HRM and Performance Work Systems

This assignment delves into the world of human resource management (HRM) and high-performance work systems (HPWS). It presents a collection of research articles and studies that examine the effects of HPWS on organizational performance, employee outcomes, and HR business models. From the role of social capital in mediating the relationship between HPWS and organizational effectiveness to the impact of HPWS on job satisfaction and intention to quit, this assignment provides a comprehensive overview of the subject. With references to articles from top-tier journals such as Management International Review, Human Resource Management Journal, and Employee Relations, this assignment is ideal for students and researchers looking to deepen their understanding of HRM and HPWS.

Developing
Individuals, Teams
and Organisations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Determine appropriate and professional knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required
by HR professionals.....................................................................................................................1
P2 Analyse a completed personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and
behaviours and develop a professional development plan for a given job role...........................4
P3. Analysing differences between organisational and individual learning, training and
development.................................................................................................................................6
P4 Analysing the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance................................................................................................8
P5 Demonstrating understanding of HPW system and its contribution towards employee
engagement and competitive advantage within M&S.................................................................9
P6 Evaluating different approaches to performance management with specific examples of
their support towards high- performance culture and commitment...........................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The current report is on the importance of developing the team and individuals of a well-
known retail organisation named Marks and Spencer’s (M&S) to further develop themselves in a
contending set of market. This is on considering yet another main aspect of handling employee’s
in the most strategic way rather only building operational strategies to work upon. It is important
in terms of building a competitive edge to perform in the market with good deeds and undertake
effective practices of continuous learning and development (Van De Voorde and Beijer, 2015).
Although, this together leads to create a culture of high performance work system at the
workplace which is beneficial for the enterprise to attain competitive advantages and perform in
a highly intense marketplace which is full of challenges. M&S with a foundation year of 134
years is operating at a global level with its headquarter in London, UK. Currently dealing with
more than 85, 000 employees, it is required to adopt continual strategies of development for its
workers.
P1 Determine appropriate and professional knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required by
HR professionals.
It has been determined that, human resource management responsibilities need a lot of
skills and competencies to work effectively (Eccleston, 2014).
Skills required by Marks & Spencer's HR professional: -
Active listening This skill of HR focuses on giving complete
attention to what other individuals are saying.
The HR professional in the company must
listen proper to others, take time to understand
it, ask questions to avoid misunderstanding.
Critical thinking skills In Marks & Spencer, the HR professionals are
expected to be critical thinkers in order to
balance tough situations. Various employees,
comes from different background, so it is the
duty of HR professional to create such
surroundings in which all can work together,
using his/her critical thinking skills (Beaman-
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Evans, Chapman and Bowen-Jones, 2015.).
Communications The key function of the HR professional
involves facilitating the discussion between
workers and employers. As it has been
determined that, if HR professionals does not
able to communicate properly then they will
not be successful.
Human resource organisational It has been stated that, the more organised HR
professionals will be the more they will remain
ahead and will have enough time to do other
things they would like to do. Organising files,
good time management and efficiency are vital
to HR effectiveness.
Dual focus In today's business world, employees expect
the HR professionals to advocate for their
concerns. For this, the Human resource
professionals need to be dual focused as there
are times when they may have to take
decisions to prevent an individual & other time
when they need to protect the company's
culture or values (Cohen, 2015).
Knowledge required by human resource professionals in Marks & Spencer.
Employees and human resources It is considered as the most crucial knowledge
of principles & processes required by HR
professionals for recruiting employees, their
selection, training and benefits.
Administration and management Understanding of business & management
principles involved in resource allocation,
strategic planning, production methods and so
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on.
Customer & personal service Proper understanding of processes for giving
the best customer and personal services.
Consumer’s needs, meeting quality standards
and customer satisfaction, all comes under
these services.
Law & government Knowledge of legislations, legal codes, court
procedures, government rules, etc. is
essentially required by HR professionals in
order to avoid any disruption in the functioning
of the company.
Education & training In depth understanding of methods and
approaches for curriculum and training design,
guiding and teaching employees and giving
them instructions (Gubbins and Garavan,
2016).
Safety and security of public Knowledge of relevant tools, policies,
equipment’s and strategies to enhance national
security operations for the protection of people
& organisation.
Behavioural skills required by HR professionals
Stress tolerance HR professionals working in Marks & Spencer
requires a behaviour of accepting nature i.e.
accepting criticism and dealing with it
patiently & effectively.
Dependability They are required to be reliable, accountable,
responsible and dependable.
Self-control HR professional post requires maintaining self-
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control, controlling anger, and neglecting
aggressive behaviour.
Concern for others Moreover, being sensitive towards other,
concerning for employees and being
understandable on the job, is another key
behavioural trait of HR professional (Turley,
Humphrey and Richard, 2016).
P2 Analyse a completed personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and
behaviours and develop a professional development plan for a given job role.
A skills audit refers to a written document that clearly describes personal skills and skills
that are required to have and also how to advance existing skills.
Skills Personal audit 1 2 3 4 5
Active listening Proactive in listening to others. X
Critical thinking skills Can be a critical thinker at job X
Communications Good in presenting myself in
front of other.
X
Team work Good to get along with other
people.
X
Problem solving Good in thinking wisely to
resolve ant problem.
X
Based on my personal skills audit given above, demonstrates that although active
listening skills and team work are good but they can be improved further in order to assist me in
enjoying more successful relationships with others with the organisation. According to the audit
my critical thinking and problem-solving skills are poor, although problem solving skills are OK
but still I need to improve it (Stewart, 2016). Moreover, my communications skills are stating
very good but steps will be taken to maintain it at number 5. But first I have to start with critical
thinking and problem-solving skills as it is considered essential for solving fights or conflicts at
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workplace. In addition, I can acquire maximum benefits from mastering in critical thinking skills
such as; self-disciplines, better control of my own learning and self-corrective thinking.
Furthermore, effective problem-solving skills, will allow me to analyse issues, figure out
problems and evaluate the influence of alternative solutions at the workplace. The procedure of
working through details of a problem to meet a solution is known as problem solving. Effective
listening is considered as even more important as for holding managerial post. Learning the
information properly will allow me completely use my knowledge.
Personal development plan refers to the process of making an action plan on the basis of
awareness, values, goal setting, and planning for personal development within the context of
self-improvement or career (Ulrich and Brockbank, 2016).
Skills Benefits Resources Time frame
Critical thinking Better control over my
own learning and
empathy and to take
decisions effectively.
Take part in decision
making sessions,
training programs, and
interact with
professionals from
same field.
4 months
Problem solving Will allow me to
identify problem,
assess its risk and the
find alternative
solutions to solve it.
Participate in group
activities, and attend
training programs.
3 months
Active listening It will enhance my
ability to obtain and
pass on the
information given at
the time of exchange
of messages.
Attend seminars,
meetings, conferences
where I will be able to
interact with
professionals.
2 months
Team work Increased efficiency,
increases shared
Openly Communicate
with team members to
3 months.
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knowledge at place of
work.
know their ideas,
views and motivate
their performances.
P3. Analysing differences between organisational and individual learning, training and
development.
Organizational learning is defined as the process that helps in creating, designing,
retaining and transferring knowledge from one to another within a particular organization
(Chatterjee, Pereira and Bates, 2018). Thus, it later leads in improving M&S by gaining
experience that is suitable overtime.
Individual learning is the terms that refers to as training that is individualized which helps
the individuals in order to consider differences between the learners and is used in one to one
situation approximately.
Training and development refer to as function which has been concerned with activity
of organization that later leads in increasing performance of employees working in M&S
(Sitzmann and Weinhardt, 2018). Further, the differences between organizational and
individual learning training and development has been discussed as per below context-
Bases of comparison Organisational learning
training and development
Individual learning training
and development
Meaning It is termed as a way that helps
in creating new knowledge
that leads in self-improvement.
It means the capacity that
builds personal knowledge
through reflection about
external sources.
Time It is for short time period. It is for long period of time.
Focus The main focus of
organisational learning is to
put consideration over present
that leads them in working in
well manner.
The main focus of individual
learning is to work in order to
put their consideration over
things that are related to future
that leads in grooming
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themselves effectively.
Aim The main aim is to get related
with specific job.
Their main aim is to provide
conceptual and general
knowledge.
Based on It is completely based upon job
oriented.
It is based upon career oriented
completely.
Objectives The main objective of
organisational learning is to
improve performance of
employees that are involved in
M&S.
The objective of of individual
learning is to help workers by
preparing them to face new
challenges that might come in
future.
Impact This type of training creates
positive impact upon M&S as
well as upon employees. Thus,
it will help in raising
productivity as well as
profitability.
This makes the person learn
many new things that leads in
grabbing many opportunities
that will relate to them in the
future.
High level critical thinking They must develop critical
thinking that may help them in
carrying out the organisational
activities in effective and
efficient manner.
The individual that is belonged
to any group that also will be
helpful in order to enhance
knowledge and skills of a
particular person.
Training The training can be provided
with help of manager or any
other person or is organised
mainly by M&S itself. Thus,
this helps in undertaking
things in effective manner.
In this type of learning, the
person can also undergo the
voluntary training that helps
individual in gaining the
ability in order to enhance his
knowledge towards the work.
Affects This training mainly affects This type of learning affects
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the employees by easily
enhancing their skills that
helps in attaining goals related
to the employee themselves or
to company.
directly to skills of individuals
that are helpful for them to
improve in the future.
P4 Analysing the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable
business performance
Continuous learning is apparent to exists at 3 distinct levels namely, individual, group and
organisation. At personal or individual level, continuous learning is referred to a continual
expansion of one’s own skills and abilities to learn on regular basis. It thereby assists in regular
upgradation of existent skill sets to further increase it to a greater extent (Heffernan and Dundon,
2016). However, it together helps the individuals in becoming successful towards adapting the
fluctuating demands of both their work and life. Such effective practice of continues learning
together assists them to effortlessly operate at the workplace with an urge of attaining the targets
on time. Although, change in life necessitate the individuals to adapt the variations realistically,
in both their personal and professional life.
At professional level, continuous learning is about further expansion of the skills to
respond towards the new developmental areas showcasing change. This is for instance,
introduction of new procedural systems at the workplace or changed policies, etc. In
organisations like M&S, continuous learning is specially in regard to shape up a team that is
comfortable towards adapting a changed business environment (Chang, 2015). It is essential in
terms of meeting up the fluctuating economic environment of its market that is demanding the
teams to stay updated about the latest technical aspects along with some other requisite changes
by remaining flexible towards its adoption. The concept of continuous learning is directly related
to the substantiality of the business and is important in driving improved outcomes.
It is basically in context to embrace a culture of investing in people by training the workers
instead of hiring a new workforce. Despite of being much costly, this is an efficient method of
retaining talent and creating a pool of proficient workers in M&S. This not only develops the
employees at personal level, but also professionally to fulfil the changing market demands (Jiang
and Liu, 2015). Besides this, a sense of trust is also developed among the workers to stay
engaged as well as interested in the new addition of skills into their arsenal. By which, they
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equally get concerned about timely attainment of organisational goals and objectives, in a
standardised manner. Also, it is a mean of showing that employees are an utmost valuable asset
for the company and are worth investing in.
Development of such positive sense in employees motivates them to participate and
contribute in accomplishing the set targets of M&S with a better sense of commitment in them.
This in turn makes them productive to achieve profitable outcomes (Cook and et. Al., 2017). In
addition to this, there together exists several other benefits of continuous professional
development to entities like M&S. This includes empowering the workers to learn as well as
work simultaneously with less or no stress and a greater level of productivity. It is together
expected to give a contending edge to M&S by inspiring a collaborative culture at their
workplace.
P5 Demonstrating understanding of HPW system and its contribution towards employee
engagement and competitive advantage within M&S
HPW System is a work system which is all together a set of management practices that
attempt to create a working environment within the organisation itself and focuses on greater
involvement and responsibility of employee (Jiang, Chuang and Chiao, 2015). Now, it mainly
emphasizes on what work a company like M&S is required to take from the employee, designing
the job, identifying and attracting the type of employee who is actually required to be hired for
that job, lastly, it involves evaluating the performance of employee and counterbalancing it in the
appropriate manner so that, the employee stay for a longer time with the organization.
Contribution Towards Employee Engagement: - High Performance Work System
influences employee creativity. Those employees who are highly involved in conceiving,
designing and implementing the work place process are highly occupied and perform better
(Fabi, Lacoursière and Raymond, 2015). Main thing here is when the employees are having
power do decision making on their own related to the performance, can access the complete
information regarding the cost of company and revenue, having the required knowledge for
completion of assigned task are when rewarded for their outstanding work are counted as more
productive and efficient. For obtaining good results, it should be used on global level.
The organizations like M&S that want to ameliorate their performance can use a
aggregation of such HR systems to get these improvements. Each administrative division should
set some measurable goals in line with the indicators like: - Customer Satisfaction; Operational
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and Maintenance Expenditure; Construction Expenditure; Nuclear Performance; Shareholders
Value Returns on Assets (Demirbag and et. al., 2014). In addition to all these, company can use
some measurable reward strategies so as to improve the performance of employees. Firms
following this HPW system, tend to invest in more sophisticated HRM Practices which further
helps in enhancing the organisation performance. The notion of HPW system originated from
U.S. A key premise that runs over here is HPW depends on the positive attitude and response of
employees. Economic performance might incorporates short /long run financial outcomes and
performance of organisation may extend to wide notions of social lawfulness or CSR.
Beside this, HPW system together consists of various other benefits such as an improved
employee attitude where they genuinely cooperate in the attainment of organizational goals.
Also, better financial results are found to be yet another significant benefit of HPW system that
drives contending benefits for entities like M&S (Jiang and Liu, 2015). It provides an insight of
performing better in the market and compact the state of rivalry. As a result, to which HPW
system has become an immensely vital source of contending benefits with a capable HR
workforce to identify, select, retain and motivate talented set of employees to perform in a well
competent manner.
P6 Evaluating different approaches to performance management with specific examples of their
support towards high- performance culture and commitment
This is mainly on considering a fact in whose accordance, the organisations who tends to
concentrate more on managing performance of their business in a healthy way are more apparent
to generate profitable results. It is therefore with a similar consideration of M&S who is required
to undertake some effective approaches of performance management to support a high-
performance culture at the workplace to further build a greater sense of commitment in their
employees (Barrett, 2018). It however necessitates the organisation to implement effective
strategies of leadership for embarking a desirable position in the future. This is because an HPW
culture is evident to provide several contending benefits to M&S for combating an intense state
of rivalry in the sector. M&S is hereby required to modify their previously adopted strategies of
performance management to build an HPW system at the workplace that together enhances the
commitment level of its workers at a greater pace. It can be done by applying certain advanced
measures of performance appraisals, as stated below-
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 720-degree appraisal- This is the latest method of appraising the performances of
employees in M&S, backed up the old method of 360-degree appraisals. In this, both
internal as well as external stakeholders play a significant role in determining the success
of the enterprise (Chang, 2015). The additional groups involve consumers, suppliers and
investors who are accountable to rate the performance of the employees. This is a proven
method that allows better assessment with improved feedback from distinct dimensions.
This in turn assists in building an improved and co-operative team of individuals having
an enhanced morale towards the achievement of overall business goals. Lastly, it is
assistive in inspiring transparency with a feeling of fair treatment, among the workers. Psychological appraisal method- This is used for assessing the potential of workers to
perform in the future. It hereby deviates from the performances that are carried out by
the employees in the past and thus includes a psychologist for the same. The appointed
psychologist conducts several psychological tests, in depth interview, directly with the
employees and discussions with their superiors along with the reviews of other
evaluations (Fu and et.al., 2015). It is generally useful in determining the emotional,
motivational and intellectual features of the employees with anything else, the
administration is convened about and is required to forecast his or her capability to
perform effectively in the future.
 Human resource accounting method- This has an essential role of human resource
personnel of M&S to analyse the net contribution of the workers to the enterprise in
monetary terms (Stewart, 2016). It is usually assistive in allocating, reporting and
budgeting the costs of human capital, involving their wages, earnings and expenses
related to training, etc. It is done on considering the workers an asset to relatively find
out their worth in monetary aspects by calculating their contribution in the attainment of
business goals. Preferably, the part of contribution must be higher than the incurred costs
on them and the acquired difference depicts the performances carried out by the
employees. Assessment centre method- This being another advanced method of performance
evaluation is used to assess the individuals in distinct social circumstances with the help
of various procedures. This assists in assessing both performance as well as potential of
employees in M&S by in- basket exercises and business game roles, etc., (Chang, 2015).
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Personal interview as well as projective tests are also a part of this assessment method
and assists in determining the dependency, level of motivation and career orientation of a
worker on others. Written tests form a part of it to measure the intellectual ability of the
employees, designed by the senior managers. Overall, the main agenda of this technique
is to analyse the ability of planning, interpersonal as well as organisational skills in a
worker.
CONCLUSION
The present report is in context to train and develop the individuals in an organisation on
regular basis. For which, it is important for the firms to undertake certain feasible strategies to
help them learn on regular basis. This study is also based on a similar consideration of M&S in
which, their HR’s are bound to play an essential role of training and developing their hired set of
workers. It is effective in terms of implementing an idea of continual learning in the workers to
help them develop both their personal and professional skills. This in turn is apparent to create a
sense of motivation in them to perform better and generate constructive outcomes. It is hereby
segregated in 4 major parts demonstrating the knowledge, skills and behaviour of HR
professionals in M&S. Followed by which, there existed the factors that are considered to be
important for an effective application and assessment of inclusive learning at the workplace. This
is basically to drive sustainable performance of business with assistance of high performance
work system and effective approaches of performance management.
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REFERENCES
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organisational ambidexterity. Human Resource Management Journal. 25(1). pp.79-101.
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Cohen, D.J., 2015. HR past, present and future: A call for consistent practices and a focus on
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Online
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