HRM Assignment: Employee Engagement and Performance

This assignment provides a comprehensive analysis of employee engagement, its benefits, and the role of human resource management (HRM) practices in promoting it. It also examines the impact of HRM on organizational performance and discusses various approaches to evaluating HR practices. The assignment includes references from relevant books, journals, and online resources.

DEVELOPING
INDIVIDUAL, TEAMS AND
ORGANISATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
P1 Determining appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviors (KSB) of HR professionals (490
words).....................................................................................................................................3
P2 a) Analyzing Personal Skill Audit for an employee: Jane Cambridge (245)....................4
b) Creating a professional development plan for Jane Cambridge in her HR Officer role....5
P3. Analyzing differences between organizational and individual learning, training and
development...........................................................................................................................7
P 4. Analyzing the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance...........................................................................................8
P5. How HPW contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage.................8
within a specific organizational situation...............................................................................8
P6.Evaluating different approaches of performance management and how they support high
performance culture and commitment....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
For any organization it is very important to have an effective management which can help
them in managing their work properly. It is crucial to understand the role of business and how it's
functions, for example, their marketing techniques, their human resource (HR) management,
financial statement, etc. It is the responsibility of the HR to manage all these requirements.
Present report will focus on roles and responsibility of human resource management in an
organization, respectively. It is very essential to develop an individual, their teams and
organisations as well. This assessment will discuss about appropriate knowledge, skills and
behaviors (KSB) that are required by HR professionals in the firm and on the basis of that a
completed personal skills audit for an employee will be analyzed. A personal development plan
be produced for the employee as well. Further, it will focus on analyzing differences between
organizational and individual learning and need for continuous learning and professional
development. In the last of this report how high-performance working (HPW) framework and
various approach to performance management will be addressed.
P1 Determining appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviors (KSB) of HR professionals (490
words)
Human resource (HR) plays an important role in any organization as they help them in
improving their performance and managing the whole company effectively. The human resource
department is responsible for managing all the resources that is related to their employees. These
helps the organization to have strategic decisions through which company can gain profit and can
earn a good revenue from the business as well (Bolden, 2016). The HR department of an
organization performs various functions which includes services, such as, looking after various
aspects of their employment, for example, cooperating with labour law and employment
standards for the employees who are working in the firm, administration of employee benefits
and some other feature of recruitment as well.
There are various fields in which an HR has to master their command on as these skills
will be very helpful in enhancing their performance and quality of work they do in the
organization.
 Knowledge: This is the main factor in which has to be considered very carefully by the
human resource as it can reflect their personality. This will also help them to understand
their roles and responsibilities accurately in the organization. Having proper knowledge

will assist them in managing all their work in proper manner. Their main role in the
organization is to recruit employees for them and for this responsibility it becomes
mandatory for them to have all the required knowledge of their work (Liu and et.al.,
2017). This will aid in recruiting the best candidate for the firm which can help in
enhancing the performance of the organization in the industry.
 Skills: There are various skills which is a must in an HR in order to perform their duty
perfectly. For example, it is essential for them to have good communication skills. These
skills are very important as they communicate with so many people. This will help in
interacting with them effectively. Other than this, there are various skills as well which
are very useful for them, such as, management skills. This skill will be very helpful for
the HR as it with the help of this, they will manage their work efficiently (Bolden, 2016).
To perform their duty well, HR has to be very understandable in nature which can
understand all the issues and can resolve them effectively.
 Behavior: This is also an important aspect which has to be considered being an HR in the
organization. This can include all the factors which will reflect their personality,
respectively. For example, the way they dress in the organization, the way they speak and
behave with their employees. This can impact a huge impression on their employees in
positive way which can help them to deliver the best services (Guest, 2017). The way of
talking of an individual is very crucial as it decided their character and behavior
respectively. For an HR having a good speaking and listening skill will be very beneficial
for them.
All this knowledge, skills and behaviors (KSB) of HR professionals in the organization
has a huge impact on their personality and on the performance of their organization as well.
P2 a) Analyzing Personal Skill Audit for an employee: Jane Cambridge (245)
On the basis of the completed personal skill audit for Jane Cambridge, it can be analyzed
that being a human resource there are various skills and quality which has to be managed by her
effectively. For example, in the field of information technology (IT) there are various elements
that are present in it, such as, for Jane Cambridge he ha s a good command over use of Microsoft
office word and power-point as well, which is very good as per the quality of an HR. Other than
this he is very good in using internet and e-mail which is a must if working as a human resource

for an organization. But skills on which Jane Cambridge has to work hard is the use of excel
spreadsheet, use of data base and how to use HR specialist software, respectively (West and
et.al., 2014). All these three skills has to be improved by her in order to enhance his skills and
performance in the field of information technology (IT).
Other skills which is evaluated in her personal skill audit is communication skill. In this
Jane Cambridge has a good command over skills, like, writing a report and producing materials
to support her presentation to other employees. There is a lot of improvement in the
communication skills of Jane Cambridge, for example, skills like taking notes of disciplinary
hearings during any meetings, drafting contracts of employment whom she is recruiting in the
company, delivering a training session to the employees, resolving the issues related to disputes
or complaints, interviewing candidates and advising on HR issues (Kooij and et.al., 2013). All
these skills are not that good in her and which has to be fulfilled by her effectively in order to
improve her quality.
In problem solving skill, Jane Cambridge is quite good in her responsibility. She has a
good command over skills, like, she can make a good use of verbal reasoning and is also able to
handle all the complex of important data for the organization. She can easily make a good
decision in resolving any problem. Other than these, Jane Cambridge is also very good on taking
ideas from other employees as well which is a good quality as an HR (Guest, 2017).
b) Creating a professional development plan for Jane Cambridge in her HR Officer role
On the basis of personal skill audit of Jane Cambridge, it is evaluated that there are so
many fields on which she has to work on her skills in order to enhance her skills. Major area on
which she needs to work hard is her communication skills as it is the most important factors as
being an HR. Below is the professional development plan for Jane Cambridge in her HR Officer
role in the organization (Maheshwari and Vohra, V., 2015).
Professional Development Plan (PDP)
These plan basically helps to evaluate and monitoring all the activities that need to be
improved in an individual. This will help them in concentrating on their skill.
Skill for
Improvement
Resources required Development
Opportunity
Progression Time Required

Excel Spreadsheet To improve this Jane
should take training
on using Microsoft
office as this will be
very helpful for her in
improving this skill.
This will help her in
getting and positive
response during her
employment.
To check her
progress, she can
practice on her own.
This will help in
getting a good
command over this
skill.
This will require
time period of 2-3
weeks approx.
Using database and
HR software
To better her skill of
using data base and
HR software, Jane
can take classes on it
as this will help her
in improving these
skills.
This will help her in
the future to enhance
her capabilities in
working.
To check the
progress, Jane can
use this software as
much as possible in
order to get a good
command on this.
It will require time
period of 2 weeks
approx.
Taking Notes For this, she can
work on herself by
practicing of taking
notes in classes and
seminars.
This will help them
in improving her
speed in her work.
Continuously
practicing is the
only option to
check the progress.
This will require
time period of 2
weeks approx.
Analytical Skills For this, she can
make decision on
which she will
analyze her
capability.
This is very
important and can
help in taking
effective decisions
for the firm.
This can be checked
on the basis of the
results of her
decisions that has
been taken.
This will require
time period of 3
weeks approx.

Communicating Communicating with
as many people as
possible will be a
great option for her in
improving this
quality.
Will help in
interacting with
people confidently.
Keep talking with
various people and
other and with the
HR of other
organization as
well.
This will require
time period of 2
weeks approx.
P3. Analyzing differences between organizational and individual learning, training and
development
For any organization it is very essential to have all skilled and trained employees who can
help them in achieving their aim and target effectively. This aid in enhancing the performance of
both employees and for the organization as well. These activities main purpose is to improve the
performance and productivity of the employees to a large extent. Training is usually a program
which conducted by the firm in order to create knowledge and skills in their employees as per the
requirement of their work (West and et.al., 2014). Whereas, development is a type of activity
which is performed in order to learn and grow.
There learning, training and development helps both employees and organization to
perform their roles and responsibilities effectively. Key differences between organizational and
individual learning, training and development is explained below:
Basis Organization Individual
Learning  In the context or organization,
this helps them in improving
their performance in order to
gain more profit from the
business.
 Their motive is to prepare
employees for future challenges.
 For individual it is very
useful as this will help them
in increasing their working
capabilities.
 It will also increase their
knowledge as well (Albrecht
and et.al., 2015).
Training  This will help the organization
to gain more knowledge which
they can use in their business.
 Training of individual helps
in improving their quality in
order to perform well in the

 Main aim is to gain conceptual
and general knowledge (Raes
and et.al., 2015).
organization.
 Main aim is to improve
personal skill.
Development  In this, it gives an opportunity to
learn and grow in the industry.
 It is basically a long term
analysis.
 This will help them in
gaining more knowledge and
enhancing their skills as well.
 It is a short term analysis
(Albrecht and et.al., 2015).
In order to have effective learning, it is important to analyse the appropriate learning
styles that are being appropriate for the employees as well to the organisation. As per the model
of Honey and Mumford's learning styles, there are different characteristics of learning styles
which are as follows:
Activist: they are the people who learn by doing different activities in workplace.
Theorist: This people learn by applying different theories on particular situation.
Pragmatist: These people requires to put the learning things into practices in real work life
situations.
Reflector: The employees using these styles will be prefer to watch the situation from outside.
These people learn by observing and thinking and analysing the situation.
P 4. Analyzing the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance
For an organization, it is very important to have a good working staff which can help
them in increasing their business effectively in the industry. Continuous learning and
professional development aid in gaining sustainable business performance as well. These
learning is helpful in improving the work of their employees in order to achieve their aim and
targets effectively. This is essential for them to gain more knowledge about their work so that
they put their efforts on it to obtain a better outcome (Boon and et.al., 2011).
Futher, this continuous learning and professional development also assist in enhancing or
sustaining their performance in the organization. This can provide them a greater opportunity to
enhance their experience as well. It also helps in preparing the employee for advancement in
their career to increase their capability. Continuous Professional Development helps in
enhancing and contribution to make an effective team in workplace. It will assist the employees

in advancement in their career as well and will help in increasing your skills as well knowledge
in order to reach a position that will help them in leading, managing, influence other as well.
Benefits of professional development programs helps and focuses more on an employee's
potential over past performance which is very important for the organization to order to increase
their sales and production and to earn a good revenue as well (Downey and et.al., 2015).
P5. How HPW contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage
within a specific organizational situation.
High performance working is creating work culture in an organization with transparency,
trust between employer and employee, open lines of communication for all employees. Hence, it
is creating a flatter structure in which employees are happy, engaged, motivated and share the
vision and work to achieve the organizational goal. HPW is a fundamental series of processes,
practices and policies which can be implemented in workplace, when it can integrated together
the result provided will be improved performance of employees.
In order to drive high performance of employee, organizations are started giving priority
the engagement levels of their team. HPW is an important criteria for the engagement of
employees. It will not only helps in enhancing the employees performance, it drives performance
of the overall organization. Engaged employees in workplace are one who conceive, design and
implement workplace. HPW is significant in increasing competitiveness in the business
environment. High performance workplace in positively associated with the engagement of
employees in workplace. The employees engagement are positively associated with the
performance in different areas like increasing customer satisfaction, increasing profitability and
productivity of organization as a whole. The high involvement work practices can develop the
positive belief and attitudes associated with employees engagement, it will generate the kinds of
behavior that leas to enhances the performance of employees and organization.
With high performance workplace, employees engagement in the management and
organization . it will results in employee's commitment and loyalty to the organization and helps
in achieving organizational goals and objectives, satisfaction of employees in workplace, the
retention of their talent and productivity (THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
, 2018). It will help the organization in achieving customer satisfaction, increasing market share
and profitability.

With creating high performance workplace, organization can achieve employment
engagement. It will leads to increase competitive advantage in industry. Employees engagement
is directly linked with the competitive advantage in industry as a whole. Competitive advantage
achieved through the business success and high market share with good customer base and
customer loyalty. High performance workplace leads to increase the engagement of employees
that will increase the customer satisfaction and organizational profitability that leads the business
to success and achieve competitive advantage.
P6.Evaluating different approaches of performance management and how they support high
performance culture and commitment.
Measuring employee's p[performance id the backbone of organisation's management.
Business owners or management measures the performance of employees on the basis of mow
much they are contributing in the organisation and achievement of business goals. The
employees can know their performance measurement at the time of their performance appraisal.
Employee's performance appraisals refers to the assessment of employees, giving them proper
feedback of their performance and the area where they need improvement, it will help in creating
a positive effect on future performance (Approaches to HR Evaluation ,2018). There are various
factors that drives the performance of employees like their work profile, bonus system in
company, compensation, job satisfaction etc. These factors plays an important role in
determining the employees productivity and overall organisational development.
Organisations can use different strategies and approaches for the purpose of measuring
performance of the employees. All of these approaches are different ion characteristics and
suitability depends on the organisational type, management of organisation can use of the
approaches or combination of some on the basis of their business goals and management type.
The major approaches of performance management use by an organisation are:
 Comparative approach:It is an approach of measuring the performance of an employees
by comparing to the performance of another employees in a group. The individuals are
ranked on the basis of highest to lowest performer. The techniques adopted for
comparative approach are forced distribution techniques, paired comparison and graphic
rating scales. For example in a team of ten employees 2 are rating as great performer,
average performer are 4 employees, 2 are measured as good performer so finally
remaining two will be measured as low performer (What Are the Advantages &

Disadvantages of a Performance Management System? 2018). It helps in regarding the
top performer with promoting them, while the low performer will get chance for
improvement or they will be terminated.
This system is not appropriate as the ranks are given on the basis of team performance
rather than individuals performance. This approach is undertaken in case of firms with a small
group of employees with same job profile. This approach helps motivating the lower ranked
employees to improve their performance and top ranked to increased the productivity that will
helps in creating high performance culture.
 Attribute approach: In this approach, the performance of employees are measured on
specific set of parameters like, problem solving skills, teamwork and communication
skills, judgement, creativity and innovation. The main disadvantage of these approach is
that of subjectivity, as it depends on the nature of evaluator. It can only identify the best
and worst performance and not accurate measure of performance level. It is a difficult
process of evaluating performance of employees. Because of its limitation is only used in
some specific situations.
 Behavioural approach: it is a traditional approach of performance appraisal techniques.
It consist of a series of vertical scales for different dimensions of job. There are two
techniques in this approaches, Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale(BARS) and
Behavioural Observation Scale(BOS). The BARS techniques contains the measurement
scales that are agreed by the employees (High Commitment, High Performance
Management ,2018). The BOS techniques on the other hand is an improved version, it
provides more specific data on employees performance.
 Result approach: this is simple and straight-forward concept, wherein organisation rate
employees on the basis of employees performance. There are two type of techniques
used Balance scorecard which focuses on financial, customer, internal & operations and
learning and growth. It is better approach as it takes into consideration the external
environment also.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be sum up that, for an organization having a good and
skilled human resource (HR) can be very beneficial for them in order to enhance their

performance in their respective industry. This report has discussed about the roles and
responsibilities of a HR in a company and what are the qualities which is required by them in
delivering the best service effectively. A professional developmental plan is also developed in
this assessment which show the requirements of skills that is needed in a HR. Furthermore, this
report has explained about differences between organizational and individual learning, training
and development, respectively. Apart from this, this has also discussed about HPW and its
contribution in employee engagement and analyze its benefit.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Albrecht, S. L. and et.al., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices
and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational
Effectiveness: People and Performance. 2(1). pp.7-35.
Bolden, R., 2016. Leadership, management and organisational development. In Gower handbook
of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.
Boon, C. and et.al., 2011. The relationship between perceptions of HR practices and employee
outcomes: examining the role of person–organisation and person–job fit. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management. 22(01). pp.138-162.
Downey, S. N. and et.al., 2015. The role of diversity practices and inclusion in promoting trust
and employee engagement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 45(1). pp.35-44.
Guest, D. E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal. 27(1). pp.22-38.
Kooij, D. T. and et.al., 2013. How the impact of HR practices on employee well‐being and
performance changes with age. Human Resource Management Journal, 23(1), pp.18-35.
Liu, D. and et.al., 2017. Human resource systems, employee creativity, and firm innovation: The
moderating role of firm ownership. Academy of Management Journal. 60(3). pp.1164-
1188.
Maheshwari, S. and Vohra, V., 2015. Identifying critical HR practices impacting employee
perception and commitment during organizational change. Journal of Organizational
Change Management. 28(5). pp.872-894.
Raes, E. and et.al., 2015. An exploratory study of group development and team learning. Human
Resource Development Quarterly. 26(1). pp.5-30.
West, M. A. and et.al., 2014. Developing collective leadership for health care. London: King's
Fund.
Online
Approaches to HR Evaluation .2018 [Online] Available
Through:<https://www.managementstudyhq.com/hrm-evaluation-approaches.html>.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT . 2018 [Online] Available
Through:<https://www.middlemarketcenter.org/expert-perspectives/the-importance-of-
employee-engagement>
What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of a Performance Management System? .2018
[Online] Available Through:<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-
performance-management-system-71639.html>
High Commitment, High Performance Management .2018 [Online] Available
Through:<https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/high-commitment-high-performance-management>