CIPD Level 5CO01 Assessment Brief | Organisational performance and culture in practice

5CO01 Organisational performance and culture in practice

This unit assessment examines the connections between organisational structure and the wider world of work in a business context. It highlights the factors and trends, including the digital environment, that impact on business strategy and workforce planning, recognising the influence of culture, employee wellbeing and behaviour in delivering change and organisational performance. 

Preparation for the Tasks:

• At the start of your assessment, you are encouraged to plan your work with your assessor and where appropriate agree milestones so that they can help you monitor your progress.
• Refer to the indicative content in the unit to guide and support your evidence.
• Pay attention to how your evidence is presented.
• Ensure that the evidence generated for this assessment remains your own work.

You will also benefit from:

• Completing and acting on formative feedback from your assessor.
• Reflecting on your own experiences of learning opportunities and continuous professional development.
• Reading the CIPD Insight, Fact Sheets and related online material on these topics as well as key research authors on the subject.

Unit 5CO01 Task - Questions

To complete the task, you should provide a written response to each of questions below, making appropriate use of academic theory and practical examples to expand your response and illustrate key points.  

1.Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of both a divisional structure and a matrix structure. Within the evaluation, you should include the reasons underpinning each structure. (AC 1.1)

2.Analyse the extent to which the organisational strategy in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar) helps to ensure products or services meet customers’ needs. (AC 1.2)

3.Analyse the current impact of interest rates, inflation and one other external factor on your organisation (or one with which you are familiar). Identify organisational priorities arising from your analysis. (AC 1.3)

4.In February 2024, Peter Cheese, current CEO of CIPD stated, “AI is transforming jobs, careers and workplaces. People professionals have a key role to play in encouraging safe experimentation and rapid learning, so that we can reap the benefits and mitigate the risks.” Assess the extent that AI is, or could be, used in your organisation (or an organisation with which you are familiar) and assess how AI impacts work. (AC 1.4)

5.Explain Charles Handy’s model of organisational culture and explain David Rock’s SCARF theory. (AC 2.1)

6.Assess how employee selection or employee development impacts organisational culture and behaviour in your organisation (or one with which you are familiar). (AC 2.2)

7.An organisation is planning a change relating to hybrid working. Many employees moved to home working during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst this approach worked well at the time, the organisation now wants all employees to work at least two days a week on site.  Explain how Kotter’s approach to managing change could be used to successfully implement this change. (AC 2.3)

8.Using the Kubler-Ross change curve, discuss how change is experienced. (AC 2.4)

9.The CIPD’s Health and wellbeing at work survey 2023 found the percentage of organisations that have a standalone wellbeing strategy has risen from 40% in 2018 to 53% in 2023. Although the percentage has increased, this means that 47% of organisations do not have a standalone wellbeing strategy.  Assess the importance of wellbeing at work and assess how good work could impact wellbeing. (AC 2.5)

10.Provide a brief overview of the employee lifecycle and discuss people practice roles at the recruitment, development and separation stages of the lifecycle. (AC 3.1)

11.Analyse how people practice supports organisational strategy through vertical integration and how people practice supports wider people strategies through horizontal integration. (AC 3.2)

12.An organisation is planning to introduce a four-day working week. Discuss the processes the people function could use to consult and engage with managers and employees to understand their needs when moving from a five-day to four-day working week. (AC 3.3)

Your evidence must consist of:

Written answers to the assessment questions (approximately 4550 words, refer to CIPD word count policy).

Unit 5CO01 Assessment Criteria Evidence Checklist 

You may find the following checklist helpful to make sure that you have included the required evidence to meet the task. This is not a mandatory requirement as long as it is clear in your submission where the assessment criteria have been met.

Assessment Criteria marking descriptors.

Assessors will mark in line with the following assessment criteria (AC) marking descriptors, and will indicate where the learner sits within the marking band range for each AC. 

Assessors must provide a mark from 1 to 4 for each assessment criteria within the unit. Assessors should use the mark descriptor grid as guidance so they can provide comprehensive feedback that is developmental for learners. Please be aware that not all the mark descriptors will be present in every assessment criterion, so assessors must use their discretion in making grading decisions.

The grid below shows the range for each unit assessment result based on total number of marks awarded across all assessment criteria.  

To pass the unit assessment learners must achieve a 2 (Low Pass) or above for each of the assessment criteria.
The overall result achieved will dictate the outcome the learner receives for the unit, provided NONE of the assessment criteria have been failed or referred.

Please note that learners will receive a Pass or Fail result from the CIPD at unit level. Referral grades can be used internally by the centre.

Unit 5CO01 Marking Descriptors