Importance of Continuous Learning and Professional Development for Sustainable Business Performance

Developing Individuals, Teams
and Organisations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Knowledge, skills and behaviours required by HR professional...........................................1
P2 Completed personal skills for professional development plan .............................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Difference between organisational and individual learning, training and development........5
P4 Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance.................................................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 High performance working contributes to employee engagement and competitive
advantage.....................................................................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P6 Approaches to performance management .............................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
High performing teams are very important for organisation through which individuals
also learn to enhance their knowledge, skill and behaviour. Firm need to develop both individual
as well as team for achieving goal and objective of firm. It is interconnectedness between
effectiveness of team, individual and organisation which warrant companies to consider people
development as an essential parts. Given assignment is based on Whirlpool which was
incorporated in 1911 at United states dealing in home appliances. Here will be discussion about
knowledge, skills and behaviour required by human resource professional which can be analysed
through personal skill audit for development plan (Caroline Martins and Meyer, 2012).
Organisational and individual learning, training and development along with learning cycle for
sustainable business performance. Different approaches are used for performance management
and high performing working contributes in employee engagement and competitive advantage.
TASK 1
P1 Knowledge, skills and behaviours required by HR professional
It is the responsibility of HR to recruit employees with sound mind and outstanding skills
to achieve the objectives of the organisation. However, it is required from the HR professionals
of Whirlpool to possess certain skills, knowledge and behaviour to increase the overall
productivity of the firm.
The skills required by HR professionals are as follows:
Effective Communication- This is an essential skill required in an HR Professional. They
are responsible to establish communication effectively in all levels of the organisation, from
CEO to entry-level employees. Effective communication would allow them to clearly explain the
company policies and procedures to the employees (Davids and et. al., 2013). Along with this,
the employees are effectively handled their job roles which increase their efficiency as they
know the plan of action needed to accomplish their task.
Conflict Management- Efficiency of HR professionals is denoted by their capability to
solve conflicts. Whirlpool is global name and in such a big organisation, with a huge workforce,
possibilities of conflicts are very high. These conflicts maybe between two employees or maybe
between the employer and their subordinates. These professionals have to play a crucial role in

solving these conflicts in an appropriate and respectful manner to avoid any hindering in
organisational performance.
HR professionals are needed to be knowledgeable about certain aspects which are
mentioned below:
Government Rules and Regulations- An organisation must function according to certain
norms given by the government and as per the law policies crafted for them. An HR professional
must have knowledge of these rules and regulation and must monitor the work of their
employees to ensure that all these regulations are rightfully followed.
Employee Legislations- An efficient way to increase the performance of employees is by
ensuring that there is no violation of their employment laws (Dijkstra and et. al., 2014). It is the
responsibility of HR professionals to effectively manage employee's salaries, their incentives and
compensations according to state and federal laws.
HR professionals are needed to develop certain behavioural attributes for effectively
carrying out their duties:
Ethical- It is required for the HR professionals of Whirlpool to be ethical. They should
work discretely as they handle many critical information about the company and the employees.
These informations must be communicated to the right person at the correct time and in an
appropriate manner. They are also needed to be vocal in case any employee in the company does
not operate as per their set principles.
Transparency- For an organisation like Whirlpool to avoid frictions, it is essential for
these professionals to establish transparent communication with their employees. This would
help them in building strong relations with these employees and the workforce will have
someone to rely upon in case of some personal issues. It would certainly help in increasing the
employees' commitment towards the firm.
P2 Completed personal skills for professional development plan
The skills and weaknesses of a person's professional career can be effectively determined
by a personal skill audit. It allows individuals to determine areas in which they are perform their
best and areas which require improvements (Dochy and et. al., 2012). It helps professionals to
carry out their responsibilities effectively and increase their work performance. Benefit of skill
audit are improving knowledge & skill, increased productivity and acquisition & use of
information. Similarly, disadvantages of skill audit is individual cannot work effectively and