In recent years, the environment in which organisations operate has been turbulent. People professional have a key role in supporting and enabling the organization to achieve its goals at times of greater or lesser stability. To ensure the people team have sufficient knowledge and understanding to this, your manager has decided the team should have good knowledge of the external business environment, the organisation’s goal, its products/services and customers, organisation’s culture, and the importance of change management. You manager has asked you to undertake some research, then share your learning with the rest of the team through an information sheet.

Your information sheet can be based on your own organization or one (s) that are familiar with, and should include the following:

• An examination of the key external influence impacting or likely to impact the organisation’s activities. (AC1.1).
• A discussion of the organization’s business goals and why it is importanct for organisattiioinsto plan for how they will achieve these. (AC1.2)
• A discussion of the organisation’s products and/ or services and main customers. (AC1.3)
• A short review of different technologies available to people professionals and how these can be, or are, used to improve working practices and collaboration. You might consider for example, technologies relating to communications, productivity, or security. (AC 1.4)
• What is meant by organizational culture and why it is importance to foster an appropriate and effective workplace culture. (AC 2.1)
• How organisations are whole systems, in which different areas and aspects such as structure, systems, and culture, are all interrelated, and How people professionals’ work and actions could impact elsewhere in the organization (AC2.2).
• Why it is important that organizational change is planned and managed effectively. (AC 3.1)
• The nature and importance of different roles that can be played by people practice professionals, in relation to change agendas. You might consider roles such as: gatekeeper, champion, facilitator, critical friend or record-keeper. (AC 3.2)
• How organizational change can impact people in different ways, such as changing their role or status or financial situation, and different ways people may respond to change. (AC3.3)