7CO03 Personal Effectiveness, Ethics and Business Acumen

Introduction

• Word count: 10,000

The learning plan, learning journal and portfolio of evidence

What characterises the best professionals you have worked with? A range of behaviours come to mind such as reliable, brave, rational, supportive, open, and inclusive, influential and well- connected, appreciative and ethical. These types of behaviour are often mentioned before knowledge, such as well-informed or up to date. Our profession map therefore places behaviour alongside knowledge as key characteristics of an impactful people professional. However, behaviour can be much harder to teach and is certainly more difficult to assess in people professionals.

The CIPD recognises that this is a demanding assessment for level 7 learners. It deals with broad senior-level behaviours because this is a strategic qualification at postgraduate level. It stretches across a longer period than most units because we want learners to have full scope to develop and then demonstrate their professional skills. It involves planning as well as summative assessment because the behaviours demanded in the profession map are largely self-developed or coached rather than taught in the classroom. Finally, learners and centres are afforded wide discretion over the first two elements of this tripartite assignment because we want learners to do things in ways that work for them; that requires autonomy.

Experience with this assessment has shown that it is discriminating in that it is clear who has taken the development of their skills seriously and can evidence the results. It is inclusive by providing opportunities for learners to be assessed on behaviours from the widest possible range of environments, not just in their workplace. And for some learners, it has been the springboard into lifelong habits of reflection, planning and execution of self-directed learning.

This unit consists of three tasks:

1) At the start of your programme carry out a self-assessment of your competence in each of the unit’s fifteen assessment criteria (for ease, these are listed in Appendix A) and from this develop a personal learning plan. Then,

2) During your programme keep a learning journal to monitor and adjust your progress and record evidence of your growing competence. Then,

3) At the end of your programme, you will submit a portfolio of evidence of your competence covering six of the unit’s fifteen assessment criteria. (You will be told which six assessment criteria nearer your submission date for moderation.)

Preparation for the Tasks:

• For task 1 you will need the CIPD Profession Map.
• Refer to the indicative content in the unit (see Appendix A) to guide and support your planning, learning and evidence gathering.

You will also benefit from:

• Recognising that this level of planning, reflection and recording of self-development is something new to most people. It will not come naturally. You will get faster and better at doing it as you progress through your programme. At the same time, you will find journaling growing in impact on your thinking and behaviour. So, experiment and expect to change the way you do things - that shows that you are developing.
• Putting aside a realistic amount of time at the beginning of your programme for your self- assessment and planning. Go slow to go fast.
• Reflecting on experiences or other courses outside of work that may be relevant to this unit.
• Gaining an understanding of the theories underpinning this unit and research into real people and organisations.
• Reading the CIPD Fact Sheets and related on-line material on these topics.
• Clearly separating your work from that of others.
• Including a wide range of sources of both learning and evidence - reading, observing, shadowing, internet research, experimentation, secondment, mentoring or coaching, volunteering, regular personal reflection and so on.

• Paying attention to how your evidence is presented in your portfolio

7CO03 Personal Effectiveness, Ethics and Business Acumen

Task One – Initial Self-Assessment and Plan

At the start of your programme carry out a self-assessment of your knowledge and skill in each of the fifteen assessment criteria (listed in Appendix A). Then formulate your development plan for each one. This plan must take you to the required standard in each assessment criterion by the time you submit Task 3.

The purpose of this task is to:

• Identify your current strengths and the competencies you must develop during your programme.
• Enable you to plan and deliver your development and monitor your progress towards your learning goals.

This document will be an essential foundation for your learning.

Task Two – Learning journal

During your programme follow your development plan and record your learning in a journal. This journal will then provide you with the rich source material you need to compile your final assessment portfolio.

Identify real evidence of your competence in each of the fifteen areas and record these in your journal. Apply relevant theories and models to help you critically evaluate your performance.

By the end of your programme, you should be able to report on, have critically evaluated and show evidence of your competence in, all fifteen assessment criteria.

You choose the format for your journaling. You might keep a chronological journal – carrying out regular reflection - rather like a diary - perhaps on a weekly basis. Or you can divide your journal into the fifteen sections and record your learning as it arises, under the relevant heading. Or you may combine these formats.

Helpful advice:

• Take care. There is a lot to cover in this unit and you are strongly advised to start work early, gradually developing your knowledge and behaviour, and assembling your portfolio. If you leave your portfolio until you know which six assessment criteria to cover, you are very unlikely to pass.
• Learn from other learners. You may find it useful to work in an action learning set or similar group with fellow learners. This will enable you to share your areas of strength and weakness; learn from, challenge, and motivate each other; and enable you to find solutions to your problems.
• Learn from a range of experiences. If you are developing as a result of experiences outside work and study, you can include that in your journal. Clubs, sports, voluntary work and even home life are sources of learning and therefore also evidence. If you are not currently in an HR/L&D role, you will need to draw more heavily on these sources of learning. Again, you will need supporting evidence for what you have done and what impact it is has had.
• This unit is at Level 7 (post-graduate). It is not sufficient in your portfolio simply to describe what you have done. You must display a post-graduate approach. You will find it helpful to consider the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy - analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. For example:

Assessment criterion 1: Critically assess different ethical standpoints on people practice and the maintenance of high standards of ethical behaviour.

• Asking yourself ‘So what?’ at any of these stages of your thinking will often result in useful insights.
• Many commentators suggest that much of our behavioural development comes from practical experiences rather than formal teaching. Such learning is often emergent rather than planned; informal rather than formal; and unstructured rather than organised. Include these in your regular reflections. You might use a format for recording and analysing incidents from which you have learned, such as:

• 
  You can use this document later as evidence in your portfolio.
  • Your journaling will need to reflect the contemporary work and working life environment, which is often volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.
  • Any mark or grade given will not form part of your final assessment for the unit

Task Three – Your portfolio

Your final task is to submit a portfolio of evidence of your competence in six of the unit’s fifteen assessment criteria. This will be the culmination of all your work in the unit and the mark for this portfolio will be your final mark for the unit.

Your portfolio should consist of:

• An evaluation of your competence (knowledge and behaviours) in six of the unit’s fifteen assessment criteria.
• Evidence to support your evaluation, clearly cross-referenced to each of your claims.
• A brief continuing professional development plan in each area showing how you will continue to develop after you have finished your programme.

Six weeks before your submission deadline, you will be told which six of the fifteen assessment criteria you should cover in your portfolio. The six assessment criteria will include at least one from each of the unit’s four learning outcomes, but no more than two will come from any single learning outcome.

Excluding evidence, your portfolio should consist of 4,000 words ± 10% (about 650 words for each assessment criteria). The bibliography, list of reference and essential background material should be put in an appendix; they will not be included in the 4,000 words.

You must support the claims you make in your portfolio by providing evidence.

Helpful advice:

• Include hard evidence where you can. Feedback sheets and marks, handouts, or journal articles that you have annotated, a link to a video of you doing something that demonstrates your competence (e.g., leading a training session or conducting an appraisal meeting), a certificate, a letter, a document from your work and even a written testimonial from a fellow learner, work colleague or manager.
• Asking the question, ‘How do I know that I am competent?’ might point you to some evidence. Two examples:
  • How do you know you are getting better at making decisions? Are you spending less time? Or making better quality decisions? What hard evidence is there?
  • If you understand something, you can probably explain it to someone else. Hence, teaching someone else can be evidence of your learning. If they write a note to testify that you have helped them, that would be hard evidence. If you have written a piece of coursework or passed an exam, that is evidence. So are summarised notes of key points from a lecture, book, or journal article – they suggest you have got some understanding.
• Handouts on their own are not sufficient as evidence because they do not show how and what you may have learned. For example, you may own a book on Quantum Theory, but that is not evidence that you understand the theory. But if the book contains pencil notes, it is beginning to have some evidential worth. Only include handouts or journal articles if they provide real evidence of your knowledge and understanding.

Appendix A – The unit’s fifteen assessment criteria and indicative content

Learning Outcome 1: Be able to model principles and values that promote inclusivity aimed at maximising the contribution that people make to organisations.

Learning Outcome 2: Be able to achieve and maintain challenging business outcomes for yourself and organisations.

7CO03 Personal Effectiveness, Ethics and Business Acumen

Learning Outcome 3: Be able to apply learning to enhance personal effectiveness.

Learning Outcome 4: Be able to influence others during decision-making while showing courage and conviction.

Appendix B – Illustrative format for initial learning plan

Appendix C – Example format for portfolio