Case study

You are currently a Junior Associate in People Practice and are working on your CIPD qualification. A local television production company has contacted the Head of your Study Centre to ask for some assistance. They are making a current affairs programme on business issues and ethical practice. They are particularly keen to highlight the role in a People Practice team to helpsupport and promote ethical practice in organisations following a number of well publicised examples of unethical practices and exploitation at work. They are concerned about the link between ethical practice and the impact on the day-to-day experience of work for members of staff. You suspect that they might be biased and are looking for examples to justify their viewpoint that modern day organisations exploit workers and do not care about their wellbeing at all. The Head of your Study Centre has asked you to prepare an initial briefing paper to help shape the response to the production company.

Preparation for the Tasks:

• At the start of your assignment, you are encouraged to plan your assessment work
  with your Assessor and where appropriate agree milestones so that they can help
  you monitor your progress.
• Refer to the indicative content in the unit to guide and support your evidence.
• Pay attention to how your evidence is presented, remember you are working in the People Practice Team.
• Make sure that the evidence generated for this assessment remains your own
  work.

Task One – Ethical Practice Briefing Paper

The purpose of the briefing paper is to demonstrate the role of HR in practising and promoting professional values, ethics and principles within organisations.The paper should include and address the following points:

• Explain what is meant by ‘ethical principles’ and ‘professional values’, and how these might inform the way people approach their work. (1.1)
• Identify a piece of legislation and a Code of Practice that supports ethical and professional practice, with examples of how an HR professional can conform to these. (1.2)
• Explain the importance of ethical behaviour for an HR professional and the potential consequences (personal and professional) for them of unethical behaviour (2.1)
• Describe how an HR professional would demonstrate a positive and ethical approach to each of the following: (1.3, 2.2)
  • clarifying problems or issues
  • contributing views and opinions
  • working in a team
  • showing sensitivity to others*
  • showing respect for colleagues*

* For the two asterisked bullet points, you should include a work-based or personal example of when you have demonstrated the positive and ethical behaviour you describe.

You may use bullet points to add emphasis to your briefing paper and it is expected that you will use headings as well to help guide the reader through.

Your evidence must consist of:

§Briefing document (approximately 1,250 words).