Unit Title: People Planning and Resourcing

Unit Reference Number: A/601/7506

Guided Learning Hours: 160
Level: Level 5
Number of Credits: 18

Learning Outcome 1
The learner will: Understand the principles behind the design, implementation and review of
people (human resource) plans.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

1.1 Explain the purposes

and potential benefits of
people planning.

1.1.1 The purposes and goals of people planning, with special

reference to the links between people planning and an
organisations strategic goals, vision, mission, values and Big
Idea.
1.1.2 The benefits of systematic people planning, especially
for organisations relatively untouched by turbulence,
uncertainty and discontinuous change.

1.2 Assess the

disadvantages and
dangers of people
planning in a turbulent,
highly competitive and
fast-moving world.

1.2.1 The continuing debate about the value and relevance of

people planning in todays world of work and organisations,
characterised by constant uncertainties, turbulence,
discontinuous change, political disturbance (in some regions),
and globalised competition.

1.3 Design a cost-effective

people plan for a specified
corporate scenario.

1.3.1 The development of people plans appropriate for

specified corporate scenarios, incorporating the organisations
high-level strategy, its people demand requirements and
supply forecasts, plus proposed action plans to address any
significant discrepancies.

1.4 Create mechanisms for

measuring and monitoring
the effectiveness of a
people plan during its
implementation, and where
necessary devise remedial
processes to ensure its
continued relevance and
value.

1.4.1 Mechanisms and techniques for measuring and

monitoring the effectiveness of a given people plan.
1.4.2 The creation of risk assessments and contingency plans
within people plans, plus remedial programmes for
implementation where necessary in order to ensure that the
people plan remains relevant and worthwhile.

Learning Outcome 2
The learner will: Know how to identify and take account of all the relevant internal factors
when designing the people plan.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

2.1 Describe systematic

methods for analysing the
strengths and weaknesses
of a workforce.

2.1.1 Systematic methods for analysing the strengths and

weaknesses of an organisations current workforce in relation to
the organisations future human resource requirements.

2.2 Identify methods for

calculating key indices of
organisational
performance through
people and show how the
results may be interpreted
in order to undertake
remedial action if
appropriate.

2.2.1 Principal techniques for assessing and quantifying various

indices of people performance and contribution, plus a range of
courses of action to resolve difficulties where necessary.

2.3 Explain the corporate

benefits to be gained from
securing high levels of
employee commitment and
engagement.

2.3.1 The commercial, competitive and strategic benefits to be

gained from creating a workforce characterised by high levels of
employee commitment and engagement.

2.4 Explain how to

construct commerciallydefensible plans for
promoting employee
commitment and
engagement throughout a
given workforce.

2.4.1 The methods and techniques typically used by

organisations seeking to secure high levels of commitment and
engagement from their employees.

2.5 Apply the above

knowledge and skills to
specified organisational
scenarios.

2.5.1 The application of the above models, tools and principles

to broadly-defined corporate scenarios.

Learning Outcome 3
The learner will: Know how to identify and take account of all the relevant external factors
when designing the people plan.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

3.1 Describe the features

of any given labour market
(local, national,
international or global) and
their application in
corporate people planning.

3.1.1 The principal features of any given labour market:

geographic (local, national, international or global),
demographic, political, psychological (whether work viewed as
a central life interest or merely a financial necessity) and
cultural features.

3.2 Construct a wellinformed set of predictions

concerning the future
labour market, generally
and in relation to particular
locations, regions or types
of labour.

3.2.1 The future of any given labour market both generally in

relation to the above features, but also in relation to specified
categories or segments within the working population, e.g.,
skilled/unskilled manual workers, the service sector, IT,
management, etc.

3.3 Evaluate the

significance of key external
variables principally
political, economic, social
and technological factors
for the design of people
plans.

3.3.1 The significance of all relevant external variables

(PESTLE: political, economic, social, technological, legal and
environmental) so far as the development of labour markets is
concerned.

3.4 Apply the above

knowledge and skills to
specified organisational
and business-sector
scenarios.

3.4.1 The analysis and application of the above principles,

models and techniques to particular organisational scenarios.

Learning Outcome 4
The learner will: Understand the major approaches to people resourcing used by
organisations in the modern world.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

4.1 Describe the high-level

purposes for people
resourcing, especially
related to an organisations
vision and strategic goals.

4.1.1 The goals and objectives for an effective, businessfocused people resourcing strategy.

4.2 Identify the principal

routes through which
people resourcing may be
undertaken, and the
contingencies that may
affect approaches to
people resourcing in a
variety of contexts.

4.2.1 The range of people resourcing routes, processes and

systems (including traditional/systematic models and
techniques, and transformational visions for employee
engagement) identified and evaluated according to their generic
suitability as well as their specific relevance to any given set of
corporate and resourcing strategies (especially for
organisations pursuing a transformational vision for employee
engagement).
4.2.2 The contingencies which may affect the approaches used
for people resourcing, i.e., size (local, national, multinational,
global), geographical location, the nature of the labour market,
the competitive environment (public/private,
manufacturing/service).

4.3 Explain the legal,

ethical and professional
background to people
resourcing.

4.3.1 The legal, ethical and professional criteria which govern

the strategies and operational systems for people resourcing.

Learning Outcome 5
The learner will: Understand what is involved in recruitment and selection, including all
relevant ethical/legal and professional aspects and methods for evaluating
the effectiveness of recruitment and selection systems.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

5.1 Explain how to design

and embed cost-effective
recruitment/selection
strategies, procedures and
systems, both in general
and also when catering for
specified contingencies.

5.1.1 The development and design of recruitment and selection

strategies/practices targeted towards specific resourcing
scenarios and functioning within appropriate
legal/ethical/professional criteria and standards.

5.2 Explain how to design

recruitment/selection
processes which do not
unfairly discriminate on
grounds of gender, ethnic
differences, age, religion,
sexual orientation or
disability.

5.2.1 The establishment of recruitment and selection systems

which do not discriminate on any grounds: religious, ethnic,
gender, sexual orientation, age or disability.

5.3 Describe the specific

recruitment and selection
processes used by

5.3.1 The development and implementation of recruitment and

selection processes used by organisations when recruiting
across national borders.

organisations when
resourcing across national
borders.

5.4 Explain the necessity

for systematically
measuring the
effectiveness of
recruitment and selection
and identify the problems
of accurate measurement.

5.4.1 Methods for analysing and measuring effectiveness (the

validity and reliability) of recruitment and selection.
5.4.2 The complexities involved in calculating the effectiveness
of people resourcing strategies and practices, including the
problem of defining cause/effect relationships, the potential
impact of intervening factors or variables and the selection of
meaningful criteria.

Learning Outcome 6
The learner will: Understand the processes and activities which together comprise systematic,
cost-effective recruitment and selection.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

6.1 Explain the various

methods of recruitment
available to organisations
and identify relevant
criteria for choosing
appropriate methods.

6.1.1 The various methods of recruitment available to

organisations and their characteristics, applications, costeffectiveness (both generically and in specific recruitment
scenarios), benefits and disadvantages.

6.2 Describe and explain

the growing use of
technology within
recruitment, with special
reference to e-recruitment.

6.2.1 The applications of technology to recruitment, with special

reference to the scope, advantages and disadvantages of erecruitment.

6.3 Evaluate the use of

different tools to underpin
an effective recruitment
process.

6.3.1 The design, use and evaluation of job descriptions

(accountability profiles), and person specifications (competency
frameworks).

6.4 Identify and evaluate

the various methods of
selection available to
organisations and devise
and justify appropriate
methods of selection to be
used when selecting for
specific vacancies.

6.4.1 The principal methods of selection available to

organisations and their characteristics, applications, costeffectiveness (both generically and in specific selection
scenarios), benefits and disadvantages, concentrating on
selection interview, psychometric testing, assessment centres,
application forms and references/testimonials.

6.1.2 The development of defensible criteria to be used as the

basis of recruitment plans for resolving previously-defined
requirements.

6.4.2 Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of the selection

interview, psychometric tests, assessment centres, application

forms and references/testimonials.

6.4.3 The construction of defensible selection plans to cater for
specified selection scenarios.
6.4.4 The design and application of selection techniques which
cater cost-effectively for special-case scenarios, e.g. transient
organisations.

6.5 Assess the

circumstances in which
organisations may
outsource parts of their
people resourcing
activities to recruitment
agencies and/or other
outsourcing providers and
specialists.

6.5.1 The applications of outsourcing in people resourcing,

including the use of recruitment agencies and/or other
outsourcing providers and specialists.

Learning Outcome 7
The learner will: Understand systematic and businesslike methods for encouraging employee
retention and managing employee departures (through voluntary turnover,
retirement, redundancy or dismissal).

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

7.1 Describe both the

benefits and risks associated
with strategies and practices
specifically intended to
improve employee retention.

7.1.1 A review of the benefits and risks associated with

employee retention and employee loyalty.

7.2 Identify the standard

methods for measuring and
analysing labour turnover.

7.2.1 Definitions for labour turnover and the principal methods

for measuring the incidence of turnover.

7.3 Explain how to

implement the various
mechanisms available to
organisations in order to
manage employee
retirements and redundancy
programmes in ways that are
legally and ethically
compliant yet also
businesslike and costeffective.

7.3.1 Procedures for the systematic, legally-compliant,

ethically-appropriate and cost-effective management of
employee retirements and redundancy programmes.

7.4 Outline the principles and

objectives that should govern
the design and application of
an organisations discipline
and dismissal procedure.

7.4.1 The design and implementation of a legally- and

ethically-compliant discipline and dismissal procedure.

7.5 Identify a range of

standard techniques for
measuring employee
absence, and cost-effective
routes for reducing employee
absence when absenteeism
has reached the point where
concerted action is required.

7.5.1 Methods for measuring employee absence.

7.5.2 Cost-effective routes to reduce (or eliminate)
unnecessary employee absence on the part of individual
employees, groups of employees, or throughout the
organisation as a whole.

Learning Outcome 8
The learner will: Know how to create and apply an employer of choice or employer brand
strategy and process platform.

Assessment Criteria
The learner can:

Indicative Content

8.1 Describe what is meant

by the employer of choice
or employer brand
attribution and identify the
defining features.

8.1.1 The concepts of employer of choice and employer

brand defined and explained.

8.2 Outline and explain the

benefits of becoming an
employer of choice or an
employer brand.

8.2.1 A review of the benefits to be gained by the organisation

(and by its workforce) from securing an employer of choice
or employer brand status.

8.3 Identify and justify the

actions to be taken by an
employer when seeking to
become an employer of
choice or an employer
brand.

8.3.1 The construction of action plans intended to transform

an organisation into an employer of choice or employer
brand.

8.1.2 The key ingredients found in an employer of choice or

employer brand organisation, so far as the personnel/HR
function and people-management strategies/practices are
concerned.

Assessment:
Assessment method: written examination (unless otherwise stated).
Written examinations are of three hours duration.
All learning outcomes will be assessed.

Recommended Reading:
Please refer to the Tuition Resources section of the Members Area of the ABE website
(www.abeuk.com) for the recommended reading for this subject.