5CO02

Evidence-based Practice

Participant Name

PwC
Introduction to the Workbook

This Workbook is provided as a supplement to the course slides and other outputs from the
class days. It should be read in conjunction with the other course materials.

The Workbook is structured around the module’s learning outcomes and the assessment
criteria. It is designed with 4 goals in mind:

1. To enable you to prepare for the class days by providing some background content and
“food for thought” without reducing the impact of learning in class.

2. To help you better understand the subject matter and relate it to your workplace by
providing some short exercises at different points throughout the workbook.

3. To enable you to reflect on key learning as you work through the course and to create an
action plan for your continued development.

4. To provide you with additional sources of reference material to supplement your reading
and learning.

In order to maximise your learning and your chances of passing the assessment, it is essential
that you do not rely solely on the Workbook and the course slides. You should engage fully in
the class discussions and exercises and read widely on the topics. You will find lots of
references to additional material in this Workbook.

On behalf of the PwC Training Academy, we wish you every success in the pursuit of your
CIPD Level 5 qualification.

and remember…. the more you put in, the more you get out

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Section 1
Module Orientation
Module Orientation

What’s this module all about?

This unit covers a wide scope of topics around evidence-based practice Including tools for
analysis and decision making, the practice of critical thinking and measuring financial and non-
financial performance. The unit then goes on to cover HR metrics and the difference between
efficiency and effectiveness. The second part of the assessment relates to a case study on
data analysis.

Look out for these icons throughout the Workbook

Reflection - an opportunity for you to pause for thought and consider the
relevance of the subject to your own situation

A practical exercise on your own where you are asked a specific question in the
subject area

A link to a useful resource, website or publication

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The Module in A Bit More Detail

To start with, there are 3 Learning Outcomes in this module and these are:

1. Understand strategies for effective critical thinking and decision making

2. Understand the importance of decision-making strategies to solve people practice issues

3. Be able to measure the impact and value of people practice to the organization

To achieve those learning outcomes, in more detail, we’ll be covering a wide and interesting
range of topics including:

• Concept of evidence-based practice (“EBP”)

• Analysis tools and methods

• Critical thinking

• Decision-making processes and models

• Ethical perspectives, theories and practices

• Measuring financial and non-financial performance

• Impact of people practices

• HR Metrics

• HR efficiency vs effectiveness

• Data analysis: case study

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Let’s talk about your interests and
Goals

1. Based on the content of the module on the previous 2 pages, what particular areas of
evidence-based practice are of most interest to you?

2. Reflecting on that, write down 3 specific learning goals that you would like to achieve from
completing this module:

Goal 1

Goal 2

Goal 3

3. What personal contribution would you like to take back to your organisation from this
module?

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Section 2
The Assessment
Now let’s talk about the Assessment

• As you know, a fundamental component and requirement of CIPD qualifications is the

assessment in each module aimed at ensuring that learners have fully understood the
module content and can relate their thinking to theoretical and practical scenarios. It is
particularly important that you read around the topics and bring literature citations
into your answers, supplemented, where appropriate, with your own practical
examples from the workplace. Check LMS for guidance on the Harvard Referencing style
when you use citations.

• The assessment is made up of a number of units or assessment criteria. Let’s call them
“AC’s” for short. In this module, there are 10 AC’s.

There is also some really useful guidance as to how to approach each AC in two documents
that are available in LMS:

• Learner Assessment Guidance

• Assessment Brief

Do make sure that you read these thoroughly before starting the assessment.

You will also find some additional guidance, where appropriate, later on in this workbook.

PwC 8
The Assessment Questions (AC’s)

Although you can find the AC’s in the Learner Guidance, they are set out below and on the
next page for ease of reference:

Scenario

Your manager has just returned from the monthly Senior Management meeting where all
departmental heads have been asked to present a report that showcases how they contribute
to business performance. As someone who has experience in evidence-based practice and
data analytics, she has asked if you would produce a report for Senior Management that
explains what evidence-based practice is and its relevance to people professionals. She would
also like you to include practical examples of the types of data analysis that people
practitioners use to gain insight into people practices.

In readiness for this, you are required to complete a report comprising two sections.

PwC 9
The Assessment Questions (AC’s)

Section One -Report

For section one, you are to produce a report that provides the Senior Management team with
knowledge and understanding of what evidence-based practice is and the approaches that can
be taken for effective critical thinking and decision-making that ensures integrity and value is
upheld.

 Evaluate the concept of evidence-based practice and assess how approaches to

evidence-based practice can be used to provide insight that supports sound decision-
making across a range of people practices and organisational issues. (AC 1.1)

 Evaluate one appropriate analysis tool and one appropriate analysis method that might
be applied by organisations to recognise and diagnose issues, challenges, and
opportunities. (AC 1.2)

 Explain the main principles of critical thinking and describe how these might apply to
your own and others’ ideas to assist objective and rational debate. (AC 1.3)

 Explain three decision-making processes that can be applied to ensure that effective
outcomes are achieved. (AC 1.4)

 Assess three different ethical perspectives and explain how understanding of these
can be used to inform and influence moral decision-making. (AC 1.5)

 Appraise two different ways organisations measure financial and non-financial

performance, providing one example of each. (AC 3.1)

 Explain how people practices add value in an organisation and identify two methods
that might be used to measure the impact of people practices. (AC 3.2)

Section Two - Data Analysis

For section two, you are to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis review using the
two sets of data provided.

PwC 10
General employee
data.xlsx

The Assessment Questions (AC’s)

Firstly, review the Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Salary data that is presented in Table 1
(see Learner Guidance for the link to the Excel spreadsheet) and provide analysis of it to show
the:

a. Percentage of each gender by type.

b. Ethnicity as a percentage per team.

c. Disability percentage as an organisational whole and by teams.

d. Salary difference across genders.

e. Overall average salary paid by the organisation.

Present your findings using appropriate diagrammatical forms and make justifiable
recommendations based on your evaluations.

Secondly, Table 2 (see Learner Guidance for the link to the Excel spreadsheet) gives the
rating feedback scores for a sample of 300 employees taken from a recent survey on hybrid
working practices. Provide scrutiny of the applied scores, present written commentary on any
themes or patterns that might be occurring, and present recommendations based on your
findings.

Completion of the above two activities will address the following ACs:

• With reference to a people practice issue, interpret analytical data using appropriate
analysis tools and methods. (AC 2.1)

• Present key findings for stakeholders from people practice activities and initiatives. (AC 2.2)

• Make justified recommendations based on evaluation of the benefits, risks and financial
implications of potential solutions. (AC 2.3)

We’ll discuss all of these assessment criteria in more detail in this workbook and, of course, in
the class discussions.

PwC 11
Section 3
Learning Outcome 1:
Understand strategies for
effective critical thinking
and decision making
Before We Start.....

1. What do you understand by the term “evidence-based practice”

2. Which areas of people practices/ HR should make most use of evidence-based practice?

During the course, you will be having class discussions and group exercises to identify the
key components of evidence-based practice and why organisations should focus attention
on it.

PwC 13
Now Try This….

Thinking about your own organisation and its approaches to evidence-based practice (“EBP”),
use the SWOT tool to assess:

• What is your organisation currently doing well in the area of EBP?

• What do you think are your organisation’s EBP weaknesses that need attention?

• What opportunities do you think there are for your organisation to improve on its EBP?

• What barriers or threats might get in the way of those improvement areas?

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats/ Barriers

PwC 14
Priorities

Write down what you believe are the top 3 priorities for attention in order for your organisation
to improve (or further improve) its approach to evidence-based practice.

1.

2.

3.

PwC 15
Notes

PwC 16
Notes

PwC 17
AC 1.1

Evaluate the concept of evidence-based practice and assess how approaches to evidence-
based practice can be used to provide insight that supports sound decision-making across a
range of people practices and organisational issues.

Evidence-based practice is about making better decisions, informing action that has the
desired impact, and it is central to the CIPD’s Profession Map. Whether gravitating to practices
that appear the most cutting-edge or sticking to established traditions without ever questioning
their relevance, important decisions can suffer from not being grounded in a firm evidence
base.

At the heart of evidence-based practice is the idea that good decision-making is achieved
through critical thinking and drawing on the best available evidence. Evidence-based practice
leads to decisions and actions that are more likely to have the desired effect and are less
reliant on anecdotes, perceived wisdom and personal experience - sources that are not
trustworthy on their own. Evidence-based HR practice draws together published research
and people analytics with professional expertise and stakeholder opinions.

The basic idea of evidence-based practice is that good quality decisions should be based on a
contribution of critical thinking and the best available evidence. Whilst management
practitioners may use evidence in their decisions, often they pay little attention to the quality of
that evidence. The result is bad decisions based on unfounded beliefs, fads and ideas
popularised by management.

Evidence based practice seeks to improve the way decisions are made. It is an approach to
decision making and day to day work practice that helps practitioners to critically evaluate the
extent to which they can trust the evidence they have at hand. It also helps practitioners to
identify, find and evaluate additional evidence relevant to their decisions.

If we have evidence then let’s hear it, but if all we have are opinions then we’ll go with
mine.

CEO (Anonymous)

PwC 18
AC 1.1

Listen to the two CIPD podcasts below for a good introduction to evidence based practice .
The second one deals specifically with L&D activities.

Stream episode Podcast 148: Evidence-B Evidence-based L&D - ‘Why does eviden
ased Practice for HR by CIPD podcast | ce matter?’ | Podcast | CIPD

To answer this question, here are a few things that you can discuss:

• explain the concept of evidence-based practice (define it)

• give examples from people practice showing how evidence-based practice can help in
decision making (e.g. sources of recruitment; links between engagement and performance)

• evaluate when it is appropriate to use evidence-based practice and what happens if you
don’t use insight to make judgements (e.g. when policy has to determine the decision;
decisions in a crisis)

• describe the benefits and challenges of using EBP

PwC 19
AC 1.1

Evidence-based (HR) management means making decisions about the management of

employees, teams or organizations through the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of four
sources of information:

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a d d ria
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Be ntif en rtis
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based
decisions
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a
an a

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iza rac

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d lde
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The concept of evidence-based practice is also about making decisions based on ‘effective
thinking’ and sound evidence, i.e., decisions that can be justified to others and making use of
strategies, including critical thinking and analysis in decision-making.

CIPD Factsheet

Evidence-based practice for effective decision-making | Factsheets | CI

PD

PwC 20
AC 1.1

Evaluate the concept of evidence-based practice and assess how approaches to evidence-
based practice can be used to provide insight that supports sound decision-making across a
range of people practices and organisational issues.

Reflect for a moment on where your HR department gets its

evidence from to support decision making and which people
practices use evidence to support decision making?

There are a number of decision-making models that can be used to arrive at evidence based
decisions. Some of these will be discussed in AC 1.4 but for now you may want to consider the
Rational Decision-Making Model which is illustrated below.

Establish Weigh
Identify the Generate Evaluate Select Best
Decision Decision
Problem Alternatives Alternatives Alternative
Criteria Criteria

The rational model of decision-making uses logical steps to select the best possible solution. It
involves analysing multiple alternatives and using credible data or facts, i.e. evidence, to
choose from a range of options.

PwC 21
AC 1.1

Rational Decision Making Model | Structured Decision Making - The Ha

ppy Manager (the-happy-manager.com)

In summary, therefore, the processes involved in evidence-based practice include the effective
selection and interpretation of evidence and analysis of situations and issues, and, in some
cases, critical review of relevant theory. Don’t forget - external theory is also a form of evidence
when supporting your arguments, propositions and opinions.

It involves assessing evidence from a variety of sources, identifying bias, forming judgements
and conclusions and developing and testing out one’s own arguments and conclusions.

Now try this…..

What do you see as the main benefits of using evidence-based practice for
decision-making?

On the other hand, there are many risks associated with not taking an evidence-based
approach which might include:

• Decisions made on personal judgement alone is not a very reliable source of evidence
because it is highly susceptible to systematic errors, e.g., decisions that are prone to biases
that have negative effects on the quality of the decision we make.

• Practitioners also take the work practices of other organisations as evidence. Through
benchmarking and so called ‘best practices’, practitioners sometimes copy what other
organisations are doing without critically evaluating whether these practices are actually
effective and, if they are, whether they are likely to work in a different context.

PwC 22
AC 1.2

Evaluate one appropriate analysis tool and one appropriate analysis method that might be
applied by organisations to recognise and diagnose issues, challenges, and opportunities.

In this section we look at a range of analysis tools and methods that can be used to generate
data and evidence to support decision making. It's always better if you can show how you have
arrived at a decision through the use of some form of structured model or tool. The decision on
which analysis tool or method to use will typically depend upon the type of issue you are trying
to resolve since some of these are quite analytical in nature.

In summary, the analysis TOOLS that we’ll The various analysis METHODS that we’ll
cover here and again in more detail in the cover are:
class are:
• Interviews
• The Fishbone Analysis
• Observations
• Current State/ Future State Gap Analysis
• Job analysis
• Force-Field Analysis
• Questionnaires
• McKinsey 7S Model
• Surveys
• Porter’s 5 Forces
• Balanced scorecard / metrics

PwC 23
AC 1.2

The “fishbone” diagram is often used when dealing with root cause analysis in problem
solving.

Often called a cause-and-effect diagram, or sometimes an “Ishikawa diagram”, a “fishbone”

diagram can help in brainstorming to identify possible causes of a problem and in sorting ideas
into useful categories. A fishbone diagram is a visual way to look at cause and effect. The
problem or effect is displayed at the head or mouth of the fish. Possible contributing causes
are listed on the smaller “bones” under various cause categories. A fishbone diagram can be
helpful in identifying possible causes for a problem that might not otherwise be considered by
directing the team to look at the categories and think of alternative causes.

It is most effective when you are able to use it as a team problem solving tool. It also needs to
be applied to a major issue such as a system fault or a poor safety performance etc. In HR it
could possibly be applied to the analysis of a retention issue or engagement problems.

One of the downsides of fishbone is that the brainstorming process can produce irrelevant
potential causes along with relevant ones, which can result in confusion and a time drain.
Complex diagrams with multiple factors can lead to a jumbled mess that is too difficult to
display in a fishbone diagram.

What is a Fishbone Diagram? Ishikawa Cause & Effect Diagram | ASQ

PwC 24
AC 1.2

Evaluate one appropriate analysis tool and one appropriate analysis method that might be
applied by organisations to recognise and diagnose issues, challenges, and opportunities.

Current State vs Future State with Gap Analysis

Current State GAP Future State

The current state looks at what is happening now while the future state looks at things to be
done to achieve success and then a plan for closing the gap can be put in place.

A current state analysis includes: Current information about the business, e.g. revenue,
profitability, client feedback, sustainability, employee retention etc. The future state analysis
would require visioning on where the business is going or, if the analysis referred to a specific
problem, then what would the ideal solution look like. This tool can be used for smaller, very
specific issues, however, it may be limited by the ability of contributors to think creatively about
“future state”.

Force-Field Analysis

The force field analysis is used a lot in change management

projects. However it's got other uses in problem solving and
decision making. The principle behind this tool is that you
identify all the positive aspects that are helping you towards
solving the issue - these are called driving forces and all the
negative components that are holding you back from solving
the issue and these are called the restraining forces. Clearly
some driving forces and some restraining forces will be bigger
than others and the process therefore enables the user to
Kurt Lewin focus on drivers and restrainers that will have the biggest
impact on the problem.

PwC 25
AC 1.2

Evaluate one appropriate analysis tool and one appropriate analysis method that might be
applied by organisations to recognise and diagnose issues, challenges, and opportunities.

McKinsey 7 S Model
The McKinsey 7S Model refers to a tool that
analyses a company’s organisational design.
The goal of the model is to show how
effectiveness can be achieved in an
organisation through the interactions of seven
key elements – Structure, Strategy, Skill,
System, Shared Values, Style, and Staff.

This model tends to be used in major

organisation design work and is less
applicable to smaller specific problem solving
and decision-making issues. One of the
criticisms of this model is that it relies on a lot
of subjective judgement which may take it
away from producing objective evidence .
However, it has been very successful in
helping organisations with organisation design
and development work

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/mckinsey-7s-model/

PwC 26
AC 1.2

Evaluate one appropriate analysis tool and one appropriate analysis method that might be
applied by organisations to recognise and diagnose issues, challenges, and opportunities.

Porter’s 5 Forces
Porter's Five Forces is a simple but powerful
tool that you can use to identify the main
sources of competition in your industry or
sector.

Arguably, when you understand the forces

affecting your industry, you can adjust your
strategy, boost your profitability, and stay
ahead of the competition. You can take fair
advantage of a strong position or improve a
weak one and avoid taking wrong steps in the
Michael Porter, Harvard Business future.
School, 1979
Hence this tool is very effective in strategic
planning and decision-making but less
applicable to more focused smaller scope
problems

Porter's Five Forces - The Framework Explained - A Guide to Analyzing Competitiveness Using
Michael Porter's Strategic Model (mindtools.com)

PwC 27
AC 1.2

Force Field Analysis | ASQ

Think about where you might use these analysis tools, what sort of HR related issues might
lend themselves to these kind of tools? What do you think of the advantages and
disadvantages of them from an HR application perspective?

PwC 28
AC 1.2

Analysis Methods

When you are trying to analyse an HR-related issue or trend, e.g, difficulties in attracting
people for key positions, attrition amongst critical employees, sickness absence, low employee
engagement scores, etc, if you are going to be able to generate robust evidence, then it is
likely to require the use of a structured analysis method from the range of examples set out
below:

Method Potential uses

Interviews These would typically be structured 1:1 interviews to gather

information or data about a specific issue, e.g. to gather employee
opinions on performance appraisal or another people practtce.

Observations These would typically be conducted by observers that are

experienced in the field under observation. For example, call centre
operators may be observed to assess the quality of customer service
or complaints handling. Observers would normally be assessing
against a prescribed set of criteria to enable ease of analysis.

Job analysis This relates directly to addressing issues relating to job design, job
evaluation, grading or pay. It may be used to provide supporting
evidence in equal pay claims.

Questionnaires / As an extension to interviews, organisations often use questionnaires

Surveys or broader surveys where they need to reach out to a wider audience
or the topics are broader. These should be professionally designed to
ensure that the data gathered is valid and reliable.

Balanced This method is relevant to assessments of business or departmental

Scorecards performance. Balanced Scorecards usually consist of a range of key
metrics that are aimed at achieving a balanced assessment of
performance so that appropriate attention is placed in various areas
rather than over-emphasising one field such as revenue or sales. In
order to maintain the organisational balanced scorecard, evidence
and data is required from multiple sources to monitor and report
performance.

PwC 29
AC 1.2

Finally, to answer this question, you are required to EVALUATE one analysis tool and one
analysis method. This means that you should be discussing the pros and cons of the tool or
method that you select.

To prepare you for that, we’ll do an exercise in class asking you to consider the range of
analysis methods described on the previous page and to select one for a full evaluation of its
pros and cons. Think about it now, choose one of the methods and consider how it can be
used in HR/people practices. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this method,
including its ease of use, challenges and limitations.

PwC 30
AC 1.3

Explain the main principles of critical thinking and describe how these might apply to your own
and others’ ideas to assist objective and rational debate.

In order for evidence=based decision-making to be effective, HR practitioners need to develop

and maintain a strong sense of curiosity. They need to adopt a questioning approach and a
mindset that is always looking for substance behind an argument, a proposal or an idea. It is
often risky to take evidence at face value without questioning, exploring and delving into its
source and the rationale behind different points of view.

In HR we are often comparing data and information. Are we comparing like with like or what's
often known as apples with apples? Has the data come from a reliable source? Does it make
sense when set alongside other information, data, points of view? Are there any biases or
personal agendas that may have crept into the argument - either your own or another party’s?

This is very much the practice of critical thinking which is the ability to analyse information
and effectively form a sound judgement. It can help HR teams to solve complex problems and
make better decisions, bringing clarity to confusion and increasing their potential to succeed
when others look to them for answers that work.

Think for a moment, from your experience, what are the

barriers to critical thinking? What sort of things get in the
way of applying critical thinking? Maybe lack of time might be
one or unconscious bias that makes people think that there is
only one interpretation or answer. Ambiguity of language and
jargon might be a barrier. Can you think of anything else that
might impact effective critical thinking?

PwC 31
AC 1.3

You are encouraged to listen to the CIPD podcast on critical thinking at the link below

Critical thinking | Podcast | CIPD

Principles of critical thinking

Some of the main principles behind critical thinking include:

Adopting an objective rational thinking approach when analysing information, e.g. staff
attrition causes.

• Proposing well reasoned arguments that are backed up by robust evidence This is
particularly relevant to selection or promotion decisions

• As mentioned on the previous page, taking great care to ensure that you are making
“apples with apples” comparisons . This is particularly common for example when
comparing salary packages in the marketplace.

• Differentiating between fact and opinion. It is important to be alert to this differentiation

because some people can make opinions sound very convincing and factual when they are
not based on robust evidence. This may be appropriate when reviewing performance
appraisal ratings from various line managers.

• Getting into the habit of testing conclusions by which is meant don't just go with your first
conclusion but put it to the test by asking questions such as how can it fail, to what extent
might this be inaccurate, is my conclusion based on solid evidence and rational thinking?

• Playing devil's advocate when reviewing and interpreting data and information and when
evaluating proposed solutions. This can be particularly useful before rolling out a new
procedure or programme.

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AC 1.3

If we have the evidence then let’s hear

it. If all we have are opinions then we’ll
go with mine

Source: anonymous CEO

When answering this question, it is important to think about your own situation at work and
think of examples of where you might apply critical thinking either to your own ideas and
viewpoints or your colleagues’ ideas and viewpoints when they are putting them forward. How
could you apply more critical thinking in those situations?

Now try this….

Think of examples from work where you are or should be applying the principles of critical
thinking. Which parts of HR would benefit from more critical thinking when making decisions?
Maybe recruitment, promotion decisions, salary decisions. What would you do differently?

PwC 33
AC 1.4

Explain three decision-making processes that can be applied to ensure that effective
outcomes are achieved.

In this question you are required to explain 3 decision-making processes. You don't need to
describe the processes in detail, but you should focus on how they can be used in people
practice.

Decision making is the process of choosing between alternative courses of action. It may take
place at an individual or organisational level. The nature of the decision-making process within
an organisation is influenced, amongst other things, by its culture and structure and a number
of theoretical models have been developed to promote effective decision-making rather than
adopting a less scientific approach such as making a random choice, following tradition, going
by the book, going by experience or gut feelings.

Instead, decision-making models are encouraged for making a more systematic comparison of
options. One such model is the Rational Decision-Making model that we discussed earlier:

Establish Weigh
Identify the Generate Evaluate Select Best
Decision Decision
Problem Alternatives Alternatives Alternative
Criteria Criteria

The rational decision-making model is a structured and sequential approach to decision-

making, aimed at seeking precise solutions to well-defined problems using precise methods.
The decision maker derives the necessary information by observation, statistical analysis, or
modelling, and makes a systematic analysis of such ‘hard’ quantitative data to choose from the
various alternative courses of actions.

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AC 1.4

Advantages of the Rational Decision-Making Model

The rational approach to decisions is based on scientifically obtained data that allow informed
decision-making, reducing the chances of errors, distortions, assumptions, guesswork,
subjectivity, and all major causes for poor or inequitable judgments. Such an information and
knowledge-based approach promotes consistent and high-quality decisions, and reduces the
risk and uncertainties associated with decisions.

It is a step-by-step approach that requires defining the problem, identifying the weighing and
decision criteria, listing out the various alternatives, considering the present and future
consequences of each alternative, and rating each alternative on each criterion. The
methodology caters to addressing complex issues by breaking them down into simple steps
and considering all aspects of the problem with all possible solutions before making a final
decision.

Disadvantages

The rational decision-making process requires careful consideration and deliberation of data;
this takes time, making this method unsuitable for quick-decisions. In the age of fast-paced
changes, seizing the opportunity at the spur of the moment plays a big part in success, and the
rational model does not live up to this task. Moreover, delay in making and implementing a
decision may result in dilution of the perceived benefit of such an alternative, for the benefits
may accrue only when taken at that time. As such, this model finds use mostly in making long-
term and policy decisions rather than short-term or floor level operational decisions.

PwC 35
AC 1.4

Six Thinking Hats

Another well documented decision-making

tool is what’s known as De Bono’s Six
Thinking Hats. This model focuses on
enhancing the structure of thinking so that
group decision-making and idea evaluation
can be dramatically improved. There are six
different coloured hats that can be put on or
taken off to indicate a mode of thinking.
Only one hat is worn at any one time by the
individual or group (in parallel) allowing
more thorough, expansive thinking,
increased creativity, and decision-making.

Six Thinking Hats is a time-tested, proven,

and practical thinking tool. It provides a
framework to help people think clearly and
thoroughly by directing their thinking
attention in one direction at a time in
accordance with the colour coding
described opposite.

Red hat - Feelings/ Emotions

Yellow Hat - Benefits/ Positives

Green Hat - Creativity

White Hat - Facts

Black Hat - Cautious

Blue Hat - Process thinking

PwC 36
AC 1.4

It's a simple mental metaphor. Hats are easy to put on and to take off. Each hat is a different
colour which signals the mode of thinking. In a group setting each member thinks using the
same thinking hat, at the same time, on the same thinking challenge—we call this focused
parallel thinking.

If you want to try to use it in a problem-solving/ decision-making scenario, here are more
details on what each hat means in terms of the thinking style that should be adopted by its
wearer:

Blue Hat: The Conductor's Hat: Thinking about and managing the thinking process

The blue hat is the control hat. It is used for thinking about thinking. The blue hat sets the
agenda, focus and sequence, ensures the guidelines are observed and asks for summaries,
conclusions, decisions and plans action.

Green Hat: The Creative Hat: Generating ideas

The green hat is for creative thinking and generating new ideas, alternatives, possibilities and
new concepts.

Red Hat: The Hat For The Heart: Intuition and feelings

The red hat is about feelings, intuitions and instincts. The red hat invites feelings without
justification.

Yellow Hat: The Optimist's Hat: Benefits and values

The yellow hat is for a positive view of things. It looks for the benefits and values.

Black Hat: The Judge's Hat: Caution

The black hat identifies risk. It is used for critical judgment and must give the logical reasons
for concerns. It is one of the most powerful hats.

PwC 37
AC 1.4

White Hat: The Factual Hat: Information

The white hat is all about information. What information you have, what information you need
and where to get it.

6 Thinking Hats: Praise & Criticism (hptbydts.com)

Another technique is known simply as Framing the Problem. Arguably, the quality of the
question you ask — or the way you frame the problem you are trying to solve — determines
the context, meaning and significance of the project. There are several ways of approaching
problem framing. Below is a summary of the typical steps:

1. Focus on what you want to create (your ideal outcome), not the problem. For example,
you don’t want to overcome people’s self-interested squabbling, you want to create a high-
performing team.

2. Focus on the outcome not the output, e.g., “engaged team” not “strategy document”.

3. Frame it with the people that matter — include input from (or ideally collaborate with) the
people whose problem you are solving and the people you will be working with to solve it.
You want to make sure that you are working on the right thing in a way that truly engages
the people involved.

4. Make it meaningful. Which means you have to find out what matters to everyone one and
factor that in. This helps to make sure that you are working on the right level of problem and
helps keep people motivated and invested when it inevitably proves harder and messier
than anticipated.

PwC 38
AC 1.4

5. Keep it open — don’t limit it by including the solution in the framing. In this case, it’s not
“How do we design a series of workshops that will create a high performing team”, since
that automatically precludes anything you might want to do outside of that. Instead, ask
“How can we get everybody to work together to design and deliver a strategy that we all
believe in?”

6. Be clear how you will know that you have succeeded. What behaviours will you see?
What will you have produced? What kind of conversations will you be having (or no longer
having)? How will you be interacting?

7. Be willing to change how you have framed the problem if new insights arise. Not only
are there always multiple ways of framing any problem but the whole point of a creative
process is to keep learning. If you do this well, you’ll discover all sorts of things you couldn’t
have foreseen or included at the beginning that may change everything.

What Is Problem Framing? Overview, Steps, & Examples (dovetail.com

)

Think about De Bono's 6 Hats and the Problem Framing

Model. What sort of problems and decision-making scenarios
could you apply these to in the workplace?

PwC 39
AC 1.4

Individual vs Group Decision-Making

As you will know, some decisions are best made by an individual taking the final decision whilst
other decisions can benefit from gaining group consensus and commitment to a way forward.
Think about decision-making in your organisations. Which types of decisions lend themselves
more to a group approach?

Now try this…..

What do you consider to be the ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES of group decision-

making in organisations? The table below gets you started but what others do you feel are
valid?

Advantages Disadvantages

Greater diversity of opinions It can take a lot of time

Promotes greater participation and Sometimes opinions are put forward without
commitment from the team any knowledge or expertise

PwC 40
Notes

PwC 41
Notes

PwC 42
AC 1.5

Assess three different ethical perspectives and explain how understanding of these can
be used to inform and influence moral decision-making.

In this unit we look at whether the

decisions that organisations are making
with the use of tools and methods that we
discussed in the previous unit are ethical.
For example are they transparent, are
people treated with dignity and respect,
are they fair and do they uphold the wider
company values and responsibilities?

We look at a range of ethical perspectives and you are required to assess 3 different ones,
explaining how the understanding of these perspectives can be used to arrive at ethical and
moral decisions. “Assessing” means that you should be discussing the pros and cons of each,
for example, how practical are they to apply, how realistic are they and what might be the
challenges in applying them. You should also then discuss their relevance to business decision
making.

Before we go any further, try this…..

Think of situations in HR where it is important for people professionals to ensure ethical

decision-making. Examples might be recruitment and selection, promotion decisions. What
else?

PwC 43
AC 1.5

What are the possible consequences of unethical behaviour in organisations? Think about the
impact on trust, fairness and morale in general. What else?

Ethical Practice and the Role of People Professionals | Factsheets | CI

PD

There are several well-respected ways of

looking at ethical issues. Some of them
have been around for centuries. It is
important to know that many who think a lot
about business and ethics have deeply held
beliefs about which perspective is best.
Others would recommend considering
ethical problems from a variety of different
perspectives. Here, we take a brief look at

(1) Utilitarianism, (2) Deontology,

(3) Altruism

PwC 44
AC 1.5

Utilitarianism is a theory of morality which promotes actions that foster happiness or

pleasure and opposes actions that cause unhappiness or harm. When directed toward
making social, economic, or political decisions, a utilitarian philosophy would aim for the
betterment of society as a whole. Utilitarianism would say that an action is right if it
results in the happiness of the greatest number of people in a society or a group. At
work, you display utilitarianism when you take actions to ensure that the office is a positive
environment for your co-workers to be in, and then make it so for yourself.

What would utilitarianism look like in the HR world? Can you think of how
this kind of behaviour might be applied to people decisions?

Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong. Deontology is
often associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believed that ethical actions follow
universal moral laws, such as “Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat.”

Deontology is simple to apply. It just requires that people follow the rules and do their
duty. This approach tends to fit well with our natural intuition about what is or isn’t ethical.
Despite its strengths, rigidly following deontology can produce results that many people find
unacceptable. For example, suppose you are a software engineer and learn that a nuclear
missile is about to launch that might start a war. You can hack the network and cancel the
launch, but it’s against your professional code of ethics to break into any software system
without permission. However, the consequences of not doing in this scenario, could be dire.

So, following the rules makes deontology easy to apply but it also means disregarding the
possible consequences of our actions when determining what is right and what is wrong.

PwC 45
AC 1.5

What would a deontology approach look like in the HR world? Can you
think of how this kind of behaviour might be applied to people decisions?

Altruism is acting to help someone else at some cost to oneself. It can include a vast
range of behaviours, from sacrificing one’s life to save others, to giving money to charity or
volunteering at a soup kitchen, to simply waiting a few seconds to hold the door open for a
stranger. Often, people behave altruistically when they see others in challenging
circumstances and feel empathy and a desire to help. Altruistic impulses and the reciprocation
of kind deeds help ensure all members of a tight-knit group have backup when they need it.

However, altruistic behaviour can be considered both selfless and selfish. In some sense,
altruists put others’ interests ahead of their own—but giving to others often feels good and can
result in longer-term gains for the giver. "Reciprocal altruism" is a term used by scientists for
helping that is sustained by an eventual payoff from the person that receives help.

Again, what would an altruistic approach look like in the HR world? Can
you think of how this kind of behaviour might be applied to people
decisions?

PwC 46
AC 1.5

Utilitarianism: What It Is, Founders, and What Is Altruism (and Is It Important at W

Main Principles (investopedia.com) ork)? (betterup.com)

CIPD’s 8 lenses of ethical decision-making.

In 2015, the CIPD commissioned a review that looked at helping practitioners navigate their
choices about designing and implementing HR systems and practices, by describing key
ethical perspectives on work, highlighting the tensions which practitioners are likely to face
when making a decision. The guiding question of the review was: “what ways of thinking about
work does philosophical ethics offer?”

The review described eight ethical ‘lenses’: ways of seeing and re-imagining our ethical
predicament. They are: fairness, merit, markets, democracy, wellbeing, rights and duties,
character, and handing down.

The basic principles of each lens are described briefly in the table on the next page and if you
would like to learn more about the review, the full report is available at the link below.

https://peopleprofession.cipd.org/Images/ethical-decision-making-201
5-eight-perspectives-on-workplace-dilemmas_tcm29-9564.pdf

PwC 47
AC 1.5

CIPD’s 8 lenses of ethical decision-making.

Fairness Merit Markets Democracy

Everyone in an Jobs and their Jobs and their No one should be

organisation should rewards should track rewards should subject to a regime
be able to agree to it talent and hard work. follow from voluntary in which they have
whatever their place market exchanges no say.
in it

Rights and
Well-being Character Handing Down
Duties

Work should be Everyone has rights Each of us should We can’t reinvent or

good for us. to do some things work to develop the master the world and
and to be free of best ethical are instead
some things, and character for our responsible for
everyone has duties roles. conserving and
not to violate others’ maintaining the small
rights. part of it over which
we currently have
stewardship and for
passing it on
undamaged to our
descendants.

PwC 48
AC 1.5

Reflect on the CIPD’s 8 lenses. Think about what your business does (or
could do) to promote each of 8 lenses at your place of work.

These approaches suggest that, once we have ascertained the facts, we should ask ourselves
five questions when trying to resolve a moral issue:

1. What benefits and what harms will each course of action produce, and which alternative will
lead to the best overall consequences?

2. What moral rights do the affected parties have, and which course of action best respects
those rights?

3. Which course of action treats everyone the same, except where there is a morally justifiable
reason not to, and does not show favouritism or discrimination?

4. Which course of action advances the common good?

5. Which course of action develops moral virtues?

PwC 49
AC 1.5

A further three approaches to ethical practice that you may wish to research further are:

• Rights Approach - focused on the individual’s right to choose freely what they will do with
their lives

• Fairness or Justice Approach - based on the premise that favouritism and discrimination
are unjust and wrong

• Common Good Approach - respecting and valuing the freedom of individuals to pursue
their own goals

Finally, think about the impact of religion, background and personal values on the process of
making ethical choices. It is fair to say that many people's decisions stem from their traditional
values and pre-conditioning. What scenarios, challenges and opportunities might exist in the
workplace where ethical decision making becomes influenced by such factors?

PwC 50
Section 4
Learning Outcome 2:
Be able to measure the
impact and value of people
practice to the organisation.
AC 3.1

Appraise two different ways organisations measure financial and non-financial

performance, providing one example of each.

To answer this question, you need to focus on one measure of financial performance and one
measure of non-financial performance of organisations. You need to appraise them which
means that you should consider and review the pros and cons of those measures.

Think about your own organisations. How do you measure your financial performance? The
most obvious measures are profitability, sales or revenues, cashflow and maybe working
capital. Shareholders of listed would measure financial performance by the performance of the
share price.

In capital intensive companies, then return on investment

would probably be a measure that would be utilised as an
assessment of financial performance.

You should think about the effectiveness of these financial measures in giving a holistic picture
of the performance of the organisation. Just because a business may be achieving high profits,
does it necessarily mean that it is performing well overall? What other factors would you want
to take into consideration before you arrive at the conclusion that the organisation is
performing effectively? What about customer service, quality of delivery, safety record,
environmental performance etc?

Some organisations focus heavily on sales and, when sales are achieving or exceeding
targets, there is a belief that the company is performing well. However, what if those sales
were being generated at low profit margins or even at a loss? The sales figures might look
good but profitability would not. Similarly, if sales were good but customer complaints were
high. What does that tell us about overall business performance?

PwC 52
AC 3.1

Now try this…. Choose one measure of financial performance and consider how effective it
is as a measure of company performance. What does it tell you? What does it not tell you?

One very common tool that is used in businesses to combine financial and non-financial
measures is the Balanced Scorecard. Maybe you have this measurement tool in your own
organisation.

PwC 53
AC 3.1

A balanced scorecard is a performance metric used to identify, improve, and control a

business's various functions and resulting outcomes. The concept of BSCs was first introduced
in 1992 by David Norton and Robert Kaplan, who took previous metric performance measures
and adapted them to include non-financial information. The balanced scorecard typically
involves measuring four main aspects of a business: learning and growth, business processes,
customers, and finance. These aspects can differ according to the company's needs although
financial performance is invariably one such measure. Many organisations nowadays include
environmental or sustainability performance as a key indicator that may be a distinct segment
of the balanced scorecard. Think about what else could be the focus from a people perspective
instead of learning and growth.

So you can see that this tool typically captures performance in four distinct areas, one of which
of course relates to people. KPI's on metrics are then established for each of the four areas as
you can see in the example above. The published article below is useful for discussing the
advantages and disadvantages of the balanced scorecard.

Balanced Scorecard: Advantages and Disadvantages 2023 (heartpace.

com)

PwC 54
AC 3.2

Explain how people practices add value in an organisation and identify two methods
that might be used to measure the impact of people practices.

There are two parts to this question. Firstly, you need to explain how people practices, i.e., HR
processes, procedures, practices etc. make an impact/ add value in organisations and then,
secondly, you should select two methods that can be used to measure the impact of those
people practices. You should also discuss briefly why it is important to measure the impact of
people practices. We shall discuss these topics below and/or in the class.

You should think about the range of people When considering the added value or
practices such as: impact of people practices, remember this
can be:
•Talent acquisition
•Direct or indirect
•Onboarding
•Short term or long term
•Reward packages
•Financial or non financial
•Employee engagement surveys
•Positive or negative.
•Performance management process

•L&D initiatives

•Succession planning

•Coaching & Mentoring

Why is it important to measure the impact of people practices?

PwC 55
AC 3.2

Now let's think about how people practices add value to the organisation. Let’s take Talent
Acquisition (TA) as an example. Obviously an effective TA process will ensure that the
organisation hires the right calibre of people at the time they are needed and that the
organisation positions itself well in the market to attract key talent. Within the TA process would
be an effective mechanism for filtering CVs which would contribute to time and cost saving in
the hiring process. Again, an effective process should contribute to a reduction in the time it
takes to fill critical vacancies which will have a positive impact on productivity and overall
business performance.

Using the table below, have a think about some of the other people practices
listed on the previous page and how they are intended to add value to the
organisation.

People practice Value added/ impact on the organisation

Onboarding

Performance management

Succession planning

Engagement surveys

PwC 56
AC 3.2

Methods of measuring the impact of people practices: efficiency and effectiveness

When considering methods of measuring the impact of people practices, it is important to

distinguish between efficiency measures and effectiveness measures. If we take Talent
Acquisition (“TA”), then there are a number of ways of measuring the impact of that process.
However, there is a distinction between efficiency measures of TA and effectiveness measures.
By way of example, some efficiency measures of TA might include:

•Time-to-hire

•Time-to-fill

•Average Time to Start

•Can you think of any others?

On the other hand, when measuring the effectiveness of the TA process, we might consider
measures such as:

•Time that it takes the new hire to reach full productivity

•Hiring manager’s satisfaction with the new hire

•Successful completion of probation period

• Again, can you think of any others?

Think about other people practices such as Onboarding, Performance

Management or an in-house Coaching Programme. Think about how
you might measure the impact of these practices or processes. Think
efficiency as well as effectiveness.

PwC 57
AC 3.2

People practice Efficiency measures Effectiveness measures

The Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model

The Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model was created by Donald Kirkpatrick to define the four levels
of training evaluation. The four levels of evaluation are: (1) the reaction of the learner and
their thoughts about the learning experience; (2) the learner’s resulting learning and increase
in knowledge from the training experience; (3) the learner’s behavioural change and
improvement after applying the skills on the job; and (4) the results or effects that the learner’s
performance has on the business.

As you can imagine, the further you progress through the levels of evaluation, the more difficult
it becomes to measure it. For example, Level 1 seeks to obtain the reaction of the learner
about their learning or training experience. This is commonly obtained through a simple
feedback form at the end of the experience. Level 2 aims to assess what the learner has
learned or what knowledge they have gained from the training experience. This could be
obtained, for example, through assessments and tests as the training progresses and at the
end.

Level 3 looks for an assessment of behavioural changes and improvements through the
application of skills, knowledge and behaviour at work. Whilst some of this could be obtained
from the learners themselves, invariably, you would need to involve the line managers in
obtaining this feedback.

PwC 58
AC 3.2

Finally at Level 4, the model takes on a much wider evaluation looking for the impact of the
learning on the business itself. Clearly this would be challenging since it involves the
identification of total costs and, even more challenging, the identification and quantification of
benefits. This brings us back to return on investment that we discussed in AC 2.1.

(1) Return on Expectation: Building on Kirkpatrick's Four Level Model t

o assess Knowledge Management. | LinkedIn

Think about the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation. How effective do you think
it would be in measuring the impact of L&D related people practices? What
do you think are the advantages and challenges associated with using the
model as a measure of impact?

PwC 59
AC 3.2

Return on Expectations

As an alternative to Return on Investment (RoI), organisations also use Return on

Expectations (RoE) as a means of measuring impact. Clearly, for this method to be used
effectively, the expectations of a people practice or initiative need to be clearly defined. For
example, if a major L&D programme were to be developed and rolled out, then, unless the
objectives and expectations of the programme were clearly defined, it would be difficult to
measure whether the programme was having any impact.

The same can be said for other people practices such as succession planning or performance
management. What exactly are they intended to achieve? What are the specific objectives
behind the process or the practice? How will we know that they are effective? If we can answer
these questions fully at the outset of a programme or practice, then it makes it easier to
measure return on expectations which don't have to be financial, they can be non-monetary
expectations or benefits as well as or instead of financial.

RoE can therefore be an easier but no less effective way of measuring the impact of people
practices, so long as there is clarity on their expectations at the outset.

In summary therefore we have covered a number of methods of measuring the impact of

people practices such as Return on Investment, Return on Expectations, Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels
of Evaluation and we also discussed the concept of establishing efficiency and effectiveness
metrics for specific people practices such as Talent Acquisition.

Other methods for you to consider might include standard reports such as absence data,
retention trends and the employee engagement survey.

PwC 60
Section 5
Assessment Section 2:

Quantitative and qualitative

analysis review
Assessment Section 2

For section two, you are to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis review using the two
sets of data provided. Firstly, review the Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Salary data that is
presented in Table 1 and provide analysis of it to show the:

• Percentage of each gender by type.

• Ethnicity as a percentage per team.

• Disability percentage as an organisational whole and by teams.

• Salary difference across genders.

• Overall average salary paid by the organisation.

Present your findings using appropriate diagrammatical forms and make justifiable
recommendations based on your evaluations.

Table 1 - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Salary Data - (please click on the icon to open
the table)

Table 1

General employee
data.xlsx

PwC 62
Assessment Section 2

Secondly, Table 2 gives the rating feedback scores for a sample of 300 employees taken from
a recent survey on hybrid working practices. Provide scrutiny of the applied scores, present
written commentary on any themes or patterns that might be occurring, and present
recommendations based on your findings.

Table 2 - Feedback scores from a recent employee survey on hybrid working practices

Table 2

Feedback scores
from a recent employee survey on hybrid working practices

• Completion of the above two activities will address the following ACs: With reference to a
people practice issue, interpret analytical data using appropriate analysis tools and
methods. (AC 2.1)

• Present key findings for stakeholders from people practice activities and initiatives. (AC 2.2)

• Make justified recommendations based on evaluation of the benefits, risks and financial
implications of potential solutions. (AC 2.3)

Task Two - Quantitative and qualitative analysis review (1000 words)

Refer to CIPD word count policy

PwC 63
AC 2.1

With reference to a people practice issue, interpret analytical data using appropriate
analysis tools and methods.

Clearly one of the worst things that anybody can do when presenting data is to bombard the
audience with a detailed spreadsheet. You should therefore be thinking about impactful but
informative ways of presenting your data. You should use at least two different visual
presentation methods, for example, bar chart, pie chart, or graph, whichever you feel are the
most appropriate for the data that you are presenting.

Three good tips to remember when sharing your findings with your audience:

• Know your audience

• Choose appropriate media

• Formulate the message so that it resonates with your audience

Knowing your audience is important. What will be their main interests? What will be their
focus of attention? How senior are they in the organisation as this may influence how much
detail you share or not?

Choosing appropriate media is important. Here you are required to provide a combination of
a report with some visual aids. With some audiences, a report may be the most appropriate
medium whilst with others they may not read a report, but they would prefer a visual
presentation. Of course, depending on the circumstances, the medium might be a video
production or an audio medium. Selection of the most appropriate one is very important to gain
maximum impact for your message.

Formulating the message so that it resonates with your audience requires you to know a
good deal about your audience. Are there individuals in the audience that are particularly
interested in in a specific issue in which case you may need to focus heavily on that issue,
particularly if the individual is a key stakeholder and influencer. If particular members of the
audience have a different opinion to yourself, then it’s good to know that ahead of time. How
are you going to address that in your presentation? Make sure that you use language that is
familiar to them. HR jargon can sometimes be off-putting. A good default is always to speak the
language of the business.

PwC 64
AC 2.1

Use the data Analyse Draw

Make
tables to information to conclusions
recommendations
calculate find trends about the issue

Firstly, review the Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Salary data that is presented in

Table 1 and provide analysis of it to show the:

• Percentage of each gender by type.

• Ethnicity as a percentage per team.

• Disability percentage as an organisational whole and by teams.

• Salary difference across genders.

• Overall average salary paid by the organisation.

So your first step is to familiarise with the data and then calculate exactly what the assessment
is looking for as listed in the five items above. This is the factual part of the analysis where you
are calculating from the spreadsheet to arrive at the percentages and the salary information
that are required. There is no interpretation with this part. You are simply reporting back
specific numbers based on the data provided. However, as suggested below, you may want to
calculate a few other sets of data in order that you can draw more robust conclusions later.

• Percentage of each gender by type - this is a simple split between the number of male
and number of females expressed as a percentage of the total workforce

• Ethnicity as a percentage per team - there are ten different types of ethnicity within the
organisation and your job is to analyse those types and express them as a percentage of
the total in each team.

PwC 65
AC 2.1

• Disability percentage as an organisational whole and by teams - so here you are

required to report both on the organisation as a whole and how the disability types are split
within each team - again expressed as percentages.

• Salary difference across genders - here you need to think about how you will report this.
You might calculate average salary by each gender or median salary within each gender.
You might want to analyse it by teams, even though you are not required to, as this may
help you draw some conclusions about trends and consistency/. inconsistency across
departments. Ask yourself how meaningful would it be simply to report on average salaries
by male or female? What other dimensions or angles would you wish to view it from? You
would maybe like to know whether there is a link between salary, gender and ethnicity. You
would certainly want to know if there are any gender-related discrepancies in salaries in
similar roles.

• Overall average salary paid by the organization - this is a single figure computed for the
organisation as a whole.

Again think about the most appropriate visual aid for presenting these five sets of data e.g, bar
chart, pie chart, graph or in the case of the last item it's one number.

Only once you have completed the required calculations, should you start to look for patterns
and trends in the data. You are looking for correlations or relationships between the data, for
example, potential correlation between ethnicity and salary or team and gender. This is not
necessarily indicative of anything wrong but it is an observation that may be worth drawing to
management's attention.

PwC 66
AC 2.1

Again think about the most appropriate visual aid for presenting these five sets of data e.g, bar
chart, pie chart, graph or in the case of the last item it's one number.

Use the data Analyse Draw

Make
tables to information to conclusions
recommendations
calculate find trends about the issue

In order to highlight these correlations or trends or relationships in the data, you should use a
combination of visual aids (charts and graphs) and commentary.

What conclusions are you drawing from these patterns and trends? What is it saying about the
company’s performance in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion? What are the strengths and
weaknesses of its performance in this area? What risks might the business be exposed to?
How do you feel about the data? Is there sufficient data to draw the conclusions that you are
making? Do you need to make any statements that data may need further analysis in order to
test certain assumptions? At this stage, you are giving your opinion based on what you have
observed from the data analysis. You are not making any recommendations yet.

PwC 67
AC 2.3

Make justified recommendations based on evaluation of the benefits, risks and financial
implications of potential solutions.

Use the data Analyse Draw

Make justifiable
tables to information to conclusions
recommendations
calculate find trends about the issue

Here you will be making a set of recommendations to the senior management team based on
the analysis of data, your observation of trends and patterns and the conclusions and
observations that you have drawn. As the question indicates, you need to justify your
recommendations in terms of the costs involved, the benefits to be gained and any risks
involved in either a) adopting the recommendation; or b) choosing not to adopt the
recommendation.

In terms of costs, you may not be able to state an exact or estimated figure, but you may be
able to identify categories of costs that might be incurred in either the implementation or the
risks. Where possible you should try to quantify the benefits. In terms of risks, these may be
financial, legal, compliance, reputational or a specific impact on the business. On the subject of
compliance, it may be worth noting that UK companies with more than 250 employees are
obliged to report on gender pay so, if the company is not performing particularly well in this
area, then it may become a matter for the public arena which may have an impact on
reputation as well as potential penalties.

Your recommendation should therefore feature in the commentary of your report and be clear
and easy for the audience to identify.

PwC 68
AC 2.1, 2.2, 2.3

Table 2

Use the data Analyse Draw

Make
tables to information to conclusions
recommendations
calculate find trends about the issue

You need to take the same approach now for table two. However clearly there is not as much
analytical work to do with Table 2 because you're looking at data from 300 employees over 14
questions.

Again though look for trends and patterns and draw conclusions and observations from the
data. You might want to identify additional data that would be useful to be able to come up with
more rigorous conclusions and recommendations. In other words you might say that your
conclusions and recommendations are based on the data available however with additional
data you may be able to draw conclusions at a deeper level and give some examples of that.

In Table 1, clearly you used Excel as an analysis tool. For Table 2, you need to choose an
analysis tool or method from those that we have discussed in the class and earlier in this
workbook . For ease of reference these are listed below.

PwC 69
AC 2.1, 2.2, 2.3

Analysis Tools: Analysis methods:

• The Fishbone Analysis • Interviews

• Current State/ Future State Gap Analysis • Observations

• Force-Field Analysis • Job analysis

• McKinsey 7S Model • Questionnaires

• Porter’s 5 Forces • Surveys

• Balanced scorecard/ metrics

Clearly a number of these are not appropriate to this particular analysis, however, you may
wish to use fishbone to analyse cause and effect in the hybrid working data. You can say that a
survey has been used to generate the data, then you may want to recommend that follow up
interviews take place to drill down more for further conclusions and recommendations.

In the recommendations that you do make, don't forget to include an estimate of cost, benefits
and risks associated with them so that you are justifying your recommendations.

PwC 70
Notes

PwC 71
Notes

PwC 72
Section 6
Takeaways and Action
Planning
Takeaways and Action Planning

What are my key learning points?

What were my objectives?

How did I achieve these?

How will I apply my learning?

How will I follow this up with

relevant individuals in my
organisation? When, where, how?

At the start of this workbook, we asked you to write down 3 specific learning goals that you
would like to achieve from completing this module. On a scale of 1-5, where 5 is exceeded
your goal, rate the extent to which your goals have been achieved:

Goal 1 2 3 4 5

PwC 74
Takeaways and Action Planning

Key learning points Personal Action Plan

What have been the top 3 learning points or Write down in the box below at least ONE
messages for you on the whole subject of ACTION that you will take back to the
Evidence-based Practice? workplace in relation to Evidence-based
Practice. This could be a contribution to
1. improving employee relations, a specific
idea or maybe how you will further develop
your knowledge in this area.

2.

3.

PwC 75
Notes

PwC 76
Notes

PwC 77
 Congratulations on
Completing this
Module!

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