CIPD ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION DECLARATION

To be completed by candidate:

|Centre name: |ACACIA LEARNING | |
|Candidate name: |Suzanne Averis | |
|CIPD Qualification undertaken: |
|CIPD Membership No: |44402910 |Unit code(s): |3HRC (HR) |
|Unit title(s): |Understanding Organisations and the Role of Human Resources |
|Unit tutor: |Janine Waldman |
|Date due for assessment: |2/9/15 |Date submitted: |11/8/15 |
|Word Count: | |
|State number of word used |2194 |
|Candidate declaration: |
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|I confirm that the work/evidence presented for assessment is my own unaided work. |
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|I have read the assessment regulations and understand that if I am found to have ‘copied’ from published work without acknowledgement, or from |
|other candidate’s work, this may be regarded as plagiarism which is an offence against the assessment regulations and leads to failure in the |
|relevant unit and formal disciplinary action. |
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|I confirm that 75% of this submission comprises my own written work, in my own words. |
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|I declare that the word count limit includes all aspects of my written submission. I agree that title/contents page, references/bibliography are |
|the only part of the submission that do not form part of the word-count’ I also agree that if my assessment is +/ - 10% of the word count the |
|assessment will returned with the appropriate advice to reduce/ increase the word count, which may delay assessment feedback following the |
|submission. |
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|I agree to this work being subjected to scrutiny by textual analysis software if required. |
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|I understand that my work may be used for future academic/quality assurance purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act |
|1998. |
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|I understand that the work/evidence submitted for assessment may not be returned to me and that I have retained a copy for my records. |
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|I understand that until such time as the assessment grade has been ratified through internal and external quality assurance processes it is not |
|final. |
|Name: |Suzanne Averis |Date: |11/8/15 |
|(typed) | | | |

|CHRP ASSESSMENT | |
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|Understanding Organisations and the Role of Human Resources (3HRC - HR) Ref No F302A (HR) - Version 3 June 2012 | |
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|Student name: | |
| |MET/ NOT YET MET| |
|CRITERIA | |COMMENTS |
|LO1: Understand the purpose of an organisation and its operating environment (Activity - bullet points 1, 2, 3 & 4) |
|Describe the purpose and goals of an organisation. | | |
|Describe the products, services and customers of an organisation| | |
| | | |
|Analyse how external factors impact on the business activities | | |
|of an organisation. | | |
|LO2: Understand the structure, culture and functions of an organisation (Activity - bullet points 5, 6 & 7) |
|Describe the structure of an organisation and the functions | | |
|within it. | | |
|Explain how the different functions work together to optimise | | |
|performance. | | |
|Explain how the culture of an organisation affects its | | |
|operations. | | |
|LO3: Understand how HR activities support an organisation (Activity - bullet points 8 & 9) |
|3.1 Describe how HR activities support an organisation’s | | |
|strategy. | | |
|3.2 Explain the role of HR professionals in supporting line | | |
|managers and their staff. | | |
| | | |
|ASSESSMENT OUTCOME | | |

Students should please note that the above Assessment Outcome for this Unit is provisional and is subject to Internal Acacia Learning verification (IV) and external CIPD Verification (EV).

Tutor’s signature Date

3HRC F302A (HR) - National Assessment Bank – Foundation level – Version 3 2012

|Title of unit/s |Understanding Organisations and the Role of Human Resources |
|Unit No/s |3HRC (HR) |
|Level |Foundation |
|Credit value |4 |
|Assessment method |Written |
|Learning outcomes: |
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|Understand the purpose of an organisation and its operating environment |
|Understand the structure, culture and functions of an organisation |
|Understand how HR/L&D activities support an organisation |
|Activity |Assessment Criteria |
| | |
|A new manager is starting in the organisation shortly. You have been asked to provide a written briefing note for | |
|this new-starter so that they can gain some understanding of the organisation in preparation for their start. | |
| | |
|The information you provide should include: | |
|a list of what the organisation produces or the services that it offers to its customers |1.2 |
|an identification of the main customers | |
|the purpose and goals of the organisation |1.2 |
|an analysis of a minimum of 4 external factors and their impact on the business activities of an organisation |1.1 |
|the structure of the organisation that includes at least 4 functions |1.3 |
|an explanation of how these different functions work together within the organisation to optimise performance | |
|an identification of the culture of the organisation and 2 ways this affects operations |2.1 |
|how 3 HR activities support the organisation’s strategy |2.2 |
|3 ways HR professionals support line managers and their staff | |
| |2.3 |
| | |
| |3.1 |
| |3.2 |
|Evidence to be produced |
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|Briefing note of approximately 2000 words |

3HRC (HR)

• a list of what the organisation produces or the services that it offers to its customers

FPS is a payroll company that offers 2 products to the market place – The Principal Solution and Bureau Service.

The Principal Solution is a PAYE payroll product which enables Temporary Workers – such as Security Officers, Recruitment Agency Workers, Drivers, Construction and Care Workers to maximise their take-home pay by utilising legitimate, work related, tax relievable expenses at point of pay. It takes away the hassle of individuals having to complete a P11D at the end of each tax year, as expenses are applied at point of pay, making the individuals’ net wage higher. In addition, there is a massive benefit to companies who provide workers to the relevant market sectors, as they can compliantly make a saving of Employers National Insurance contributions for every individual worker who is paid via The Principal Solution, whilst also alleviating themselves from the running and processing of temporary workers’ payroll. There are legislative and operational restrictions on who can be processed in this manner.

Our Bureau Service offers a much broader spectrum as to whom we can offer. There are no restrictions on market sector, types of worker or status. Providing an outsourced payroll service for small and medium sized companies, this offering can save money whilst ensuring that the payroll is accurate, timely and less stressful than being run in-house.

There are some organisations who utilise both services for its staff and workers.

• an identification of the main customers

Customers come in 2 distinct guises – the client for whom we are administering payroll services and the workers’ for whom the individual payroll is processed.

With Bureau, any company who is looking to make cost savings and reduce administration time could be a potential client and choose to utilise our service, by outsourcing the process of PAYE payroll. Principal Solution has many more legal constraints and compliancy issues to consider, so the market sectors and types of businesses who could benefit from this service are restricted to: Security Officers, Recruitment Agency Workers, Drivers, Construction Workers and Care Workers.

It is not only companies, however, who are our customers, but also individuals themselves, for whom we run payroll. We process weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly payroll.

• the purpose and goals of the organisation

Our purpose is to provide accurate, timely, cost-effective, compliant payroll solutions to the private market sector, with excellent First Class customer service, whilst making a profit.

Our mission is to be the most recognised and successful payroll company with unique solutions and outstanding client care.

Our goals are to increase in number from 12 employees to c30 in the next 3 years due to expansion and natural growth, not through acquisition. We also plan to diversify our product range and grow into other market sectors, whilst ensuring that legal compliancy is maintained.

• an analysis of a minimum of 4 external factors and their impact on the business activities of an organisation

Whilst looking at the potential longevity and growth of FPS Ltd, there are a number of factors that need to be considered, reviewed and acted upon in order to maintain client confidence, future prosperity and continued market share/growth. These are mainly:

1. Political – Tax and Taxation is a political hot potato, particularly in the currently austere financial climate. This crosses over into a number of areas that impact upon our business – Legislation, Economic and Social, as I will outline below.

Government policy changes regularly, particularly in relation to taxation and wages, which is what our sole purpose is.

2. Legislation – the False Self Employment Legislation (Onshore Employment Intermediaries) which came into effect on 6th April 2014 had a huge impact on us. It was introduced very swiftly and we needed to react very promptly to ensure that both we and our clients were protected. From taking legal advice, it actually turned out to be of great benefit to us and detrimental to our competitors, as we fell outside of the legislation. We acted very quickly to reassure our existing clients that we were still compliant, but this also gave us great potential to maximise on the opportunity presented to us, at the cost of many of our competitors.

Changes in taxation laws are frequent and ongoing, so we need to remain aware and alert to what is going on.

The next huge change about to impact on our business was published as a Consultation Document on 8th July 2015 and is due to be brought into effect from 6th April 2016 – this is the Employment Intermediaries and Tax Relief for Travel and Subsistence.

Although on first reading it would only appear to effect Umbrella and PSC companies, of which we are neither, on closer inspection this could have further reaching impact and so it is imperative that we a) take advice on what we can do in relation to our own product and b) ensure that any and all amendments are taken into consideration to keep ahead of the game to reassure and satisfy both clients and prospects.

3. The National Minimum Wage Act (1998) is also currently being reviewed and revised. The most recent budget announced that The National Living Wage, starting at £7.20 and rising to £9.00 an hour by 2020, replaces the £6.50 minimum wage. This will have a massive impact on the market sectors that we service, which are traditionally at the lowest end of the pay scale for workers. It could be a double edged sword in terms of our business and stability – it may mean huge opportunities to us or conversely we could lose business if companies go under as they cannot afford to compete or survive.

Small to medium companies, such as we service, have very tight profit margins and any additional cost to them could be the difference between their business surviving or not. However, the product offerings that we supply can and do save companies money, but there are many other options that our clients/potential clients need to consider, as outlined above.

4. There has been much made recently in the media concerning the social and ethical issues surrounding tax mitigation, tax avoidance, tax efficiencies and tax evasion. Clearly, tax evasion is illegal but there is much confusion around the whole tax arena. It is very complex and confusing, leading to a lot of mistrust and wariness around what FPS actually does. We are a Tax mitigation company - this is a highly specialised area mainly practiced by niche firms of tax consultants and members of the Tax Bar. Tax planning uses techniques which are within the law. Sometimes these tax planning techniques are viewed by HMRC as being acceptable; sometimes they are not. Although everything that we do is legal and compliant, companies and individuals are extremely wary due to the bad publicity of highlighted companies such as Starbucks, Google and Amazon or individuals such as Chris Moyles, Jimmy Carr and Gary Barlow.

It is important that FPS is aware of what is going on in the media, so that we can point out how we differ from any negativity or pick up quickly if there is a competitor who has acted illegally or immorally and been “found out”. The most recent example of this was when Anderson Consulting formatted a “scheme” which was found to be illegal. We became aware very quickly as news broke, so we were able to communicate to all of our clients and explain to them how Anderson were operating differently to ourselves and reassured them that we were not in any way similar, remaining 100% compliant.

• the structure of the organisation that includes at least 4 functions

As a small company, FPS has a flat management structure. We do not work in any sort of hierarchical manner, but much more collaboratively. Due to being a smaller operation, the Heads of Department need to “double up” on their roles. This could be described as the Organic type of Organisation – relatively informal with a non-hierarchical, flat structure where the emphasis is on the horizontal processes and the elimination of boundaries between functions. It could also be stated that we also fit into the Entrepreneurial Model, where decisions sometimes need to be made swiftly and be supported by all team members. This relies on trust, reliability and solid business decisions that work being exhibited, to maintain the support needed from all key workers of the business.

As Sales Manager, I oversee Sales, HR, Marketing, Business Development, Transformation, Account Management, PR, Communication and Legal/Compliance.

Our Payroll Manager looks after Operations, IT, Finance/Payroll Compliance, Procurement and Transformation.

We have a Finance Manager who looks after our Accounting and Finance.

The Payroll Manager and I work jointly to ensure that policies, job descriptions, procedures, objectives and rewards are all in place and the culture of our company is that of commitment, flexibility, cohesion, recognition and reward.

• an explanation of how these different functions work together within the organisation to optimise performance

It is crucial that the functionality and operations of our – and any – organisation communicates and works together in order to achieve the best results. Sales cannot sell and deliver our product if it doesn’t have a clear understanding of Operations – how payroll is run, timeframes of what is needed to happen and when and where we can/cannot be flexible. This ensures that Sales is not over-promising something that Operations cannot fulfil, which will ultimately upsets clients and leads to loss of business. Before promising anything “out of the norm”, Sales will always check that Operations can achieve what is requested and deliverable.

Similarly, when reviewing pay and reward, the Head of Department must discuss this with Finance and the HR function in order to:

a. Ensure that any increment is in line with the rest of the company and benchmark this against the rest of the industry, b. Ensure that financially the company can support any additional cost c. Get the amendments made contractually and get the correct paperwork/letters drawn up d. Build the financial uplift into any Profit and Loss/Accounts

By liaising and agreeing with other Departments, this ensures that the company runs professionally and following the process means that the individual worker/s are treated fairly and equally. Although we have formal policies in place, we also be flexible to accommodate our staff and, by having clear and open lines of communication, performance is optimised. This culture determines that we have a very loyal, motivated and dedicated team who will “go the extra mile” and assist their team members and ultimately the company to enable the best possible results to be achieved.

• an identification of the culture of the organisation and 2 ways this affects operations

Deal and Kennedy (2000) described organisation culture as “the way we do things around here”. For FPS, we most closely resemble Charles Handy (1981)’s classification of the Task Culture. This focuses on teamwork, autonomy by bringing together the right people and letting them get on with the task at hand, adaptability and expertise led influence. Staff therefore feel valued and motivated to “make things work”, rather than having to be told or work to an inflexible set of rules and regulations.

By working so closely together and wanting to achieve the same goals with the same beliefs and values, the Organisational Culture within FPS is one of which promotes Schein (1990)’s belief that visionary leaders and “leading by example” and being clear about how we behave and what we expect.

Through our actions, teamwork and decisions being communicated clearly to our employees, the transactional or day to day tasks become much easier to carry out, as everyone “buys into” the same ethos, values and codes of conduct. This promotes efficiency, high levels of success and maximum output as morale is high and the willingness to do well prevalent at all times.

• how 3 HR activities support the organisation’s strategy

1) Planning the recruitment and selection of new personnel with Department Heads, ensuring that we have the right people, in the right place, at the right time to grow the business and ensure continuity of service delivery 2) Ensuring that Legislative Compliance is maintained and communicated to the right people. This may mean issuing bulletins or running training courses to educate on what has changed and why, leading to any and all changes which may need to take place within the business to accommodate compliancy. 3) Keeping up to date with Employment Legislation and ensuring that the company is both fully aware and operating correctly with regards to the same.

• 3 ways HR professionals support line managers and their staff

HR supports Line Managers and their staff by:

1) Writing and issuing job descriptions and person specifications, in conjunction with Line Managers, to ensure that recruitment is carried out effectively and that staff are clear on their roles and responsibilities on a day to day basis. This would also be necessary during recruitment, development and retention of personnel. 2) HR will work with Line Managers to support staff on Employee Relations issues and assist in sorting out any problems – perceived, real or potential – with regards to how individuals relate to one another. It is imperative that the correct processes and procedures are carried out and documented correctly, to avoid problems further down the line. HR must always offer a fair and impartial view, taking all factors into account. 3) HR will ensure that workers and managers are fully aware of and trained in any and all Health and Safety policy and procedures. Every manager should be fully aware of their Duty of Care to all workers must be trained/briefed accordingly. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force in April 2008, making this an even more critical area for all companies to be mindful of.