Principles of Personal Responsibilities

Unit one: Principles of personal responsibilities and working in a business environment

Assessment

You should use this file to complete your Assessment.
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Then, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number.

Please note that this Assessment document has 8 pages and is made up of 7 Sections.

Section 1 – Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer

1. Identify four main points that would be included in a contract of employment. If possible, use an example contract to support your answer (feel free to obscure any confidential information).

Employer & employee's rights and responsibilities
Pay, hours and pension (including holidays
Confidentiality of personal details
Dismissal and disciplinary actions

2a) List three key points of legislation that affect employers in a business environment.
Employers has to pay at least minimum wage to everyone
Pay has to be the same for both men and women for the same job position
Employer can only deduct certain things from the pay, for example tax and National Insurance contributions

2b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment.

Employees have a right to take paid maternity and paternity when their child is born, however it can be limited to certain time.
If worked over 2 years, employees have right to redundancy pay
Employees have to receive pay statement at regular basis that clearly shows their gross pay, deductions and 'take home' pay

3. Identify a range of places where a person can find information on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least two internal and two external sources of information.
Internal
Managers and supervisors
Books and documents held within company (e.g. employee handbook)
HR specialists
Informed colleagues
External
Citizens Advice Bureau
Trade Unions
Libraries
Government

4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees.

Representative bodies provide information and consultations for employees. They can help you with health and safety, pensions, transfer of undertakings, union learning, workforce agreement, collective redundancy etc.

5. Briefly describe employer and employee responsibilities for equality and diversity in a business environment. You should give at least two employer responsibilities and two employee responsibilities.

If possible, provide relevant equality and diversity procedures from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections.

Employer has to recruit fairly, allowing people of all ages, genders and races to try for the job. There's some exceptions like for example age restrictions. Everyone has to be paid fairly and treated in the same way. Ramps and disable toilets should be in lace for disabled customers and workers. Provide managers and supervisors with equality and diversity training
Employees have to treat or their colleges equally and with the same respect. Also, you have a responsibility to report any discriminative behaviour towards other that you witnessed

6. Briefly explain the benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment. Your answer should include one benefit for the employer, one benefit for the employee and one benefit for the overall organisation.

Employees are treated equally despite their differences and therefore working environments is better. Employer who follows equality and diversity rights will not be fined or prosecuted for unequal treatment. Also, by keeping workforce diverse, organisation or company will have better reputation and therefore might attract more customers .

Section 2 – Understand the purpose of health, safety and security procedures in a business environment

1. Identify employer and employee responsibilities for health, safety and security.

If possible, provide relevant health, safety and security policies / documents from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections.

Employer has to safeguard the health and safety as well as well-being of employees, customers and third parties as long as it's practicable. Employees have to try and avoid harming themselves or others. Also, the cannot interfere with health and safety equipment. For example, my employer provides locks on office doors however it's my responsibility to make sure they're locked at all times to decrease risk of robbery.

2. Explain the purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment.

Health, safety and security procedures should be follow to minimize any risk of harm. It has economic advantages as not only breaking and H&S rules can mean a fine for the company but also minimizing risks minimizes a possibility of having to pay a compensations

3. Describe three different ways of maintaining a safe and secure business environment.

Be observant – be aware of any potential hazards or problems and report them to your managements

Remain alert at work – that means not working under influence of drugs or alcohol or wearing jewellery if working with food

If necessary take action to keep yourself and other safe

Section 3 – Understand how to communicate effectively with others

1. Complete the table below with descriptions of different methods of communication. You should include two verbal, two non-verbal and two written methods of communication.

|Methods of communication |Description |
|Verbal communication |1. Presentations to big groups – main speaker talking to a group. |
| |Example would be seminar or work training presentation |
| |2. One- to- one conversation |
| | |
| | |
|Non-verbal communication |1. Voice tone – tone supports the message. For example, if tone is |
| |formal the listener will know that message is important. |
| |2. Facial expressions – if the message is upsetting or important but|
| |speakers smiling or laughing, listeners might take the information |
| |less seriously or think that speaker is not serious |
|Written communication |1. Texting – rather informal way of putting message across, |
| | |
| | |
| |2. Reports – very formal and detailed. Might be used as a help for |
| |verbal communication, e.g. meetings |
| | |
| | |

2. Using two specific examples, explain how to choose the most appropriate method of communication to meet your needs and the needs of others.
One of the employees broke important company policy and I need to speak to manager, I would ask manager whether we could speak in private in semi-formal environment where I can explain the situation without distractions.
I need some paperwork form another office. As it's quite important I would email my colleague just in case she can't or won't access her computer for next few hours. I'd phone her and explain why and by when I need those documents and discuss details.

3. Describe at least two ways of actively listening.

Ask questions if necessary. However, try to do it a appropriate times so you don't disturb speaker. Write down anything that you require further explanation or more details on. Writing notes will also let other person know that you're listening and taking everything in.
Recap information at the end of conversation or meeting to make sure you got all the details right as well as let person you speaking with know that you've been listening and you understood all information.

Section 4 – Understand how to work with and support colleagues

1. Explain the purpose of agreeing standards for your own work. Give at least two reasons. Work standards give you guidance to how much you need to do per given period of time so you can plan your work accordingly. For example you need to fill 10 form per hour so you know each form should take you no more than 6 minutes. If you follow work standards your clients or customer will get their services or products when expected. Too high work standards can mean that quality of your work is lower whilst delays can result in costs or losing customers. In team work, standards are especially important as that otherwise your delay can mean that your collegue is not able to do their job.

2. Explain the purpose of taking on new challenges and being able to adapt to change at work. Customers change their requirements so in order to keep them, most companies would have to introduce changes, for example – mobile banking that hasn't existed couple years ago is now very popular as well as suits modern lifestyle so banks which don't provide it might lose their customers. Also, constantly changing technology plays important role in today’s business so companies will value employees who take on new challenge and are willing to go with the change much more. If you don't like something new that has been just introduced and want to ignore it, it might hurt your career. Companies need people who are willing to go with constant changes if necessary and those people will have more change for promotions etc.

3. Explain the purpose of treating others with honesty and consideration. By treating others with honesty and consideration you create better work relationships and communication . Thanks to that, your colleagues will be more willing to co-operate with you and will be more willing to suggest improvements or help. Also, better work relationships will minimize arguments and complaints whih will create better work environment. People are more motivated, energized and hard-working if they like where they work.

Section 5 – Know how to plan own work and be accountable to others

1. Explain the purpose of meeting work standards and deadlines when completing tasks in a business environment. Meeting work standards and dead lines means that customers and clients receive products or services they expect at given time. If they don't, it might results in the choosing services of a different company. As that means company losing money, your job might be at risk. When standards and deadlines are not met, that might result in additional cost or effort (e.g. you need to work overtime to finish your task so not only you have to work more but company might have to pay you for additional time or they have to get someone else to help you finish the task). Therefore, meeting stand arts and deadlines means that company keep it's good reputation and employees work in more relaxed environment

2. Describe two different methods that you can use to plan your own work in a business environment.
Prioritising work – you need to plan the order that tasks will be completed in. For example important tasks can should be done first before they become urgent whilst tasks with long deadline can be left to be completed at a further date. Allow some spare time for each tasks just in case it takes more time than expected Allocate responsibilities if working a team. Make sure everyone has qualifications or knowledge to complete their task as well as enough time or help from othr employees. Make sure everyone knows their main objectives and standards at which job has to be completed

3. Describe ways of keeping other people informed about progress and compare their effectiveness. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach?
Progress updates – rather informal and usually verbal form of communication. Usually one-to-one or or a meeting in a small group. It doesn't need much preparations and is not time consuming. Usually consists of just few details like ' tasks will be ready on time' or ' will be able to assemble 95 pieces rather than 100'. However, people might think that if it's only a small delay it is not important and they won't report it to their supervisor. Reports – most of the time targeted at senior managers, very detailed. Reports might be used for bigger tasks that take time. All the details, problems that have happened and future plans should be included. Might also include possible future problems and ways to solve them quickly and efficiently. However, very time consuming.

Section 6 – Understand the purpose of improving own performance in a business environment and how to do so

1. Explain the purpose of continuously improving your performance in a business environment. When you improve your performance you become much more valuable worker therefore you might be given more possibilities, for example promotions or ability to transfer to a better branch. Also, you might be rewarded through bonuses, better commission, better hours etc. Also, as you will see better results your job satisfaction will be bigger.

2. Describe at least two ways of improving your performance at work. Where relevant, illustrate your answer with specific examples from your own experience. To improve my work performance I can apply existing knowledge to a new situation. For example, whilst dealing with customer I can use knowledge of time where I dealt with similar situation in my previous job or everyday life. That will allow me to solve any problems more efficiently without having to seek advice unless it's necessary. I could also learn something new that might help me with my work. For example, at the moment I'm taking additional course at work,e.g. Health and safety, which means I can take more responsibilities and solve any problems with myself rather and asking trained colleagues from different areas. This will allow my branch to work more efficiently as most problems will be dealt with immediately and therefore there will be no delays.

3. Briefly describe at least two different types of career pathways that may be available to you.

I can progress into management or administrative roles within my company e.g. try for the position of assistant manager or administrative assistant. Also, I could specialise in for example finance through training or courses and get a new job in given path.

Section 7 – Understand the types of problems that may occur in a business environment and how to deal with them

1. Identify at least two different types of problems that can occur in a business environment.

Minor problems like for example slightly unhappy customer or one of the light bulbs
Major problems, e.g. important delivery being late or computer system crashing.

2. Complete the table below by describing at least two specific problems that can occur at work and how they can be dealt with.

|Problem |Dealing with the problem |
|1. Collegue off ill for couple of days |Making sure there is someone to cover them for few days or sharing |
| |important tasks between the team. |
| | |
| | |
|2. Printer breaking so important paperwork can't be printed |Organise repair or replacement for the printer as soon as it's |
| |possible |
| |Finding somewhere else to print paperwork off – nearby by office or|
| |home of a willing employee |

3. Complete the table below by listing at least two problems you are able to deal with yourself and two problems you would need to refer to others to deal with (and how you would refer these problems).

|Problems I can deal with: |Problems I would need to refer to others: |How are problems referred to others? |
|1. You need slightly more time to complete |1. Piece of machinery is broken and most |Find nearby by manager and explain the |
|task |people are not able to do their job |problem. If no one is nearby by, phone head |
| | |office |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|2. Customer is not happy with the product and|2. Some of the products that have been |Phone up someone who organised delivery to let|
|wants exchange |delivered have been damaged |them know and send a email with more details |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |

Once you have completed all 7 Sections of this Assessment, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your work to your tutor for marking.