LO1. Understand the business environment in which the people profession operates, including the key issues that affect it.

CIPD Foundation Certificate in People Practice

Unit Descriptor 

About this Unit

This unit considers the impact of external influences and how the digital and commercial environment shapes businesses and the culture within which they operate. It considers the importance of people’s behaviour on organisational culture and its ability to manage change effectively.

What will you learn

You will develop an understanding of the key external influences that impact on businesses and the context within which they operate, including discussing how and why organisations set goals. You will define workplace culture and how people’s behaviour shapes it. You will also explain how organisations are whole systems and how your actions as a people professional could impact elsewhere in the organisation. The concept of change is a key focus of this unit and you will explain the role of the people professional in this and how focused project planning directs change in manageable ways.

This unit is suitable for persons who:

• are studying, aspiring to, or embarking on, a career in people practice
• are working in a people practice support role and wish to develop their knowledge and deliver immediate and short-term value for their organisation
• wish to develop the specialist knowledge, skills and understanding required to be a people professional.

Learning outcomes, Assessment Criteria and Indicative Content 

LO1. Understand the business environment in which the people profession operates, including the key issues that affect it.

1.1 Examine the key external influences that impact on business environments.

External forces that impact on the organisation’s current and future activities. For example, the findings of STEEPLE, SWOT analysis to inform understanding of the market(s) in which the organisation operates.

1.2 Discuss organisational goals and why it is important for organisations to plan.

The organisation’s long- and short-term vision and goals, type of business, structure, documentation, employment climate. How organisations inform and determine their objectives and planning and how these link to policy and people practices. Why planning is necessary for business continuity.

1.3 Discuss the products and/or services the organisation delivers, including who the main customers are.

Identification of the products and services that the organisation offers; the market within which it operates and the customers it serves; customer needs analysis; difference between features and benefits; types of business/market, for example, agency, direct, wholesale, online; market segmentation.

1.4 Review the range of technology available within the people profession, including how it can be utilised to improve working practices and collaboration.

Different types of technologies, for example wi-fi, internet, email, electronic forms of communication, for example smart phones, social media, cloud-based platforms, dashboards, file management and document sharing, cloud-hosting, synchronous collaborative software, Bluetooth, voice recognition, fingerprint, facial and iris recognition, auto-responders, artificial intelligence. How collective and individual technologies can change, improve and affect working practices. Various social and technological approaches used in communication, customer service, marketing, improving efficiency, productivity and security.

LO2. Understand how people’s behaviour in the workplace affects and shapes culture.

2.1 Define workplace culture in organisational settings and the importance of fostering positive approaches towards it.

What culture is, definitions and types of culture in the organisational context, sub-cultures, cultural diversity, impact of culture, values and norms, positive and negative cultures. The organisation as a holistic system, the roles of people professionals in facilitating an appropriate and effective organisational culture. What is meant by creating a diverse and inclusive environment. How diversity and inclusion principles are built into organisational practices.

2.2 Explain how organisations are whole systems, and how work and actions as a people professional could impact elsewhere in the organisation.

Organisational types, structures, designs and systems. Organisations as organic living systems; importance of synergy and interdependence, and interconnected practices. Approaches taken to achieve an effective holistic systems approach. Models of organisation design. Impact on organisational and people strategies, policies and procedures.

LO3. Understand the importance of effective management of change 

3.1 Explain the importance of planning and managing change within the workplace.

Factors and triggers for change to include competition, technological, turbulence, discontinuity, chaos, process and implementing change. How changing situations and initiatives can impact on the organisation’s business. Project planning: the role, purpose and goals of project planning. 

3.2 Consider the importance and role that people professionals play within change.

People professionals’ role in facilitating change agendas, such as gatekeeper, SMT liaison or representative, driver of change, facilitator, expert witness, consultant, adviser, side-line witness and non-participant, critical friend, guardian of legality and compliance, disseminator and communicator, record-keeper. 

3.3. Discuss how change can impact people in different ways.

Different behavioural responses to change, personal, professional, behavioural. Job loss, downgrade, upgrade, regrade, financial, face loss, career aspirations, illness, mental health, physical health, welfare, family changes, self-esteem, social, motivational, group/team formation, dynamics and relationships, customer perceptions and relationships, competitor perceptions and relationships.