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Leader Guidebook

Introduction

This assessment provides you the opportunity to demonstrate a solid theory of leadership in a practical application that you can use in your organization.

The resources provided in this assessment cover both change renewal and chaos. Even though we fear change and long for the comfort of equilibrium, this closed and insulated stance means choosing to wear down and decay. When allowed to grow and evolve, living systems integrate diverse information through open feedback loops. Through self-referencing of values, traditions, aspirations, competency, and culture, systems recreate themselves in similar shapes, or what Wheatley (2006), calls fractals. A leader’s role is to invite disturbance, to create dangerously, because disturbance leads to dis-equilibrium and, therefore, growth and resilience.

By choosing to openly engage with change and remembering identity, leaders can increase speed to market and shape consumer preference. Although counterintuitive, the more freedom allowed in a self-organizing system, the more creative and adaptive it can be. Most innovation to the marketplace occurs through the adaptation to a customer’s request by one or two individuals. Information, rather than needing to be managed, needs to be shared and processed to increase awareness and consciousness of complexity and ambiguity. In the absence of information, people make it up. They will make their own meaning.

It seems the leader’s role is to openly invite new and disturbing information and to allow the organization to learn, make sense of, and respond or adapt to a changing environment, trusting self-referencing and stressing long-term identity.

The resources in this assessment also explore the paradox of order and chaos—how, over time and with a perspective toward wholeness, what might appear as chaos begins to build up a repeatable pattern of the strange attractor. In human systems, meaning, purpose, and mission are the organizing principles. Even a small change may result in a big impact on the whole system, and it is sometimes the slow but constant factor that is the unseen danger. So it is a combination of a leader holding tightly to vision and values while allowing individuals the freedom to act.

Reference

Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world. Berrett–Koehler.

Imagine it is your job to write a leader guidebook for new supervisors in your current organization or an organization with which you are familiar, based on the new science realities. Your guide should include the following:

  • Descriptions of effective best practices and day-to-day behaviors that leaders should follow for planning, measuring, motivating people, managing change and information, designing jobs, and encouraging relationships.
  • Descriptions of ineffective practices that leaders should avoid in order to be successful.
  • Explanation of the importance and implications of these new science guidelines to the success of the enterprise.
  • Examples and explanations for the positions you take.

Additional Requirements

  • Length: Your leader guidebook should be double-spaced and long enough to meet the expectations of the assessment and scoring guide criteria.
  • Font and size: Use a standard font—either Times New Roman or Arial. The font size must be 12 point.
  • Margins: The paper margins should be 1 inch on each side.
  • Components: Include a title page, table of contents, and reference page.
  • Formatting: APA format is required for all aspects of your guidebook, including citations and references. Your writing should be well organized and clear. Writing structure, spelling, and grammar should be correct as well.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

  • Competency 1: Analyze the art and science of leadership.
    • Write a leader guidebook of best practices that reflect the new science realities.
    • Describe how the new science guidelines impact the success of an enterprise.
  • Competency 3: Create an effective theory of leadership.
    • Describe behaviors of effective leaders

Leader Guidebook

Employment Law

Develop a 3–5 page workplace harassment policy for either Java Corp or an organization with which you are familiar. Be sure the policy you develop reflects ethical considerations and benefits to both the employee and organization as well as relevant legislation related to various types of harassment. Also, create an 8–12 slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker’s notes to present the new policy and to support it with legal and strategic rationale for the selected organization’s upper management.

Introduction

HR professionals are often called upon to develop new workplace policies to increase an organization’s effectiveness and to protect it from possible legal liabilities. Creating a succinct and comprehensive presentation for organizational management and other stakeholders is a valuable skill to possess.

Preparation

For this assessment, research sexual harassment and other forms of unlawful workplace harassment. Using one of the scenarios below, consider best practices and approaches for developing an anti-harassment workplace policy. A minimum of seven resources are required to support your approach to the new policy as well as your legal and strategic rationale.

Scenario

For this assessment, choose either option 1 or 2. You do not need to do both. You will apply one of these scenarios in the instructions below. Both options will be graded using the same scoring guide.

Option 1

You are the new HR manager for Java Corp. The company has just lost a sexual harassment lawsuit and damages include back pay, front pay, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. The plaintiff, Ms. Stapel, was a female manager who had a consensual sexual relationship with her male boss, Mr. Rowe. Both moved up in title and responsibility over the past 5 years. After the relationship ended, Mr. Rowe made several offensive comments to co-workers about Ms. Stapel, without her knowledge. Later, a number of other employees, who reported to Mr. Rowe, made offensive sexual comments directly to Ms. Stapel.

The company has a harassment policy but only referred someone who felt harassed to their immediate supervisor and provided no other avenues of complaint. Your first project for Java Corp is to create a formal policy that will protect the employees, the organization, and all stakeholders. You will also prepare a PowerPoint presentation that could be used as a training tool for new employees on the importance of following anti-harassment policies.

Option 2

Choose an organization to use for this assessment. It can be where you are currently employed or a company with which you are familiar. It must be an organization that is researchable, as you will need to gather and analyze information to complete the assessment. You may use the same organization you selected for previous assessments.

If you choose the organization where you are currently employed, please keep in mind that the analyses you make must be based on facts that can be documented rather than your personal opinion as an employee.

Think about a situation in which an employee was sexually harassed at work. Reflect on what the organization did well and what the organization did wrong.

Research the sexual and work harassment policies of the chosen organization to further assess if the situation was handled properly.

Instructions

Based on your research of sexual harassment and other forms of unlawful workplace harassment, complete the following:

In a word document, develop an anti-harassment workplace policy that includes the following components:

  • Objective.
  • Prohibited conduct under this policy, including discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
  • Confidentiality.
  • Complaint procedure.
  • Employee acknowledgment of policy.

Prepare a PowerPoint Presentation for upper management training. In your presentation:

  • Explain the legal basis for protecting employees from harassment with supporting laws or regulations.
  • Describe different types of sexual harassment found in the workplace.
    • This can include, but not limited to, quid pro quo and hostile work environment.
  • Explain other types of harassment, outside of sexual harassment, to consider in a workplace policy.
  • Articulate how an organization can be at risk of harassment claims and how they can best legally protect themselves.
  • Summarize reporting and investigation procedures.
    • Specifically, discuss how the issue or complaint is brought to HR’s attention, who is involved in the investigation, how the communication process works with those involved.
  • Summarize how the anti-harassment policy should be communicated to employees.
  • Analyze organizational benefits realized because of having a sound anti-harassment policy in place.
    • Consider company reputation, employee morale, retention, productivity, and the like.

Additional Requirements

Policy

This part of your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

  • Length: 3-5 pages. Strive to be as detailed as possible in addressing each of the policy’s components above.
  • Written communication: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly and professional. Your writing should be:
    • Concise and logically organized.
    • Free of errors in grammar and mechanics.
  • Resources: If you use a source in the text of your policy, you need to reference it. The last page of your policy should be your reference list. Format all citations and references in accordance with current APA guidelines.

PowerPoint Presentation

This part of your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

  • Audience: Create a presentation suitable for the upper management of your selected organization.
  • Length: 8-12 slides, including speaker’s notes and title and references slides.
  • Validation and support: Use a minimum of seven relevant and credible scholarly or professional resources such as the Wall Street Journal to support your work.
  • APA format: Format all citations and references in accordance with current APA guidelines. Refer to the Evidence and APA Campus page for guidance.
  • Complexity: Do not get hung up on adding too many graphics, audio, or video. Select a PowerPoint template appropriate for a professional presentation. Please make sure the background color you choose does not interfere with the font selection and that it is easy to read. Do not overbuild your slides; information that supports and expands on what you say should appear as speaker’s or presenter’s notes.

Note: It is expected that your SafeAssign results for the policy document in Word will have a high percentage match, as you are aligning with legal standards. Your PowerPoint presentation should not be nearly as high. Please make sure you cite your sources within both documents according to current APA style.

Your PowerPoint presentation should be saved as a PDF to properly capture the presenter notes.

Here is how to save PowerPoint as PDF with notes included (Microsoft, n.d.):

  • Open your PowerPoint presentation.
  • Click File > Print.
  • Under Print, click Microsoft Print to PDF.
  • Under Settings, click the second box (which defaults to say Full Page Slides).
  • Under Print Layout, click Notes Pages.
  • Click Print.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

  • Competency 1: Apply human resource strategies to business needs.
    • Develop an anti-harassment workplace policy.
    • Summarize the reporting, investigation procedures, and how the anti-harassment policies will be communicated to employees.
  • Competency 2: Analyze core functions of human resource management.
    • Explain the legal basis for protecting employees from harassment.
    • Explain other types of harassment, outside of sexual harassment, to consider in a workplace policy.
    • Analyze organizational benefits realized by the anti-harassment policy’s approach.
  • Competency 4: Communicate effectively in a scholarly and professional manner.
    • Describe the types of sexual harassment found in the workplace.
    • Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references.
    • Convey purpose in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.

Reference

Microsoft. (n.d.). Print slides with or without speaker notes. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/print-slides-with-or-without-speaker-notes-02952fc2-2921-4305-b8b2-e98644a93e06