Unit 1 Understanding the Organisation

Unit 1 Assessment
Assessment

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Please note that this Assessment document has 13 pages and is made up of 5 Sections.

Name: Tracey Pinkney

Organisation: Which organisation(s) are you basing your answers to this assessment on? If you are currently working, you may wish to base it on the organisation which employs you.

Can you provide a brief description of this organisation? (Please note you will not be marked on this; it is simply to provide your tutor with a brief outline.)

Section 1 – Understand the factors that affect an organisation and the customer service role

1. Complete the table below with a description of the products and services for at least two commercial organisations, public organisations and third sector organisations.

Please ensure you provide a description for each organisation, rather than a list.

|Organisation type |Name of organisation |Description of products and services |
|Commercial |Kybotech Ltd |Garden buildings and furniture manufacturer and retailer. |
|organisation | |They deliver all products bought from the company. |
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|Commercial | | |
|organisation | | |
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|Public |Nottinghamshire County Council |Some of the services are schools, education library, customer |
|organisation | |service points and business support. |
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|Public | | |
|organisation | | |
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|Third sector organisation |Sue Ryder Care |They sell second hand clothes and brick a brack. New dolls houses |
| | |and furniture. |
|Third sector organisation | | |

2. Complete the table below by describing the differences in customer service between commercial, public and third sector organisations. You should outline customer service roles in each organisation and highlight the differences in how customer service is carried out across these organisations.

|Organisation type |Description of customer service and |
| |the differences between organisations |
|Commercial |The commercial sector provides hundreds of products and services their main motivation is to increase profit,|
|organisation |attract new customers and build on existing relationships. The key differences in customer services are |
| |longevity, more customers and market share. Their also driven by customers retention, loyalty and positive |
| |reputation. |
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|Public |In the public sector money is not the goal. Many of the offers are preventative or supportive. The public |
|organisation |sector usually comprises of organisations that are owned and operated by the government. The key differences |
| |in customer services are customer satisfaction and value for money. Their also driven by balanced budgetary |
| |targets and customer service charters. |
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|Third sector |This organisation is a none profiting organisation but does still sell goods and services as with a |
|organisation |commercial organisation but their goal is to continue to fund their activities and not to make a profit, any |
| |money made is reinvested into their products and services. Third party sector organisations are independent |
| |of the government so they do not operate in the private or public sector. The key differences in customer |
| |services are the people providing the service are often volunteers and their driven by the care and support. |
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3. In relation to your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with), outline the part that customer service plays in this organisation and its industry as a whole.

Customer service points provide a one stop shop for advice and enquiries about Nottinghamshire County Council services. Customer services points also work in partnership with many organisations such as the district councils to help resolve your enquiry. Customer service is ensuring that we give our customer the sort of personal service and response that we ourselves would want, if we were in their place. Our customers have a right to expect from us the best possible standards of personal service. They should be treated with equal respect, listening to and responded to in a manner which is polite, helpful and timely.

4. Who are the major competitors to your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with)?

5. Identify at least two factors that could affect the reputation of your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with).

An organisation that has a poor customer service this can create a bad reputation. If member’s staff are impolite, unhelpful or show rude behaviour to the customer or are slow to respond to customer problems. If there’s an inconsistent provision of a product or service.

Section 2 – Understand employee rights, responsibilities and organisational procedures

1. Use the table below to give details of employer and employee rights and responsibilities under employment law and the importance of having these (consider the importance to the organisation, employees and customers, where relevant). You should include at least two employer rights / responsibilities and at least two employee rights / responsibilities in your answer.

|Rights and responsibilities |Why are they important? |
|1. Employer |This is important because it includes details of pay, hours, holidays, |
|Contract of employment |notice period and, disciplinary and grievance procedures. |
|Employers do not have to make written contracts but the law is that | |
|employers must normally give employees a written statement of the main | |
|terms and conditions of employment within two months of their starting | |
|work. | |
|2. Employer |This is important because the employee can check they have been paid |
|Itemised pay statements/ wage slips. |correctly and any overtime they have done has been put on their wage |
|The employer must issue an itemised pay statement to all employees at |and the employers has a record of who has been paid and what for. |
|the time of payment. Contents must include gross earnings, net pay, | |
|fixed and variable deductions from gross earnings and the amount and | |
|method of payment. | |
|1. Employee |This is important because you can plan your time off for a holiday and |
|Full time employee have the right to holiday pay, their entitled to 28 |ask your employer for the days you have off when you want. Also you and|
|days a year. Part time employees are entitled to pro rata amount. |the employer know how many days you have taken and how many you have |
| |left if any. |
|2. Employee |The national minimum wage is important because it provides employees |
|Have the right to at least the national minimum wage |with a decent minimum standards and fairness in the workplace. It |
| |applies to nearly all workers and sets hourly rates below which pay |
| |must not be allowed to fall. |

2. Give details of employer and employee rights and responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act. You should include at least two employer rights / responsibilities and at least two employee rights / responsibilities in your answer.

|Who? |Rights / responsibilities under Health and Safety at Work Act |
| |It is the duty of the employer to prepare and as often as may be appropriate revise a written statement of his |
|Employer |general policy with respect to the health and safety at work of his employees and the organisation. |
| |It is the duty of the employer to ensue, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work |
|Employer |of all his employees. |
| |It is the duty of every employee while at work to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and |
|Employee |of others who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work. |
| |It is the duty of every employee while at work as regards any duty or requirement imposed on his employer or any |
|Employee |other person by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions, to co-operate with him so far as necessary to |
| |enable that duty or requirement to be preformed or complied with. |

3. In relation to your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with), describe the organisation’s procedures for health and safety and any relevant documentation that is used.

If possible, provide relevant health and safety policies / documents from the organisation to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections.

The Nottinghamshire County Council has a health and safety policy statement.
Nottinghamshire County Council has an obligation and responsibilities to staff to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, their health, safety and welfare at work. This obligation extends to people who may be affected by our work. We have a statutory duty to provide a safe place of work and a health working environment for all of our employees, including those employed on a temporary basis.
4. Outline how the Disability Discrimination Act relates to employment.

It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against people with disabilities for a reason related to their disability, in all aspects of employment, unless it can be justified.

5. In addition to the information provided in the questions above, identify the other key legislation that specifically relates to your chosen organisation and its industry as a whole.

It is Nottinghamshire County Council’s policy to work positively to reduce inequality with all customers and employees by ensuring they are treated fairly and without discrimination. We believe it is our duty to promote equal opportunity and have taken steps to redress inequality. In turn, we expect our employees, visitors and partners to respect and comply with government legislation and policies. We consider it necessary for organisations who intend to supply goods or services on our behalf to demonstrate that reasonable practicable steps have been taken to allow equal access and treatment in employment and services for all.

6. Describe the procedures followed by your chosen organisation in relation to equality and diversity. Your answer should include details of any monitoring that takes place and documentation used to support this monitoring.

Nottinghamshire County Council has a duty to act positively to create and promote access to services to all the citizens, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, cultural, social or economical background. The council is committed to providing services that are customer driven, prudent and efficient. It will be realistic, enthusiastic and ambitious and will treat the public and colleagues with fairness, respect and honesty. The council is committed to ensuring that it has a workforce that is fit for purpose and empowered to make decisions and actively contribute to improvement to services. It recognises that supporting diversity in the workplace and taking account of diversity issues in working practices helps to improve services to our local community. The policy is implemented through the council’s strategic plan, sustainable community strategy, and workforce strategy and equality plan.

Section 3 – Understand career pathways within customer service

1. Describe at least two different types of career pathways that may be available within a customer service role.

2. Identify a range of sources where a person can find information and advice on the customer service industry, occupations and career progression.

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|Information relating to: |Source(s) |
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|Customer service industry | |
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|Occupation | |
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|Career progression | |

3. In your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with), what methods of learning are available to help with career progression?

4. In your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with), what is the procedure for accessing formal learning programmes? What is the procedure if an application for access to learning is refused?

If possible, provide relevant organisational procedures to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections.

5. Explain how new customer service situations can help with self-development and career progression.

New customer service situations give you experience and is key to self-development and career progression. It also helps benefit someone who is looking to progress towards a managerial role. Every new situation is different and requires a different response as you come across a wide variety of customer service situations, you will gain a lot of experience and broaden your knowledge of working within such an environment. New situations and self-development can help with your career progression because you can apply your skills and knowledge practically, you can learn from any mistakes and you learn to understand the customers. Also you can learn about the organisation you work in, and you can problem solve and manage others.

Section 4 – Understand how employees are supported within the customer service role

1. Identify a range of sources where a person can find information and advice on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least three sources of information in your answer.

Internal sources of information could be your line managers, books and documents held within the organisation and staff association representatives.

External sources of information could be libraries, Citizen Advice Bureau and government.

2. Complete the table below, identifying the representative bodies related to your chosen organisation / industry. You should also include details of the main roles and responsibilities of these bodies and their relevance to the organisation / industry.

|Representative body |Roles and responsibilities |Relevance |
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3. For a customer service role in your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with), use the table below to provide details of the support that is available in relation to the following issues: a) Equality b) Health and safety c) Career progression

|Issue |Sources of support |
|Equality |There is an equality policy, and an equality impact assessment and Nottinghamshire County Council gather |
| |equality data on services by asking service users and employees to give us their equality data. You can |
| |also contact the equality officers at Nottinghamshire County Council. |
|Health and safety |There is a health and safety policy, and the management of health and safety at work requires employees |
| |to carry out risk assessments. You can also contact the health and safety team at Nottinghamshire County |
| |Council. |
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|Career progression | |
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Section 5 – Know the organisation’s policies and procedures

Please answer all of the questions in this Section in relation to your current organisation (or one that you are familiar with).

1. Use the table below to describe the main principles, policies and procedures of your chosen organisation. You should also include details of documentation used to support these principles, policies and procedures.

| |Description |Supporting documentation |
|Principles | | |
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|Policies | | |
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|Procedures | | |
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2. How are the organisation’s principles communicated to employees? Explain this below.

3. Outline the policies and codes of practice that are adopted by the organisation. How are employees made aware of these policies and codes of practice?

4. Explain how employees are involved with and consulted on changes to the principles, procedures and policies within the organisation.

5. Use the table below to identify issues of public concern relating to the industry and organisation, and describe how these issues are addressed / dealt with.

|Issues of public concern |How they are addressed / dealt with |
|Whistleblowing policy |The Council test your concerns but this is not the same as either |
|In this policy ‘whistleblowing’ means the reporting by employees of |accepting or rejecting them. In order to be fair to all employees, |
|suspect misconduct, illegal acts or failure to act within the Council. |including ones who may be wrongly or mistakenly accused, initial |
| |enquires will be made to decide if an investigation is required. Where |
| |appropriate, the matter raised may be investigated by management, |
| |referred to the police or the external auditor or may form the subject |
| |of an independent inquiry. |
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Once you have completed all 5 Sections of this Assessment, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your work to your tutor for marking.