5CO03
Professional behaviours
and valuing people

Learner Assessment Brief

Assessment ID / CIPD_5CO03_22_01

Level 5 Associate Diploma in

▪ People Management

▪ Organisational Learning and Development

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Unit code:	5CO03
Unit title:	Professional behaviours and valuing people
Assessment ID:	CIPD_5CO03_22_01
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5CO03
Professional behaviours and valuing people

This unit focuses on how applying core professional behaviours such as ethical practice, courage and inclusivity can build positive working relationships and support employee voice and well-being. It considers how developing and mastering new professional behaviours and practice can impact performance.

CIPD’s insight

Ethical practice and the role of people professionals (April 2022)

Scandals involving workplace harassment and poor treatment of workers have highlighted what can happen when ethics aren’t integral to the way organisations operate. With unique access to staff throughout their careers, as well as opportunities to influence an organisation’s strategy and the way it manages its workforce, people professionals are uniquely placed to support embedding principled decision making into daily practice. Ethics are at the heart of professionalism. To create cultures of transparency and trust, practitioners should demonstrate strong standards of integrity when advising business leaders.

This factsheet explores what ethical practice means and why it matters in an organisational context. It outlines the trade-offs involved in upholding ethical values and the challenges faced by people professionals. Finally, it looks at the profession’s role in creating ethical organisational cultures.

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/ethics/role-hr-factsheet

People Profession 2021 UK and Ireland Survey Report (CIPD in association with Workday)

In the unparalleled and unforeseen context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings of this People Profession survey are exceptional. This report reveals how practitioners responded to changes and challenges while maintaining their level of professionalism.

Key findings (headlines)

External factors and digital transformation have driven organisational change
Working from home makes key aspects of people professionals’ work more challenging
People professionals have upped their skills and understanding
The people function plays a vital role in influencing organisational strategy
Despite the pandemic, people professionals remain positive and proactive in their career progression
Purpose and principles are very important in people professionals’ work

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/hr/people-profession-survey

Please note that the purpose of this insight is to link you to CIPD’s research and evidence within the subject area, so that you can engage with the latest thinking. It is not provided to replace the study required as part of the learning or as formative assessment material.

Preparation for the Tasks:

At the start of your assignment, you are encouraged to plan your assessment work with your Assessor and where appropriate agree milestones so that they can help you monitor your progress.
Refer to the indicative content in the unit to guide and support your evidence.
Pay attention to how your evidence is presented, remember you are working in the People Practice Team.
Ensure that the evidence generated for this assessment remains your own work.

You will also benefit from:

Completing and acting on formative feedback from your Assessor.
Reflecting on your own experiences of learning opportunities and continuous professional development.
Reading the CIPD Insight, Fact Sheets and related online material on these topics as well as key research authors on the subject.

Task One –Professional, ethical, and inclusive behaviours.

In this this task, you are required to demonstrate a professional level of knowledge and understanding in relation to ‘professional, ethical and inclusive behaviours’.

To complete the task, you should provide a written response to each of the points below, making appropriate use of academic theory and practical examples to expand your response and illustrate key points.

To help the reader, please make use of headings and assessment criteria references to signpost the assessment criteria being addressed.

Define the term professional and explain what it means to be a ‘people professional’. (AC 1.1)

Explore how the role of a people professional (either a generalist or a particular specialist) is evolving and the priorities this raises for continuing professional development (CPD) (AC 3.1)

Discuss the concept of ‘ethical values’, and how at least three ethical values that you hold personally, impact (or could impact) on your work as a people professional. (AC 1.2)

Explain why it is essential for people professionals to contribute confidently to discussions, and ways of doing this that are (AC 1.3):
informed
clear

Discuss when and how to raise concerns when issues such as organisational policies or leadership approaches conflict with ethical values or legislation. (AC 1.4)

Provide a robust argument for ethical people practice that is supported by academic theory and details both the business and human benefits of people at work feeling included, valued and fairly treated. (AC 2.1)

Drawing on your own or a hypothetical example of providing a people practice solution to meet a particular need or introducing a new policy or initiative, describe:
strategies for designing the solution/initiative so that it will be inclusive
strategies for checking that, when in practice, the solution/initiative engages and meets the needs of all those it is aimed at. (AC 2.2)

TASK ONE

Your evidence must consist of:

Written responses to each of the 7 instructions above.

Approximately 2100 words in total, refer to CIPD word count policy

Task Two – Professional Development

This task requires you to evidence your commitment and approach to continuing professional development (CPD). It is divided into three activities, which must all be completed.

There are 2 different options for how you complete the 3 activities: these are

The CIPD Profession Map Self-Assessment Tool,
Offline documentation.

You should read the ‘General Instructions for the Activities’ first. Then read the ‘Guidance for Completing the Activities’ following the specific option you have chosen.

General Instructions for the Activities

ACTIVITY 1 (AC 2.3, AC 3.2). Using a range of information, including feedback from others, assess your practice against the FIVE CIPD Profession Map core behaviours listed below. The 5 core behaviours (all to be selected at associate level) are:

Ethical Practice
Professional Courage and Influence
Valuing People
Working Inclusively
Passion for Learning

Evidence to be presented:

In the main body of your assignment, write a short summary (approx. 150 words), of the information used to inform your assessment
Add your assessment pages as an appendix.

ACTIVITY 2 (AC 3.3) Having identified your main development needs in relation to these 5 areas, formulate appropriate development activities to meet these needs and add these to your professional development/learning plan.

Evidence to be presented:

In the main body of your assignment, write a short explanation (approx. 250 words) for your choice of development activities
Add the relevant pages from your development/learning plan as an appendix.

ACTIVITY 3 (AC 3.4) A key element of CPD is reflecting on the impact of our learning, so that we can make further decisions about how to progress. Select 3 formal or informal development activities you have undertaken over the last 12 months and reflect on how each of these activities has impacted your behaviour and performance. (Consider how effective the activity has been and the extent of its impact. You might also consider what new needs or action points the activity raised for you.)

Note: this reflection is retrospective and not connected to the activities planned in activity 2 above.

Evidence to be presented:

– Written reflections on 3 development activities (approx. 750 words)

Guidance for Completing the Activities (select ONE of the options below)

OPTION 1: The CIPD Learning Hub self-assessment tool and learning plan. This can be accessed at https://learninghub.cipd.org/d2l/home/6720.

For the self-assessment (Activity 1), access the tool (see link above). Select ‘Self-assessment’, ‘Associate level’, and add the 5 required behaviours – then complete your scoring. As you work through, take copies/screen-prints of each assessment to add as an appendix to your assignment. If you forget or make a mistake, simply opt to redo the process.
For the formulation of development activities (Activity 2), follow up your self-assessment by selecting ‘View recommendations’ where you will be able to select and add different activities to the ‘My Learning Plan’. Whilst the system presents you with suggested activities, it should be clear to your assessor that you have selected/added options that you determine to be most appropriate for your needs. Take copies/screen prints of the activities you have formulated to add as an appendix to your assignment.
For the reflections activity (Activity 3), select ‘My CPD Reflections’ and complete the ‘reflections ‘forms’. Embed these into your assignment (or attach as an additional PDF report if preferred). However, please ensure you still comply with the required word count for this activity.

(Important information regarding screen shots: We recommend that learners edit out any personal data on their screen before submitting screen shots. This can be done quite easily using, for example, the ‘snip and sketch’ facility built into most office-based software and explained online as well as in our CIPD tutorials.)

OPTION 2: Offline Documentation.

For the self-assessment (Activity 1), we have provided an example template for the first 2 core behaviours at Appendix 1 of this assessment brief. If choosing this option, please extend the templates to include all 5 of the required behaviours and complete them by adding an ‘X’ in the relevant columns. The templates should then be added as an appendix to your assignment.
For the formulation of development activities (Activity 2), determine appropriate development activities to meet your needs in relation to these 5 areas and add these to your (own format) professional development plan (PDP). The relevant pages (extract) of your PDP should be added as an appendix to your assignment.
For the reflections activity (Activity 3), provide your written reflections within the main body of your assignment.

Appendix 1

Behaviours Self-Assessment – Ethical Practice (Associate)

Profession Map Standard – assess yourself by adding a cross in the box that applies to you.	Problem area – needs development	Satisfactory but – some development could be useful	Perform well – development not currently needed
Make responsible choices about your work, applying professional principles and values
Consider the purpose and implications of actions, decisions and people practices for all stakeholders
Raise concerns about people practices and policies which are not consistent with values or legislation
Provide explanations and reasons for the choices you make and the advice you provide
Demonstrate professionalism and consistency in what you say and do in order to build trust

Behaviours Self-Assessment – Professional Courage and Influence (Associate)

Profession Map Standard – assess yourself by adding a cross in the box that applies to you.	Problem area – needs development	Satisfactory but – some development could be useful	Perform well – development not currently needed
Contribute to discussions and respond to questions in an informed and confident way
Communicate key information in a clear and engaging way to influence others
Take steps to engage regularly with key stakeholders to understand their preferred approach and needs
Consider potential reactions and resistance to inform how and when you communicate your ideas
Recognise and take responsibility for your mistakes and contribute to putting things right

Please duplicate the template to include all 5 required behaviours (at Associate level).

Assessment Criteria Evidence Checklist

You may find the following checklist helpful to make sure that you have included the required evidence to meet the task. This is not a mandatory requirement as long as it is clear in your submission where the assessment criteria have been met.

Task 1 – Professional, ethical, and inclusive behaviours. Assessment criteria		Evidenced Y/N	Evidence reference
1.1	Appraise what it means to be a people professional.
3.1	Explore how the role of a people professional is evolving and the implications this has for continuing professional development.
1.2	Recognise how personal and ethical values can be applied in the context of people practice.
1.3	Consider the importance of people professionals contributing to discussions in an informed, clear and confident way to influence others.
1.4	Recognise when and how you would raise matters which conflict with ethical values or legislation.
2.1	Argue the human and business benefits of people feeling included, valued, and fairly treated at work linking to related theory.
2.2	Discuss strategies for designing and ensuring inclusive people practices.

Task 2 – Professional Development Assessment criteria		Evidenced Y/N	Evidence reference
2.3	Reflect on your own approach to working inclusively and building positive working relationships with others.
3.2	Assess your strengths, weaknesses and development areas based on self-assessment and feedback from others.
3.3	Formulate a range of formal and/or informal continuing professional development (CPD) activities to support your learning journey.
3.4	Reflect on the impact of your continuing professional development activities on own behaviour and performance.

Declaration of Authentication

Declaration by learner

I can confirm that this assessment is all my own work and where I have used materials from other sources, they have been properly acknowledged.
Learner name:
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Date* *This should be the date on which you submit your assessment

Declaration by Assessor

I confirm that I am satisfied that to the best of my knowledge, the work produced is solely that of the learner.
Assessor name:
Assessor signature:
Date:

VTDI USE students – 5CO03_22-01- June 2022 (1)