| Course | HR485 Strategic HRM: Analytics and Business Decision-Making |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Executive briefing |
| Length | About 470 words, 4 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration (Human Resources) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HR485 Unit 9
A Page for a Fifteen-Minute Window: A Unit 9 Executive Briefing on Four Homes
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HR485: Strategic HRM: Analytics and Business Decision-Making
Unit 9 Executive Briefing
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Gatehouse Memorial Group, its leaders and every figure are composite and illustrative, carried from Units 4 to 8; the sources cited are real.
Header
To: Chief Operating Officer
From: HR Analytics
Re: First-year losses at four homes; decision requested by April 15
The Point
Four homes holding 28 percent of location staff produced half of last year's location departures. We request approval of a two-quarter onboarding pilot at those four homes, starting May 1.
Three Figures
59.6 percent against 22.4 percent. Turnover among location staff at the four homes compared with the other seventeen.
39 of 61. Location departures that came within the first year of employment.
$8,866 per first-year departure. About half of it is cash: overtime premium, posting, checks and academy wages.
What We Do Not Know
The data cannot yet separate two explanations. All four homes got new managers last year, and three of them sit near a fulfillment center whose posted starting rate is $2.25 above ours. A new exit question naming the next employer will answer this within two quarters. Research on unit-level turnover (Hausknecht & Trevor, 2011) suggests that when losses cluster in a few locations, something local is usually at work; we do not yet know what.
If wages are the cause, an onboarding pilot will not fix it; if managers and the first ninety days are the cause, a wage increase will not fix it, and today we cannot tell which.
Two Options, Priced the Same Way
Onboarding pilot at the four homes. A trained peer mentor for each new hire, a manager check-in each month for the first three months, and a one-day session for managers. First-year cost $39,182, of which $16,900 is cash. It pays for itself if it prevents 4.4 of the 22 first-year departures those homes had last year.
Starting-wage match at the three homes near the fulfillment center. A $2.25 an hour increase for 43 location employees, about $201,240 a year. It pays for itself only if it prevents 22.7 departures, more than the 17 first-year departures those three homes had last year.
Allen et al. (2010) list the belief that most people quit over money among the common misconceptions about retention, and the wage option's break-even figure is a second reason to wait for the exit data.
Decision Needed
Approval of the pilot by April 15, so mentors can be trained before the May hiring class. We will report the four homes' 90-day retention in August and recommend extending or stopping the pilot in November.
Full analysis: the turnover study, the data audit and the cost model, available on request.
References
Allen, D. G., Bryant, P. C., & Vardaman, J. M. (2010). Retaining talent: Replacing misconceptions with evidence-based strategies. Academy of Management Perspectives, 24(2), 48-64. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.24.2.48
Hausknecht, J. P., & Trevor, C. O. (2011). Collective turnover at the group, unit, and organizational levels: Evidence, issues, and implications. Journal of Management, 37(1), 352-388. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310383910
Reading the HR 485 Unit 9 instructions
Unit 9 asks you to turn your analysis into a briefing a senior leader can read in a few minutes and act on. Lead with the finding and the request, not the method, and address the briefing to the person who owns the decision. Choose only the few figures that leader would need before approving, and give each a line explaining what it means. The prompt expects you to state what the analysis cannot yet show and to place that statement where it affects the choice, usually before the options. Present the options in the same terms, such as first-year cost and the number of avoided departures needed to break even, so they can be compared directly. Close with the decision needed, by whom and by when, and what will be reported afterward. Keep sentences short and the vocabulary operational; methods appear as a clause at most, with the full analysis available separately.
How this HR485 Unit 9 example is built
The briefing opens with a three-line header and a two-sentence point: the four homes' share of departures and the pilot request. Three figures follow in labeled lines, and a margin note explains how they were chosen. The uncertainty block names the two explanations, new managers and a fulfillment center paying $21.75 an hour, cites Hausknecht and Trevor on local conditions and promises an answer within two quarters. The highlighted sentence explains why neither response fixes the other's cause. Two options are priced the same way: the pilot at $39,182, $16,900 of it cash, breaking even at 4.4 of 22 departures, and a $2.25 starting-wage increase for 43 employees at $201,240, breaking even at 22.7 against 17. Allen and colleagues support deferring the wage option. The decision block asks for approval by April 15 and sets August and November reports.
Where the points sit in the HR485 Unit 9 rubric
An executive briefing in HR485 is marked on clarity, selection and honesty. The finding and the request should be clear from the first two sentences. Credit goes to choosing a small number of figures that a decision maker would genuinely ask for and to explaining each in a phrase. Placing uncertainty where it bears on the decision, rather than in a closing caveat, is a specific point instructors check. Options earn marks when they are priced on the same basis so the comparison is fair. The decision block should name a person, an action and a date. Brevity is part of the grade: a briefing that runs past one page or carries methods detail loses marks even if the content is correct. Figures must match the earlier units exactly. Short citations in APA 7 for the research the briefing relies on are expected, with the full analysis referenced rather than repeated.
HR485 Unit 9 help from the desk
Briefings usually fail by including too much: methods, every table, and caveats in a long final paragraph that changes how the options should be read. Some students bury the request at the end, so the reader finishes without knowing what is wanted. Others present options in different units, one in dollars and one in percentage points, which makes comparison impossible. A briefing addressed to leadership in general leaves no one responsible for deciding. Watch the tone; analytical vocabulary such as segments and confounds can be replaced with plain operational words. Every figure should be identical to its source unit. If you have to include a chart, keep it to one simple comparison. Write the decision with a date. If your analysis points to a different recommendation, send your findings and our team can help you compress them into one page.
Get an HR485 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Attach the analysis your Unit 9 briefing has to compress, name the executive it addresses, and add the rubric plus any length limit. Within 24-48h the free first sample returns as one page with the request on top, a few chosen figures, an honest limits block and options priced in matching terms. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HR485 papers and BS in Business Administration (Human Resources) samples
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- HR485 Unit 3: Workforce Data Audit
- HR485 Unit 4: Turnover Analysis
- HR485 Unit 5: Cost Model
- HR485 Unit 6: Workforce Planning Forecast
- HR485 Unit 7: HR Scorecard
- HR485 Unit 8: Seminar Reflection
- HR485 Unit 10: Strategic HR Business Case
- HR435 Unit 9: Benefits Cost Analysis
- HR400 Unit 9: Onboarding Plan
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- HR410 Unit 9: Evaluation Design
HR485 Unit 9 questions, answered
Should the briefing include charts?
Usually not on a one-page brief. Three figures in large type with a line of meaning each are read faster than a chart shrunk to fit. Where a visual is required, a single simple bar comparing the concentrated segment with the rest carries the finding. Supporting charts belong in the full analysis the brief points to.
Why put the uncertainty above the options?
Because it determines which option makes sense. If the cause of the losses is unresolved, the reader needs to know that before choosing a response, or the brief quietly makes the choice for them. Graders tend to reward limits stated where they affect the decision, and executives generally trust a briefing more when it says what it does not know.
Where can I find a free HR485 Unit 9 sample paper?
The one-page HR485 Unit 9 executive briefing on first-year losses at four Gatehouse homes is printed here in full, with three figures, two priced options and margin notes.
Why is the wage option deferred?
It costs $201,240 a year and breaks even only if it prevents 22.7 departures, more than the 17 first-year departures the three nearby homes had. It also addresses only one of two explanations the data cannot yet separate.
What happens after the pilot is approved?
Mentors are trained before the May hiring class, 90-day retention for the May and June hires is reported in August, and a recommendation to extend or stop the pilot follows in November.