Choosing and investigating an issue
The task
- You analyse a human resource issue affecting businesses.
- A human resource issue is any complex problem relating to human resources that affects businesses. Note the plural: it has to be an issue that affects businesses, not a private grievance inside one workplace.
- The work has four parts:
- collect evidence relevant to the issue
- explain the issue
- explain solutions — one to begin with, then a range
- evaluate the issue and recommend the best possible solution
How far the analysis goes
| Depth | Evidence | The issue | Solutions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explained | Evidence relevant to the issue | Explain it | Explain a possible solution |
| Fully explained | Evidence | Fully explain it | Fully explain a range of solutions |
| Evaluated | Evidence from a range of sources | Evaluate it | Recommend the best possible solution |
- Three definitions do a lot of work here, and each of them is a gate:
- a range of possible solutions = two or more
- a range of sources = two or more
- the best possible solution = best in your judgement, which means you must actually choose and justify, not survey
- The "range of sources" requirement catches people. A comprehensive analysis needs evidence from two or more sources, so an investigation built entirely on one interview has nothing to cross-check, however well it is written.
Choosing an issue that works
- A good human resource issue to investigate has four properties:
- It is a human resource issue, not a general business problem. Ask: is the difficulty about people — finding them, keeping them, paying them, training them, managing them, or their relationship with the employer?
- It is complex — it has more than one cause, and more than one effect.
- It affects businesses generally, so it can be researched and compared, not just observed once.
- There is evidence available — people you can talk to, published material, data.
- Issues that work well in a New Zealand context:
- Skill shortages in a trade, region or sector, and what businesses do to fill roles they cannot fill
- Staff turnover and retention, especially in hospitality, retail, aged care and seasonal industries
- Seasonal labour — recruiting a workforce for a short, intense period, and what happens between seasons
- The effect of new technology or automation on roles, skills and job security
- Attracting and keeping staff when pay cannot be raised, in a small business or a not-for-profit
- Health, safety and wellbeing — workload, fatigue, stress and their effect on retention
- Training and succession — what happens when the person who knows how everything works retires
- Managing a culturally diverse workforce, including migrant staff, and the cultural intelligence that requires
- Avoid: an issue with one obvious cause and one obvious answer; a personal dispute; anything you cannot get evidence about.
Collecting evidence from a range of sources
- Use at least two, and preferably more than two kinds:
- Interviews — a manager, an employee, a human resources professional, a union or industry representative. Prepare the questions and record the answers.
- A survey of staff or of several businesses in the sector.
- Business documents — job advertisements, position descriptions, turnover figures, exit interview summaries, training records. Ask permission and anonymise.
- Published data — official labour market statistics, sector workforce reports, industry association research.
- News and industry media — reporting on the issue in the sector.
- Legislation and official guidance, where the issue involves employment law.
- Record every source properly: what it was, who provided it, when, and why it is relevant. Evidence you cannot attribute is not evidence.