Human Resource Management Practices

This assignment delves into the key skills required for effective human resource management. It examines different performance management approaches, the influence of informal learning, and how HR systems function within organizations. Concepts like Kolb's learning cycle and various learning styles are discussed, highlighting the importance of continuous professional development for HR professionals.

DEVELOPING
INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS AND
ORGANISATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Knowledge skills and behaviour required by HR manager...............................................1
P2 Audit of personal skills and personal and professional development plan.......................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Difference between organisational and individual learning, training, development.........5
P4 Need of continuous learning and professional development...........................................7
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Role of high performance working in employee engagement and competitive advantage10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P6 Different approaches to performance management........................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
In every organisation, employees play a crucial role in achieving goals and objectives.
They are the main pillar of business as activities and daily operations are performed by them.
Also, it is important for human resource management to ensure that their performance is
maintained. This helps in growth and development of employees. Therefore, it is the
responsibility of HR manager to provide training to them. It will help in gaining different
knowledge and skills. This report will describe about various skills required by HR. it will show
difference between training and development, individual and organisational learning, etc.
(Waters, Baughman and Dorsey, 2016). Furthermore, it will discuss about how high performance
working helps in attaining organisational goals. Moreover, what are the different performance
management approached that are used by HR manager. For present report organisation selected
is Whirlpool. It belongs to home appliances' industry and operates globally. The company
majorly deals in products kitchen appliances. The revenue generated by company in 2016 was
$21 billion. Company is operating in more than 70 countries with workforce of 92000.
TASK 1
P1 Knowledge skills and behaviour required by HR manager
The role of HR manager in an organisation is very crucial. This is because he or she is
responsible for managing the employees. Apart from this, it is the duty of HRM to ensure that
employees should possess appropriate skills and knowledge for performing particular task. In
order to do this, HR must possess Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour (KSB) so that it becomes
easy to select right candidate for right position. This will help in performing activities as per
capabilities of employees (Monks and et. al., 2013). Thus, to determine KSB a tool is used that is
known as profession map which consists of basic principles of HRM. He or she is also
responsible for the proper development of individual so that they can contribute in the success of
firm. The manager of whirlpool requires some relevant skills that are mentioned below: -
Multitasking- The HR should be multi-talented that means ability to manage many things at
same time. He or she must involve in developing strategies as well as solving problems.
Personnel – it refers to principles and policies that are used while hiring employees. HR should
have knowledge about these principles. Also, he or she must know different methods of
recruitment along with compensation policies.
1

Knowledge :
Government law- HR must be aware about laws and regulations imposed by government or
trade unions. The person should have knowledge about several acts related to working conditions
and health and safety of employees.
Policies related to employment- HR should have information about various policies and acts
related to employment. The candidate must know how to implement those acts and laws in
organisation.
Professional skills:
Decision making- HR should take proper and effective decisions to ensure smooth flow of
operations. These skills depend on experience and ability of person.
Training and development- HR must know about various training methods and how to
implement them. He or she should have ability to identify needs of candidate so that proper and
effective training can be provided.
Employee relations- HR must have knowledge and information about how employee relations
are maintained. They must know various strategies and tools that can be used in this.
Behavioural required:
Cooperative- HR must be cooperative with employees and management so that better
organisational culture is maintained.
Respectful- HR must respect and treat all employees working in organisation equally. They
should follow ethics while hiring them or doing appraisals.
Performance simulation- the HR should be able to access current and aspired level of
performance of employees. With this training and development can be provided to employees.
The skills and behaviour can be acquired by attending various online courses. It may
include training and development programs like HR practices, workshop on using digital tools,
etc. Other than this, there are several other courses provided by training centres. With it skills
can be acquired.
2

There are 8 behaviours that includes curious, decisive thinker, role model, etc. they show
how an individual should carry out his or her duties to achieve organisational goals. There are
four transitions that shows what is expected from HR. they also reflect competencies and
professional areas of HR. in this there are 5 areas divided that is relationship with client, services
offered, results, etc.
Level of HR in Whirlpool's:
Basically there three major level of HR which are discussed below:
 Senior level of HR: They are top level of HR and basically responsible for decision
making process (Seuring, 2013). It consists of HR director, Chief HR Officer, HR
generalist, General HR manager, Assistant HR manager, deputy director legal and payroll
etc.
 Middle level of HR: This HR help to support as well as encourage their employees and
even creates motivational seminars and training sessions for their trainees. These
includes, senior executive HR, personal manager, staffing manager etc.
 Operational level HR: In this level, HR have to perform their operational level of work
with strong commanding over their subjects and they even can discuss their issues to
middle as well as senior level of HR managers. Recruiter, HR Analyst, HR trainee are
included in this.
3

Illustration 1: Skills of HR manger
(Source: Essential skill of human resource manager. 2006.)
P2 Audit of personal skills and personal and professional development plan
HR recruit’s right employee at right place by comparing the skills required and employee
capabilities. This is done so that it becomes easy for employee to perform task and attain goals in
specified time. If employee is not recruited at right place he or she will not be able to perform
and it will lead to waste in time as well as money. Apart from this, HR should have knowledge
about various training methods. Besides this, he or she must develop policies and procedures
according to government laws.
Being a HR, I have strong communication skills and have good knowledge how to
perform well in a company that help it to take further level of success. I also have good
management of personal skills that help to arrange whole work in better way with proper time
scheduling. Apart from this, I also have I also encourage whole staff for doing extra well in a
company in order to make company's grow. I also have some weaknesses that my decision power
is not so strong which as a HR manager I have and I even did not solve complex problem of my
employees and there is a need to develop risk management skills which is necessary for
company's development.
4

In order to identify skills, SWOT analysis is done. This will help me in evaluating the
overall skills and knowledge. I will be able to identify my strong and weak areas and developing
strategies on how to improve them. The analysis is mentioned below: -
Strength
 I am easily able to monitor employee
behaviour as well as performance by
using HRM software.
 I am easily able to manage and allot
task and other HR related work.
 I am having a depth knowledge about
various HRM and other software.
Weaknesses
 I am not able to motivate employee.
 I am not able to communicate orally
with them to solve problems and issues.
Opportunities
 I want to learn more about new
techniques and tools used in HR field.
 I want to attend national level seminars
and workshops which will enhance my
experience in HR.
Threat
 Demand of new trend in HR
 Emerging use of new tools and
equipment’s in HR field.
Skills gap
Skill Gap analysis
Oral Communication My oral communication with
employees is very weak. I am
not able to interact with them
in an openly.
Technological skills I do not know how to use
different HRM software. I
need to improve my
technological skills.
5

Motivational skills I am not having enough
knowledge about motivational
theories and techniques and
how they are applied.
In order to overcome those weaknesses which are discussed above, I have made personal
development plan that help me to mitigate those problem and become me as best HR among all,
it is discussed below: -
Sr. No. Learning
objectives
Target
proficiency
1 = Weak
5 = Strong
Current
example
Success
criteria
Activities Time scale
1 Motivational
skills
1 I am not
able to
encourage
employees
and solve
their issues.
Improving
this will
help me in
applying of
motivational
theories and
techniques
to
encourage
employees.
This can be improved
by attending seminars
conducted by
motivational speakers.
2 months
2 Technologic
al skills
3 I an not able
to use
performance
managing,
salary
making.
I need to
improve this
which will
help me in
gaining
knowledge.
It can be enhanced by
attending different
training courses and
seminars organised by
Tech companies.
5 weeks
6

software
This
restricts me
in becoming
a good HR.
3 Oral
Communicat
ion skills
2 I am poor in
this skill as
I am not
able to
effectively
communicat
e orally
with
employees.
I need to
improve
this. It will
help me in
becoming a
good
negotiator.
By communication
orally with other
people, friends, and
relatives
3 weeks
4 Accounting
skills
3 I am not
able to
calculate
salary, PF,
ESIC, etc.
this affects
my
performance
.
Enhancing
this will
help me in
quick
calculation.
This can be enhanced
by attending training
courses.
1 month
TASK 2
P3 Difference between organisational and individual learning, training, development.
Every employee in organisation requires some skills and knowledge to perform various
task. So in order to do this they need to enhance and gain those skills. This can be done by
providing training to them. Besides this, employees also learn from others. This helps in their
7

career development. Generally, learning is of two types that is organisational and individual. The
difference between them is described below: -
Organisational training and
development
Individual training and
development
Organisation training is a
process through which
employees are provided
training about various
operations.
Individual training refers to
providing training to
improve specific skill or
knowledge in performing a
particular task.
Whirlpool provide training to
employees to gain knowledge
that is required in specific
task. A continuous learning
process in which skills of
employees are improved.
The individual learns from
other that helps in career
growth. It refers to overall
development of employee’s
by providing opportunities
for growth.
It focuses on improving
employee’s skills and
knowledge in order to increase
productivity in Whirlpool.
It focuses on individual
self-learning and enabling
them to face any challenge
in the future.
Company can provide from
various training methods and
is completely a job orientated
process.
It is related with career
oriented (Mone and
London, 2014).This can be
improved by attending
seminars, workshop, etc.
organised by Whirlpool.
It helps in improving
performance (Moon, 2013).
Employee skills are enhanced
It benefits individual in
fulfilling his or her
personal needs.
8

and goals are attained in given
time. Generally, of two types
on the job and off the job
training
Development programs are
been provided by company.
It is usually given to attain
overall organisation goals and
objectives in effective way.
Here, an employee
development is done to
make enhance his or her
individual learning.
Organizational learning is an integral part of organisation training in which employees
are given training of how to different task and activities. It is an ongoing process that help to
meet all defined objectives of a company's while individual learning are related to personnel.
Organizational learning can included various training programs that are conducted by a company
itself while on the other side, in individual learning they own have to attend many sessions of
training which are conducted by a company. They both help to learn something but have
different key aspects which makes it different from each other.
Training: It is a process where information can be give through speech, any written
document and a method of demonstration in an effective manner and it only instructs by a
trainee. It is a timely skill that have to be completed in some specific time.
Learning: Learning is a process of adapt information in order to increase skills as well as
abilities for personal growth. It has no time because it is carried out throughout life.
Development: Development is a systematic use of all knowledge whether it will be
scientific or technical which help to meet out some specific objectives and requirements of an
individual or a business.
P4 Need of continuous learning and professional development
In today's competitive work environment it has become essential for business to provide
continuous learning to employees so that their performance is not affected (Marsick and
Watkins, 2015). Besides this, effective productivity will be beneficial for business in developing
better organisational culture. With this they will be able to sustain in the market for long term.
There are some more benefits of continuous learning that is described below :-
9

Increased productivity- this is most common benefit in whcih both employees as well as
business are involved. HR manager should also focus on employee goals. It will encourage them
to put more efforts thus, their productivity will improve. Moreover, it will lead to creating
positve working culture. By this goals will be achieved in less time period. HR allots time to
each activity and coordinate with management. This supports in team work and goals are
attained in time frame. Therefore, organization and employee’s productivity is improved. They
work with more efforts and a motivational environment is created. With this whirlpool goals are
accomplished in given time.
Less retention rate- If employee skills and knowledege are developed continuously through
proper traning sessions then this will change their behaviour. They will like to contribute more
towards organisation. The results will be that it will reduce retention rate. Business will also
benefit from this, they will not have to hire new candidates and it will save their time and cost.
Continuous learning helps HR to gain knowledge and skills. They learn about new HRM
software. This will motivate them to engage more with seminars, workshops, etc. organized by
company. It will result in less retention rate.
Enhancing performance- Continuous learning allows employee to learn and gain more
knowledge. They apply new techniques and tools in performing taks. This increases their
creativity and decision making skills. It boots their confidence level and enhance performance. It
is necessary to enhance skills and knowledge of HR so that they are able to manage activities and
culture of organization. This will enhance their performance and ability to organize employees.
Hence, it will lead to creating a better organizational culture. It enables in improving team
performance and bringing creativity in it. Thus, goals are attained in less time and efficient
utilization of resources.
Profit improvement- A better and high performing employees will lead attaining goals on time.
With thsi there will be rise in profits (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). This will enable HR to
appraise employee performance by providing them bonus. It will increase their morale, they will
be ready to take more challenging task. HR gains knowledge about to manage business
functions. They know what roles can be performed by employees. Thus, it leads to increase in
business efficiency and profit earning.
10

The need for professional development in HR will enable in gaining more knowledge. It
will be beneficial in sustaining employees for long term in UK. Also, with technological
advancement it is necessary to remain update about using various software and applications in
HR. moreover, HR in whirlpool should possess necessary skills and professional development.
The laws related to employment keeps on changing in UK. Thus, HR should know about them in
detail. It will help in maintaining organizational culture in Whirlpool.
By applying Kolb learning style that help to developed learning style inventory and it is
basically work on two level such as :
 Four Stage cycle: This stage includes four basic point such as concrete experience that
encounters new situation, Reflective observation of new experience that help to
understand uniformity between experience, Abstract Conceptualization that give rise to
new idea and Active experimentation where people applies them into the world.
Four separate learning style: It includes diverging where learner can look things in different
point of view in order to face those, Assimilating which requires logical approach to understand
11
Illustration 2: Kolb's four stage learning cycle
Source: Kolb's Stage cycle, 2018

wide range information, converging that help to solve problems and find best and suitable
solutions, Accommodating which states to use other people's analysis. This cycle contains four
elements that is as follows :-
 Diverging – In this employees learns new skills as it is first stage. This boost their
confidence and morale. They are able to think in broad way and creativity level rises. It
helps in their growth and development.
 Assimilating- In this employees observe the effect of new learning on his or her growth
and skills. This gives an insight to them to take right decisions and doing task in creative
way (Megginson and Whitaker, 2017). With this they are able to experience new things.
 Converging- It is a stage in which employees apply theories and methods to do a task.
This results in forming new ideas and implementing them. Their thinking capacity
expands in new areas.
 Accommodating- In this employee become independent. They take their own decisions
of doing a task. They are ready to take challenges and work in a team.
12
Illustration 3: Kolb four learning style
Source: Kolb four learning style, 2018

TASK 3
P5 Role of high performance working in employee engagement and competitive advantage
High performance learning is a concept that enables in identifying attributes values, etc. of
employees and then improving them in order to attain higher goals and objectives.
An employee performance can only be enhanced by providing them effective and proper training
in his or her field. This is because it helps in performing task in more effective and creative way.
Apart from this, it fulfils their individual goals. Providing training inspires employees to work in
critical situations. It also helps in maintaining their performance so that targets are achieved.
HPW is beneficial for Whirlpool's and employee in various ways that are described below: -
Employee creativity- this is the common benefit that enables employees in improving their
mentality level. With this they are able to rake decisions in more effectively. Also, problems are
solved by them by negotiating with each other (Glaister, 2014). An increase in creativity level
changes their behaviour. They become more active in decision making process and gives advice
to others.
Employee behaviour- An organisational culture is highly influenced by behaviour of
employees. Any change in behaviour can create a negative impact on business operations. When
management allows employees to engage in decision making process it creates a feeling of
belongingness among them. This creates a positive environment at work place. They get
involved in solving various matters. Thus, this leads to increase in communication among them.
Employee voice- Here, voice means the rights of employees that can affect business operations
adn culture. HR is responsible to ensure that employees are allowed to work freely. This allows
them to work in effective way with managers.
Organisational identification- A HPW in business reflects environment at workplace. This
creates a positive image of firm in industry. This allows management to work with employees.
Thsi creates strong relations and reduces conflicts. In this many other factors are involved like
society, competiors, etc.
Organisation values- Values are framework that described the culture of management and
employees at workplace (Waters, Baughman and Dorsey, 2016). It reflects employee
behaviour and how they work. Developing an effective value shows how employees are
committed towards organisation goals and objectives.
13

Employee participation- HPW helps employees to actively participate in decision making
process. They are able to take own decision in effective way. Moreover, through this they put
more hard efforts in maintaining creativity of task.
In the context of Whirlpool's, it has high performance employees which plays an
important role in the working condition of a company. If employees continue their work in an
effective way, it will definitely help for the growth as well as development of a company and as
a result HPW directly create positive impact on company's financial performance and maintain
its brand image in market. As employee performance is a key aspect of Whirlpool's success that
is why it is necessary for its them to keep engaging towards a work. In order to enhance
employee performance, HR can conduct different training session in order to meet company's
objective as well as increase their interpersonal skills that help them to do work as per
requirements. Moreover, regular training can be provided to them in order to enhance their skills
and knowledge. this will lead to putting more efforts in attaining goals and objectives.
Furthermore, through this employee efficiency will improve allowing them to work in creative
way. In this way high performance working help employees to continue their engagement
towards Whirlpool's.
Through high performance working, quality of products as well as service will be
improved in whirlpool. They will be able to provide them to customer. Also, goals and objectives
will be achieved in given time. This will lead to innovation and design of new products. The
satisfaction of customers will increase. Thus, through better and positive organisational culture,
Whirlpool will be able attract employees to work in their firm. in this way, company will gain
competitive advantage in the industry and market as well.
HPW enhances employee ability to work in team. they remain focused on working
effectively and in creative way. sometimes, they can also lead a team. this helps in attaining
goals in time. Moreover, they help others by communicating with them as well. Hence, it enables
in sharing common vision towards team goals.
TASK 4
P6 Different approaches to performance management
Performance management refers to evaluating employee’s performance on the basis of
set goals so that weak areas are identified and measures are taken to improve. It also helps the
HR manager to determine strengths of employees so that accordingly opportunities can be
14

provided (Monks and et. al., 2013) Moreover, it gives an insight to manager about the behaviour
and skills. There are different approaches that can be followed by Whirlpool's HR. these are as
follows: -
Comparative approach: It is an approach in which ranking system is applied. In this according
to employee performance they are ranked from high to low. The employee who has performed
very well is ranked at top and so on. This method helps in providing benefits to employees who
are has done similar work. It encourages other employees to work hard in towards business.
Whirlpool's uses this method to evaluate performance of sales force. They set targets and then
compare sales of each individual.
Behavioural approach- In this method the performance is evaluated on basis of behaviour of
employees. For this a tool is used that is known as Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale
(BARS). With this it is easy to identify that how each employee has behaved in a particular
situation. This gives an insight to HR manager about the thinking capacity. Also, they are able to
determine whether employees are above or below her or his skills. Furthermore, in this
competency model is used to analyse competencies that employee possess.
Paired comparison- In this employees are given rating on the scale of 1 to 5 by HR manager.
The ratings are given in different areas such as skills, behaviour, attitude, etc. and then points are
added at last. According to total score comparison is done. Generally, it is less followed as it is a
very long and time consuming process (Mone and London, 2014). For example – 45
comparisons have to be made for 10 employees. Whirlpool can also follow this method; it will
help in identifying non performers so that strategies are developed to improve them.
Field review method- This approach is usually followed by an external person that does not
belong to HR department. They are having experience in this field. By evaluating employee’s
performance, they provide necessary information about them. In this external observe employee
on duty and write down several things (Different approaches of performance management,
2014). They show HR that what skills are required and in which area employee is lacking.
Whirlpool can also use this method. This will benefit in making providing effective training to
them accordingly.
360-degree method- This is the most common method that is used by organisations. As the
name suggest it gives a complete 360 degree overviews of an employee (Marsick and Watkins,
15

2015). In this performance is measured by collecting information from customers, colleagues,
managers, etc. It helps in analysing behaviour, skills, communication, etc. this approach gives a
broader view of performance management.
Quality Approach
This is basically focused on customers' satisfaction level is improved by decreasing
errors. This is used by company as well as system factors. Even using this approach, employers
can also take feedback on the basis of personal as well as professional characteristic. This help to
solve problem related to teamwork an even use many sources to evaluate performance of
Whirlpool's employees.
Result Approach
This is one of the simplest theory where Whirlpool's can rate employees on the basis of
their performance results. Company can even use Balance scorecard technique as well as
productivity measurement and evaluation system, as it helps to motivate employees in order to
enhance their productivity and can also measure feedback too.
Attribute Approach
Under this approach, Whirlpool's can rate their employees on the basis of problem
solving skills, their communication level, teamwork, their enthusiasm related to do work,
innovation etc. but on the other side, using this Whirlpool's can only identify its best and worst
employees therefore, it is not applicable for a company to use (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
Whirlpool's should follow the quality approach that will help in improving employee
behaviour towards customers. For this manager can develop various strategies to improve service
quality. Also, manager can develop policies and law related to ethics and organisational culture.
This will help in working as per policies by implementing them. It will result in creating a better
environment.
16

Illustration 4: Approaches of performance management
(Source: Approaches for measuring performance of employees,
2017)
HPW leads to collaborative working. It is useful in developing an effective
communication channel between team members. When one person gets incentive, then
other interact with him or her to work together. This encourages other to work in group
so that goals are achieved. Measuring performance of employees is useful in providing
support to them. With this training can be provided to them. This results in cooperative
culture and working.
The different approaches can be beneficial in evaluating employee performance and
improving it by determining their needs and organising training and development programs. this
will enable in creating a better workplace environment and smooth running of operations. also,
employee efficiency will increase resulting in attaining goals and objectives effectively. This will
improve organisational culture of Whirlpool in industry.
CONCLUSION
From this report it is summarised that how HRM plays a vital role in an organisation. It
also describes the KSB that is required in HR. also, the difference between training and
development, individual and organisational learning is discussed. Also, there are many benefits
of continuous learning such as it increases productivity, reduces retention rate, etc. It is also
17

shown that high performance working is beneficial as it helps in enhancing employees creativity,
behaviour, etc. in Whirlpool this leads to create a positive image of organisation in industry. At
last various approached of performance management such as comparative, behavioural, results,
etc. are described and how they help HR manager and employees of whirlpool in improving their
skills and knowledge is also discussed.
18

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Armstrong, M., 2016. Armstrong's Handbook of Management and Leadership for Hr:
Developing Effective People Skills for Better Leadership and Management. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Bolman, L. G. and Deal, T. E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
Glaister, A. J., 2014. HR outsourcing: the impact on HR role, competency development and
relationships. Human resource management journal. 24(2). pp.211-226.
Goetsch, D. L. and Davis, S. B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Marsick, V. J. and Watkins, K., 2015. Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace
(Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Megginson, D. and Whitaker, V., 2017. Continuing professional development. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Mone, E. M. and London, M., 2014. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
Monks and et. al., 2013. Understanding how HR systems work: the role of HR philosophy and
HR processes. Human resource management journal. 23(4). pp.379-395.
Moon, J. A., 2013. Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice.
Routledge.
Seuring, S., 2013. A review of modeling approaches for sustainable supply chain
management. Decision support systems. 54(4). pp.1513-1520.
Waters, S. D., Baughman, W. A. and Dorsey, D. W., 2016. Performance Management:
Embracing Complexity, Evading Reductionism, and Moving to Outcome-Based
Approaches. Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 9(2). pp.338-341.
Online:
19

Different approaches of performance management, 2014. [Available through]
<https://www.hr.com/en/magazines/all_articles/effective-performance-management-process-
five-appr_i3t1jcg4.html>
20