HRM11124 Assessment 1

Assessment Brief

For assessment 2 you are asked to adopt the position of the hotel manager at The Grand. The HR consultant’s report has just been delivered and you are due to meet with the restaurant management team in a few weeks to discuss the next steps. You are aware that your approach to leadership will have an impact on employee’s reaction to the proposal to introduce a vegan and vegetarian menu. You therefore decide to spend some time reflecting on your own leadership style and the leadership style that will be most effective in bring about change.

 

For the assessment, you are required to produce ONE of the following:

1. A 1500-word reflective report
2. A 10-minute recorded presentation. Your presentation should be produced using PowerPoint and should include PowerPoint slides and a recorded oral presentation. You can include as many slides as you like.

Both options 1 and 2 will be assessed using the marking matrix provided in the ‘Assessment Briefs and Information’ section on Moodle.

 

Approach to reflection

Note that this report is about reflecting for self-awareness – In your role as manager at The Grand your aim is to:

• Develop self-awareness of your leadership practice (i.e. to learn about yourself in order to improve).
• Identify leadership traits and values that are engrained and that you would like to maintain, and those that can change or that you would like to develop.
• Challenge assumptions about leadership practice, and look for evidence that might challenge or support those assumption - ask yourself ‘How do I know?’ and ‘Why?’

The aim of the report is not therefore to reflect on experience using (for example) Gibbs reflective framework.

 

Report content

Your report/recorded presentation should include the following elements:

1. A description of your own leadership identity. Within your description you should consider the following:
   1. How your own culture and background has shaped your leadership identity.
   2. How information shared, and reading carried out, during this module has impacted on your leadership identity.
   3. A diagrammatic representation of your leadership identity (please refer to the leadership seminars for help with this). The diagram can be hand drawn or produced on a computer.
   4. An evaluation of the leadership theories that might be appropriate for bringing about change in the case study organisation. You should think about the following:
      1. What leadership theory might be most appropriate when bringing about the change proposed in the case study organisation? You should consider both the nature of the change (i.e. its focus on sustainability) and the specific details of the case study.
      2. What leadership theory would be most appropriate for enacting the change model recommended be the consultant in assessment 1. You should start your discussion with a brief explanation of the change model proposed by the consultant in assessment 1.
      3. Based on the evaluation carried out for point 3, which leadership theory, or combination of theories, are you going to use and why. Note that if you decide to use a theory that does not align with the change model suggested by the consultant you should explain this, and propose and alternative change management model.  
      4. Outline the skills that you will need to develop in order to carry out your leadership role and how these skills will be developed.

 

In order to write your reflective report/presentation you should read, apply and reference appropriate academic theory and literature.

 

Choosing between a written report and a recorded presentation

It is entirely your choice whether to do a written report or a recorded presentation. One is not better than the other, and both will be marked using the same marking criteria.

When making your decision, consider:

• Which format best suits your skills.
• Which format will help you to develop skills relevant to future employment.
• Which format you will most enjoy.

 

Presentation: Academic Writing, Genre, and Style

Reflective report

A good piece of work is attractively styled and logically structured, with a high standard of written English.  The report should be written using British English spelling: avoid “z’s” such as “organization” and use the standard British English spelling of “organisation”, “behaviour”, “centre”, etc.

Use the report format and include appropriate headings. Do not label the body of your report as “main body” and do not use long questions as headings; instead, use descriptive headings which signpost the content of each section. A contents page should be included at the start of the report (please see guidance below).

Format your report using a professional font (e.g. Calibri or Arial), and use 1.5 line spacing.

Appendices can be useful to provide additional information, but you must incorporate the key reflections and arguments into the main body of your report. Any appendices should be referred to in your report.

Please note there is a marking criterion for presentation and referencing. Please look at the marking criteria so you understand what you need to do to pass this criterion.

 

Creating a contents page in word

You can quickly and easily create a content page in word by following the guidance here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/insert-a-table-of-contents-882e8564-0edb-435e-84b5-1d8552ccf0c0

If you are not familiar with the headings feature in word (you must use heading in order to automatically create a contents page) you can find guidance here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/insert-a-table-of-contents-882e8564-0edb-435e-84b5-1d8552ccf0c0

 

Recorded presentation

Recorded presentations should be created using PowerPoint.

The slides

A good presentation is attractively styled and logically structured, with a high standard of written English.

• Avoid putting too much information on each slide. Use bullet points rather than block of text to covey the most important information. Remember that you presentation will be accompanied by a recorded oral presentation so you don’t need to cover all information in your slides.
• Use a limited colour pallet, and ensure that coloured text is visible by using high contrast colours.
• Use a professional font, such as Calibri or Arial, and ensure that your font is consistent throughout the presentation
• Think carefully about the size of text. In general, avoid using text smaller that 18pt.
• Include images to make you slide more attractive BUT only do so if the images are relevant and enhance the slides.

Your presentation should be written using British English spelling: avoid “z’s” such as “organization” and use the standard British English spelling of “organisation”, “behaviour”, “centre”, etc.