| 5CO02: Evidence-Based Practice |
Level 5 Associate Diploma in
▪ People Management
▪ Organizational Learning and Development
5CO02 Evidence-based practice
This unit assignment addresses the significance of capturing robust quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform meaningful insight to influence critical thinking. It focuses on analyzing evidence through an ethical lens to improve decision-making and how measuring the impact of people’s practice is essential in creating value.
CIPD’s insight
Evidence-based practice is about making better decisions, informing action that has the desired impact. An evidence-based approach to decision-making is based on a combination of using critical thinking and the best available evidence. It makes decision-makers less reliant on anecdotes, received wisdom, and personal experience – sources that are not trustworthy on their own.
It is important for People Practitioners to adopt this approach because of the huge impact management decisions have on the working lives of people in all sorts of organizations worldwide. Managers have an obligation to find the best evidence when making important decisions to strengthen the well-being of their workers as well as ensuring their organization’s success
Case study
Your company has been invited to submit a briefing paper for a regional People Practice event that will share insights and good practices on a range of people practice processes and practices. The topic area that your manager has chosen is ‘evidence-based practice’ and has selected you to represent the company by creating the briefing paper for the event.
In addition, your manager has asked you to analyse and review three sets of performance data in readiness for the forthcoming heads of department meeting.
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 for this task.
▪ Ensure that the evidence generated for this assessment remains your own work.
You will also benefit from:
▪ Acting on formative feedback from your Assessor.
▪ Reflecting on your own experiences of learning opportunities and training and continuing professional development.
▪ Reading the CIPD Insight, Fact Sheets, and related online material on these topics.
Task One: Briefing Paper
You have been asked to prepare a briefing paper that is to be given to people practitioners at a regional event, to share insights and good practice. The paper needs to provide an understanding of approaches that can be taken to support effective critical thinking and decision-making within the
HR remit.
Your Briefing Paper needs to:
▪ provide an evaluation of the concept of evidence-based practice and assess how evidence-based practice approaches can be used to support sound decision-making and judgments for people practitioners across a range of people practices and organizational issues. (1.1)
▪ evaluate two micro and two macro analysis tools or methods that can be used in people practice to explore an organization’s micro and macro environment, and how those identified might be applied to diagnose future issues, challenges and opportunities. (1.2)
▪ explain the principles of critical thinking and give examples of how you apply these yourself when relating to your own and others’ ideas, to assist objective and rational debate. (1.3)
▪ assess at least two different ethical theories and perspectives and explain how an understanding of these can be used to inform and influence effective decision-making. (1.4)
▪ explain a range of decision-making approaches that could be used to identify possible solutions to a specific issue relating to people’s practice. (2.3)
▪ as a worked example to illustrate the points made in 2.3, take this same people practice issue, explain the relevant evidence that you have reviewed, and use one or more decisionmaking tools to determine a recommended course of action, explaining the rationale for that decision and identifying the benefits, risks and financial implications of the suggested solution. (2.2 & 2.4)
▪ compare and contrast a range of different ways and approaches that are used to measure financial and non-financial performance within organizations. (3.1) It is essential that you refer to academic concepts, theories, and professional practice for the tasks to ensure that your work is supported by analysis. Please ensure that any references and sources are drawn upon are acknowledged correctly and supported by a bibliographic.
Task two: Data analysis and review
In preparing for the forthcoming department heads meeting your manager has asked you to prepare a range of information and interpretations for use at the meeting Below are two sets of data that have been collected by a 360-degree review for Department ‘A’.
Table 1, is the feedback that has been elicited from employees on their line managers and table 2 is from the customers that use the services and goods from Department A.
Use one analytical tool to review the two data sets to reveal any themes, patterns, and trends (2.1).
From this analysis, graphically present your findings using three or more different methods (3.3).
▪ Identify the key systems and data used within effective people practices, to give insights by measuring work and people performance (3.2)
▪ Explain how people practices add value in an organization and identify methods that might be used to measure the impact of people practices (3.4)
