The organisation is AstraZeneca UK which is a biopharmaceutical business based in Cambridge. It has both centralised and decentralised functions. One of the decentralised functions is the HR function.

Student Name/ID Number

Unit Number and Title

Unit 3: Management of Human Resources Issue 5

Academic Year

2025-2026

Unit Tutor

Assignment Title

HRM and Organisational Development

Issue Date

4.11.2025

Submission Date

16.1.2026

Resubmission Date: 27.2.2026

IV Name

IV Date of Assignment Brief: 30.7.2025

Submission Format

Part A

The assignment submission is in the form of:

• a workforce action plan and then separately a PowerPoint set of slides. The slides (8-10 in total) should be submitted as one copy. You are required to make effective use of PowerPoint headings, bullet points, and subsections, as appropriate. The recommended total word limit is 2000- 2500 words, covering both the action plan and the slides, although you will not be penalised for going under or exceeding the total word limit.

All work must be supported with research and be referenced using the Harvard reference system (or an alternative system) and be written using comprehensive holistic writing that summarises and highlights key information and data.

You will need to provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system (or an alternative system). Inaccurate use of referencing may lead to issues of plagiarism if not

applied correctly.

Part B

The assignment submission is in the form of:

• An employee engagement guidance document which can be presented as a pdf guide, together with a PowerPoint slide deck (8-10 slides) saved as a pdf or a handbook. The guidance document should be an expansion of the slides.

You are required to use headings, paragraphs, subsections and illustrations, as appropriate. The recommended word limit is 1000- 1500 words, although you will not be penalised for going under or exceeding the total word limit.

All work must be supported with research and be referenced using the Harvard reference system (or an alternative system) and be written using comprehensive holistic writing that summarises and highlights key information and data.

You will need to provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system (or an alternative system). Inaccurate use of referencing may lead to issues of plagiarism if not applied correctly.

Please ensure that all sources of information are appropriately cited. This includes acknowledging any AI-supported tools (ChatGPT or Grammarly, for example) that contributed to content generation, editing, or research assistance.

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1 Explain the impact of the role of HRM in creating sustainable organisational performance and contributing to business success.

LO2 Produce a workforce action plan for recruiting and retaining talent to address skills shortages in an organisation.

LO3 Examine how external and internal factors can affect HRM decision making in relation to organisational development.

LO4 Apply HRM practices in a work-related context for improving sustainable organisational performance.

Transferable skills and competencies developed

• Articulating and explaining information effectively.
• Communication and listening, including the ability to produce clear, structured business communications in a variety of media.
• Conceptual and critical thinking, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
• Development and delivery of human resources (HR) solutions to the business, appropriate to the organisational context.
• Research, analysis and presentation of HR business data (both internal and external) to provide insight, support solutions to business issues and track performance.
• Curiosity about HR business trends and developments, incorporating them into work.
• Effective communication skills: verbal and non-verbal.
• The ability to generate, develop and communicate ideas.
• Creative thinking.
• Development and delivery of human resources (HR) solutions to the business, appropriate to the organisational context.
• Understand talent management models and how to recruit and develop people.

Vocational scenario

Organisation

The organisation is AstraZeneca UK which is a biopharmaceutical business based in Cambridge. It has both centralised and decentralised functions. One of the decentralised functions is the HR function.

The business requires committed employees in each of its global locations to ensure that the organisation is successful and sustainable, and that it achieves its business objectives through strong performance.

However, like other industries, the pharmaceuticals sector is experiencing skills shortage. Too few people are sufficiently qualified to support the advancements available via research developments and emerging technologies. Such roles cover a number of disciplines, including pharmaceutical research, production and quality, all of which require differing levels of skill, experience and expertise.

Role

As a Human Resources Administrator, it is your job to understand HRM practices and to provide information accurately and in a timely way to the appropriate stakeholders. Your typical duties involve:

• liaising with a range of people involved in policy areas such as staff performance and

health and safety

• recruiting staff, which involves developing job descriptions and person specifications, preparing job adverts, checking application forms, shortlisting, interviewing and selecting candidates by:

• making sure that prospective staff have the right to work at the organisation

• developing and implementing policies on issues such as working conditions, performance management, equal opportunities, disciplinary procedures and absence management

• preparing staff handbooks

• advising on pay and other remuneration issues, including promotion and benefits

• preparing management reports on employee-related data on a monthly basis.

In your role of Human Resources Administrator, you have had a performance review with your line manager. In the review, you discussed that, leading on from the earlier activity, you would like to consider specialising in talent management to improve engagement with, and retention of, employees in the biopharmaceuticals company, AstraZeneca UK, in Cambridge.

Assignment activity and guidance

Part A

Critical review

In your role of Human Resources Administrator, one of your goals is to address the issues of skills shortage and hard-to-fill vacancies in the organisation.

You have been asked by your line manager to undertake a critical review of HRM areas and their contribution to business performance and success and will evaluate how the changing nature of the business environment is affecting the labour market.

PowerPoint slides and a workforce action plan

Your review is to be delivered as a set of PowerPoint slides together with a separate action plan that gives a clear vision for the organisation’s future people needs. The priority objective is to improve recruitment and employee engagement and motivation, and to grow internal talent.

Throughout the materials that you produce you will be critically examining and discussing the internal HRM practices and processes, with a focus on recruitment and selection, as well as external influences on HRM practices, to determine HR solutions for strengthening the organisation’s talent management strategy.

The workforce action plan must show the actions that need to be taken to successfully strengthen the organisation’s talent management strategy and future-proof a sustainable workforce.

Headings for the workforce action plan should include:

• Resourcing the organisation
• Recruitment and selection
• Retention.

Part B

Employee engagement guidance

Based on this discussion your line manager has asked you to produce employee engagement guidance for all staff members who manage other staff.

You will devise an employee engagement guidance document that will contain practical tools and techniques for improving employee engagement and general information to help staff, line managers and senior managers work together in increasing employee engagement and improving retention in the company.

The guidance should present examples of good practice in employee engagement from different areas (e.g. recruitment, performance management, professional development) and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of HRM practices to support future recommendations for improvement and sustainable approaches to enhancing organisational performance.

Recommended Resources

Please note that the resources listed are examples for you to use as a starting point in your research – the list is not definitive.

Textbooks

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2023) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management

Practice. 16th Ed. London: Kogan Page.

Websites

www.cipd.org

Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) Workforce planning (Fact sheet)

Strategic workforce planning (Guidance) www.cipd.org

Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD).

Recruitment selection and training. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/people/recruitment/selection-factsheet#7261

Also: Employee Engagement and motivation (Fact sheet) Managing for sustainable employee engagement (Guidance)

www.industryforum.co.uk Industry Forum.

Skills needs in the changing global manufacturing landscape. (Article). Available at: https://www.industryforum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/04/Skills-needs-in-thechanging- global-manufacturing-landscape.pdf

https://www.nissan-global.com

Nissan Motor Corporation. HR information including: Sustainability Report 2023:HR development (Report). https://recruitment.toyotauk.com

Toyota Manufacturing UK.

Toyota careers (General references) https://businesscasestudies.co.uk

Business Case Studies- Recruitment selection and training. Available at:

https://businesscasestudies.co.uk/recruitment-selection-and-training/

www.hrzone.com

HR Zone. What are Employee Relations? (article) Available at: https://www.hrzone.com/hr-glossary/what-are-employee-relations www.tescounderwriting.com

Tesco Underwriting- Our recruitment process (General reference). Available at: https://www.tescounderwriting.com/join-us/ourrecruitment-process/

Amazon. Interviewing at Amazon. Available at: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/landing_pages/interviewing-at-amazon HN Global

HN Global Reading Lists. Available at: https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/learningzone/reading- lists

HN Global Student Resource Library. Available at: https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/subjects/resource-libraries HN Global Textbooks. Available at: https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/textbooks

Journal articles

Gyllensten K, Torén K, Hagberg M, Söderberg M (2020) A sustainable working life in the car manufacturing industry: The role of psychosocial factors, gender and occupation. PLoS ONE 15(5): e0233009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233009

Yamauchi, M. Employment practices in Japan’s automobile industry: the implication for divergence of employment systems under globalization. Evolut Inst Econ Rev 18, 249–270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40844-020-00188-9

Pass

Merit

Distinction

LO1 Explain the impact of the role of HRM in creating sustainable organisational performance and contributing to business success.

 LO1 and LO2

D1 Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of HRM in relation to creating a sustainable workforce plan for recruiting and retaining talent.

P1 Explain the main areas of HRM in their contribution to creating sustainable performance.

P2 Review the effects of the changing nature of organisations on human resources skills and knowledge.

M1 Compare areas of HRM to create sustainable organisational performance.

M2 Examine HRM in relation to the changing nature of the modern business organisation.

LO2 Produce a workforce action plan for recruiting and retaining talent to address skills shortages in an organisation.

P3 Create a workforce action plan that addresses skills gaps and hard-to-fill vacancies for recruiting and retaining talent in an organisation.

M3 Devise a strategic workforce action plan for improving recruitment and retention in relation to the importance of the labour market.

LO3 Examine how external and internal factors can affect HRM decision making in relation to organisational development.

LO3:D2 Evaluate key factors affecting HRM decision making to make valid recommendations.

P4 Investigate the external and internal factors that affect HRM decision making to support organisational development.

M4 Discuss the key external and internal factors that affect HRM decision making, using relevant organisational examples to illustrate how they support organisational development.

Pass

Merit

Distinction

LO4 Apply HRM practices in a work-related context for improving sustainable organisational performance.

LO4

D3 Determine strengths and weaknesses of HRM practices to make recommendations for improving sustainable organisational performance.

P5 Apply HRM practices in a work- related context, using specific examples to demonstrate improvement to sustainable organisational performance

M5 lllustrate how the application of specific HRM practices in a work-related context can improve sustainable organisational performance.