Understanding the business and organisation: plain text
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From: Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
- Published on: 2 April 2025
- Last updated on: 14 May 2025
- Organisation strategy and issues
- External landscape
- Political context
- Business model
- Value creation
- Organisation performance
- Financial literacy
- Strategic planning
- Governance
- Supplier management
- Environmental sustainability
- Brand
Understanding your organisation, the commercial context and the wider world of work
Organisation strategy and issues
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
The outputs and/or services your organisation delivers, and who its main customers are
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Your organisation's strategy, priorities and issues, and how these connect to people strategy and people priorities
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How the organisation's strategy translates to your work and how different issues in the organisation are connected
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Your organisation's long-term vision and strategy, and what this means for people strategy
External landscape
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
The key external influences that impact your organisation
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
The different external trends which impact your organisation (e.g. social, economic and technological)
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How your organisation is responding to different external trends in the sector and the wider environment which impact its performance
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How external influences impact organisation performance, and emerging trends in the sector and beyond
Political context
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
Ministerial briefings in your organisation
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How to support requests for ministerial briefings
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How to brief ministers on areas of people practice
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How to inform ministers on complex / contrasting / ambiguous issues
Business model
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
How your organisation delivers value for its customers
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How your organisation delivers outcomes and how different departments contribute to that
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
Your organisation’s business model and performance and where value is created and lost
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Future opportunities and risks in your organisation's business model and how to enhance performance
Value creation
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
What value is, why it’s important, and how your work benefits other people in the organisation
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How people practices benefit different stakeholders (e.g. workers, customers, citizens)
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How people practices create value for different stakeholders, and the associated risks
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How people strategies create sustainable value for others, and the interdependencies and risks of those value creations
Organisation performance
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
How your organisation measures its performance
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
Your organisation's financial and non-financial measures of performance
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How to interpret your organisation's performance data, identify people risks and mitigating actions
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Internal factors and the management of risks that shape short and long-term business performance
Financial literacy
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
How to make common calculations (e.g. percentages, averages) and interpret basic financial information
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How to interpret financial statements, track costs, and forecast spend in your work
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How to contribute to business performance by reviewing and forecasting spend against budget and return on investment
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How to represent the value of people in different ways (e.g. skills, optimising budget, capability, cost)
Strategic planning
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
What your organisation's strategy and goals are, and why it’s important for organisations to plan
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How your work connects with and supports wider people and organisation strategies and how it aligns with Government priorities.
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How to develop a people plan (review, develop insight, align with organisation strategy, create proposals) that align with Government priorities
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Different forms of strategy development, how to create an organisation-wide people strategy, and shape the business strategy to meet Government priorities
Governance
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
The role and purpose of governance in your organisation and how it impacts your work
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
The role and purpose of governance, its structure in your area of work, and the broader regulatory environment you work in
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
The role and purpose of governance, its structure in your area of work, and the broader regulatory environment you work in
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How to influence and shape governance, its structure in your area of work, and the broader regulatory environment you work in
Supplier management
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
The suppliers and partner organisations that support your area of work
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How to manage relationships with suppliers and partner organisations, and how to choose them
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How to select and manage responsible suppliers and partner organisations to ensure value for money, and different supply models
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How to determine the right supply and partner models that fit the people approach, organisation principles and contracts and ensure value for money
Environmental sustainability
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
What your organisation's priorities are on environmental sustainability
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
What your organisation's priorities are on environmental sustainability and how your work contributes to this
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How people and work practices can enable environmental sustainability
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
Emerging developments in the area of environmental sustainability, and how people strategy and the people profession can contribute
Brand
Level 1: At this level you’ll understand:
What organisation brand is and why it's important
Level 2: At this level you’ll understand:
How organisation brand and reputation is shaped and formed
Level 3: At this level you’ll understand:
How your organisation contributes towards society and how this impacts organisation brand and reputation
Level 4: At this level you’ll understand:
How people strategy shapes organisation brand and reputation and influences public perception