Investigating a business issue

There are many obvious benefits for HR practitioners engaged in professional study – career development, enhanced skills, qualifications to add to their CV and networking with peers to name a few of them. This much we know.

What is less talked about is what organisations gain from employees undertaking professional qualifications. Yet, organisations stand to benefit a lot as well, particularly when courses have a heavily practical emphasis or a focus on business-specific areas. When HR people pursue work-related study, they can incorporate all of their new skills, awareness and techniques into their job. This is particularly the case when the study relates to a particular issue or skill that requires attention.

An example of this is ‘Investigating a business issue from an HR perspective’, a module in DPG’s two year CIPD advanced level 7 Diploma in HRM/HRD.

In this module, practitioners have the opportunity to really delve into a business dilemma in their organisation and work out ways to resolve it.

As Laura Hughes, CIPD project manager at DPG says, participants don’t have to wait until they have finished their diploma to put their research into practice. “It’s a very good opportunity for people to really investigate something in their business, look to improve it and implement it.”

In this module, one of eight in the second year of the diploma, participants undertake an 11-month study, honing in on a particular business issue that they would like to see tackled in their organisation. The module kicks off with a workshop, when participants discuss their ideas and talk about research methodologies. The next 11 months is spent working on the issue, collecting and analysing and data and writing the Management Research Report.

A key driver of the CIPD qualification is raising the business orientation and strategic awareness of HR professionals and how they can add value through people management and development practice. Hughes thinks the structure of the module really helps practitioners align HR with business requirements - identifying the business issue that could be improved, conducting the research, studying and analysing data and presenting the findings.

For more information on DPG’s Level 7 qualifications visit our website.