Details: Employee Relations Written Assignment: Pair Report
Academic Misconduct:
Students are reminded in the strongest possible terms that plagiarism is a serious academic offence and will not be tolerated in this module.
All work submitted must be the original work of the students concerned or properly cited and referenced as drawing on the work of others. Students are advised to carefully consult the guidance on how to avoid plagiarism in the Your Studies/Examinations and Assessment section of StudentSpace. See also the guidance on referencing in appendix I. There is a particular need to avoid excessive use of internet sources - in particular ‘cutting and pasting' - as this inevitably leads to a finding of plagiarism.
All reports submitted are the responsibility of both members of each pair and it is therefore vital that a close, partnership-based approach is taken to researching and writing the report, so that the possibility of academic misconduct is avoided. The only circumstance in which it is possible that the responsibility for misconduct would only fall on the student who actually committed it, would be if there was clear evidence that this person had dishonestly misled the other pair member.
Forming & Working in Pair:
Pairs must submit their names to the module leader by the third week of term. This must be in writing with both your signatures, stating that you have agreed to work together on the report. The form provided in the Assignments section of StudySpace can be used for this purpose.
It is vital that all pairs sit down together and plan out a joint approach to researching and writing the report. One or two initial meetings will be necessary in order to discuss the issues/themes arising and come up with ideas regarding the structure and content of the report, before the substantive research and writing is undertaken.
While responsibility for particular parts of the report may be allocated on an individual basis, both pair members will be held equally responsible for the content of report as a whole. Therefore in addition to the initial planning meetings, it will be necessary for pair members to hold further meetings and communicate regarding the research and writing each has undertaken.
Working in pairs should be seen as an excellent way of working closely with and learning from a colleague and should stimulate a lively debate regarding the topics under discussion. Dealing with and overcoming minor difficulties when working in a pair is part of the learning experience and will not be accepted as a reason for an individual submitting alone, for a pair submitting the assignment late or not submitting at all. If a student finds him or herself in a pair that has broken down or is experiencing major difficulties, then the module leader should be contacted by e-mail as soon as possible prior to submission of the assignment for advice. Where the module leader investigates and finds evidence of substantial differences in individual contributions, he/she will decide on the allocation of marks to pair members. His/her decision is binding.
Log/Diary of Meetings & work undertaken:
All pairs are required to make and keep notes of their meetings, email/telephone correspondence and the work undertaken during the course of researching and writing the report in the form of a log or diary. This log/diary is particularly important in case of any subsequent issues of academic misconduct or free-riding.
The log should include dates of meetings and a summary of discussions, divisions of work agreed and reviews of progress. In addition, some brief comments of critical reflection (maximum 300 words) on the experience of working in a pair should be provided (for example any particular difficulties, challenges, advantages or disadvantages observed). This document is to be submitted as an appendix (see futher below). It will account for 10% of the overall mark for the assignment (see section below for further details on the grading of this).
Assignment brief:
BCG Ltd. is a family-owned company currently employing 150 people that has successfully operated three garden centres in South East England for the last ten years. In order to build on this success the company's CEO, Aaron Brown, has outlined an ambitious growth programme. BCG is therefore to open seven new garden centres across the South East. The company's HR Director is looking for advice about the employee relations strategy and policies the company should adopt. As experts in employee relations, your task is to read the overview of the business and its policies and then answer the questions listed below.
Overview of the Business
Structure
The business will from now on be divided into two main parts, the horticulture and retail division, and a transport/logistics division. The horticulture and retail division will comprise the ten garden centres, which will employ 50 people each. There will be two main categories of staff at the garden centres, product specialists and shopfloor/canteen assistants. The centres will be open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, with late opening (until 9pm) three evenings a week during the summer months.
The product specialists will work full-time both outside and inside, tending to flowers and plants and handling garden furniture and equipment. Starting pay for these employees will be £9.50-11.50 an hour depending on qualifications. The majority will be expected to have qualifications but those that don't will be sponsored by the company to do an NVQ in Horticulture.
The shopfloor/canteen assistants will undertake more basic tasks such as replenishing stock, pricing and moving products, operating the tills and serving drinks and food to customers. They will be expected to work flexibly across these different tasks. They will receive a basic training and be paid £6.50 an hour. Half will work full-time and half part-time.
The logistics division will be responsible for sourcing products and delivering them to the ten garden centres (but not to customers). It will employ 30 people, ten long distance drivers who will collect products from continental Europe, ten people in the warehouse/distribution centre and ten regional delivery drivers. Starting pay will be £8.50-£9.50 an hour. The logistics division will operate on a 24/7, shift work basis and experience very high throughput volumes in spring and summer months when most flowers and plants are in bloom.
HR Policies & Approaches:
As a business BCG has to date been dominated by the vision and personality of its CEO Aaron Brown, who founded the company. Brown has frequently expressed the view that employees are privileged to work for his company and they should give "200 percent" in their jobs. In particular he expects staff to work over-time in spring and summer to respond to increased customer demand during those seasons.
To date the company has relied on direct communication between managers and staff, with department managers given a lot of power to make decisions and enforce the company's strict attendance and dress code policy.
With the business expansion, the CEO plans to hold ‘town hall' meetings for staff at every location every six months in order to provide an update on business performance and "inspire staff to work even harder." The company will also operate a suggestion scheme for business and operational improvements, with prizes awarded for the most successful suggestions.
All BCG employees will be enrolled in the company's pension scheme, which is more generous than the new government-sponsored scheme.
Questions:
In light of the information above, your report should address the following questions:
(a) Using the statistical sources provided (see below), reports should outline: (i) The most recent levels of trade union density and collective bargaining coverage in the South East of England; (ii) The most recent level of trade union density in the UK Wholesale & Retail and Transportation & Storage industries (the garden centres will be in the former and logistics division in the latter); (iii) Median gross hourly pay for all employees in the South East and for those working in the Wholesale & Retail and Transportation & Storage industries in that region.
(b) What sort of approach to Employee Relations is BCG adopting? What are the advantages and disadvantages of its approach, and is this advisable now the business is expanding?
(c) What kind of Employee Voice strategy is BCG adopting? Are the proposed employee voice policies and mechanisms likely to be effective in light of the other employment and HR policies being adopted and the statistics outlined in part (a)? Would you suggest anything different in terms of employee voice strategy or mechanisms, and if so what and why?
Guidance on Structure:
Part (a) should be brief and concise, consisting primarily of a description of the required figures. Part (c) should be somewhat longer than part (b) given that it accounts for 10% more of the marks. All reports should contain the following sections: executive summary, introduction, main sections (i.e. where the key issues/tasks raised in the assignment are addressed), conclusion, list of references, appendices (where relevant).
Sources of Statistical Information:
The best source of Information on trends in union density and collective bargaining coverage is the Department for Business, Innovation & Skill's webpage on trade union membership:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills/series/trade-union-statistics
This contains a link to a report entitled Trade Union Membership 2013 which contains the relevant figures listed in section (a). See the note about these statistics on StudySpace.
Figures on median gross hourly pay across the South East in general and in the Retail & Wholesale and Transportation & Storage sectors were collected in the 2013 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings undertaken by the Office for National Statistics. The relevant excel file containing these figures is available on StudySpace. Alternatively students can search for this from the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/2013-provisional-results/index.html (need to access the reference tables).
General Guidance on Report Writing:
It is vitally important that reports are based on and make reference to the sources and literature provided - it will not be sufficient to write merely on the basis of ‘common sense' points or observations (although of course including some such points will be acceptable). Failure to use and reference the literature provided will lead to a loss of marks (see indicative mark scheme below). Pairs will therefore need to undertake substantial preparatory reading and research before writing the report, using the readings outlined and any additional materials that are seen to be relevant. Reference should be made to at least five academic readings or sources in writing the report. If there is a particular issue or theme you wish to address, use the on-line search facilities from the LRC web pages to search out relevant articles. Note that excessive use of the internet and Google searchers in particular should be avoided - this is particularly important in preventing the risk of academic misconduct (see further below).
While part of the report will consist of the relatively straightforward presentation of facts, figures and trends, both report titles also raise particular issues or questions that are required to be discussed in a critical, evaluative or analytical manner in such a way as to develop or construct a coherent analysis or argument. The readings provided will be particularly useful as reference points in this regard. Reports must provide a wordcount. See referencing guide in module handbook or on StudySpace.