Leadership and Talent Management Essay

• Word count: 1,500 words (references excluded)
• The hand in is electronic only on the VLE (learn.gold), via links on the course page for Leadership and Talent Management.
• Students whose late submission may arise through genuine Extenuating Circumstances (ECs) should submit an application form. Within 1 week of the deadline, students must submit their application form and submit their work via the appropriate submission link.

Essay Question.

Your task for this assignment is to come up with a ‘finding happiness at work’ box idea for Qappy.

Qappy is an online retailer focused on helping people find happiness. They sell evidence-based well-being boxes that encourage customers to build habits for a happier life. Their classic box, for example, contains access to online content, treats, and a craft activity. You can find more information on the company and what they do on their website. They are looking for new, science-backed box ideas on the topic of ‘FINDING HAPPINESS AT WORK’.

The box idea must be evidence based, using or building on the contents of this course. Any items or activities you include in the box must be based on peer reviewed research studies that show they increase happiness or wellbeing at work. You must detail why and how your box would improve people’s happiness at work. You will need to cite and describe the studies that provide this evidence in your assignment. See examples for the evidence base of other Qappy boxes here.

You should include and describe with evidence at least two box elements, but you can also include more if you like. Check out other qappy boxes for inspiration here.

Possible box elements:

• Online content (videos, games, exercises, quizzes…)
• Paper based content (information, tasks, calendars, worksheets… anything you can print on paper)
• Treats (food)
• Items (crafts, games, items needed for activities etc)

You do not need to take economic factors into consideration for this box, i.e. you do not need to think about the cost of different items. This task is about finding a way to put evidence-based methods into a physical product that encourages people to act in line with scientific advise. 

Note your box must be focused on HAPPINESS AT WORK. Happiness can also include outcomes related to work happiness like wellbeing, engagement, psychological safety, or effective teams. For example, you could include relaxation tasks to increase wellbeing, or treats to be shared to improve networking or team belonging. You must provide studies that show these techniques are effective in increasing happiness / wellbeing / engagement / team communication / etc. 

Use the scientific literature, both from our lectures and your own reading, to back up your recommendations (i.e. your recommendations must be scientific and evidence based). Illustrate your points with clear examples based on scientific studies.

Assignment outline.

Your assignment must include the following elements:

1. Box summary / illustration (200-400 words)

Describe your box content and the most important scientific evidence that the box elements are based on. What does the box achieve and how? If you are feeling creative, you can give your box. You can add a figure that illustrates some or all the box contents.

• Main part: evidence base of box elements (700-1000 words)

This section is your space to really sell your box- why is it great, and why will it make people happy at work?

Describe each box element, what it includes and how it will help improve happiness or a related concept at work. Use different paragraphs for your different elements. You can include figures if you wish to illustrate some or parts of your elements (for example, if you include paper based content). Use studies to back up your elements.

You must include at least two distinct box elements, for example one game and one treat. If you include less elements, you will need to describe each in more detail. If you include more elements, you may include less detail on describing each. Either way, you will need to include the scientific reasoning behind each element.

The amount of elements you can reasonably describe in your assignment will depend on what they are: For example, including a packet of chocolate because it boosts endorphins (you would have to find and describe the evidence to back that up!) probably needs less description than including a teambuilding game that you have come up with where you describe the different game elements and how they are evidence based to increase team communication.

It will be up to you to shape the main body on your essay depending on the box ideas you have come up with. What you must do regardless is provide scientific references and studies.

• Discussion and caveats (300-400 words)

This section will give you space to present a realistic evaluation of the box from your point of view as a researcher.

No evidence is perfect, and in this section, you will need to find some critiques for your proposed box. What could go wrong? How is the evidence that you based your box on not exactly aligned with what the box is doing? For example, you might include relaxation tasks, but the scientific evidence shows that while they are effective, employers must grant dedicated break time for employees to do this, and you cannot guarantee that people who buy the box will have this time (this is made up but you get the idea). Think about gaps in the literature that make the effectiveness of the box uncertain, or where new studies would be needed.

Important notes.

Check and recheck your writing for clarity and structure! An assignment that is well organised, formatted, and easy to read and understand will increase your grade. For example, use 1.5 line spacing, paragraphs, sections and sub headers if appropriate. Make use of grammar checks on word. PROOF READ!

It is very important that your suggested box draws on the research literature rather than relying on intuition or common sense, as applying science to talent management is a what you should be learning to do in this course. Questions should be asked on the class forum so I can answer for everyone.