Continuous Learning in Whirlpool Corporation

The assignment analyzes the importance of organizational and individual learning within Whirlpool Corporation, focusing specifically on continuous learning and professional development initiatives. It delves into the concept of High Performance Work Systems (HPW) and discusses their influence on employee engagement. The report draws upon various academic sources to support its findings and provide a comprehensive understanding of these concepts in the context of Whirlpool.

DEVELOPING
INDIVIDUALS TEAMS AND
ORGANISATION

Table of contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1 Knowledge, skills and behavioural required for HR professionals for Whirlpool............1
P2 Appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours of personal skills audit and development of
plan.........................................................................................................................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Difference between organisational & individual learning, training & development........6
P4. Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance............................................................................................................................8
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................10
P5 HPW contribution to employee engagement and competitive advantage.......................10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................12
P6 Approaches to performance management for high performance of Whirlpool..............12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16
1

INTRODUCTION
Whirlpool is a British industry whose main purpose is to provide services to the
customers. For the development of the company human resource manager can use several
techniques. There are many strategies from which company can achieve its target. Present study
is based on Whirlpool, it is multinational manufacturer that offers home appliances, to
consumers across the world. It has employed more than 92000 employees worldwide and has
generated 21.25 Billion revenue in the year 2017. Study will analyse knowledge, skills and
behaviours required by HR professionals in organisation. It will conduct own evaluations as HR
person and will prepare professional development plan.. Report will explain ways from which
the company can achieve high quality of performance. Performance management approaches
will be explained in this assignment (Katzenbach, 2015).
LO 1
P1 Knowledge, skills and behavioural required for HR professionals for Whirlpool
Human resources professional required more knowledge and skills for the development
of Whirlpool. The knowledge of HR manager helps to achieve goals of the organisation. It is
required for HR professionals to manage employee's work. It is helpful for the organisation and
for the improvement in productivity.
Knowledge
HR of company must have knowledge about HR policies. This knowledge aids the person
in minimising complex situations in workplace. Individual must have knowledge about handling
people in the firm. Conflict resolution practices and policies must be known by HR in
organisation.
Behaviour
HR of organisation must behave positive, individual have to react properly to all
employees so that positive atmosphere gets created at workplace. HR must be honest and
transparent. Individual should not create biasness in the enterprise.
Skill
Organisation skills- Human resources professional requires many approaches to
organize files, personal efficiency and time management. In the organisation there are many
situations where HR management plays an important role. In this profession HR manager
effectively introduces the company and its work performance to the employees. Organisation
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skills includes planning and controlling process to maintain efficiency (Bolman, 2017).
Organising skills support Human resource manager in handling conflict situations and handling
all task in systematic manner.
Multitasking skills- Human resources professionals helps to deal with employees of
Whirlpool Company. HR manager is intermediary of the company. It recruits candidates for the
organisation. HR manager has to face critical situation for the development of company. It
requires more knowledge to handle the situations. There are many responsibilities of managing
organisation like advertising, recruitment, interviews, training, grievances and other
programmes. HR professionals should be able to manage all programmes. Human resource
manager has to handle may task, hence individual must be able to manage all activities on time.
Negotiation- In the company there is a need of negotiation, HR manager can find a
middle ground which is acceptable for the opposite viewer. Human resources professionals for
the company needs this skill to end up negotiation. Effective knowledge helps to satisfy other
parties. Many times conflict situations get arises in organisation, human resource manager is
responsible to resolve such issues. For that person must have good negotiating skills so that it
can convey both involved parties and can take correct judgement for organisation and employee
both.
Communication skills- Human resource manager has to communicate to management
department and other employees of Whirlpool. They must good communicate skill for
transferring any information with other employees and convincing power. It is a responsibility of
HR manager to give right information to employees (Bolman,and Deal, 2017). HR must have
good communication skill, this may aid in developing trust and minimising confusion at
workplace.
Technical skill: HR must have technical skills and knowledge of latest software. This
helps in managing administrative work properly.
Conflict and other problem solving skills- In Whirlpool there are many employees’
works together. Conflicts can come any time between employees, the HR manager helps to avoid
it or any other problems in the organisation. It helps to analyse employee's knowledge, skills
which is required for the organisation.
Discrete and Ethical knowledge- Human resource managers keeps confidential
information of the company and they need to serve this information to top management. HR
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professionals have to follow policies and regulations of the organisation. Hence, the company
can achieve the goals by skilled HR professionals.
P2 Appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours of personal skills audit and development of
plan
Skills that have within me
Human resource management plays an important role for the organisation. As a human
resource manager there are many responsibilities towards the organisation. I have to focus on the
work of employees within the organisation. I have great communication skill which is important
to convince the organisational staff. From this skill every employee can attach with
organisational goals. For the recruitment process communication skills are very important.
Candidates who applies for the job can convince by this. HR manager must have the knowledge
of doing multitasking activities. I ave a skill of time management. It is very important to manage
the time for effective working condition. Time management includes the efficiency of
employees. This knowledge is very important for operating the job (Cummings, 2014). I can
organize important files of organisation. I have personal efficiency for handle employees in the
organisation. HR manager is more responsible for the advertisement of our company. It should
be known that how can we promote the company in the market. There is another responsibility
for recruitment process. It is very important to recruit efficient candidates for our organisation.
Employees are important for fulfilment of organisational goals. As a HR manager I can reduce
the conflict between employees and other member of the organisation. The behaviour of HR
manager should be good in every condition. Behaviour of HR manager reflects the position of
company. So I am very good towards the employees and other organisational staff.
Personal audit
Good
Average
Bad
Very Good
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Technical Skill
Problem solving
skill
Communication
skill
Management
skills
HR policy
knowledge
It is analysed that my technical skill is average and I have moderate knowledge of HR
policies. I can resolve problems easily, as I have good experience of resolving complex
situations. I am unable to communicate with others, as I feel under confident and feel hesitated
when coordinating with other employees. I can manage people effectively.
Role in the organization
Being a HR consultant in the Whirlpool I have to play role of recruiter. I will have to hire
skilled employees in the workplace so that company can perform well. My role will be as
motivator, I will have to motivate team members so that they feel happy and retain in the
organization for longer duration. I will have to plays role of monitor, I will have to monitor
performance of people and have to provide them rewards accordantly. Furthermore, I will have
to play role of trainer and I will have to train employees so that they can perform well in the cited
firm.
SWOT analyses
Strength
 Communication skill
 Time management
 Conflict resolution skills
Weakness
 Poor presentation skill
 Poor technical skill
 Monitoring skill
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Threats
 High competition in HR field
 Increasing demand of companies for
their HR employees
Opportunities
 Increasing HR opportunities
Personal reflection
In the organisation there are many conditions where another skills and knowledge
requires. For the development of organisation we should focus on the success of our business.
For the development of organisation there are some strategies that helps to increase our
knowledge and skills. I should put all of my focus on the development of plans. It is very
important to implement plans effectively. There should be a long term and short term goals that
helps to increase efficiency in our work. It is also very important to understand that: what is a
specific skill I need to achieve those goals. As a HR manager I can develop some plans for
employee satisfaction by providing training facilities. For the successful HR management I must
be careful that all the employees working in the organisation are conferable or not. I should plan
strategies like spend some time with the employees and manager. Providing certificates to the
employees will be helpful for achieving goals (Huczynski, 2010).
Personal Development Plan
No
.
Skills to be
developed
Description Activities to
develop skills
Resources Time
duratio
n
1 Communicatio
n skill
I am unable to
interact with my
employees easily, I
feel hesitated when
discussing any topic
with them
Attending seminars,
guidance from
seniors
Seminar hall, paper,
pen
2 Month
2 Technical skill I am unable to Coaching, Seminar hall, 1.5
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operate latest
software, I have no
knowledge about it
professional
seminars
internet, paper, pen,
computer
Months
3 Presentation
skill
I cannot present
myself in front of
large audience, as I
feel nervous
Attending seminars,
taking guidance of
seniors, watching
and reading case
studies of big
entrepreneurs
Internet, seminar
hall, pen, paper
2.5
Month
LO 2
P3 Difference between organisational & individual learning, training & development
Learning is the major concern for the business because if people does not have adequate
knowledge then it can not perform their duties well. On other hand training is importance aspect
for the business unit, in the absence of training and development individual can fail to understand
their responsibilities and improve their performance as well.
Training and development is the process that support employees in raising their existing
skills and improving their work based performance. On other hand learning is the process of
improving knowledge about particular things. Organizational learning is the term in which
company gives training to its workers so that thei skills can be improved and developed. The
main objective of organizational learning is to make the person capable to perform in the
workplace effectively. On other hand individual learning is the action taken by the person by
own to improving skills within them. Individual put efforts so that loop fall can be minimized.
LMS (Learning management system) is the software in which training contents are stores
and it is applied whenever firms have to provide training to their staff embers. Cited firm creates
different tracks and deliver knowledge to employees. On other hand self managed learning
(SML) is another approach of learning in which individual enhance their knowledge by own by
taking support of brainstorming, prioritization techniques. Seminars, conferences, internet are
various tools of SML.
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Organisational learning Individual learning
It means the process of creating and
transferring the knowledge, experience and
ideas within an organisation. This learning
process continuously improves the efficiency,
accuracy and profits of mentioned company. In
whirlpool, employees’ learning allows to stay
competitive in an ever-changing environment
(Coghlan and Brannick, 2014). As a part of
organisational learning, staff learns how to
work together, how they can share their
knowledge with each other. In this process
worker learn to work together, so this it
improves the growth of administration
continuously. It improves the performance and
productivity of whirl pool.
One-on-one learning is based upon abilities
and interests of each employee. In individual
learning; the worker learn according to his or
her own learnings needs and abilities. When
employees conduct experiment with his or her
task; than he/she learns new skills and ideas,
this process is known as an individual learning
(Nahavandi, 2016). In whirlpool; the employee
learns new skills, ideas. This in turn helps in
increasing productivity at workplace & may
increase or grow as they gain experience. In
this learning; the individual can decide whether
or not to share their knowledge with the rest of
the employees and groups
Organisation learning helps in performing the
given task in organisation in effective manner,
as company give training to staff on the bases
of their job role.
Individual learning helps in overall personal
and professional development of individual.
Organisation learning is done on the bases of
specific time table ,by considering necessity at
the job role.
Individual learning mainly emphases on
overall development of person, rather than for
specific task.
Organisation learning is related with the
sharing of knowledge to perform the task
effectively
Individual learning is to implement own
learning in particular task for getting more
career development opportunities.
.
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Training and development: It is required to offer the training and development activities to
the employee so that they can perform very well. In this context; the whirlpool offers the training
to worker on regular basis to enhance their competency. This certainly motivates the employees.
These activities are offered by whirlpool to enhance the performance of workforce, changing
their attitude, and sharpening their skills (Katzenbach and Smith, 2015). This process improves
benefits of the mentioned company and increases its’ market reputation in the industry. In the
cited company; the training and development program has focused on both individual and team
performance. To achieve the task and goals, the whirlpool company provides the new techniques
and skills to their employee. Some advantageous of this learning are as follows:
 Increase the productivity: Training and development directly increases the productivity
and efficiency of worker.
 Less supervision: Well-trained employees need less of supervision.
 Reduction of error: Continuous training and development ensures that employees get
the right skill at right time. So, the chance of error is less (Mendenhall, 2012).
Difference between these concepts are explained as below:
Training Development
Training can be defined as learning process in
which employee get opportunity to perform
their give task effectively
Development is the process that support the
person in their overall growth.
Training helps in meeting short term goal of
employee or individual.
Development supports in meeting long term
goal of person.
It is job oriented It is career oriented
Training is given by trainer. Development is done by person ownself.
P4. Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance
Continuous learning is the process in which companies continuously work for raising skills
of individual. Learning is the process of developing individuals so that person perform well in
the workplace. Continuous learning and professional development both are significant part of the
business unit, that enhance skills of the person so that individual can contribute well in
accomplishing objective of the organization. These helps in growth of whirlpool and gaining
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competitive advantage as well. Continuous learning supports in completing their responsibilities
effective so that consumer can feel satisfied. Sit is also beneficial in enhancing brand image of
the firm.
Continuous learning and professional development is helpful for individual, as person
improve their knowledge and skills. This knowledge is utilised in their give task and they
perform it well with less mistakes. This helps the company in meeting the objective of
sustainability. As employees will perform well and will offer satisfactory services to consumers
which will help in retaining consumers in organisation for longer duration. Hence continuous
learning and professional development is always beneficial in driving sustainable business
performance of Whirlpool.
It is achieved in whirlpool by taking support of PDP, company tries to analyses training
needs of individual and develop plan so that these skills of the person can be improved.
For improving the profit and reputation; the whirlpool company should focus on
continuous scholarship and professional development. Continuous learning means to expand the
skills and knowledge continuously. This is very important for employee because they have
responsibilities to complete the task more effectively. In whirlpool; employees should always try
to learn something new with his or her task. He or she tries to use new techniques for achieving
the goals (Cummings and Worley, 2014). Continuous learning is defined by the practices the
individual carries out regularly in order to continuously increasing the skills and knowledge.
Whirlpool should try to motivate their employees for continuous learning, they should provide
the information about the importance of continuous scholarship to their employees.
Professional development is the essential element in individual’s life, if person is paying
attention on their professional development then individual will be able to get more career
development opportunities. This aids business in maintaining people at workplace and managing
complex task properly. Whirlpool aims to enhance its profitability and gaining competitive
advantage. Professional development supports the organisation in raising productivity level and
enhancing sales of business by satisfying the consumers to great extent. This allow business to
meet the sustainable performance objective significantly.
Employees should always try new ways of doing things, they should practice on what
they have learned already. Continuous learning do not only provides benefits to the individual,
but also to the business. It will help the whirlpool to run effectively.
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Need of professional development: professional development helps to build and maintain
the moral of staff member. By professional development whirlpool can increase the skills of staff
and their capabilities to achieve the goal.
Professional development will help the whirlpool to make the right plans for new product. It
will attract more customer to Whirlpool Company. Most effective benefits of professional
development for whirlpool are as follows:
The whirlpool company can keep up with business changes. Industry are constantly changing
so it is important for mentioned company to focus on professional development. To remain the
forefront of industry the whirlpool should follow the professional development activities
(Argote, 2012). When employees get to learn new skills; he/she will give the best output and it
will help in growth of business and increase the benefits. More benefits are as follows:
 Ahead of competitors,
 Advance employee skill,
 Provide an incentive learn
 Provide internal promotion opportunities
 Greater sales and customer service
 Keep up with industry changes
 Be in touch with all the latest technology development
 Be able to see weakness and skill gaps
 Attract the new talent
LO 3
P5 HPW contribution to employee engagement and competitive advantage
HPW refers as high performance working in which companies try to enhance skills of
employees so that their performance can be improved. HPW supports in engaging people in the
working activities and making them loyal towards the brand. HR manager of whirlpool share
commitment and ask innovative ideas of the employees. That enhance confidence of the workers
and they become more productive. Coordination between all workers enhance cross functional
activity that helps in minimizing errors as well.
Employee engagement is beneficial in developing mutual respect among all employees and
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employers as well. It enhances communication between employees so that confusions gets
minimized to great extent. It is also beneficial in resolving conflict to great extent. It enhances
team working spirit and all people perform their work effectively.
High performance work system are designed in whirlpool to improve the effectiveness
and productivity of worker. HPW has a main role in employee engagement. Employee
engagement is about all about valuing your worker. Engaged employee is more productive,
active and disciplined which are the keys for success of organisation. HPW system can reduce
costs of whirlpool organisation (Burke and Noumair, 2015). High performance work system are
perceived to create value for Whirlpool by reducing the costs, improving productivity. When
employee performs the best at his level and give the best output; then it will increase the
productivity of organization. When employee welcomes his or her customers at best level, and
produces the good services than customer will get satisfied and due to this process productivity
will increase in good manner. Customer satisfaction is base of success of any organisation, so
employee should always try to give the best services to customer. High performance work
system affects overall organisation performance.
High performance working encourage people and make them positive towards the brand.
Companies motivate employees by giving them appraisal and incentives for their good
performance. If the person is getting involved in decision making process or getting some
additional benefit for their hard efforts, then employee feel satisfied and individual put hard
efforts to meet the organisational goal. HPW supports in developing healthy relationship with
workers, as Whirlpool involve its staff in decision making process and take suggestion with
them. Thy feel so valued and this develop their engagement with management. Furthermore, they
always try to offer quality services to consumers so that company can meet with its organisation
goal. This helps Whirlpool in gaining competitive advantage and securing its competitive positon
as well.
Due to increasing competitive markets, companies are forced to find ways to remain on
top while offering high-end product and services. So to overcome these challenges the whirlpool
company is focus on HPW system. When one employee perform at high level than other worker
also want to prove himself and he also tries to perform at high level by thin chain the
organisation will get so many benefits. HPW is a simple way to maximize the productivity of
whirlpool organisation (West, 2012). Employee should do new experiment continuously to
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improve his or her skills, when worker get to learn new skills and tricks he will apply to do task.
When employee work with new techniques he will save the time to complete his or her work. By
saving the time employee can give the best output to the organisation. There are some
responsibilities which must be followed by whirlpool
Employee will give the best performance only when he satisfied with his job, so the
organisation should always try to motivate their worker by training and development activities.
Whirlpool organisation should offer the reward system for the employees. The whirlpool can
offers the training to staff member on regular basis to enhance their competency (Goetsch and
Davis, 2014). When employee is happy with his job than he will perform at the best level, and
provide the best services to his or her customers. Organisation should provide the job to
employee according to his or her level and interest. HPW has a most important role in whirlpool
to improve its productivity and its reputation in market.
Advantage of HPW for whirlpool
It improves overall performance of whirlpool and individuals as well. It helps in gaining
high return over its investments. Furthermore, it is beneficial in increasing market share and
retaining skilled employees in the workplace for longer duration. It is beneficial in enhancing
satisfaction level of consumers as well.
LO 4
P6 Approaches to performance management for high performance of Whirlpool
Performance management can be defined as ongoing process of measuring the
performance of employees. Management communicate with supervisors and take feedback from
staff members about the working of their peer group members. This helps in analysing actual
working efficiency of workers and giving them promotions and benefits accordingly. It can also
be defined as systematic assessment of employee’s performance.
Performance management approaches is the backbone of Whirlpool to measure the
performance of employees. Some organisation measures employee performance through their
contribution in the work. It is very important to understand the way for person development.
Effective management can be improve by preventing negative thought. Identify the needs of the
employees and how will they satisfy it.
Collaborating working
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It is the type of approach in which whirlpool can manage its workers in such a manner so
that they work together and contribute well in achieving goal of the organization. HR manager of
cited firm observe performance of individuals and allot their work as per their capabilities. By
this way their performance can be measured effectively. When all staff work together, share their
knowledge and skills then it helps in analysing the contribution of employees effectively. This
collaborative working approach is beneficial in raising commitment of employees towards the
job and creating healthy workplace culture where all staff members discuss their issue and
support each other to complete the task in significant manner. This staff improve their
performance and try to contribute well in achieving the goal of business.
360 degree approach
In this method whirlpool takes review of individual performance with their peer group
members and seniors. This supports in identifying performance and giving them training so that
they can perform better in the cited firm. It is the approach in which Whirlpool can take
comment of peer group members about working of workers. Management calculate the reviews
of other workers and accordingly measure the performance of an individual. This develops a
trust of employees and they become more loyal towards the brand which raises their commitment
and develop healthy relationship between employee and managers. This make them positive and
they improve their performance so that company can fulfil its objective effectively.
Comparative approach- it involves ranking of individuals with other. It can be possible
by measuring the performance of employees. Several techniques are there that is beneficial for
comparison like pairing and grouping technique. For example- performance of group 1 is good,
performance of group 2 is very good, performance of group 3 is bed and performance of group 4
is excellence (Tannenbaum, 2012).
Attribute approach- it includes the team work, innovation, creativity, communication
and problem solving skills. In this approach employee's performance rated by high, low and
medium rank.
Behavioural approach- It is a best technique to analyse the performance. It provides a
specific description in regard to the behaviour of employees. It is a only approach that helps to
understand performance of management closely.
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Result approach- it is a technique that analyses the performance on the basis of financial
position, customer satisfaction and growth of organisation. It can be measured by the
productivity of business.
Quality approach- It focuses on improvement of product and services (Goetsch, 2014).
Good quality of product helps to reduce customer dissatisfactions. Manager can use this
technique by evaluating performance.
Whirlpool can use this approaches for the development of work performance of
management. The company can provide training facilities for the achievement of organisational
objectives. Development programmes can help the manager to avoid dissatisfactions of
customers and for higher productivity. Recruitment of skilled candidates are helpful for the good
performance of the company. Advertisement and other promotion activities are beneficial for the
high performance of the organisation (Anderson, 2010).
Performance management also involves KPI. Each company has some key performance
indicators and on the bases of these indicators cited firm manage their work and direct people in
such manner so that they can meet with the goal. Whirlpool develops healthy culture and make
its structure flat. This helps in enhancing coordination and communication between employees
and managers. By this way confusions get minimized and each person put their best efforts to
accomplish goal of the entity.
These approaches are helpful in developing respect among individual and enhance
accountability of the company. It helps in understanding goal of the whirlpool and implementing
innovative ideas that can support in raising performance of the organization.
High performance working (HPW) is the technique that supports in engaging employees in
the work based activities and making them loyal towards the brands. Whirlpool adopts this
approach for changing behaviour of individuals and retaining them in the organization for longer
duration. HR manager puts efforts for improving skills of employees so that their performance
can be improved. They identity their needs and accordingly provide them training. Whirlpool
develops bonding with them and gain their trust as well. With the help of HPW employees feel
satisfied and errors can get minimized to great extent.
CONCLUSION
Based on the above report, it has been concluded that there are important roles of
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organisation, individual learning in whirlpool. This report has focused upon the role of
continuous learning and professional development in whirlpool. This report has also discussed
about the HPW (high performance work system. It has discussed about the role of HPW in
employees’ engagement.
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