfort to utilize their
creativity and innovation to achieve the organisational goal.

Employee loyalty and retention

Employees who are engaged in their work tend to have stronger work ethics and much
dedication to their work making them loyal employees reducing the turnover rate and
increasing the retention rate with their commitment when they feel supported.

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Week 10: International differences in organisations and management

1. What are the challenges of leading in global firms?

Inability to adapt to cultural diversity and maintenance

Global firms consist of a diversity of people and it is harder for a leader to lead the team if
S/he has different barriers such as language barriers, less knowledge of cultural differences
and unable to communicate properly (Hakkola, and Dyer, 2022).

Inadequate understanding of the global market

The global market is different from the local market. Its role responsibility, business
structure and time zone also vary from the other. So to collaborate in a team it is important
to get adequate knowledge of them.

Inadequate knowledge of legal consideration

The global market needs to follow the diverse market regulatory context and form
decisions accordingly and keep updated with the local market, stakeholders and other
business operations.

2.
List the reasons for expatriate failure in global firms?

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An expatriate unable to adapt to diversity may fail and not be able to perform well on the
global platform

Less experience and inadequate training can make the expatriate face many international
challenges which S/he was not prepared for (Gallegos, et al., 2022).

Lack of social support in the country the expatriate is working in can make them feel
inadequate and burnt out losing the motivation to work.

Family issues and a lack of knowledge of the role expatriate is playing can also lead to
failure.

Week 11: Leadership style

1. Present definitions and give examples of these five concepts:

 Transactional Leadership
 Transformational Leadership
 Contingency Leadership
 Situational Leadership
 Inclusive Leadership

You should cite relevant theory to support your points and illustrate them
with empirical evidence using Harvard referencing.

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Transactional leadership: Transactional leadership is mainly on the give-and-take policy.
Here the leaders provide leadership, benefits, rewards and punishments according to the
performance of the followers.

Transformational Leadership: this kind of leadership helps the team members to unleash
their inner potential through growth with the inspiration and guidance of the leader.

Contingency Leadership: In this kind of leadership the leaders use different leadership
methods in different situations such as participative when seeking input and directive when
making quick decisions (Ayyala, et al., 2022)

Situational Leadership: this leadership style adjusts with every team member according to
their needs at different stages.

Inclusive leadership: This leadership style encourages ideas and contributions of people
from a diverse pool and provides opportunities for all.

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Reference list

Ayyala, R. S. et al. (2022) “Leveraging diversity, equity and inclusion for promoting
wellness in the radiology workplace,” Pediatric radiology, 52(9), pp. 1724–1729. doi:
10.1007/s00247-022-05292-z.

Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2016) “Why diversity programs fail,” Harvard Business Review,
94(7).

Eberhardt, M., Facchini, G. and Rueda, V. (2022) “Gender differences in reference letters:
Evidence from the economics job market,” SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:
10.2139/ssrn.4114599.

Gallegos, M. et al. (2022) “Holistic review, mitigating bias, and other strategies in residency
recruitment for diversity, equity, and inclusion: An evidence-based guide to best practices
from the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine,” The western journal of
emergency medicine, 23(3), pp. 345–352. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2022.3.54419.

Hakkola, L. and Dyer, S. J. V. (2022) “Role conflict: How search committee chairs negotiate
faculty status, diversity, and equity in faculty searches,” Journal of diversity in higher
education. doi: 10.1037/dhe0000386.

Huang, B., Zhang, J. and Li, X. (2022) “Construction of mega individuals competency model
in business environment: A Grounded Theory approach,” Sustainability, 14(15), p. 9248. doi:
10.3390/su14159248.

Infante, A. and Darmawan, D. (2022) “Gender equality: Women’s involvement in human

resource management practices,” Journal of Social Science Studies (JOS3), 2(1), pp. 27–30.
doi: 10.56348/jos3.v2i1.16.

Iyeke, P. O. and Lawrence, K. C. (2022) “Reducing Social Anxiety among Adolescents in the
Covid-19 Era: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy as a Counselling
Approach,” International journal of psychology and psychological therapy, 22(1), pp. 77–87.

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Manoharan, S. R., Hua, T. K. and Sultan, F. M. M. (2022) “A comparison of online learning
challenges between young learners and adult learners in ESL classes during the COVID-19
pandemic: A critical review,” Theory and practice in language studies, 12(1), pp. 28–35. doi:
10.17507/tpls.1201.04.

Mathew, J. et al. (2022) “Managing human resource management tensions in project‐based

organisations: Evidence from Bangalore,” Human resource management journal. doi:
10.1111/1748-8583.12439.

Putka, D. J. et al. (2022) “Evaluating a natural language processing approach to estimating

KSA and interest job analysis ratings,” Journal of business and psychology. doi:
10.1007/s10869-022-09824-0.

Rodríguez-Sabiote, C., Olmedo-Moreno, E. M. and Expósito-López, J. (2022) “The effects of

teamwork on critical thinking: A serial mediation analysis of the influence of work skills and
educational motivation in secondary school students,” Thinking skills and creativity,
45(101063), p. 101063. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101063.

Sabesan, V. et al. (2022) “Implementation and evaluation of virtual multiple mini interviews
as a selection tool for entry into paediatric postgraduate training: A Queensland
experience,” Medical teacher, 44(1), pp. 87–94. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2021.1967906.

Seraphin, H. et al. (2022) “Determining and making sense of recruitment practices for
tourism academics in the UK,” International journal of organizational analysis. doi:
10.1108/ijoa-02-2022-3173.

Stracke, C. M. et al. (2022) “Responding to the initial challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Analysis of international responses and impact in school and higher
education,” Sustainability, 14(3), p. 1876. doi: 10.3390/su14031876.

Xu, X. et al. (2022) “Developing a leadership and management competency framework for
nurse champion: A qualitative study from Shanghai, China,” Journal of nursing management,
30(4), pp. 962–972. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13580.

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Appendices
The ‘Appendices’ is an optional Section only.

You have the option if you want to please include any relevant ongoing work relating to the different
sections: for example, references/screenshot to a website you visited; photos/scans of any notes you
have made; etc.

If you do include any appendices, please give a title and a number each one of the appendices:

Week 1

Week 2

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