Developing Individuals, Teams, and Organizations: A Comprehensive Guide to HR Practices at Aviva

This assignment delves into the development of the human resource department at Aviva, a leading UK-based insurance company. It explores the essential knowledge, skills, and behaviors required by HR professionals, focusing on the development of a professional development plan for an HR officer. The report also examines the differences between organizational and individual learning, highlighting the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business performance. Furthermore, it analyzes the contribution of high-performance working to employee engagement and competitive advantage, and explores various approaches to performance management that support a high-performance culture and commitment.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUAL, TEAMS
AND ORGANISATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
LO1..............................................................................................................................................................4
P1 DETERMINE APPROPRIATE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (KSB) THAT ARE REQUIRED BY
HR PROFESSIONALS ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT.....................................................................................4
P2 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR JANE CAMBRIDGE AS HR OFFICER ROLE..........................6
LO2- REPORT.............................................................................................................................................10
P3 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING; TRAINING AND
DEVELOPMENT......................................................................................................................................10
P4 THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO DRIVE
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE...............................................................................................13
LO3 & LO4 – ESSAY....................................................................................................................................15
BODY.....................................................................................................................................................15
P5 CONTRIBUTION OF HPW TO EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE WITH
RESPECT TO AVIVA................................................................................................................................15
P6 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND USING SPECIFIC EXAMPLES
SHOWING HOW THEY SUPPORT HIGH-PERFORMANCE CULTURE AND COMMITMENT........................18
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................21

INTRODUCTION
This assignment is focused on the development of the human resource department of Aviva. As
an HR officer of Aviva, the understanding of the development of skills and knowledge has been
made for the achievement of high performance. The assignment will focus on having the
efficient understanding of the development of needs that will assist the organization to
implement the strategy at Aviva. In this report, this will focus on discovering the employee
skills, knowledge and behaviours that are needed by the HR managers and professionals of
Aviva. It will also describe some factors that will evaluate the development and learning needs
by generating a professional development plan for the Aviva. The high working performance
will also be described that boost up the engagement of employee and gaining competitive
advantages. The evaluation of effective communication and better performance management
in context with the Aviva will also be discussed (Dong, et al. 2017).
Aviva is a UK based company which is British multinational insurance company which is
headquartered in London, UK. It has approx. 33 million customers in about 16 countries in the
UK. Aviva is the leading pension provider in the UK and the biggest general insurer.

LO1
P1 DETERMINE APPROPRIATE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (KSB) THAT ARE
REQUIRED BY HR PROFESSIONALS ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT
As a human resource officer of the Aviva the fundamental skills, knowledge and behaviour that
are needed for an HR professional will be described as follows:
 There are some knowledge and skills that are needed by the HR professional at Aviva
that includes the cooperative skills and working which will keep the employees and HR
in coordination that enhances the performance of the organization.
 An HR officer should promote and boost the unity and equality in the organization which
can assist the organization to maintain the diversity of the organization.
 The officer will maintain the safety and hygiene of an organization by increasing the
concern towards their staff and employees (Serrat, 2017).
The interpersonal skills of the workforce management will help to maintain the good
relationship and implementing the better management and work culture.
 As an HR officer, he/she should have recruiting skills and effective planning skills that
will enhance the productivity of the organization with the help of the right, talented and
capable candidates.
 He/she should have the capability of solving the conflict within the organization and give
training to the employees so that they can learn the work quickly and will be able to
provide the development training to ensure the personal development.
 The main skill that is being required in the HR recruiter is to be updated in terms of the
knowledge of the HR activities. He/she should aware of all policies and procedures of
the organization (Van Dooren et al. 2015).
There are some other skills that should be present in the HR professional to manage the human
resource department such as decision making and IT skills that will help in ensuring effective
decisions to achieve the objectives of the organization. He/she should have the high level of
confidence and motivation level so that he/she can enhance the morale of the employees.

HR professional should be equipped with the proper knowledge that is required for the
effective operation of the human resource department like knowledge of information
management. He/ She should be competent in the safety customs and the policies of the
organization. HR professional should maintain the code of conduct within the organization and
ensure that all the employees and staffs are working effectively with the follow up of the rules
and regulations of the organization (Bolden, 2016).

P2 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR JANE CAMBRIDGE AS HR OFFICER ROLE
An audit of the personal skills is useful for a people to identify the strengths and the
developments that need to be fulfilled over time which can help in achieving the height of the
success.
A development plan will assist the employee of Jane Cambridge to implement the strategies
that can be useful for playing a role of an HR officer at Aviva. A professional development plan
is a document which depicts the required goals and skills that will need to achieve in the tie for
the development of the career and the goals of the organization. It will also help out to assess
the strengths and improve the weaknesses to cope up the competition with the individual in
the same field (Stewart, 2014). It can also assist in the development of the areas of
improvements and review the knowledge and skills that are needed to attain the desired skills
and objectives. Following is the professional development plan which can be prepared for Jane
Cambridge:
 A form will be requested of the self –assessment from the Jane Cambridge which
includes the assessment of personality traits, skills and values.
 Along with the personal observation and self-assessment form, the individual skill will
be determined of Jane Cambridge with the help of social, technological and other skills.
 After above step, this stage will focus on the matching the organizational goals with the
individual skills.
 Some actions will be taken to meet the opportunities of the development of Jane
Cambridge and considering her development and training opportunities.
 This step will keep the record of the performance and progress for the evaluation and
monitoring of the performance and development of the Jane Cambridge (Raes, et al.
2015).
A professional development plan will be prepared by following the above-mentioned steps
of the Jane Cambridge.

Name: Jane Cambridge
Job role Human Resource Officer
GOALS TYPES PERSONAL GOALS PROFESSIONAL GOALS
LONG TERM GOAL
(3 YEARS)
To attain standard and high-
quality life at Aviva
To achieve the position of
Human Resource Manager
and to boost the quality of life
in 2-3 years
SHORT TERM GOAL
(6-12 MONTHS)
To experience the
opportunities by discovering
learning prospects
To attain the senior HR
officer’s job role in next 6 to
12 months

Needs for the
Development
Planned Activities Planned
activities’
objectives
Timefram
e
Impacts of
activities on
learning
Required skills/
knowledge:
 Communicati
on skills
 IT skills
 Employment
contract
drafting
 Delivery of
Making interaction
and appearing
classes of
personality
development
Attending IT
workshops
Exploring knowledge
and professional
legislation
Effective
utilisation of
verbal, reasoning
skills and
information
To increase the
knowledge of IT
and learn the
use of Software
To learn and
teach them the
significance of
efficient
communication
by training
sessions.
To prepare and
2.5
months
1.5
months
2 months
3 months
Development
of effective
communicatio
n and listening
abilities
Help to attain
command on
IT skills and
proficiency in
IT
It will help to
efficiently
make a
contract of
employment
which will
consider
legislation at
the
organisation

Training
session
 Resolving and
advising skills
Introducing the skills
of mentoring and
presentation
Resolving conflicts
and rendering
services by attending
situational programs
motivate for
effective training
delivery sessions
Solving
organisational
problems and
disputes
effectively
1 month
Developing
presentation
skills
It will help in
becoming
better HR
officer by
effectively
solving issues
(Megginson and Whitaker, 2017)

LO2- REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Individual learning will help in achieving organizational learning at the organization and
workplace. Aviva can learn continuous development and learning programs with the help of
development and training sessions and bring creativity and innovation. The following report will
focus on the understanding of the differences between organizational learning and individual at
the workplace.
P3 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING; TRAINING
AND DEVELOPMENT
Development and teaching will help the association to have an understanding of individual and
organizational learning Following are the differences between development and training as:
BASIS TRAINING DEVELOPMENT
MEANING It is a practise of learning in
which employees and staff
develop their competency,
knowledge and skills
according to the job
requirement(Woodcock, 2017)
It is the process of education
that is associated to the
growth of the employees.
SPAN Short period of time Long period of time
EMPHASES ON Current situation Upcoming growths
Orientation Profession focused Career-focused

AIM Job stated Increased general knowledge
and concepts
OBJECTIVE Improving the performance
at workplace
Preparing employees for the
future challenges
NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS Many individuals One
Following are the differences between organizational and individual learning:
S.no. Organisational learning Individual learning
1
2
3
Organisational learning is achieved
with the help of the individual
learning and having the various
number of applicants.
It assists in the development of
overall performance and employee
motivation
It is accomplished through meetings
and professional seminars.
It assists the organisation in achieving
It is carried out to achieve personal
objectives and have one single participant.
It is used to boost up the confidence and
enhance the motivation among them.
Individual learning is achieved through the
learning, training and coaching programs
at the workplace.
Helps in achieving the enhancement of
knowledge in the individual and personal

4 the stability of the organisational
performance
growth(Magee and Webb, 2015)
Aviva focuses on the individual learning and providing good working environment by various
ways like providing flexibility in working hours and implementing the good policies and
procedures. Aviva focuses on the good communication skills and training programs for their
employees.

P4 THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO
DRIVE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
Professional development can be defined as the learning to earn and maintain the professional
authorizations and identifications like attending conferences and learning opportunities etc.
The learning and professional development at the Aviva render the training opportunities and
access to education and training. There is a requirement of continuous professional
development and learning that will assist in boosting the business performance and achieving
the stability (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Professional development programs aimed at the influencing the growth, job satisfaction and
productivity among the employees which are engaged in continuous learning. Following are the
benefits of professional development programs:
 The increment in loyalty: Employees feel happy at their workplace when the employer
care about their goals and success beyond the company. The younger workers value the
workplaces and help in achieving the new heights in their career.
 Improved productivity and the higher rate of retention: Many employees’ switches jobs
within a five year or less but the companies that render continuous learning having the
higher rate of retention. Also, they are more productive as compared to the other
employees.
 Retention of top talent and long-term success and profit- The ambitious employee
support career development and support and they are able to take professional
development class and apply in the company.
 Reduction of cost in development programs – The cost of the hiring employees is
greater than providing the development programs to the employees (Labib, et al. 2016).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that the HR at Aviva will have the focus on the
training and development of the employees and also she has prepared personal development
programs at Aviva. This all will help in enhancing the engagement of employee and gaining

competitive advantages. The performance management has also been discussed to manage the
performance of the employee and achieving the organizational goals. Also, the professional
development programs have been discussed for the better performance and with the help of
the continuous learning, the company can make its employees perform better in the
organization. Thus, the training and development will play a vital role in the better performance
of the employees (McGrath, 2014).

LO3 & LO4 – ESSAY
INTRODUCTION
This report focuses on the understanding of knowledge of working in the organization like Aviva
and contribution of an employee in gaining competitive advantages and evaluating the
methods of performance management which will help in the development and the growth of
the organization at Aviva.
BODY
P5 CONTRIBUTION OF HPW TO EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE WITH RESPECT TO AVIVA
High performance working at the Aviva will help in gaining the competitive advantages.
Employee engagement is important for the competitiveness of business environment.
Employee engagement has three aspects namely an emotional, a cognitive and a behavioural
aspect. The cognitive aspect at the Aviva focuses on the beliefs of the employees in the
organization, working conditions and its leaders. The behavioural aspect aims at the value-
added factor in the organization (Katzenbach, and Smith, 2015).
The high working performance will help in the participation of the employees and increase the
job satisfaction. It will include the on-going and constant programs that will enhance the
engagement of the employees and gain the competitive advantages. It is having the simple
organizational structure that will help in the involvement of the decision making and sharing of
the knowledge that will engage the employee commitment and their involvement.
Aviva is having the structure such that workers feel inspired and motivated by maintaining the
relationships with workforces in a way that the of employees’ emotional affections assumed regarding
their workplace and job that help in adding better satisfaction. Aviva is focused on the employee
engagement by creating and maintaining the awareness about the work and employees that
will enhance the commitment level in the employees (Katzenbach, and Smith, 2015).

The high-performance working contributes to the alignment of the business strategies which
will influence the behaviour and attitudes of the employees and achieve the results and
maintain the competitiveness. This will also help Aviva in marinating the better relationship
with the stakeholders and customers that will aid in growth and provides the advantages of the
competition and also satisfied the staffs and employees. It will also generate employee to
achieve the organizational goals and the objectives with the help of the suggestion and building
of good culture for the employee engagement.
Continuous learning can be understood by the theory of Kolb and honey and Mumford.
Figure 1: Learning cycle of Kolb
[Source: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html]
Kolb has developed the model of learning style in 1984 which is considering two levels first is
four learning styles and second is four-stage phase. It is more concentrated on internal
cognitive processes. He has the view that the learning includes the concepts that can be
implemented in the different situations. The new development of the concepts can be achieved
by the new experiences.

Concrete experience is a new situation that encountered and reinterpretation of the existing
experiences. There is a particular significance of the inconsistencies between the experiences
and understanding. Abstract conceptualization applied by the learner in the environment to
measure the results (Mcleod, 2017).

P6 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND USING SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES SHOWING HOW THEY SUPPORT HIGH-PERFORMANCE CULTURE AND
COMMITMENT
Performance management is the ongoing process that focuses on meeting the definite goals in
an efficient manner which is being aligned with the resources and systems of Aviva to meet the
objectives of the organization. It is the method of enhancing the effectiveness of the Aviva by
developing the capabilities of the individuals and the teams. It will also help in serving the
strategic and operational goals of the Aviva which will insist the high-performance commitment
and culture at Aviva (Lewis, et al. 2015).
There are several approaches and method of the performance management that show the
evaluation of performance that will help to attain the goals of the organisation. Some of the
approaches to the performance management in context with the Aviva are:
1. Comparative approach – This approach focuses on the measuring the performance of the
others to ranking the performance of the individual and gives rewards to the top players
that will assist the organization to maintain the better employee morale and commitment.
2. Attribute approach – This approach aims at the evaluation of the performance against the
set of traits and qualities that will help in solving the problems and make the better
decisions at the Aviva,
3. Result approach- Under this approach the measurement of the performed results is done
of the employees with the help of the implementation of the balanced scorecard method
which will meet the objectives of the organization in an efficient manner and ensuring the
customer satisfaction.
4. Behavioural approach – This approach is followed by Aviva which focuses on the
employing various techniques that will measure the employee's behaviour against their
performance and it also considers the description and information of a large number of
employees.

5. Quality approach- Aviva aims at the improvements in the service and minimizing the
defects in its product and services. This will boost up the customer satisfaction.
Thus the approaches of the performance management will help to keep a regular progress
of employee’s performance at the Aviva organization. It develops and plans the programs
that assist in the organization and the employee which will ensure the effectiveness of the
employee (Ghandour et al. 2016).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that the usefulness and importance of the high
performance working at Aviva that focuses on the employee commitments through the
employee engagement. It will add advantages to gaining the competitive advantages in the
same field and sector. It has also been discussed that the importance of the performance
management will manage the performance of the employees and give guidance them for
an achieving the organizational goals with a high customer and employee satisfaction and
morale.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above assignment that the individual and group performance will
help in gaining the better learning and knowledge of the results of their activities. It will help in
achieving the development and improvement of the team at Aviva. An assessment and
description have been presented that is being required by the HR manager and professional of
the training and development of the employees. A clear understanding of the organizational
and individual learning will be made to gain the knowledge of the requirement of the
professional development and continuous learning at Aviva. The need and the benefits of the
professional development and the continuous learning have also been discussed. The last part
of the assignment focuses on the high performance working at the Aviva which can boost up
the employee engagement at Aviva to gain the competitive advantages.

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