Unit 30 Resource and Talent Planning (L/618/5117) Assignment Brief 2026

Unit 30 Resource and Talent Planning Assignment Brief

Aim

People are the central asset of any organisation and the ability to attract, recruit and retain talented staff is critical to the success of any organisation whether in business, in voluntary organisations or in government. Human resource management (HRM), through resource and talent planning, gives organisations the principles, knowledge and behaviours needed to support and enhance organisational performance and success. Sustainable organisation performance and growth requires a constant reassessment of skills and knowledge. This informs the training and development of existing employees and includes the identification and development of ‘talent’.  The aim of this unit is to develop students’ understanding and ability to apply principles of effective workforce and talent planning to organisational development and to implement related approaches to the recruitment, retention and development of staff to enhance sustainable organisational performance and success. Students will consider the ethical implications of decision making in this area, taking account of the legal issues of fairness and justice, rules and organisational procedures.

On completion of the unit, students will understand the purpose and scope of human resource and talent-planning activities. Students will be able to apply a range of workforce planning, evidence and people-management skills to enhance the performance of an organisation by solving problems and finding evidence-based solutions.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit a student will be able to:

LO1 Analyse the impact of labour market trends on strategic resource and talent planning for achieving business goals

LO2 Apply strategic resource and talent planning for effective recruitment and selection

LO3 Examine the importance of performance management for improving people capability to achieve sustainable organisation performance.

LO4 Assess the relevance of the human resource lifecycle to managing change in workforce planning.

Essential Content

LO1 Analyse the impact of labour market trends on strategic resource and talent planning for achieving business goals

Strategic resource planning:

Methods used in strategic human resource planning.

The nature and use of data analytics in human resource planning.

The benefits of creating transparent workforce data.

Concept of human capital, e.g. employees as a cost or valued asset at organisational level.

Best fit vs best practice approaches.

Understanding the labour market and labour market trends:

The influence of contextual and environmental issues on employment patterns.

Political, economic, socio-cultural and technological influences.

Impact of globalisation.

Tight and loose labour market conditions, e.g. surpluses and shortages of labour.

The use of data analytics in identifying labour market trends.

Organisational responses to labour and skills surplus or shortage, resolving the resource problem ethically.

Defining talent:

Talent planning as a fundamental component of strategic human resource management.

People analytics the risks and opportunities.

Employer branding and organisational culture.

Defining the concept of ‘talent’, e.g. the debate of whether talent is specific or generic.

Talent and the agile organisation.

Developing talent:

Talent planning and retention.

Career development and succession planning.

Diversity: the business case and the ethical case.

Resourcing for gender and minorities.

The dilemma of the aesthetic employment context.

Managing talent planning and development in different types of organisations.

LO2 Apply strategic resource and talent planning for effective recruitment and selection

Supporting strategic objectives:

Strategic objectives and people planning to meet skills and talent requirements.

Defining the process of job analysis.

Methods of job analysis and the collection of data.

The use of skills audits and gap analysis.

Job design:

The difference between job analysis and design.

Role responsibility, variety and work enrichment in relation to organisational objectives.

The impact of job design on individual and organisational performance.

Changes in working patterns, workplace flexibility, family-friendly policies and ethical working.

Organisational culture and working patterns.

The significance of job analysis and job design for creating job descriptions and person specifications.

Recruitment and selection policies and processes:

Assessing the validity and reliability of recruitment and selection procedures.

Recruitment processes and the value and utilisation of social media.

The Big Three (application, job description and person specification) and traditional and contemporary approaches to recruitment.

Specific methods for selecting talent, e.g. executive research.

The use of assessment centres as a selection mechanism.

Identifying potential.

Creating diversity.

Forming the employment relationship:

Creating the employment contract.

The significance of the psychological contract and the impact on employment relationships.

The induction process, onboarding, engagement and retention.

LO3 Examine the importance of performance management for improving people capability to achieve sustainable organisation performance

Managing organisational performance:

High performance working (HPW).

Definitions of HPW.

Types of organisation culture and structure that enhance HPW.

Key characteristics of HPW.

Total quality management (TQM).

Links between organisational objectives and performance management systems.

Performance management systems:

Key features of performance management.

Role of performance management in monitoring and developing employee contribution.

Types of performance appraisal, reward or development.

Methods of measuring performance.

Interpersonal skills and the performance management relationship, e.g. influencing, persuading, coaching, counselling.

Managing talent:

Approaches to the performance management of organisational talent.

Motivation reward and recognition.

Impact of culture of HPW.

Models of talent management in agile organisations.

Managing performance problems:

Sustaining high performance.

Managing underperformance.

Identifying the nature and underlying causes of performance problems, including organisational, personal, external etc.

Methods for resolving performance problems informally and formally, including provision of further development opportunities and use of disciplinary procedures.

The legal framework relating to performance management.

LO4 Assess the relevance of the human resource lifecycle to managing change in workforce planning.

The HR lifecycle:

The concept of the HR/employee lifecycle.

Theories of change management, e.g. Kotter and Lewin.

Key stages in the HR lifecycle and application to change management theory.

Solutions for the management of the key stages of the HR lifecycle to support changes in workforce planning, e.g. impact of onboarding, induction on retention.

Ethical implications in managing the HR lifecycle processes fairly.

Managing organisational change throughout the HR lifecycle.

Legal and regulatory framework:

Legal implications – managing the HR lifecycle processes legally.

Key aspects of employment law relevant to the HR lifecycle.

Recruitment and selection, legal and illegal discrimination.

Performance management.

Exiting processes, including redundancy.

Ethical implications, managing the HR lifecycle fairly and with respect.

Release strategies:

The scope of release strategies, e.g. redundancy, dismissal, retirement.

Outplacement strategies for leavers.

Alternatives to involuntary redundancy.

Labour turnover and ‘natural wastage’.

Impact of redundancy on those remaining.

The impact of legal frameworks on release strategies.

Managing talent during change:

Maintaining a balanced workforce.

The contribution of people planning to sustaining performance.

Building an agile organisation.

The use of flexible reward systems.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Recommended Resources

Textbooks

ARMSTRONG, M. and TAYLOR, S. (2020) Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 15th Ed.

BEARDWELL, J., THOMPSON, A. (2017) Human Resource Management, A Contemporary Approach. 8th Ed. Harlow: Pearson

BRATTON, J. and GOLD, K. (2017) Human Resource Management Theory and Practice. 6th Ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

TAYLOR, S. (2018) Resourcing and Talent Management. 7th Ed. London: CIPD.

TORRINGTON, D., HALL, L. and TAYLOR, S. (2018) Human Resource Management. 10th Ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Links

This unit links to the following related units:

Unit 3: Management of Human Resources

Unit 7: Business Law

Unit 31: Employee Relations

Unit 46: Developing Individuals, Teams and Organisations

Answer

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