Developing Individuals, Teams and Organisations

This report examines the importance of professional skills, knowledge, and behavior in developing individuals and organizations. It analyzes the case of Whirlpool Corporation, exploring the role of HR professionals, individual learning, organizational learning, and the impact of High Performance Working (HPW) on employee engagement and competitive advantage. The report also discusses various performance management approaches used to assess employee contributions and drive sustainable business performance.

DEVELOPING
INDIVIDUALS,
TEAMS AND
ORGANISATIONS

INTRODUCTION
Beyond abilities and other resources, professional skills, knowledge and behavior help in
development of individuals as well as organization as a whole. Expertise skills and specific
knowledge of individuals make them participative to accomplish organizational goals and
objectives. These self-motivated individuals are always ready for continuous learning to improve
their knowledge and learn something innovative (Starren, Hornikx and Luijters, 2013). In this
report, significance of professional skills and knowledge will be analyzed in context of
whirlpool, which is an American multinational company and manufactures and market home
appliances throughout the world. Apart from this, report will thoroughly analyze and highlight
the efficiencies of organizational learning as well as individual learning and also determine need
of training in Whirlpool to contribute in improving performances of individuals as well as team
to meet specific goals of the company. However this project will also focuses on High
Performance Working as well as different performance management approaches that promote
HPW practices in the organization.
TASK 1
P1 Professional knowledge, skills and behaviors required by HR professionals
To manage and motivate human resource in an organization, HR professionals play a
very important role. HR professionals manages different task like recruitments and staffing,
compensation designing, training and coaching as well as resolving conflicts within Whirlpool
Corporation.
Skills of HR professional: An efficient HR professional must carries a specific set of
skills to manage different operations related to human resource management in Whirlpool. Some
skills are that a HR must have to get successful in HR operations are like multitasking,
communication and interpersonal skills, negotiation, problem solving as well as conflict
management etc.
Purpose and need of professional skills in HR: Active listening and efficient
interpersonal skills help an HR manager to negotiate with employees and get the work done from

them in specific time duration. Skills like problem solving and critical thinking make the HR
professional to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions and
strategies to solve different problems arising in managing HR at Whirlpool. Monitoring and
reviewing performances effectively help the HR manager to identify need of training and
coaching for the employees. In addition, by thorough knowledge of employees as well as their
performances HR professionals are able to design attractive remuneration and benefits plan
(Salas and et. al., 2015).
Knowledge of HR professional: To manage performances of employees effectively
human resource professionals at Whirlpool must have profound knowledge of administration and
management, language and communication, customer and personal service knowledge,
individual psychology as well as laws and policies of Government to run a successful business.
Purpose and need of Professional knowledge in HR: Effective knowledge of HR
professional in their specific field helps them to manage business assets carefully and
beneficially. Knowledge in administration and management involves strategic planning, resource
allocation, leadership techniques as well as coordination of people and resources. Knowledge of
language helps in attractive designing of HR policies for employees and builds a strong bridge to
communicate with them. Better understanding of human psychology help HR professionals to
understand and motivate employees (Ramthun, A.J. and Matkin, G.S., 2012).
Behavior of HR Professional: Patience and endurance must be there in managing human
assets of a business. Attitudes like leadership, inspiring and delegator, decision making as well as
smartly judgmental and open minded or perception are the indicators of professional attitudes
and behavior in an HR at Whirlpool.
Purpose and need of Behavior of HR Professional: Attitudes and behavior help a HR
professional to strongly maintain employee relation at Whirlpool and in providing pleasant
working environment to employees. Good and efficient leadership assist in supporting and
guiding employees to perform better in their job. It is essential to have professional attitude and
behavior for a HR manager to delegate work to correct person as well as to be problem solving
for all employees in different business situations (McCann and Selsky, 2012).

These professional skills, knowledge and behavior carried by a HR consultant or manager
help in overall development Whirlpool as it manages the most important asset that is human
resource in their company. They all plays a very important role producing correct work, by using
optimum resources form employees in a specific time duration that further contribute in
achieving organizational goals and objective.
P2 Personal skills audit
A personal skill audit is a perfect way for individuals to determine and improve their
existing strengths and weaknesses as well as it’s their need to develop a healthy environment. It
is been proved that very successful business person as well as professionals keep themselves on
their career track which is beneficial for them to stand steady and meet the requirements of
changing trends in a business. The personal skills depend on different areas of a business and this
analysis and highlight some major personal attributes and skills required for a bright and smooth
career (Kozlowski and Bell, 2013). Personal skills that must be carried by HR professionals at
Whirlpool are as following:
Time Management: An individual should be able to manage time and perform their task
appropriately in given time in personal as well as professional situations. These skills can be
improved by accepting time-bound challenges and participating in time concerned quizzes. This
can be evaluated and supervised by superiors as well as self-evaluation can be done to notice
changes or improvement in skills. Time management improvisation takes two to three months for
successful improvement.
Communication Skills: In corporate sector, smooth communication skills help in
presentation of thoughts and ideas to others as well as in negotiation with other to earn more
beneficial deals. Communication skills can be evaluated by mangers, subordinates and peers and
can be improved by participating in presentations, group discussions and debates. These skills
take around four to five months in improvement by an employee (Hunter and Cushenbery, 2011).
Leadership: To influence others in personal and professional, effective leadership plays
very important role. Leadership is all about mapping out where an individual need to go and to
win as a team or an organization. This skill is dynamic, exciting and inspiring. These skills can
be managed by partipating in group activities and taking responsibility to fulfill specific tasks.

Leadership skills can be evaluated by team leaders and managers. To improve leadership skills
an employee take five to six months approx (Hughes and Jones, 2011).
Problem-solving: This is about critical thinking and decision making skills of individual
that is useful in smooth business functioning. This skill is evaluated by subordinates,
management as well as other employees. Problem-solving skills can be sharpening in about four
to five months by taking part in different business situations and providing ideas by thinking out
of the box.
Skill audit plan is explained below:
S. No Competencies and skills Self assess score Score from
others
Variances
1 Team building activity 7 7 0
2 Problem solving activity 8 8 0
3 Decision making capacity 7 9 2
4 Confidence level 8 9 1
5 Efficient communication
skills
7 8 1
7 Information technology
skills
8 7 1
8 Time management 6 7 -1
Negative variance shows the weak points and positive variance shows strong points of
employees.
Strengths and weakness according to personal audit plan are discussed as follows:
Strengths Weakness

 My team building skills are effective
through which I can manage the
members of my team.
 My decision making skills are also
good through which I can make quick
and effective decisions for the
betterment of all workers.
 My time management skills are also
good for effectively managing my time
in executing the assigned work.
 My problems solving skills lacks
sometimes due to which I face problems
in solving the complex problems.
 My technical skills also lacks due to
which I faces several problems in
handling the software associated with
my work.
Personal development plan: This plan is useful for describing the existing performance
and target objectives. This plan also explains the development opportunities, learning goals,
criteria for judging success, time scale and evidence etc. Personal development plan created by
HR of Whirlpool are described below:
Learning
objective
Current
proficiency
Target
proficiency
Development
opportunities
Time
Scale
Evaluation
by
Problem
solving skills
My problems
solving skills lacks
sometimes due to
which I face
problems in solving
the complex
problems of
employees.
I want to
improve
these skills
for
providing
effective
and quick
solutions to
the
problems of
employees.
For developing these
skills, I can read
different articles and
business reports or
researches, as well as
have current
knowledge about
current business
trends and
environment
2-3
months
Subordinat
es
employees
and
manager
Information My technical skills I need to These skills can 3-4 Team

technology
skills
also lacks due to
which I faces
several problems in
handling the
software associated
with my work
which will hamper
my performance.
improve
these skills
for properly
using the
computer
and software
for
managing
the workers.
improve by attending
several training
sessions. This is
helpful for using the
various software in
proper manner.
months leader,
manager
and
employees
TASK 2
P3 Differentiating individual learning and organizational learning; training and development
Success of an organization is a result of perfection, hard work, urge of continuous
learning even after failures and persistence of individuals as well as team. Learning contributes
in achieving goals and objectives of Whirlpool. Individual learning can be differentiated from
organizational learning in following manner:
Basis of
Comparison
Individual Learning Organizational Learning
Meaning Individual learning is the capacity
of employees at Whirlpool to
improve and build knowledge by
individual experiences and
surroundings (Hoefling, 2012).
Theorist Brown and Duguid in 1991
have defined Organizational learning
as a bridge that is created between
work and innovation in an
organization like Whirlpool.
Purpose and
Orientation
This is long term approach that
helps in development of individuals
as well as makes them innovative.
It is a short term learning approach
that provides building knowledge to
accomplish specific goals of
Whirlpool.
Objective Individual learning is a continuous Organizational approaches aim to

learning that focuses on a person’s
development in personal as well as
professional manner working in
Whirlpool.
improve and sharpen as well as
update existing knowledge of
employees that contributes in smooth
functioning of Whirlpool.
Training helps in nurturing skills and knowledge of individuals as well as team performance and
builds expertise within them. Training can be differentiated from development in following
manner:
Basis of Comparison Training Development
Meaning In whirlpool, training
contributes in providing
opportunities to employees to
develop their skills,
competency and knowledge as
per the requirements of job.
For employees at Whirlpool,
development plays as an
educational process that
improves overall growth and
performance of them.
Orientation It is a short term orientation
that is concerned with specific
Job.
It is a long term and career
oriented approach and aims
on conceptual as well as
general knowledge.
Focus and Objectives
Training focuses on present
goals to improve work
performances of employees at
Whirlpool.
This focuses on future goals
of individuals as well as
company and prepares
employees for future
challenges.
Source of Motivation Efficient training targets many
individuals where motivation
is provided by trainer.
Individuals are themselves
responsible for their self-
motivation towards
developing their knowledge
(Hoda, Noble and Marshall,
2012).

Through the training and development, Whirlpool can enhance the skills and knowledge
of their employees through which they can effectively execute their assigned work. Through the
training and development, the passion and zeal of the workers can improve which will assist the
firm in accomplishing the desired organizational objectives. The operations of Whirlpool can run
smoothly and successfully after the training sessions of employees. The training and
development also increases the efficiency and performance of the employees for performing
better at the job. This leads to improved productivity and performance of the firm in the market.
Through the training and development, workers can work systematically for getting remarkable
results.
P4 Need of continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performances
Learning is an essential process that every individual do whether consciously or
unconsciously and plays as fundamental requirement for existence to them. Continuous learning
as well as professional development both contributes to run sustainable business performance of
Whirlpool in following manner:
Continuous Leaning: At personal level it is concerned about constant expansion of
existing set of skills through learning and increasing knowledge to become adaptive for different
changes and trends of surroundings whereas in professional level it focuses on further expansion
of skills in response to dynamic business situations at Whirlpool as well as new development
(Hitt and et. al., 2011).
Investing in people is a more-welcomed culture that is playing a major role in training of
existing employees rather than hiring new people which is a costly process for Whirlpool
Corporation. Continuous learning help in business development at the same company in
following manner:
Remain Pertinent: Constant learning ensures that the employees of Whirlpool do not
feel left behind and help them to remain applicable and relevant to participate successfully in
business goals of Whirlpool (Erez and et. al., 2013).

Become Proactive: Employees adopts unexpected changes and prepared for them in
advance by the help of continuous leaning. This also helps them to think out of box and step out
of their comfort zone in different business situations at Whirlpool.
Innovation: Lifelong learning helps to spark new ideas in employees at Whirlpool and
help them to find out innovative solutions to problems.
Perspective: Continuous learning open minds of individuals at Whirlpool and changes
their attitudes towards their existing knowledge by building different perception of employees in
Whirlpool (Ellison and et. al., 2015).
Professional Development: This is a process a updating existing skills and knowledge in
specific job or department, which is concerned with making an employee update to current
trends and techniques to deal with different business situations at Whirlpool. It improves and
increase capabilities of employees through education and training opportunities in organization
by following teammates or mentors or by observing external organizations. In addition, it also
help in building as well as maintaining morale of staff members, and aim to attract higher quality
staff in an organization (Zedeck, 2011).
TASK 3
P5 Contribution of HPW to employee engagement and competitive advantage
Employee engagement is an extent to which employees feel commitment towards their
job and organization as well with its values, goals and objectives. This is employee’s
participation in completing organizational goals as well as finding value in their work.
Competitive advantage can be identified by its four indicators like sales growth, market-share,
shareholder value and profitability. There are various keys that help in unlocking employee’s
potential that enhance employee engagement in Whirlpool as well as increase its competitive
advantage, such as following:
Recognizing employees and know them better: Being familiar with employees and using
their details and knowledge to serve them better workplace environment motivates them and help
them to serve better to customers which automatically increases Whirlpool’s market share and
profitability.

Providing growth opportunities to employees: Challenges develop knowledge and boost
critical thinking that employees must have to excel their jobs which help in making their job
more interesting as well innovating at Whirlpool.
Involving employees: This practice includes open and clear communication between
employer and employees, gathering their inputs and let them perform effectively by involving
them in organizational decision making (Dulebohn and Hoch, 2017).
Rewarding Employees: By delivering a fair and meaningful deal to employees on their
performance in achieving goals at whirlpool successfully will make them believe that they are
getting right treatment and appreciation. This will further make them to give more time and
efforts to perform better and increase their commitment towards Whirlpool.
Continuous professional development will benefit the firms practising HPW organisation
in achieving their goals and targets more desirably. CPD will benefits in training and developing
the skills & capabilities of employees in Whirlpool in a more desirable manner. Due to which
they will be able to perform well in complex working situations also. High performance working
will allow the Whirlpool to gain competitive advantage over rival companies. But along with
CPD, working potential will considerably improve due to which tasks will be carried out
effectively and in a timely manner.
TASK 4
P6 Various performance management approaches
Performance measurement of employees is done by assessing contribution of individual
employees in organizational growth. Performance management refers to evaluation of
employees, providing constructive feedback to them as well as supporting them to improve their
future performances in Whirlpool, where employee’s performance depends on their work profile,
work place environment, rewards and bonus, job satisfaction, technology as well as company
policies (Chaskalson, 2011). Considering these factors employee’s contribution in overall
organizational development can be analyzed by following approaches:
Comparative Approach: It is implemented successfully in Whirlpool by ranking an
employee’s performances by comparing it with other team members. Individuals are ranked as

highest performer to lowest on the basis of their performance in presenting their efforts or
performance to accomplish goals. There are various techniques to implement comparative
approach like forced-distribution approach, paired comparison approach and graphical rating
scale method. Forced distribution technique is applied by ranking employees in groups. Paired
comparison involves the process where Whirlpool will compare its one employee’s performance
with other and assign them scores to know highest performer. The third method of comparative
approach is graphical rating approach ranks of individuals are marked in a graphical pattern to
know highest and lowest performer in increasing profitability of Whirlpool. Employees are
marked as one to five where one stands for lowest performance and five for highest performance
of employees (Berry, 2011)
Attribute Approach: A specific set of parameters are chosen to rate employee’s
performance such as problem solving skills, teamwork, innovation and decision making skills.
For Whirlpool, it is beneficial method of performance analysis due to its simplicity. Fairness of
this approach depends on the nature of its evaluator.
Result-based Approach: This is straight forward concept where Whirlpool can rate on the
basis of results generated from their employee’s performances. This approach is divided into two
categories that is balanced score-card technique which focuses on following four perspectives
such as finance, customer, internal operations, as well as growth and learning. The other
technique is productivity measurement and evaluation system, which is effective in motivating
employees to enhance productivity of Whirlpool and measure the feedback. This approach will
be advantageous at Whirlpool as it converts strategies into operations with more efforts and
dedication.
Behavioral Approach: It consists of vertical scales for different parameters of a job at
Whirlpool and can be analyzed by using BARS technique. The Behaviorally Anchored Rating
Scale (BARS) is a method that consists of five to ten vertical scales based on various parameter
or anchors, which are decided by employers of the company. After deciding the parameters,
employees are then ranked on each of the anchors according to their efforts and performances.
Quality Approach: By improving customer satisfaction and reducing errors in serving them as
well continuous service improvisation Whirlpool can improve its market. Therefore this
approach focuses on improving customer satisfaction only by assessing both people as well as

system factors both. In this approach employers take regular feedback about the personal and
professional traits of employees from their managers, team leaders, subordinates and clients to
resolve performance issues. This approach work using multiple sources to evaluate performance
and involve both internal as well as external business factors (Al-Ani, Horspool and Bligh,
2011).
Balanced score card: It is a performance metrics which assists strategic management in
improving and identifying different intrinsic functions of a company and their associated
outcomes. This will helps the manager of Whirlpool in providing and evaluating feedbacks to the
company. These feedbacks will assists the companies in performance management by specifying
them which aspects they need to incorporate or eliminate to manage the performance of
employees. Four perspectives associated with balanced score card are mentioned below:
 Financial perspective: It uses finance performance measures, like ROI and net income
as all profit based organisation uses them. This perspective provides analysing and
comparing organisation and comparing the financial performance of Whirlpool.
 Customer perspective: In this perspective, the managers of Whirlpool identifies the
customer segments and market segments in which the business unit of Whirlpool will
compete. The outcome of this perspective can be measured with the help of customer
satisfaction, loyalty of customers towards the product, etc.
 Internal-business-process perspective: This perspective of Balanced Scoreboard, the
managers of Whirlpool identifies the processes by which the company can retain its
customers and provide them value through their products. It also includes satisfying the
shareholders of the company by providing them sufficient financial returns on their
investment.
 Learning and growth perspective: In this perspective, the learning growth and
perspective is focused on the capabilities of the people that how much they care capable
of doing the work they are provided with. The managers of Whirlpool will be responsible
for developing the employee relation with the company, their retention period with the
company and the level of satisfaction that they are getting from job provided to them.

CONCLUSION
In the above report, it is been concluded that learning plays crucial in accomplishing
goals and objectives of an organization successfully as well as in individual career development.
This report has shown different skill set and knowledge as well as attitude that must be carried
by HR professionals as well as efficiencies personal skills that are required for a successful HR
consultant that help in strategic planning of a company and increase and improve employee
commitment. In addition to this, report also carries significance of different learning programs
that can be conducted to improve efficiencies of employees in their personal as well as
professional aspects. However, this project has also highlighted the contribution of High
Performance Working in an organization to boost its market share and profitability as well as in
managing its competitive advantage. Furthermore, some performance management approaches
are also shown to measure performance of individuals in a firm to promote effective decision
making and planning process.

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