Assessment Task 2: Continuous improvement and innovation project

1. Develop a continuous improvement and innovation briefing report.

➢ Write a brief description about Woodhouse Recruitment
➢ Explain the importance of continuous improvement and innovation for an organisation and
why is it important for Woodhouse recruitment as a recruitment agency.

Your report must address the following for both topics:

• Your topics or areas for improvement that you will plan a continuous improvement and
innovative processes for, one being a sustainability program.
➢ As a recruitment agency situated in central Melbourne, which two areas would you
advise Woodhouse Recruitment to improve by organising a plan for continuous
improvement and innovation processes? Let’s say:
➢ Topic 1: Professional development for staff at Woodhouse Recruitment (Explain
importance of Professional development-What is the current situation and why is
improvement and innovation needed?)
➢ Topic 2: Introduction of a green office environment at Woodhouse Recruitment (Explain
what is Green office environment-What is the current situation and why is improvement
and innovation needed?)

• Identify and discuss a range of strategies that you can implement to monitor and evaluate the
current performance and sustainability of your topics/areas for improvement. Identify at least
two strategies for each area selected.
➢ Topic 1:Professional development for staff
Two strategies that can be implemented to improve the current situation;
For example:
1. Professional development activities conducted at regular intervals for Recruitment
Consultants to keep their skills up to date. Explain how?
2.
➢ Topic 2: Introduction of a green office environment
For example:
1. Reduce the amount of recyclables going to landfill.
2.

• Analyse and provide a detailed account of the current supply chain and the (operational,
product or service) systems the business is using to deliver their service. Explain what is
working well and what could be improved.
➢ Provide an analysis of the information provided in the case study that explain
what is working well and what requires innovation and continuous improvement
with regards to:
• Topic 1:Professional development for staff
• Topic 2: Introduction of a green office environment
 ➢ Which innovation techniques and continuous improvement plans could be implemented
in order to improve the systems the business is currently using to deliver their service?

• Identify how the topics/areas for improvement performance could be measured, including an
outline of the assessment tools or techniques that could be used. Evaluate the effectiveness of
each tool/technique.
➢ You should outline at least one assessment tool or technique for the measurement of
performance, which should include key performance indicators and may include audits
and inspections.
➢ The effectiveness of each tool/technique should also be included. For example, if the
student chooses audits as an assessment tool, the effectiveness may be:“that this is a
measure that can be regularly used and that looks at many aspects of the business”.

• Identify at least two specialists that could help Woodhouse Recruitment. For example, this
may be to identify technology and electronic commerce opportunities or to implement your
ideas about continuous improvement and innovation. Include their contact details, the
services they offer and a rationale as to why it may be beneficial for the company to use their
services.
➢ You should identify at least two specialists, their details and a rationale as to why their
services would be beneficial to the initiatives that you have selected.
➢ For example, a specialist who could help with “Professional development for staff” would
be an Outsourced company that specialises in human resources and workplace relations.
An example would be Employsure Australia or any other company (…) explain the
services they offer and how their specialists can help Woodhouse.
➢ Same for Topic 2: Any specialist company that can help with the implementation of a
‘Green Office Programme’

• Conduct research, analyse and report on trends and opportunities relevant to Woodhouse
Recruitment in relation to your topics/areas for improvement. Use the resources provided by
the assessor as listed under ‘Required’, as well as any other relevant resources.
➢ Conduct research in the field of Recruitment Agencies-Check the documents that you
have read on ‘Australian Recruitment Practices-A Literature review of …’ and ‘Making
Headway -The 2015 Australian Recruitment Trends Report’ or any other research works
that reports on the trends that the Recruitment agency industry is following in terms of:
Topic 1: Professional development for staff
Topic 2: Introduction of a green office environment

• Compare Woodhouse Recruitment's business performance statistics to industry benchmarks

and provide an assessment of why or why not the company may not have met their targets.
➢ Based on the facts and figures you have collected in your research, compare them with
Woodhouse Recruitment business performance in terms of:
Topic 1:Professional development for staff
 Topic 2: Introduction of a green office environment
➢ Where is Woodhouse Recruitment situating itself on the industry benchmarks?

• Discuss three examples of other innovative business ideas that Woodhouse Recruitment could
adopt and implement.
➢ You may identify a range of examples: use of social media, professionalization of
recruitment consultants, use of employee value propositions in recruitment, improving
use of company’s database to search for candidates, removing requirements for
candidates’ specific qualifications, performance measure related to the service
standards, etc
➢ List down only three of them.

2. Send an email to the Manager (your assessor).

➢ Write an email to me, your assessor (no need to send the email-Type it as an
assignment)-email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an appropriate
(polite, business-like) style.

➢ So in your email:
• Introduce yourself-Make as if you are the Senior Recruitment Consultant who
attended the team management meeting and you are writing to the Director of the
company.
• You will write that you have done an assessment of the current situation at
Woodhouse Recruitment and that you are attaching a report that highlights two
areas that you believe require innovation and continuous improvement as a priority.

• You should introduce and summarise the contents of the attachment in the email,
seek his/her feedback, and ask for a place, date and time to meet to present your
report.

3. Participate in a meeting to discuss your continuous improvement and innovation report.

➢ 15 to 20 mins presentation about your report to be done in front of the class and your
assessor. (On Tuesday 4 of June 2019)
➢ Your presentation should cover the following points:
➢
1. Brief introduction about yourself-what’s your role at Woodhouse Recruitment?
2. Importance of continuous improvement and innovation for an organisation and why
is it important for Woodhouse recruitment as a recruitment agency.
3. Areas for improvement that you will plan a continuous improvement and innovative
processes for.
4. Two strategies for each area selected.

5. A detailed account of the current supply chain and the systems the business is using
to deliver their service. What is working well and what could be improved?
 6. Assessment tool for each area and the effectiveness of each tool.
7. Two specialists that could help Woodhouse Recruitment.
8. Research on trends and opportunities relevant to Woodhouse Recruitment in relation
to the areas for improvement.
9. Comparison of Woodhouse Recruitment's business performance statistics to industry
benchmarks and assessment of why or why not the company may not have met their
targets.

10. Three examples of other innovative business ideas that Woodhouse Recruitment
could adopt and implement.
11. Conclusion
12. Invite questions from audience.

4. Send an email to all parties involved (your assessor).

➢ Write an email to me, your assessor (no need to send the email-Type it as an assignment)
➢ The email should summarise the ideas agreed to while doing the presentation and seek
final agreement to proceed with the initiatives based on the meeting discussion and as
summarised in the email.
➢ The text of the email should be in grammatically correct English, written in an
appropriate (polite, business-like) style.