HUMA74 – Principles of Human Resource Management – Fall 2023

Group Assignment

Working with one or two self-selected partners, this assignment involves the design and execution of an HR review of the Human Resources (HR) management strategy and practices of a Canadian business, institution or organization – one with at least fifteen full or part-time employees.

You may choose any company or institution that is of interest to you, but no two groups may study the same organization.

What is an HR review?

For the purposes of this assignment, an HR review involves the systematic review of the formal and informal policies and practices of an organization in the areas of:

• HR strategy (alignment to organization’s overall strategy)
• Diversity and equity management
• Job analysis and work design
• Recruitment and selection practices
• Orientation, training and development programs
• Performance management processes
• Non-executive rewards and compensation management
• Management of occupational health and safety

You will notice that these are among the topics covered by this course. Also, In conducting your review, you may want to consider

• The organization of their HR function or department – if there is one
• The organization’s HR policies

Key Activities:

1 – Form or join a group.

2 – Pick a business, not-for-profit organization, institution or other organization to review. The choice is up to you … but the organization must have at least fifteen full or part-time paid employees or workers. Then contact someone on the management team or HR function of the organization you select.

Some examples:

The CEO or owner of a small company

The manager of HR for a small or medium-sized business

The leader of a not-for-profit, a charity or a religious organization

The commanding officer of a unit or regiment in the Canadian Military

Someone managing a professional practice

... and so on.  

How do you find an organization or someone to interview? First, review your personal network and the networks of the other members of your group. Do you know anyone who might be willing to help you with your review? Do you know anyone who might be able to recommend you to a someone else?

As no two groups may study the same organization … one member of your group, therefore, MUST email me with the name of the organization you plan to review as soon as possible. The sooner the better since, in the event of more than one group selecting an organization, the first group to contact me will have priority.

3 – Plan for, and prepare, to conduct your review. In many ways this is the most important part of this assignment. Preparation and planning is often rushed. People love to just jump in and start doing something. Resist the urge to do this. Before you do your review … think!

What do you need to do? Go to the library, read the text, and do a bit of research.  To get you started, I’ve attached a sample checklist of things to study or questions to ask during your interview.

Who is going to do what? Your group is a project team. How are you going to work together and organize the tasks on your list? What roles will each of you play? Is there going to be a project manager? Who is documenting the project plan? Who is responsible for each task?

When are you doing the work? When will you meet as a group? How often? What are the key milestones in your project plan? When will each task be done?

4 – Conduct your review. Do the work in your project plan. Finalize your review checklist. Review any documents and materials you’ve obtained from the organization – company policies, manuals, websites, reports, etc. At the library, if you can, obtain background information on the organization or its industry. Then, do your interview.  Don’t forget to keep notes, record your sources and document any citations.

5 – Analyze the results. Now that you’ve done the interview, conducted any research at the library and thought about what you saw, heard or read … it’s time to meet as a group, share your findings and agree on your conclusions, observations and, if you have any, your recommendations.

6 – Prepare a summary report. The report should be between 12 and 15 pages (double-spaced) and should include your engagement letter (if you did one), your analysis, conclusions and any recommendations. As this is also an academic exercise, you will also want to make sure that all sources and references are properly cited and that you include a bibliography or list of works cited.  

If multiple people have written the draft, you’ll also want to appoint someone in your group to be the overall editor and ensure that the final document is proofread and that the style and tone is professional and consistent.

7 – When you’re done, one person on your team must upload your completed assignment by the due date.  Save your report as an MS Word document and upload it as one file in the assignment section in Blackboard.

At the second last class, which is also the due date for your paper, you will be asked to do a 5 minute presentation to the rest of the class about your paper. Essentially, this is a seminar and an summary of what you learned.

Notes:

As outlined in the course syllabus, this assignment is worth 20 (TWENTY) marks. Each member of the group will receive the same mark.

IF the assignment is submitted late, (3) THREE marks will be deducted for each day past the due date. Under no circumstances will assignments be accepted after the end of term (i.e. the final day of classes).

Sample HR Review Interview Checklist

Company name

Person interviewed

Title of person interviewed

Date of interview

Number of employees

Mission

Vision

Values

Core business

Current objectives

How would you describe your HR Strategy?

Does your company have a policy manual, or a collection of policy documents available to all staff?

Do you have an employee manual?

Do you have an employee / HR website?

How do you typically communicate with employees?

Why do you think your employees choose you as an employer?

What do you offer your employees that set you apart from your competition?

How would others describe the leadership style in your organization?     

Do you encourage staff to share ideas and find better ways of doing things?

Do you ask for employee feedback? How?

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

How do you source and select employees?

Who actually carries out the recruitment process?

What kind of interview process and techniques do you use?

Who usually conducts interviews?

What kind of questions do you ask?

Do you use assessment tools / test? Which ones?

Do you conduct reference checks? How?

ONBOARDING AND TRAINING

What kind of new hire orientation do you provide?

What kind of training and development is provided to staff?

What kind of feedback do you get from your staff about their opportunities for personal growth and development?

JOB ANALYSIS / JOB DESCRPTIONS

Do you have up-to-date job descriptions?

Do you have a job evaluation system?

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Do you set annual performance goals with your employees?

How do you evaluate employee performance?

Are employee goals linked to company objectives?

COMPENSATION

Do you have a compensation strategy? Can you describe it?

Do you have formal salary ranges?

Have they been shared with your staff?

How do you decide what salary increases you are going to give your staff?

Do you pay bonuses?

How do employees know when they’re doing a good job?

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