Developing Individuals, Teams and Organisations

This report examines the role of HR professionals in developing individuals, teams, and organizations. It covers topics such as professional knowledge, skills, and behaviors, personal skills audits, learning and development, continuous learning, high-performance working systems, and performance management approaches. The report provides a comprehensive overview of HR practices and their impact on business sustainability.

Developing Individuals, Teams
and Organisations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by HR professionals.....1
P2 Analyse a completed personal skills audit to develop professional development plan....3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Difference between organisation and individual learning, training and development......6
P4 Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business. 7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5 HPW contribution to employee engagement and competitive advantage.........................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P6 Evaluate different approaches for performance management.........................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Development is important part for an individual to work in a team in an organisation. HR
professional require to have skilled and competent people in firm for execution of activities
effectively and attainment of business goals and objectives. For this, they need to have skills and
capability to manage manpower (Amabile, 2012). Present report is based on Whirlpool which is
a multinational electronic company that provide different home appliances to people. This
assignment specifies knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by HR professional.
Learning and development, continuous learning and professional development are tactics which
are assessed by HR for business sustainability. Besides this, HPW system contribution in
employee engagement and competitive advantage is stated. Furthermore, various performance
management approaches which are used by HR are also mentioned in report.
TASK 1
P1 Professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by HR professionals
HR profession's responsibility is to have sufficient manpower in organisation for
accomplishment of business goals and objectives. It is necessary that they have ability to recruit
and train employees for conduction of work effectively (Berry, 2011). HR of Whirlpool needed
skilled and competent subordinates which help them to deliver quality electronic appliances to
buyers. Training and development programmes are organised through which staff and their
capabilities are enhanced for growth of company. Henceforth, competitive advantage of firm is
established in respect to rival enterprise.
Professional knowledge: HR professional require to have knowledge in respect to
different facts, theoretical and practical tactics (Knowledge and skills required by HR
professional, 2016). They gain information by working in organisation and increasing experience
which aid them to make appropriate judgements for firm. Henceforth, these are knowledge
concepts which HR of Whirlpool require are described below: Personnel and Human resources: HR professional require to have knowledge about
rules and process of recruitment, selection, labour relations, compensation and other HR
practices. This help HR of Whirlpool to execute activities systematically and provide
appropriate facilities to make staff members work in team. They have talented manpower
which conduct tasks in proficient manner.
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 Management and administration: HR professional even need to have knowledge about
principles of business and management. This help HR of Whirlpool in making strategic
plan, allocate resources, modelling human resource, conducting production effectively by
coordinating people and other resources.
 Government law: HR professional require knowledge about legal codes, court process,
rules and regulations for making organisation function legally. Whirlpool has branches
globally so HR need to have knowledge about different laws of government. This help
them to frame policies and carry out business activities properly.
Professional skills: HR professional need to possess skill to manage staff members and
make them work in collaboration for achieving targets (Ford, 2014). Thus, these are different
skills that aid HR of Whirlpool to maintain workforce and their operations are described below: Communication: HR professional work as connector between superiors and staff
members. It is necessary that they have good verbal and written skills through which
information is clearly transferred to people. In Whirlpool, HR have efficient interaction
capability which help them to conduct meeting, interview and training sessions
effectively. This aid them to provide information to staff members about business
objectives and targets. Besides this, HR also enhance capabilities of employees to make
them function in efficient manner. Multi-tasking: Human resource is a field which have different responsibilities in respect
to management of people. HR professional conduct activities which are staffing,
compensation, training and other for having sufficient manpower in Whirlpool. It is
necessary that they remain calm and posses capability to work in pressure.
 Conflict management: HR professional require to have skill to overcome issues and
problems of members. For this, they need to have capability to maintain friendly
connection with people to timely acknowledge their conflicts. HR of Whirlpool posses
negotiation skills and should be patient which aid them to solve difficulties of
subordinates (Gibbs, 2013). They should have maturity through which they are able to
handle complex situations and overcome workplace problems.
Professional behaviour: HR professional require to posses behaviour i.e. attitude through
which interaction with team members are conducted properly. It is essential that relations with
2

stakeholders are maintained for benefit of company. Thus, these are behaviour aspects which HR
of Whirlpool needed for organisation functionality stated as below: Ethical behaviour: HR profession frame code of ethics which require to be followed by
managers and employees. It is essential that they provide healthy and positive working
environment to staff members for making them function effectively. This help HR of
Whirlpool to retain subordinates for longer time. Besides this, transparency tactic aid in
having employees dedicated and committed to complete tasks and targets within specified
time frame.
 Accountable: Human resource is given duty by top personnel to manage people for
attainment of business objectives. Their responsibility is to have skilled and talented
workforce which conduct tasks effectively. For this, performance assessment is
undertaken by HR professional of Whirlpool. This can help them to have information
about capabilities of staff members so that training and development sessions are
conducted accordingly. Thus, HR is able to give knowledge to higher authorities about
outcomes and business functionality.
P2 Analyse a completed personal skills audit to develop professional development plan
Personal skills audit is technique which is used by HR professional to have information
about their skills, knowledge and behaviour (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). Whirlpool is
multinational firm which require to sustain its goodwill and image in market. I have used
personal skill audit tool to ascertain my strengths and weaknesses so that my strengths can be
used for future opportunities while my weaknesses are improved by learning and development.
Apart from this, personal skills audit is being developed by me through looking at my
own skills while working an an HR professionals and this is mentioned beneath:
Skill Very Good Good Adequate Little or no
experience
Information
Technology
Use Microsoft
office word
✔
Use Excel
Spreadsheet
✔
Use specialist HR
software
✔
3

Use a database ✔
Use the internet ✔
Use Email ✔
Use PowerPoint ✔
Skill Very Good Good Adequate Little or no
experience
Communicati
on skills
Drafting
contracts of
employment
✔
Taking notes
of disciplinary
hearing
✔
Write reports ✔
Produce
materials to
support
presentations
✔
Delivering a
training
session
✔
Resolving
disputes
✔
Interviewing ✔
Advising on
HR issues
✔
Skill Very Good Good Adequate Little or no
Experience
Problem
solving skills
Make good
use of verbal
reasoning
skills, able to
handle
complex data
and make
selective use
of information
✔
Explore more ✔
4

than one
solution in
order to solve
a problem
Consider the
ideas of others
to help solve
problems
✔
The strengths and weaknesses that I have analysed in myself are stated below:- Strengths: I have analysed that I possess certain skills that are required for the position of
HR professional. These are good communication and time management skills which help
in maintaining relations with various stakeholders of firm along with ensuring the timely
realisation of goals. According to requirement I have strong IT skills which enables to
meet all the requirements and shows my strong knowledge.
 Weaknesses: As per my analysis, my weaknesses for the job role of HR professional are
multitasking and conflict management skills which can be enhance with learning and
development programmes. According to the skill audit, problem solving skill are not so
much good which are essential for a HR job role so I have to develop my that behavioural
skill too.
S.
No
.
Learning
target
Present
Proficien
cy
Target
Proficie
ncy
Development
Opportunities
Person
responsib
le for
Judging
Skills
Time
Scale
Start
date
End
date
1 IT skills
regarding
use of
softwares
7 10 I can enhance
my analytical
skills by
attending
mentoring and
brainstorming
sessions with my
Managers
and senior
executive
s
45 days O2/03/1
9
17/04/19
5

seniors. These
interactive
sessions will help
me in assessing
my strengths and
weaknesses.
2 Collabora
tive skills
regarding
HR issues
and some
other.
6 10 I can enhance my
collaborative
working skills by
attending
personality
development
classes like that
of Bafel's where
trainers make
people work in
groups. Main
features of these
classes are inner
personality
development,
SWOT anlaysis,
filling the gap
etc. This thereby
leads to
development of
my own skills.
Peers and
colleague
s
1 month 22/03/19 22/04/19
3 Time
managem
ent skills
7 10 I can improve my
time management
skills by
Managers
and
colleague
2
months
31/03/19 31/05/19
6

attending
various training
sessions that are
initiated by
Urban pro. Urban
pro even sends
their trainers in
other locations so
that people from
different
countries can be
trained.
s
Professional development plan: It is document which is formulated by an individual
defining career goals and various strategies through which objectives are attained (Hirst and et.
al., 2011). Thus, this is a professional development plan to develop my weaknesses:-
Skills Current
proficie
ncy
Target
proficiency
Objective Development activities Time
scale
Conflict
management
2.5 5 HR professional require
to solve issues and
problems of staff
members for retaining
them for longer time.
By engaging in group
activities and working
under seniors, I can
explore ideas to
resolve conflicts and
develop collaboration
among
team-members.
45
Days
Multi- 2 5 HR professional conduct In order to be able to 60
7

tasking different activities that is
staffing, compensation
and training for
management of people.
do multitasking, I need
to take some learning
and development
classes. It will aid me
to work in more
effective and efficient
manner and also ensure
timely completion of
goals.
Days
Information
technology
2.5 5 HR professional must be
expert in the IT field so
that software and other
managing tools can be
used perfectly.
I have to take some
training session to
improve my IT skills
regarding knowledge
about various
software's operations,
etc..
40
Communicat
ion skills
3 5 HR professional should
have very effective
communication skills
which attract the persons
before him.
I have to enhance my
oral communication
skills by attending
more speech and other
similar programmes.
50
Problem
solving skill
4 5 HR plays an important
role in problem solving
among the employees so
that the conflicts may
not arise.
I have to engaging
more situational
management
programmes for
enhancing problem
solving techniques.
60
8

TASK 2
P3 Difference between organisation and individual learning, training and development
Individual learning: People require to have capability for working in a dynamic
organisation. For this, it is essential that an individual learn and gain new knowledge and
experience to conduct tasks effectively (Levi, 2015). Learning and development are tactics
through which a person increases skills to work in organisation in a team.
Organisation learning: Firms require that adequate number of manpower present for
execution of business activities effectively. This help people to have opportunity for working in
firm to gain monetary and non-financial incentives. Whirlpool is multinational firm so HR
professional provide facility to members to increase their skills and knowledge.
Difference between individual and organisation learning
Individual learning Organisation learning
This form of learning is related with
development of skills and knowledge of an
individual.
This is process through which capabilities of
workers are enhanced by working in team.
HR professional conduct performance
assessment which help them to gain
information about capabilities of people. Thus,
training are conducted for making them
complete tasks effectively.
Human resource provide facility to staff
members to learn new thing and experience by
working in organisation. Team working helps
employees to increase ability to make growth
in firm.
This form of learning focusses on improving
skills of individuals .
Organisational learning focusses on improving
skilled workforce of entire organisation thereby
leading to achievement of goals and objectives
within a specified time frame.
In individual learning stress is completely on
growth of individuals. Many a times in this
Organisational learning is a quite vast concept
as compared to individual process. It helps in
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organisational motives may get ignored. overall productivity enhancement of
individuals.
Training and development: These are activities which are undertaken by people for
enhancing their skills and knowledge. HR professional of Whirlpool require skilled and
competent members through which business activities are conducted effectively (McCormack,
Manley and Titchen, 2013). For this, training and development programmes i.e. sessions and
seminars are organised. Thus, employees capabilities are improved for making them utilise
growth opportunities.
Difference between training and development
Basis Training Development
Meaning This is an activity which is executed by
HR to enhance skills and knowledge of
staff members.
It is a process by which people
undertake learning classes for making
growth in career.
Duration It is a short-term process which
comprises fixed time period.
This is long- term activity which have
large life span as person can learn
things till last of their life.
Objective Training benefits staff member to
enhance capabilities for conducting
tasks in more effective manner.
Development aid employee to make
overall growth in their skill and
knowledge for increasing their job
status and position.
Career Training focusses at skill enhancement
for a specific job position or job title.
Also it provides about basic tools and
techniques which help them in
enhancing their efficiency.
Development is a continuous process
which focusses on growth of
individuals and tries to fetch their best
qualities thereby emphasizing on
building a well developed
professional career.
Aim Training aims at ensuring that
employees get well equipped with
skipriyanka.bishnoills thereby leading
Development aims at future growth
and have ample of skills so that they
can develop a conceptual framework
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to handling work and jobs in an
effective manner.
as well as general understanding of
the issue.
P4 Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
Continuous learning: This can refer to an activity by which skills and knowledge tactics
are expanded constantly through training and development programmes. There are rapid changes
in life of an individual which helps them to enhance their skill and capabilities both at personal
and professional level. Whirlpool is multinational firm so HR professional require staff members
who are able to conduct tasks in creative and innovative way (O'leary, Mortensen and Woolley,
2011). For this, seminars are organised through which employees can develop their skills and
knowledge. This benefit HR to sustain business performance by retaining talented people for
longer time.
Professional development: In organisation, HR professional require skilled and
competent people for attainment of objectives. For this, it is necessary that skill gap between less
effective and low performers are ascertained. This aid HR of Whirlpool to conduct sessions and
seminars for enhancing skills and knowledge of staff members.
Kolb's Learning Cycle theory
As per this theory, effective learning can be done only if it is continuously executed by
the organisation for all the employees.
Kolb's Learning Cycle theory, contains can four different elements which plays a
crucial role for continuous professional learning and development. Concrete Experience - The first stage is concrete learning where a new experience is
encountered by an individual through which he/she is not aware off. Reflective Observation of the New Experience - Under this, reflective observation of
experience could be considered as second stage which an individual himself focuses as
per the need or requirement and the experience that he/she have got related to the first
experience. Abstract Conceptualization - New ideas are formed by the individual on the basis of
reflection or existing ideas are modified.
 Active Experimentation - Application of ideas to his surroundings to develop an
understanding of the task assigned .
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Thus, continuous learning and professional development benefit HR professional in
business sustainability. Following are the importance of implementing continuous performance
development : Fill skills gap efficiently: Training and development helps HR professional to increase
knowledge and abilities of staff members. Performance assessment aid human resource of
Whirlpool to have information about skills deficiency in employees. For this, learning
programmes are conducted through which capabilities of individuals are enhanced to
make growth in career. Establish competitive edge in market: Continuous learning and professional
development benefit HR professional to have skilled and competent staff members. This
help human resource of Whirlpool to provide quality electronic appliances and services to
buyers. This result in creation of competitive advantage in respect to rival brands.
 Increase sales and profit: HR professional of Whirlpool conduct training and
development for professional development and continuous learning of staff members.
This help them to enhance skills and capabilities of employees for enhancing their morale
and motivation to conduct tasks effectively (Pinjani and Palvia, 2013). This result in
delivery of quality home appliances and services to customers for satisfying them. Thus,
buyers loyalty are created with benefit firm in increase of sales volume and revenue.
TASK 3
P5 HPW contribution to employee engagement and competitive advantage
High performance working system is aspect through which management practices are
carried by human resources to establish positive working environment in organisation. For this,
manager and workers involvement in decision-making process. This help top personnel to make
judgements which are beneficial for firm. HR professional of Whirlpool uses HPW tactic which
help them to enhance subordinates knowledge and skill by engaging them in meeting objectives.
Besides this, commitment and dedication of team members are also created by giving them value
and recognition. This technique benefits the situation of whirlpool because it provides a positive
environment to the professionals in the organization. In present organisational context, where
Whirlpool have kept its focus on restructuring their organisational structure, workforce, culture
and so on. With the help of this, they may easily raise ample number of competitive advantages.
12

This aid HR to retain skilled and competent people for longer time which benefit higher
authorities to create competitive advantage in respect to rival firms (Schaubroeck, Lam and
Peng, 2011). Thus, these are activities which are conducted by HR to engage employees to
construct competitive advantage are defined beneath: Human Resource Practices: Recruitment, selection, compensation, training and
development are activities which are conducted by HR professional. This help them to
have sufficient manpower for Whirlpool that are skilled to perform tasks proficiently.
Through training and development human resource is able to enhance capabilities of
members for making them perform tasks effectively. With this, individuals feel that they
are an important part of an organisation and thus, they deliver performance that is best to
their potential giving Whirlpool a competitive edge in market. As Whirlpool have kept its
focus on restructuring themselves. HR manager, would need to recruit or provide training
to individuals of staff as per the requirements because restructuring might bring many
alterations among organisational culture or structure.
 Team building: With the aid of practices like flexible working policies, training and
development program and more, managers of Whirlpool can gain advantage to develop
an effective team. It will help in getting cooperation of each team member in completing
major activities of business through which set objectives and goals can be achieved in
given period of time. When the authority and responsibility of each individual belonging
to a team are specified, the individual can work easily and perform in a manner that is
aligned towards achievement of organisational goals. Since restructuring have been taken
as a strategy which is being followed by Whirlpool, it might bring fear among employees
where it will be required for the Manager to give training to employees as restructuring
may bring fear among individuals of loosing their job.
Justifications : As the whirlpool is facing a huge problem regarding the team functioning
so that implementation of HPW is enable HR professional to use various tactics which aid for
this problem. Through HPW management practices are carried by human resources to establish
positive working environment in organisation. For this, manager and workers involvement in
decision-making process. This help top personnel to make judgements which are beneficial for
firm.
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TASK 4
P6 Evaluate different approaches for performance management
Performance management is activity which is conducted by human resource to assess
staff members contribution in organisation functionality and firm's growth. For this, HR
professional of Whirlpool uses performance appraisal techniques. This help them to compare
actual results with benchmarks to gain information about deviations (Seibert, Wang and
Courtright, 2011). Thus, human resource is able to provide feedback to employees for
encouraging and motivating them to perform tasks effectively. Henceforth, in respect to assess
workers performance, HR professional of Whirlpool uses different strategies and approaches
which are stated below:
Illustration 1: Performance Measurement Approaches
(Sources: Performance Measurement Approaches, 2018) Collaborative working: This tactic define that HR professional formulate team for
utilisation of resources effectively. Team working also aid them to attain business targets
effectively by making employees to function in group. For making staff members work in
collaboration, it is essential that human resource provide them grade in respect to team
goals. This help them to encourage and motivate team members to work in coordination
with each other. But at times, some individuals may not like to work in a team and resist
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performing in a collaborative manner which can hamper the overall performance of
organisation. So that this approach is less effective in high performance culture and
commitment in the Whirlpool’s business environment. Comparative approach: This is tactic through which HR professional compare work and
outcomes of employees with other members in team. Ranking technique is used by them
to give position to subordinates from high to low performers. This benefit human
resource to encourage and motivate staff members by providing them reward and
incentive in respect to their good performance. This approach may affect some
individuals negatively as an organisation consists of both exceptional and average
performing workers. When an excellent performer gets praise from the top management,
average performers may get a sense of insecurity and start feeling alienated from the
team. The comparative approach is much effective in supporting high performance
culture and commitment because it motivate the employees through ranking technique.
 Behavioural Approach: This aspect comprises different parameters in respect to
knowledge and skill that an individual require to possess to maintain relations with
others. Through BARS tool that is behavioural anchored rating scale, HR professional
measure performance of people in respect to other team members. Subordinates gain rank
in according to their behaviour with superior and colleagues in team (Approaches for
measuring performance of employees, 2018). Thus, human resource encourage them to
maintain relations with other team members. But not every individual possess same
attributes and skills required for the job role and thus judging their capabilities on the
basis of their behaviour at workplace may not be appropriate. Thus, at times using this
approach may not be feasible for the management of companies. Behavioural approach is
very effective in enhancing the whirlpool's team performance and supporting the high
performance cultural through different parameters in respect to knowledge and skill that
an individual require to possess to maintain relations with others. Through BARS tool
that is behavioural anchored rating scale, HR professional measure performance of
people in respect to other team members.
Thus, HR professional of Whirlpool uses collaborative, comparative and behavioural
approaches. These tactics help human resource to measure performance of employees for gaining
information about their capabilities. Thus, training and development sessions and seminars are
15

conducted by human resource. Through this, skills and knowledge of staff members are
enhanced for making them function effectively.
CONCLUSION
As per above report, it can be comprehended that HR professional require to have
knowledge about management principles, government law and personnel rules. It is necessary
that they have good communication and conflict management skills for having skilled and
competent people in organisation. Besides this, ethical behaviour and accountable behaviour aid
HR in maintaining relations with stakeholders. Organisation learning i.e. training and
development activities help HR to enhance skills and knowledge of people. Continuous learning
and professional development define constant expansion in skills of members. High performance
system benefit HR to make employees committed and dedicated towards firm. Comparative,
behavioural, result, quality and attribute are different performance management approaches
through which HR ascertain capabilities to conduct training and development activities.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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School.
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team skills are insufficient. The Journal of Business Communication (1973). 48(2).
pp.186-206.
Ford, J. K., 2014. Improving training effectiveness in work organizations. Psychology Press.
Gibbs, G., 2013. Reflections on the changing nature of educational development. International
Journal for Academic Development. 18(1). pp.4-14.
Goetsch, D. L. and Davis, S. B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Hirst, G. and et. al., 2011. How does bureaucracy impact individual creativity? A cross-level
investigation of team contextual influences on goal orientation–creativity relationships.
Academy of Management Journal. 54(3). pp.624-641.
Levi, D., 2015. Group dynamics for teams. Sage Publications.
McCormack, B., Manley, K. and Titchen, A. eds., 2013. Practice development in nursing and
healthcare. John Wiley & Sons.
O'leary, M. B., Mortensen, M. and Woolley, A. W., 2011. Multiple team membership: A
theoretical model of its effects on productivity and learning for individuals and
teams. Academy of Management Review. 36(3). pp.461-478.
Pinjani, P. and Palvia, P., 2013. Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual
teams. Information & Management. 50(4). pp.144-153.
Schaubroeck, J., Lam, S. S. and Peng, A. C., 2011. Cognition-based and affect-based trust as
mediators of leader behavior influences on team performance. Journal of Applied
Psychology. 96(4). p.863.
Seibert, S. E., Wang, G. and Courtright, S. H., 2011. Antecedents and consequences of
psychological and team empowerment in organizations: a meta-analytic review. Journal
of Applied Psychology. 96(5). p.981.
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Approaches for measuring performance of employees. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.projectguru.in/publications/approaches-measuring-performance-
employees/>.
Knowledge and skills required by HR professional. 2016. [Online]. Available through:<
https://workology.com/top-5-work-hr/ >.
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