HRM7006 Learning and Development

Part 1- Organisational Reflection

Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a Learning and Development assessment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Explain, evaluate and critically analyse the internal and external contextual factors impacting on the design, delivery and assessment of learning plans and interventions in organisations.

2. Evaluate, select and apply a range of approaches and processes for establishing learning and development needs at organisational, group/team, occupational and individual levels in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

3. Critically evaluate a range of learning and instructional design theories and principles and apply them to select and justify appropriate learning and development methods and delivery channels with the engagement and support of other professionals and managers.

4. Design learning plans and interventions to meet identified needs in a timely, feasible and cost-effective way.

5. Demonstrate skills of delivery and facilitation of learning through a range of methods and for employees at a range of organisational levels and a range of occupational groups.

6. Design and implement appropriate evaluation methods to assess the success and effectiveness of learning plans and interventions.

7. Act ethically and professionally with a demonstrated commitment to equality of opportunity and diversity in the design and delivery of learning and development and to continuous personal and professional development.

8. Demonstrate an essential people management skill-set.

9. Manage interpersonal relationships at work more effectively.

Guidance HRM7006 Learning and Development

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and the exact word count of your submitted document; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in AU Harvard systems. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number.

Maximum word count: 4,000 words

Please refer to the full word count policy which can be found in the Student Policies
section here: Arden University | Regulatory Framework

Please note the following 

Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment.

The word count includes everything in the main body of the assessment (including in text citations and references). The word count excludes numerical data in tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference list and appendices. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count.

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a 10- percentage point deduction.

Assignment Task HRM7006 Learning and Development

This assessment is worth 85% of the total marks for the module.

You are the HR Manager at a local restaurant chain. It is an increasingly busy organisation, and this has meant that a significant number of new employees have been recruited. As a result, there has been a large demand for learning and development.

An area of learning and development which has particularly concerned you has been the training of waiters and waitresses. It is very important that they follow the rules very closely, but it is also important that they have good customer service skills and treat the publicly respectfully. You have been asked to write a learning and development strategy for the restaurant as a whole, and to design a specific intervention for the waiting staff.

It is important that your reflective statements include relevant frameworks such as Gibbs’ reflective cycle, Schön’s reflective cycle, Kolb’s learning cycle and Honey and Mumford’s learning styles. CIPD professional behaviours are also particularly useful in this assignment. Explain, evaluate and critically analyse the internal and external contextual factors impacting on the design, delivery and assessment of learning plans and interventions in organisations.

1. Critically evaluate the extent to which economic, political and technological factors could affect the development of an appropriate learning and development strategy. Recommend and evaluate an appropriate tool for examining the external environment. (750 words) (15 marks) (LO 1)

2. Critically evaluate and justify the approach that you could use for identifying the learning and development needs at the organisational and individual levels. Explain the importance of engaging other named stakeholders in this process. (500 words) (10 marks)  (LO 2)

3. Choose two different learning and development interventions to meet the training needs of the waiting staff. With reference to relevant instructional design theories, critically evaluate the effectiveness of the selected interventions in ensuring both compliance to the rules and improving customer service. (750 words) (15 marks) (LO 3)

4. Using one of the interventions proposed in Task (3):

a) Using an appropriate template, produce and present a learning plan for the waiting staff.

b) Produce an appropriate 30-minute session plan to meet the identified security staff needs in a timely, feasible and cost-effective way. The learning plans should identify aims and objectives, time scales for completion, resources required, appropriate learning techniques, review dates, assessment strategies, evaluation methods, benefits for the employee and the organisations etc. Your learning and session plans should demonstrate skills of delivery and facilitation of learning. Produce a reflective statement explaining and justifying the reasons behind your choice of learning and development approaches and use of resources. (1000 words) (20 marks) (LO 4 & 5)

c) Write a reflective statement explaining and justifying your choice of evaluation methods. Provide evidence of appropriate evaluation methods to assess the effectiveness of the learning plans and interventions. (500 words) (10 marks) (LO 6)

d) Write a reflective statement critically evaluating how you demonstrated commitment to inclusion, equality of opportunity and diversity in the design and delivery of learning. (500 words) (15 marks)  (LO 7)

(85 marks)

(Total 4,000 words)

Formative Feedback

You have the opportunity to submit a bullet point outline of what you propose to cover in your assignment to receive formative feedback 

The feedback is designed to help you develop areas of your work and it helps you develop your skills as an independent learner.

If you are a distance learning student, you should submit your work, by email, to your tutor, no later than 2 weeks before the actual submission deadline. If you are a blended learning student, your tutor will give you a deadline for formative feedback and further details.

Formative feedback will not be given to work submitted after the above date or the date specified by your tutor - if a blended learning student.

Referencing Guidance

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the AU
Harvard system.

Follow this link to find the referencing guides for your subject: Arden Library

Submission Guidance

Assignments submitted late will not be accepted and will be marked as a 0% fail.

Your assessment should be submitted as a single Word (MS Word) or PDF file. For more information please see the “Submitting an Assignment - Guide” document available on the A-Z key information on iLearn.

You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook which is available on the A-Z key information on iLearn