Assignment Cover page

Victory Training and Development Institute

Kingdom of Bahrain
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

(Word Count: 4,571)

An assignment submitted in part of the requirement for the CIPD Diploma in People Management
- Intermediate Level

Prepared by Shahad Alhagbani

CIPD Membership No. 89555420
Unit Title Organisational Performance and Culture in Practice
Unit Code 5CO01
Assignment Type Written
Student’s Assessor Saeed Alnasheet
Submission Status First Attempt
Submission Date June 29, 2024

Student’s authentication:

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has not been, in whole or in part, knowingly presented elsewhere for assessment.

• I have read the assessment regulations and understand that if I am found to have ‘copied’
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and that I have retained a copy for my records.

I understand that until such time as the assessment grade has been ratified through
internal and external quality assurance processes it is not final.
Date: June 29, 2024 Signature:
A.C. 1.1 Working in Saudi Aramco, I understand that a vertical structure has been integrated,
where it relies on a hierarchal structure or chain of command communicating
instructions from the top to the bottom of the command chain. This structure has
been applied to accommodate its functions, manpower, and customers due to the
nature of the organisation’s large size, goals and objectives, industry, and cost of
running the business. In order to manage the diversity of requests that may be
presented in an organisation running at such a large scale and at a fast pace, a
vertical structure is best suited for this purpose. This reflects positively onto my
organisation in allocating each employees’ job role responsibilities clearly and
concisely, having designated business lines for each function to administer and
assign according to every function’s specialty, and expediting the decision-making
process by having allotted authority figures that have the autonomy to manage
changes as applicable. On the other hand, there are several cons associated with this
structure as it can hinder ability to implement innovative ideas and fundamental
changes to keep abreast of market trends due to the large number of employees and
processes, affect employees’ autonomy in making decisions without requiring
consultation, and may often lead to ambiguity across the board as a result of having
a high chain of command. Furthermore, a horizontal structure is a flat organisation
targeting small to middle sized organisations to assist them in being more agile and
accommodating changes that may occur along the way. This reflects positively onto
such organisations by engaging employees across the business in implementing
significant changes and brainstorm more efficiently by embracing their diverse
backgrounds, fostering a culture of innovation and employees challenging
themselves to bring in new ideas, and enabling employees to become rapid decision-
makers and take action simultaneously due to diminishing the need for higher
authority figures (Schooley, 2023). On the other hand, there are several cons
associated with this structure as it can hinder defining job responsibilities and it
may become a grey zone for employees due to taking on a more versatile set of
tasks at different management levels to successfully integrate new ideas and
manage hurdles, limit promotion-related expectations from employees due to the
nature of a flat structure which may increase dissatisfaction, and cause burnout due
to lack of job role transparency (Schooley, 2023).

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A.C. 1.2 It has been widely known that Saudi Aramco has had a long standing history of
being the leading company in the global energy and petrochemicals sector, and it
has taken into account a number of important strategies that are directly connected
to its products or services plan, as well as the customers they intend to cater to.
Saudi Aramco has expressed a high concentration on modernising, investing, and
ensuring high returns on their their upstream and downstream operations for the
upcoming ten years, where they have clearly intended to “reinforce our preeminent
position in oil, maintain our maximum sustainable production capacity, and allow
us to carry out an exploration and production program focused on finding and
developing conventional and unconventional gas resources” (Saudi Aramco, no
date). Their downstream operations are also undergoing extensive strategic efforts
“to grow non-crude oil businesses and pursue tighter integration across upstream
and downstream operations. We see product diversification and global integration
as a means to strengthening our portfolio resilience, and delivering additional
revenue streams for the company” (Saudi Aramco, no date). Further to this, their
high contribution in SABIC company has assisted in getting higher exposure to the
chemicals front and positioning themselves for success. Saudi Aramco has
deployed many practices into their organisation in an attempt to be more financially
efficient and yet stay consistent in their capital growth and creating value for all
customers internally and externally. It can be derived from the prior that my
company has clearly expressed that they will continue to be the leading company in
the energy producing industry by focusing its expansion on its hydrocarbon
reservoirs and production levels to meet current market demands and accommodate
its changes more proactively. Moreover, there has been great efforts expanded
towards ensuring diversified and sustainable solutions in order to keep up with its
environmentally-friendly approach, where several initiatives have taken place to
focus on petrochemicals and renewable energy rather than focusing on oil
production. As a result of being environmentally conscious, this green approach has
enabled customers to relate with Saudi Aramco and fostered great connections that
align with many organisations across the globe. In addition, the company
continually offers reliable supply and distribution of their products to their
customers, as well as customising to their needs in order to ensure full satisfaction,
which increases the likelihood they will be a trusted source of supplying their
demands. It can also be highlighted that in spite of their strategic goals being set to
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accommodate a more sustainable approach, they remain in applying their strategic
values to be in line with their long-standing behaviours and practices.

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A.C. 1.3 Saudi Aramco is an organisation with high reputability and drive that continues in
producing the best quality with speedy services considering the circumstances it
faces. Such circumstances may be influenced by external factors that can positively
or negatively affect the way the business operates. In specific circumstances, the
effect may be neutral. This is contingent on the degree to which these external
factors affect the petrochemical and renewable energy industry, the bylaws issued
in relation to a large scale organisation, whether employees will be impacted by
such a change, as well as several other factors. Saudi Aramco is highly influenced
by economic changes that reflect onto market price of their products, and as a result
of that, navigating an inflation will enable product prices to fluctuate, as well as
enable more consumers to invest in the business and spend comfortably, while a
recession will mean that product demand will decrease and affect Saudi Aramco’s
operations and overall performance. To combat this, Saudi Aramco is consistently
implementing new strategies, as well as reducing operational and production costs
in order to mitigate the risks associated with oil pricing according to market
changes. In addition, extensive efforts are being put forward to focus on
downstream operations to decrease reliance on oil. Another external factor affecting
Saudi Aramco are the ongoing environmental initiatives and regulations that were
set in place to ensure a more sustainable environment. It is inclusive of carbon
emissions and energy efficiency, as well as technological advances that assist in
achieving a sustainable environment. To combat this, Saudi Aramco has integrated
a set of goals in order to reduce carbon emissions and continues to take into account
environmental bylaws in order to ensure their compliance with governmental
visions, as well as in-company goals. In addition, they have also dedicated their
research and development team into seeking a green approach by utilizing new
technologies. Lastly, Saudi Aramco’s headquarters is in Saudi Arabia, which means
that it continues to compete with in-kingdom businesses that operate in the same
industry, as well as out-of-kingdom businesses operating in the same industry
within the Middle East. This means Saudi Aramco will have to understand how
other similarly-operating organisations are conducting business and what new
initiatives have been introduced by them in order to understand the way forward.
To combat this, benchmarking is done on a regular basis, as well as conducting a
business forecast to assess the degree to which implementing certain projects or
initiatives will be successful for the organisation’s growth.
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A.C. 1.4 With technology prevailing the majority of industries in the past few decades, the
degree of technology adaptation is contingent on the industry in which an
organisation is operating in and the degree to which it impacts their productivity
rates, organisational efficiency, and operational outcome. It is to be noted that
technology varies in terms of what digital transformation initiatives are being
implemented to assist businesses in maximising their profitability rates such as
artificial intelligence, data analytics, etc. Technology can be introduced to various
processes within an organisation, and it aims to efficiently automate tasks that may
be continuously performed and do not require human intervention, and at the same
rate impacting employees by maximising their productivity to concentrate on tasks
that require the human aspect such as conducting an interview with the employee
(Dukach, 2022). It also means that while some job roles may be covered by
technological advances, they also introduce new job roles that require the human
touch. In addition, technology has facilitated communication between members of
an organisation by enabling correspondence via email and communication channels
such as Skype and Zoom (Dukach, 2022). This has expedited the process of meeting
face-to-face for matters that may not require physical meetings, as well as providing
employees with the option of performing remote work without requiring them to be
physically present if the organisation itself is located in another city or country.
Moreover, analysation of data and deriving to a decision has never been made easier
with the use of artificial intelligence tools, this assists in obtaining accurate data
translation and in return facilitate the process of planning strategically for the future
(Dukach, 2022).
A.C. 2.1 Edgar Schein’s model is comprised of three stages and is known as a tool that
provides insight and affects the culture of an organisation to be in alignment with
their mission, vision, and strategic goals. This model is incredibly crucial for
organisations to adhere to as it provides a base understanding of how they are able
to integrate behaviours and normal practices into material and non-material factors
within the business. In this model, it is derived that there are three layers to every
organisational culture, starting with artefacts and behaviours, followed by
espoused values, and lastly underlying assumptions (Schein & Schein, 2016).
Artefacts are the visible parts of an organisation’s culture that are easily
recognisable by others but are more challenging to interpret them without
understanding the next stages such as dress codes, office design, and
communication styles (Schein & Schein, 2016). Espoused values are considered
more challenging to recognise at first glance, and are typically intended to unify
the goals and philosophies that an organisation practices; ultimately guiding others
to understanding the reasons behind each artefact (Schein & Schein, 2016). For
instance, standardised behaviours, strategic goals, and strategic values. Underlying
assumptions are the most challenging to ascertain, they are considered the
foundational part of the three values as they provide basis for the remainder of the
stages. In short, they are the subconscious beliefs that are applied within an
organisation and remain unchanged until a need for change is presented (Schein &
Schein, 2016). For instance, the organisation’s behavioural and belief system that
impacts how people respond to matters, this can be seen more closely when you
handle matters with an organisation and can closely monitor the way they behave.
One theory of human behaviour is the social learning theory. This theory relies on
individuals being able to acquire knowledge and behaviours by observing positive
behaviours practiced by others and trying to reflect them through imitation
(Nickerson, 2024). It is often times influenced by model individuals or those in
leadership roles that exhibit favourable practices leading to positive outcome. For
example, if an individual has seen their coworker get praised for their emotional
intelligence and utilizing it to solve issues efficiently and effectively, they are more
likely to become more attentive to the attitude, technique, and factors factored in
by their coworker in order to derive to such solutions, and trying to imitate them
by using similar ways until they become comfortable with this new behaviour they

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are acquiring. This will result in the individual continually using this for problem-
solving.

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A.C. 2.2 People practices are essential to organisational success and sustaining a standard
of performance across the business, it is to be noted that they often impact the way
people behave and handle their regular tasks. In spite of having several people
practice function specialties, the impact remains the same because all functions
work hand in hand to achieve a common purpose or goal. In Saudi Aramco, my
organisation, safety is integrated into the organisational culture and core values of
the company. The way this has been developed is through engaging people
practices at all levels in order to ensure safety measures are appropriately applied.
For instance, the safety factor has been applied since the moment you arrive at any
of Saudi Aramco’s facilities, you are firstly greeted with security officers who
ensure compliance with company safety policies prior to entry of the facilities.
Furthermore, training and development opportunities are being lead by training
officers to guide recent hires and regular employees through necessary safety
procedures, annually assessing them, conducting regular outreach sessions, and
sending reminders via email and phone number to highlight this value.
Furthermore, performance management is applied where safety management
officers are continually recognising individual and group efforts made towards
ensuring safety measures are applied and they are also assessing the degree to
which the organisation is complying with preexisting policies and procedures. In
addition, communication and engagement is also a crucial part where meetings are
conducted regularly, including safety sessions prior to important meetings as a
refresher, and reaching out to employees regularly to engage and submit initiatives
or innovations to engage safety further. To reinforce safety measures, additional
members of the organisation have been engaged in order to provide remuneration
and incentivise employees for practicing safety regularly, setting key performance
indicators to practice safety on a daily basis, as well as set repercussions for
violating safety procedures and taking corrective actions to ensure future
compliance. As a result of the prior actions taken by the people function officers
and their colleagues or subordinates, a culture of safety has been created and is
continually impacting employees’ attitudes, behaviours, and their response towards
safety in a positive manner; extending safety to their personal lives as a normalised
practice.

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A.C. 2.3 Change is crucial to enable organisations in ensuring compliance with external
factors affecting how they operate. To discern the best approach, several models of
change management have been created with the purpose of assisting organisations
in planning for change to occur such as John Kotter and Kurt Lewin’s approach. In
John “Kotter’s eight step change model”, the first step entails creating urgency by
illustrating weaknesses that pose a threat to the organisation’s functions with a plan
to change the status quo, the second step is to form a coalition of individuals to be
at the fore front to lead and encourage others in getting accustomed to the change,
the third step is to visualise the change for employees across all levels to deem it
as attainable and desirable to be implemented, the fourth step is to communicate
the vision using all available channels, the fifth step is to empower other employees
to follow along in the change by addressing concerns and providing them with the
support and means necessary to enable the change, the sixth step is to compile and
generate a list of minor milestones achieved for those participating in the change
to visualise progress and encourage others to view the change in a positive light,
the seventh step is to consolidate gains and build on it by leveraging milestones
achieved and collaborating with those resisting the change by understanding and
addressing challenges, the eighth and final step is to integrate the change onto the
organisational culture to illustrate the key role it plays in driving long-term
behavioural and policy-related changes (Taylor & Woodhams, 2022). In Kurt
“Lewin’s change management model”, this model focuses on three simple steps
that are crucial to managing change. An organisation must start with the unfreezing
stage, which entails highlighting a need for change where the current culture,
behaviours, policies, and structures are undergoing amendments to prepare for the
upcoming stage. The following stage, change, is considered as the most critical and
sensitive, as it relates to introducing the aforementioned culture, behaviours,
policies, and structures to fit into the future vision, mission, and core values of the
organisation. The final stage is to refreeze based on the embedded changes through
which training and development efforts are maximised to ensure all employees are
accustomed to the new practices, create effort in implementing it, and understand
it wholly (Taylor & Woodhams, 2022).

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A.C. 2.4 The Kubler-Ross change curve is a model that has been applied with the purpose
of understanding how individuals perceive changes occurring to them, highlighting
how it affects them in relation to organisational change. In this model, individuals
are often experiencing the stages in sequence of denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance (Taylor & Woodhams, 2022). Denial is at the first stage
of this model, where employees may present the highest rate of resistance in
accepting the proposed changes due to familiarity with their normal practices and
culture. Further to this, employees reach the anger stage where retaliation,
frustration, and apprehension signs are presented in response to the new changes.
Following this stage is the bargaining stage, employees will attempt to find ways
to continue practicing their norm by finding a middle ground or retaliating
completely. When the change has been evidently presented to employees, the
depression stage has now been reached and as a result may showcase lack of
motivation and productivity, as well as a loss in direction of where the business is
heading. Lastly, when employees reach the stage of acceptance, they start to realize
the change and are now beginning to accept it by implementing the new behaviours
and practices that are put in place. With this stage, motivation and productivity start
to increase. In light of the aforementioned, the Kubler-Ross change model assists
organisations in perceiving the emotional responses that may occur as a result of
the anticipated change; enabling them to respond strategically and communicate
changes in a manner where transition will be made easier (Tahir, 2019).
Furthermore, with resistance being presented at multiple stages and at different
rates, organisations can now make the association of where their employees fall in
the stages of the change model, and can address their concerns more appropriately
(Tahir, 2019). As a final measure, support is realised to be a vital part of the process
in order to accommodate the time and efforts needed to implement such a change,
and with that in mind, initiatives can be implemented and retained (Tahir, 2019).

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A.C. 2.5 Organisations are now thriving from employees being satisfied and doing well
mentally and physically at their workplace. With wellbeing being a top priority for
businesses, several benefits are reaped such as increasing satisfaction and retention
rates, employees being more productive and attentive, and fostering a supportive
organisational culture. When employees are satisfied, morale is higher and
commitment to the company rises as they feel comfortable, cared after, and are
enjoying themselves at work, which in turn affects their absenteeism, overall
medical care, and the company’s retention rates (World Health Organization,
2022). Further to this, productivity and attentiveness rates can skyrocket due to
having a culture of wellbeing, which can be promoted using training and
development support methods such as providing stress management courses, work-
life balance course, periodic surveys, and consultation sessions to accommodate
employee needs. Moreover, fostering a supportive organisational culture is part of
the branding scheme that attracts potential employees’ attention, and word of
mouth is also another factor that gets accounted for and reflects onto the
reputability of the business (World Health Organization, 2022). If businesses are
not known for encouraging wellbeing for their employees and do not promote
themselves as such, then this reflects poorly onto their ability to sustain work-life
balance and overall work satisfaction for employees. Establishing a culture of
wellbeing increases the likelihood of employees being more engaged and focused
in their work. The factors influencing an employees’ wellbeing include, but are not
limited to, restructuring and expanding an organisation’s scope of work without
having the manpower to supply for such a change, heavy workload for extended
periods of time, toxic work environment that does not provide necessary support,
making career growth opportunities more challenging for employees to achieve,
not providing an ergonomic and comfortable work environment, not providing
employees with medical intervention in the case where they are struggling mentally
or physically from workplace challenges. These factors will negatively reflect onto
an employee’s wellbeing from a mental, physical, and experience-related
viewpoint. However, the aforementioned can also influence an employees’
wellbeing in a positive light, which means that when employees are provided
enough manpower to initiate restructure plans and expanding the organisation’s
scope, facilitate career growth opportunities by creating succession plans,
providing an ergonomic and comfortable work environment, supporting employees
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 with medical intervention plans for mental and physical wellness, employees as a
result will become more satisfied, engaged, speak highly of an organisation, and
become committed to the organisation. (Miller, 2022)

A.C. 3.1 As employees transition between their lifecycle stages, they are presented with
subject matter experts who are able to guide them in understanding each stage and
facilitating the process at each one. For example, when an employee is a new hire,
their supervisor can assign a mentor for them in order to onboard them to their new
role. The mentor can introduce the new hire to the work culture and explain the
roles and responsibilities of the job. The employee can shadow their mentor to gain
the necessary knowledge to perform the job. The mentor can continuously provide
feedback to the employee to improve their performance and hone their skills. With
time, employees become more proficient in performing their jobs. However, during
their careers they might be presented with some challenges such as becoming
demotivated. Employees can refer to career counselling, where their career paths
are discussed with internationally certified career counsellors in a confidential
setting. The counsellors play an effective role in guiding the thoughts of the
employee to discover and explore solutions that could raise their motivation levels
again such as seeking rotational assignments with other departments. Additionally,
during their career, employees may want to inquire more about their eligibility for
employment benefits such as medical insurance. They can refer to HR advisors and
Personnel department to explain such benefits and the eligibility criteria.
Employees might also seek to develop themselves in their current role, training and
development play a crucial part because they provide courses, workshops and
certificates that the employee could pursue in order to advance further in their
careers. Furthermore, when an employee is close to retirement, they can refer to
Personnel in order to discuss their severance and retirement benefits and plans.
Therefore, it can be noted that people practices is a vast field with different
functions and processes. These are put in place in order to support the employees
across the organization to develop themselves, increase their motivation and
engagement, and get to know more about the companies policies with regards to its
benefits (Verlinden, no date).

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A.C. 3.2 People practice assists organisations in retaining their incumbents and ensure
business continuum by aligning strategic goals, mission, and vision; creating
meaningful job experiences and overall success. This is by aligning strategic
objectives with the type of talent sourced by HR professionals in order to attract
applicant who will implement the same vision. HR practitioners across the
organisation must ensure that there is an alignment between people practices and
the overall organisational strategies that are put in place in order to support the
organization's employees. Alignment between people practices and organisational
strategies can be achieved by reviewing the organizational goals including its
mission and vision. HR professionals must then develop people practices that meet
these goals. For example, when an organisation has a strategy that concerns
increasing the numbers of people with disabilities as part of its workforce; then this
relates to the field of Diversity and Inclusion. HR practitioners can establish key
performance indicators that revolve around the percentages of people with
disabilities hired in each department. HR practitioners also take an active role in
monitoring those key performance indicators; if they are below, on par, or above
the corporate target. In addition, they support departments when they are below the
target for example. The reason that the department is below target in terms of hiring
people with disabilities could be because of unpreparedness of buildings and
facilities making it inaccessible for people with disabilities. HR practitioners can
liaise and coordinate between the department and building services in order to
prepare the facility and have it be more accessible in terms of providing ramps for
wheelchairs for hires with a physical disability or providing braille keyboards for
visually impaired hires. Thus; HR practitioners with their active involvement and
support contribute to increasing the key performance indicators and can coordinate
between the department and Staffing representatives to ensure they are hiring more
people with disabilities once the building becomes more accessible. Another
example of an organisational strategy where people practice comes into play is
being labelled as the best place to work. HR practitioners should develop retention
strategies that decrease voluntary attrition rates, increasing loyalty and citizenship.
For example, hosting recognition ceremonies to acknowledge and reward the work,
as well as personal achievements for employees can contribute to increased job
satisfaction, increased loyalty towards the company, and in turn, increased retention
rates for the organisation. In summary, HR practitioners play a huge role in linking
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 and developing efficient and effective people practices that aim to support
employees and govern HR to organisational strategies that give the organisation a
competitive advantage in the industry by ensuring the accessibility of the facilities
and retaining staff.

A.C. 3.3 A process that could be used to consult and engage internal customers to understand
their needs would be developing and engagement survey. The survey can be
developed by consulting with HR practitioners across the company to decide on the
most important categories to be included in this survey. The survey can also be sent
to all employees of all levels once per year in order to discern their level of
engagement within their work areas. Supervisors should encourage their employees
to complete the survey since the results are crucial in order to improve the work
environment. After that, the results of the survey can be shared with HR
practitioners on a department level so they can monitor and gauge the levels of
engagement of their employees. If there are areas that scored low in the survey, such
as employees not having the resources to complete their assigned tasks, HR
practitioners can address these issues by analysing the results of the survey. Action
plans such as interviewing random employees to check the validity of the results as
well as questioning them to see where support is needed must be put in place in
order to increase the score of that specific area in order to ensure that such issues
will not continuously occur in the future. HR practitioners can then provide the
necessary tools for employees to perform their work such as providing a certain
access for a specific system with a data base. A tool such as an engagement survey
is necessary in order to communicate with internal customers and check what their
needs are on an annual basis. This is to ensure business continuity up to an optimum
level where employees are fully motivated and involved in their work. This
generally would lead the organisation to become more profitable and productive
because employees can do their jobs efficiently and effectively.

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References List

Dukach, D., 2022. Research Roundup: How Technology Is Transforming Work.

[Online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2022/11/research-roundup-how-technology-
is-transforming-work [Accessed 27 June 2024].

Miller, S., 2022. Employers Focus on Well-Being and Work/Life Balance as

Employees Return. [Online] Available at: https://www.shrm.org/topics-
tools/news/benefits-compensation/employers-focus-well-work-life-balance-
employees-return [Accessed 27 June 2024].

Nickerson, C., 2024. Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. [Online] Available
at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-cognitive-theory.html [Accessed 24
June 2024].

Saudi Aramco, no date. About Aramco. [Online] Available at:

https://www.aramco.com/en/about-us [Accessed 26 June 2024].

Schein, E. H. & Schein, P. A., 2016. Organizational Culture and Leadership. 5th ed.
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Schooley, S., 2023. Is It Time to Fire Your Managers?. [Online] Available at:
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Tahir, U., 2019. Kubler Ross Change Curve Model. [Online] Available at:
https://changemanagementinsight.com/kubler-ross-change-curve-model/
[Accessed 26 June 2024].

Taylor, S. & Woodhams, C., 2022. Studying Human Resource Management. 3rd ed.
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Verlinden, N., no date. Employee Life Cycle: The Ultimate Guide for HR. [Online]
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2024].

World Health Organization, 2022. Achieving Well-being. [Online] Available at:

https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/health-

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promotion/framework4wellbeing-(draft).pdf?sfvrsn=c602e78f_8&download=true
[Accessed 25 June 2024].

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