Human Resource Management Assessment tasks
ASSESSMENT

TASK 1- WRITTEN RESEARCH PROJECT

Word length: 3,000 (min) - 3,500 words (max) by individual. 4,500 (min) - 6,000 words (max) by group of up to 4 members, plus 500 words from each group member

CHOICE OF OPTIONS AND TOPICS

You have the choice of completing one of four topics individually, or one group assignment options for Assessment Task 1. You must do either: ONE of the individual topics, OR the group topic, but NOT both! The group topic requires access to an organisation, whereas the individual topics are research-based.

OPTION 1 - GROUP WRITTEN RESEARCH REPORT

This assignment requires you to conduct research based on an actual organisation to which you have access. Your aim is to find out about HR strategies in one or both topics below that the organisation has chosen to help achieve their organisational outcomes, and recommend whether these strategies should remain or be changed.

You may choose to address ONE or BOTH of the following two topics, which are related to the contemporary HR issues discussed in this subject:

1. Performance management of staff, particularly focussing on processes linking with employee development and rewards.

2. Reward management of staff, particularly focussing on processes linking with employee development and performance management.

This option of the assignment is designed to provide you with an opportunity to apply the knowledge learnt and developed in the subject to the practical case analysis on key contemporary HR issues. You are encouraged to speak to HR personnel and/or managers/employees in your own organisation or in one you are familiar with; or to reflect on what you have been doing if you are in a HR role. This is to ensure that you conduct a thorough analysis and are able to draw out organisational strategies to address the specific HR issue(s).

This task may only by undertaken by a GROUP. It is your responsibility to form your own group. You must provide names of up to 4 members in your group to your oncampus lecturer no later than Week 3 of Trimester 2 (NOTE: for off-campus or remote students, please provide the list of names of your team to the unit chair on Week 3 also). Please note: if you cannot pull a team together in a short time (within three weeks), you would find it difficult to work together with only 6 weeks to complete your group project report as group work requires much more effective time management and coordination.

OPTION 2 - INDIVIDUAL WRITTEN RESEARCH PAPER

If you prefer to work on your own, you may choose to write a research paper based on ONE of the following topics:

1. Talent development. One of the biggest issues in HR is building the human capability and talent in organisations to meet future demand.

This becomes quite complex in globally based organisations where people are moved internationally to gain experience. How can organisations build their human capability and develop talent within their organisations in a global context? Use academic and practitioner literature to support your argument.

OR

2. Diversity Management. The changing nature of the workforce challenges organisations to adopt policies which accommodate diverse employee needs. What can organisations do to develop diversity programs which meet diverse needs and enhance employee commitment? Would these processes vary for multi-national organisations operating in different countries and cultures? Use academic and practitioner literature to support your argument.

OR

3. Social Media: Social media raises many challenges, including ethical challenges, for the human resource function. These range from using social media to screen job applicants, to reducing recruitment costs through recruiting exclusively through professional social media sites, to disciplining employees for comments about their employer organisation on ‘personal' social media sites. How should the HR function respond to, and utilise social media, without impinging on personal liberties? Would these processes vary for multi-national organisations operating in different countries and cultures? Use academic and practitioner literature to support your argument.

OR

4. Reward Management: A key issue for HR practice is to ensure that rewards provided to employees add value to the organisation. How can organisations use their reward systems, including performance-based pay, to both encourage employee performance and promote employee commitment underpinned by perceptions of fairness. In what ways would multi-national organisations need to modify their reward systems to accommodate local cultural contexts. Use academic and practitioner literature to support your argument.

The individual options for the first assignment are designed to provide you with an opportunity to apply and synthesise the knowledge learnt and developed in the subject study and critically discuss and analyse contemporary HR issues. You are required to conduct a thorough research on the chosen topic area and write a discussion paper of 3000-3,500 words (exclusive of title page, figures/tables, appendices and references).

STRUCTURE AND PRESENTATION OF YOUR RESEARCH PAPER

Although a research paper, the format of your paper should still be based on report format. You may use headings and a clear logical numbering system. You should also include a full list of references. Only include information in your references and appendices that has been directly referred to in the body of your document. In your research paper, you do NOT need a table of contents or an executive summary.

Your paper should include:

1. A title page containing the subject title and code, lecturer's name, your name and student id number and word count

2. Introduction (brief outline of the topic and your argument)

3. Relevant literature review - synthesising key academic and practitioner journal articles and other literature related to a discussion of the topic area

4. Identifying best practices or issues and problems (what issues and problems or best practices of organisations did you find through readings?)

5. Discussion and analysis (how could the issues and problems identified be addressed by using a set of HR solutions/strategies?)

6. Conclusion (what are your key points of learning/findings or recommendations for organisations?)

7. References

8. Appendices (if any - this can include descriptions of practices or processes that are too long to fit in the body of the paper).
Please include the word count on the front page of your assignment.

ASSESSMENT TASK 2 - FINAL EXAMINATION

The final examination will be based on the whole unit and will be two hours in duration with 15 minutes reading time. You will not be allowed to take any notes or references into the examination room. You will be advised later in the trimester about the date and place of the final examination.