Employability Skills
LO1 Be able to determine own responsibilities and performance 1.1 Develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives 1
1.2 Evaluate own effectiveness against defined objectives 1
1.3 Make recommendations for Improvement 1
1.4 Review how motivational techniques can be used to improve performance 1
LO2 Be able to develop interpersonal and transferable skills 2.1 Develop solutions to work-based problems 3
2.2 Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels. 1
2.2 Identify effective time-management strategies
1
LO3 Understand the dynamics of working with others
3.1 Explain the roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve shared goals 2
3.2 Analyse team dynamics 2
3.3 Suggest alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve team goals 2
LO4 Be able to develop strategies for problem solving 4.1 Evaluate tools and methods for developing solutions to problems 3
4.2 Develop an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular problem 3
4.3 Evaluate the potential impact on the business of implementing the strategy 3
Learner declaration
I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully acknowledged.
In addition to the above PASS criteria, this assignment gives you the opportunity to submit evidence in order to achieve the following MERIT and DISTINCTION grades
Grade Descriptor
Indicative characteristic/s
Contextualisation
M1 Identify and find appropriate solutions An effective approach to study and research has been applied To achieve M1 in Task 1, you need to show that your approach to study and research has been applied to develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives.
M2 Select / design and apply appropriate methods / techniques The design of methods/techniques has been justified
Relevant theories and techniques have been applied You only need to achieve the Grade Descriptor once in the whole assignment although there are 2 opportunities in this assignment
To achieve M2 in Task 3 you need to show that design of methods /techniques has been Justified to develop solution to work-based problems.
To achieve M2 in Task 2 you need to show that relevant theories and techniques have been applied to the importance of team working.
M3 Present and communicate appropriate findings Coherent, logical development of principles /concepts
To achieve M3 in Task 3 you need to show that coherent, logical development of principles /concepts has been used to evaluate tools and methods for developing solutions to problems.
D1 Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions Realistic improvements have been proposed using defined criteria
To achieve D1 in Task 1, you need to justify that realistic improvements have been proposed using defined criteria in your development plan
D2 Take responsibility for managing and organising activities The importance of interdependence has been recognized and achieved To achieve D2 in Task 2, you will need to justify how the importance of interdependence has been recognized and achieved to explain the roles people play in team and how they can work together to achieve shared goals
D3 Demonstrate convergent /lateral / creative thinking Self-evaluation has taken place
Ideas have been generated and decisions taken
Problems have been solved
To achieve D3 in Task 1, you will need to demonstrate that self-evaluation has taken place.
To achieve D3 in Task 3, you will need to demonstrate how problems have been solved.
Assignment brief
Unit number and title Unit 23: Employability Skills
Qualification Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma in Health and Social Care
Start date
Deadline/hand-in 28th April 2016
Assessor
Assignment title Employability Skills
Purpose of this assignment
Learners will be able to explore their understanding of responsibilities of an organisation. It will also allow the learners to apply their knowledge and understanding of the key factors affecting work based problems, time management as well as being able to identify the various ways communication can be used in an organisation.
The following case study is based on actual events which have occurred in a Health and Social environment. Use this case study to inspire your ideas in answering Task 3.
The Green Haven Care Home
Green Haven
18 Montpelier Road, Ealing, London, W5 2QP (020) 8997 2142
Type of service
Care home without nursing
Specialisms/services
Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, Physical disabilities, Caring for adults over 65 yrs.
Local Authority Area
Ealing
CQC Report
People should get safe and appropriate care that meets their needs and supports their rights (outcome 4).
Improvements required
CQC checked that people who use this service:
Experience effective, safe and appropriate care, treatment and support that meets their needs and protects their rights.
How this check was done
We looked at the personal care or treatment records of people who use the service, carried out a visit on 11 January 2014, observed how people were being cared for and checked how people were cared for at each stage of their treatment and care. We talked with people who use the service and talked with staff.
Our judgement
People did not always experience care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.
Reasons for our judgement
People’s needs were not always assessed and planned for. The assessments that were completed prior to people moving to the home contained individualised information about the person, such as their social history, physical and personal care needs, as well as significant people in their lives. Where the assessment had identified a need a care plan had been developed to ensure that staff knew how to support people in areas such as support needed with personal care and mobilising.
Our inspection took place early on a Saturday morning, as we wanted to see what took place in the home at this time. We arrived at the home at 5:55am. On arrival at the home, the staff told us that they were supporting people with personal care. When we asked them why they were carrying this out at this time the reasons they gave were that one person had been awake all night and wanted to get up, and “they need to get up because they go to bed so early”. On arrival at the home one person who uses the service was sat in the lounge, dressed and asleep. By 6:20am there were three people sat in the lounge, dressed and asleep.
Before the morning shift started their duty at 8:00am, four people had been assisted with personal care, and were dressed and sat in the lounge. Three of them were asleep for the majority of time since being assisted into the lounge and the fourth person fell asleep intermittently. The care files for the four people who were sat in the lounge did not record people’s preferences in relation to times of going to bed and waking. The staff told us that some of the people asked to go to bed early, sometimes at 5:00pm. However, almost all the staff we spoke with did not acknowledge that this might be because people were being assisted to get up early and therefore were tired in the afternoon. It was therefore not clear whether people were receiving care according to their assessed needs and preferences. Care and treatment was not always planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people’s safety and welfare. Risks to each person had been identified as part of the care plan, as well as specific assessments where people were at risk of inadequate nutrition, falls or pressure sores. However, we found that for one person not all risks were identified or planned for. This included where they were at risk of hurting themselves.
Submission Guidelines:
Your submission should be in the formats stated in the Tasks namely a Research Specification/Research Proposal, Research, Report Presentation
Formatting:
• Preferred writing styles Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman
• Line spacing 1.5, Font Size 12
• Consistency in Heading Scheme, bullets and numbering
• Consistency in top, bottom and left, right margins
• Alphabetical Harvard referencing and bibliography
Briefing Paper Format
Briefing papers are used to keep decision makers informed about the issues they are responsible for. In business organisations of all types briefing papers allows information to flow in all directions between departments and management. Senior managers have a lot of information about an enormous range of topics and issues to retain and they rely on concise, clear, reliable briefings. Written briefing papers are short and aimed at quickly and effectively informing a decision-maker about an issue. A good briefing paper summarises complex information into a short, well-structured document. It is clear, concise and easy to read.
The briefing paper should be:
• short: one to two pages, and always as short as possible
• concise: a short document isn’t necessarily concise; concise means every word is used as efficiently as possible
• clear: keep it simple and to the point; always keep your reader firmly in mind and include only what matters to that reader
• reliable: the information in a briefing paper must be accurate, sound and dependable; any missing information or questions about the information should be pointed out
• readable: use plain language and design your briefing paper for maximum readability (use white space, subheadings, lists, font, and other means of making reading easier)
As the briefing paper is being used for academic assessment you should also include citations to supporting references from appropriate literature and a reference list at the end.
Structure of a Briefing Paper
The structure of briefing papers is that they have three main parts:
• the purpose (usually stated as the issue, topic or purpose)
• a summary of the facts (what this section contains and the headings used will be determined by the purpose of the briefing paper)
• the conclusion (this may be a conclusion, a recommendation or other advice, or both)
These three main parts are presented under some or all of the following section headings. Remember, any briefing paper you write will only have the sections that are relevant to your purpose and audience.
Issue (also Topic, Purpose): A concise statement of the issue, proposal or problem. This section should explain in one or two lines why the BRIEFING PAPER matters to the reader. It sets out in the form of a question or a statement what the rest of the note is about.
Background: The details the reader needs in order to understand what follows (how a situation arose, previous decisions/problems, actions leading up to the current situation). Typically this section gives a brief summary of the history of the topic and other background information.
What led up to this problem or issue? How has it evolved? Do not repeat information that you’re including in the Current Status section.
Current Status: Describes only the current situation, who is involved, what is happening now, the current state of the matter, issue, situation, etc.
Key Considerations: A summary of important facts, considerations, developments—everything that needs to be considered now. While you will have to decide what to include and what to leave out, this section should be as unbiased as possible.
Your aim is to present all the details required for the reader to be informed or to make an informed decision. Keep the reader’s needs uppermost in your mind when selecting and presenting the facts. Remember to substantiate any statements with evidence and to double check your facts. Additional details may be attached as appendices.
Options (also Next Steps, Comments): Basically, observations about the key considerations and what they mean; a concise description either of the options and sometimes their pros and cons or of what will happen next.
Conclusion and/or Recommendations: Conclusions summarize what you want your reader to infer from the briefing paper. Many readers jump immediately to this section, so be sure it covers the points you most want your reader to be clear about. Do not introduce anything new in the Conclusion. If you are including a recommendations section, it should offer the best and most sound advice you can offer. Make sure the recommendation is clear, direct and substantiated by the facts you have put forward.
Before you start writing, be sure you are clear about
• why you’re writing (your purpose)
• who you’re writing for (your reader)
• what that person most needs to know
• the points you will cover
• how you will structure your information
After you have drafted your briefing paper use the following questions as an editing guide:
• Is the purpose of the briefing paper clear?
• Is the language simple, economical and clear?
• Is everything there that needs to be there?
• Is anything there that isn’t essential to the purpose?
• Is the briefing paper easy to read, understand and remember?
• Do the sections lead logically from one to another?
• Is the briefing paper designed so that it is inviting to the reader?
• Is there a good balance between white spaces and text?
• Has the briefing paper been carefully edited and proofread?
*For Late Submission policy, please refer to your student course handbook available on Live campus
Plagiarism Rules and Regulations
• No plagiarism is accepted in assignments and students are advised to do the referencing correctly according to the Harvard Referencing System.
• Students are advised to submit assignments with a similarity in below 10%. Any student submitting an assignment with a percentage of more than 20% will fail and get an official academic warning.
• Reduce your plagiarism by not sharing assignments and doing in text citations of sources used, using the Harvard referencing method
What is Turnitin?
Turnitin is the software that EThames uses to calculate the similarity of your assignment to any other document submitted in the same system all over the world.
What happens when you submit an assignment on Turnitin?
You submit your assignment on Turnitin by submitting it on Livecampus on the assignment submission link. Your assignment is then compared with all of the assignments for all the different units submitted on Livecampus as well as assignments submitted by other students in other colleges and books and documents all over the world. The report generated is not the final report.
The final report will only be generated after the final deadline which would mean that once the submission link closes and once every student submitted assignments at EThames for the specific unit, only then the final report will be generated. This means that if you have shared your assignment with anybody and they have submitted part of it or the full assignment the initial report your friend got would’ve indicated the similarity, but your report would’ve remained unchanged. This is because the report is refreshed every time that you upload your assignment and then finally after the deadline. After the deadline their plagiarism will be high as well as your own.
What can you do to avoid getting a high Turnitin score?
• Do not copy pieces of work from any book or website. It needs to be rewritten in your own words and proper in text citation should be done according to the Harvard referencing method
• Do not share your assignment with any friend, not even to assist them
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is passing off the work of others as your own. This constitutes academic theft and is a serious matter which is penalised in assignment marking.
Plagiarism is the submission of an item of assessment containing elements of work produced by another person(s) in such a way that it could be assumed to be the student’s own work. Examples of plagiarism are:
• The verbatim copying of another person’s work without acknowledgement
• The close paraphrasing of another person’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation without acknowledgement
• The unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another person’s work and/or the presentation of another person’s idea(s) as one’s own.
Copying or close paraphrasing with occasional acknowledgement of the source may also be deemed to be plagiarism if the absence of quotation marks implies that the phraseology is the student’s own.
Plagiarised work may belong to another student or be from a published source such as a book, report, journal or material available on the internet.
