Unit Number and Title

Unit 6: Managing a Successful Business Project Issue 5

Academic Year

2025-2026

Assignment Title

Managing a Successful Business Project regarding Talent Management for Issue 5 in 2025/2026

Issue Date

11/05/2026

Submission Date

24/07/2026

Resubmission Date:31/08/2026

The submission is in the form of a report and project management plan, reflective journal and performance review.

The report should be written in a formal business style using single spacing and a font size 12. You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs, and subsections, as appropriate.

Templates are available for the Project Reflective Journal and for the Project Performance Review.

When you submit your initial project proposal, your Tutor will also ask you to complete and sign an ethics form.

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

Please also provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system. Inaccurate use of referencing may lead to issues of plagiarism if not applied correctly. The recommended

word limit is 4000 words, although you will not be penalized for going under or exceeding the total word limit. The report must cover all 4 Learning Outcomes and all assessment criteria for Unit 6 as described in issue 5 of the Specification.

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 key stages of the project lifecycle that should be considered when project managing.

LO2 Produce a Project Management Plan (PMP) for a business project using primary and secondary research methods.

LO3 Implement the Project Management Plan (PMP) to communicate results from the research and make conclusions from the evidence of findings.

LO4 Reflect on value gained from implementing the project and the project management process.

Transferable skills and competencies developed

• · Articulating and explaining information effectively.
• · Research and analytical skills to conduct your own analysis and reflections to make conclusions from these reflections and findings.
• · The ability to provide information based on analysis and interpretation of stimulus material.
• · Communicating effectively in written form

Vocational scenario

Introduction

The Pearson-set theme for use with Level 4 Unit 6: Managing a Successful Business Project in 2025-2026 is Talent Management.

Talent management (TM) is the process by which businesses and organisations recognise and develop talented people who can have a positive impact on their organisations and their productivity.

It not only has become a key component of human resource management but also the responsibility of leaders and managers at all levels to manage talent within the business, with TM strategies being developed in line with the particular needs and structure of the business and industry.

Themes of TM relevant to businesses when considering a strategic approach to talent management include the following:

• • the role of line managers and leaders in employee development and well-being
• • talent management being used as a lever for culture change
• • the importance of contextualising approaches to talent management
• • the need for new and innovative ways of working to achieve a strategic approach to talent management
• • barriers for the development of a strategic approach caused by economic and day-to-day operational pressures.

Staff retention, training and morale is key in any industry where talented motivated employees can help differentiate one organisation from another and influence business success.

An increasing number of businesses are rethinking ways to get the most from their staff. Rising costs, recruitment difficulties and changing employee attitudes mean that, for many employers, the traditional approaches to recruiting, training and retaining staff are being revisited to harness and develop talent and ultimately drive competitive advantage.

You can choose one from the following four topics:

1. What talent strategies do the best companies use to attract and retain people?

2. What are the key challenges and obstacles facing different business sectors in terms of talent management? (select one business sector e.g. marketing, finance, operations, manufacturing).

3. How are companies responding to managing talent across different age profiles?

4. How do different cultures influence the talent management approaches taken by companies?

Organisation

Everyday Consultancy (which is fictitious), based in East London, specialises in providing business advice to companies about following best practices, improving performance and adhering to regulatory requirements. The consultancy has been asked by numerous clients to advise them on the best ways by which they could implement effective Talent Management within their organisations to meet business objectives. This will have an impact on the way in which the client meets the needs of its various stakeholders including customers, employees, investors, suppliers and regulators, develop their trust and loyalty and meet business objectives.

Role

You are employed by Everyday Consultancy as a trainee researcher and have been allocated work on a project to research best practices in Talent Management so you can prepare advice for clients. Your aim is to guide the client’s management team with reference to effective implementation of Talent Management within their organisation to meet business objectives, through analysis of your research findings. Your key roles include the following:

• · Explain the key stages of the project lifecycle that should be considered when project managing.
• · Produce a Project Management Plan (PMP) for a business project using primary and secondary research methods.
• · Implement the Project Management Plan (PMP) to communicate results from the research and make conclusions from the evidence of findings.
• · Reflect on value gained from implementing the project and the project management process. the nature of the legal system in the UK.

Assignment activity and guidance

As part of your work as a trainee researcher you have been asked to conduct suitable research within your project about Talent Management including how to produce effective policies and procedures, to give clients a competitive edge, build stakeholder trust and loyalty and how to meet business objectives effectively. You have been asked to produce a report for use by the client’s management team and to include a project management plan.

The report should explain and evaluate the stages of the project lifecycle (PLC) and their importance to the success of a project and should examine and evaluate the factors to be considered when compiling a project management plan (PMP).

You should also examine and evaluate a range of research methods and strategies and their importance to project management and should critically evaluate the project-management process, PMP and research methods for gathering information and data collection.

Produce a detailed PMP using both primary and secondary research methods.

The PMP, examining a range of research methods and strategies, should cover, the project aim, objectives, deliverables, quality, risk, communication resources and research

methods and produce a work breakdown structure and a schedule to provide timeframes and stages for completion.

The PMP should include a schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.

The PMP should justify the choices made in the design of the PMP for completing the aims and objectives of the project.

Please note:

For primary data sources, you should prepare a minimum of 10 survey questions, and the minimum sample size should be 20.

For topic selection you should choose only one topic from the list of four topics shown above.

Implement the Project Management Plan (PMP). Conduct your project in line with your PMP and within your report communicate results from the research and make conclusions from the evidence of findings.

Present data to draw valid and meaningful conclusions and recommendations from data analysis. Justify conclusions and recommendations drawn from data analysis and findings to meet the stated project objectives.

Within your report reflect on the value of undertaking the business project to meet stated objectives and your own learning and performance.

Evaluate the project management process to meet stated objectives and support your own learning and performance.

Critically reflect on the findings from the research and the project management process in supporting stated objectives and your own learning.

Within your report suggest examples of problems and solutions to these problems so the client’s management team are equipped with practical solutions for implementing effective Talent Management and to meeting stakeholder needs effectively.

Further guidance

It is important to recognise that project work is reliant on gathering information/data that can be analysed. The scale of a Level 4 project means that there must be time for both primary and secondary research.

It is suggested that you use secondary research provided by your tutor to provide a context for you to conduct and interpret data collected through primary research. The project could then yield data/information that could be compared with the findings of secondary research.

In assessing the project, the assessor should be able to see how project objectives have been met, how you have explored the research material relevant to the project objective, how you have developed and formulated findings and answers to the central questions posed by the objectives and what you have learned in carrying out the project investigation.

An important part of the conclusion must be an awareness of the significance of results. Well - edited, focused writing, where the key decisions, developments, lines of argument and salient research are explained succinctly, is preferable to unstructured writing where little attempt to select or edit material has been made.

It is important that you think carefully about the suitability of your report in relation to the target audience (the client management team).

Produce research and material that gives a succinct account of the main argument and reflect on your work before you submit it for assessment.

In summary:

In addition to research findings, submit a project management plan, a completed reflective journal and a performance review or similar method of reflective practice as evidence for the unit.

The project management plan is designed to define how the project is to be planned, executed and monitored. The project management plan should give details of the actions required for the integration and co-ordination of various planning activities to carry out the project.

The project reflective journal is designed to provide evidence of the project development

process and ongoing reflection. It should provide evidence that you have thought about the direction of your project and in particular, what problems you encountered, and steps taken to address them.

The project performance review will provide evidence of reflection and evaluation of the

project management process and individual performance.

Your Tutor will be able to provide templates for the Project Reflective Journal and for the Project Performance Review.

Your report and other materials should consider a strategic approach to Talent Management reflecting your own:

• · Innovation
• · I.T. and digital literacy
• · Employability and entrepreneurial skills
• · Employer engagement
• · Quality of work and feedback on issues/the topic.

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.

For Talent Management you may find the following sources useful:

Online article

What is Talent Management

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey explainers/what-is-talent management

Online article

What is Talent Management https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-talent management/ Online Blog

The top strategies for improving employee retention in manufacturing

From Turnover to Tenure: The Top Strategies for Improving Employee Retention in Manufacturing | HR Cloud

Online article/video

15 employee retention challenges in 2025

15 Employee retention challenges in 2025 and how you should tackle them

Online factsheet

Talent Management https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/talent factsheet/#Whatis

Textbooks re Project Management

DINSMORE, P. and CABANIS-BREWIN, J. (2018). The AMA Handbook of Project Management. 5th Ed. AMACON.

FLICK, U. (2020) Introducing Research Methodology: A Beginner’s Guide to Doing a Research Project. 3rd Ed. London: SAGE.

GRAY, D. (2017) Doing Research in the Real World. 4th Ed. London: SAGE.

MAYLOR, H. (2022) Project Management. 5th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.

SAUNDERS, M., LEWIS, P. and THORNHILL, A. (2019) Research Methods for Business Students. 8th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.

Websites

www.asana.com Asana Free project-management tools (General reference) www.projectmanagement.com Project management (General reference) www.projectsmart.co.uk Project Smart Articles Tools Glossary (General reference) www.trello.com Trello Free project-management tools

Other Useful resources for Project Management are:

What is Project Management?

https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/what-is-projectmanagement/ Project Management links: ● Start Here ● Scheduling ● Scope Management https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_PPM.htm

Online article- Demystifying the 5 phases of project management.

https://www.smartsheet.com/blog/demystifying-5-phasesproject-management

A range of project management resources available in the resource library on HN Global.

https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/subjects/business/resource-library

For further guidance and support on report writing please refer to the Study Skills Unit on HN Global. Link to www.highernationals.com

Pass

Merit

Distinction

LO1 Explain the key stages of the project lifecycle that should be considered when project managing.

LO1

D1 Critically evaluate the project-management process.

LO2

D2 Justify the choices made in the design of the PMP for completing the aims and objectives of the project.

P1 Explain the stages of the project lifecycle (PLC) and their importance to the success of a project.

P2 Examine the factors to be considered when compiling a project management plan (PMP).

M1 Evaluate the stages of the PLC and the factors, (deliverables, quality, risk, communication and resources) to be considered in a PMP.

LO2 Produce a Project Management Plan (PMP) for a business project using primary and secondary research methods.

P3 Examine a range of research methods and strategies and their importance to project management.

P4 Produce a PMP that covers, aim, objectives, deliverables, quality, risk, communication resources and research methods.

P5 Produce a work breakdown structure and a schedule to provide timeframes and stages for completion.

M2 Evaluate a range of research methods and strategies for gathering information and data collection.

M3 Produce a detailed PMP, and schedule for monitoring and completing the aims and objectives of the project.

LO3 Implement the Project Management Plan (PMP) to communicate results from the research and make conclusions from the evidence of findings.

LO3 and LO4

P6 Conduct a business project as stated within the PMP and communicate findings.

P7 Present data to draw valid and meaningful conclusions and recommendations from data analysis.

M4 Justify conclusions and recommendations drawn from data analysis and findings to meet the stated project objectives.

D3

Critically reflect on the findings from the research and the project management process in supporting stated objectives and own learning.

LO4 Reflect on value gained from implementing the project and the project management process.

P8 Reflect on the value of undertaking the business project to meet stated objectives and own learning and performance.

M5 Evaluate the project management process to meet stated objectives and support own learning and performance.