Developing Individuals, Teams, and Organizations: A Study of Toyota Motors

This study explores the importance of training and development for individuals and organizations, focusing on Toyota Motors as a case study. It examines the knowledge, skills, and behaviors (KSB) required by HR professionals, develops a professional development plan for an HR Officer, and analyzes the differences between organizational and individual learning, training, and development. The study also delves into the concept of high-performance working (HPW) and its impact on employee engagement and competitive advantage, evaluating different performance management models and their role in fostering a high-performance culture.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS

Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Section 1..........................................................................................................................................4
Section 2........................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
Reference list.................................................................................................................................18
2 | P a g e

Introduction
Training is required for personal and professional development of an individual. In the current
scenario, the level of competition has increased in the business world. The companies are
struggling to improve their performance standard. However, many large organizations are
concentrating on improving the internal performance standard of the business by focusing on
employees’ training, roles and responsibilities of the employees, performance management and
adopting the right approaches for employee management. Toyota Motors is one of such
companies, on which this study will focus.
In this study, the discussion will be made on the required knowledge, skills and behaviors (KSB)
that are important to the HR professionals in the organization. At the same time, the study will
also be focused on the discussion regarding importance of training and development to the
employees. The study will also discuss regarding high-performance working framework and it
will try to identify the contribution that HPW will be made in a specific situation in an
organization.
3 | P a g e

Section 1
P1 Determine appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB) that are required by
HR professionals across the department. Please refer to Appendix A for an overview of HR
Officer responsibilities. (P1)
In order to achieve the goals and objectives of Toyota Motors, it is essential for a human
resource professional to assist the teams and individuals of the organization. One of the major
roles of the human resource professionals of Toyota Motors is to provide services to the
operating managers. The professionals of the human resource department bring in their specific
knowledge to design efficient training programs for their employees (Cascio 2018). The human
resource department, to ensure welfare of their employees and the organization and so on
monitors various practices like promoting and hiring employees without discrimination,
improvement programs. The human resource professionals can make use of their knowledge and
talents to monitor the activities of the business and to control several departments like sales,
finance, operations and so on. Thus, the knowledge, skill and behaviour of a human resource
professional can be described as follows-
 Conflict resolution skills- Many conflict arises between the staffs and employees of
Toyota Motors, which at times becomes inflexible to handle. The vital skill for the human
resource professional is the conflict resolution skills, through which they can recognize
the issues immediately, accumulate necessary information and offer an agreeable
solution.
 Knowledge and expertise in managing humans - The HR professionals should be
unbiased while addressing the problems of the employees and staffs. They should have an
impartial attitude towards all the people of the Toyota Motors. For this, they require
adequate knowledge and experience in the field of managing human resources.
 Management of time- The human resource professionals should possess a skill of
managing their time and prioritizing the work as per the requirement of the organization
(Bratton and Gold 2017). The skills of time management of the professionals can also
assist other staffs and employees in completing their task within the predetermined time.
4 | P a g e

 Good communication skills- The basic role of the HR professional is to address and
provide solutions to all the problems of the employees of Toyota Motors. Thus, the
human resource professionals should possess the oral and written communication skills.
This will ensure that all the information is passed effectively and efficiently among the
employees of different levels. Appropriate speaking and listening skill will assist the
human resource professionals in resolving the problems of the organization.
 Organizational Skills- The human resource professional has diverse responsibilities and
roles, which encompass managing the conflict, hiring the employees and promoting or
terminating them and many more. Therefore, it is the duty of the professional to manage
and organize all the tasks in an appropriate manner (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The
human resource professionals should also assure that he is restructured with all the major
amendments of the current period related to laws to bring efficient organizational changes
in the Toyota Motors.
 The professionals should keep ethical behaviour- The human resource are the assets of
every organization, thus all the information related to them secretly. The information
should not be disclosed to any person of the organization for the personal reasons. All the
employees of the organization should be treated in an unbiased approach. Ethical
behaviour is must for every human resource professional for taking vital decisions
regarding the employees of the organization.
P2. Create a professional development plan for Jane Cambridge in her HR Officer role.
As stated by Schools (2014), a professional development plan, which is also known as the PDP
or employee development plan, can be referred to as a document in which the required skills,
goals and need competency development, and the objectives that a staff member would be
requiring to accomplish for supporting career development and continuous improvement are
stated. In simple words, a professional development plan or PDP is used for the documentation
of career goals as well as setting out a strategy on how the career goals can be achieved. The
development of a PDP requires time and takes time. However, it helps an individual in the
achievement of one’s potential, reaching his or her goals and taking charge of their own
professional development.
5 | P a g e

However, in order to create a professional development plan, it is important to conduct an audit
about the personal strengths and weaknesses of an individual. In addition to the analysis of the
strengths and weaknesses, it is also important to evaluate the opportunities and threats of an
individual in his or her career. In the present scenario, it is important to create the professional
development plan for Jane Cambridge for the role of Human Resource Officer. The following
table indicates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Jane Cambridge based on
her personal skills -
Strengths
 Good knowledge on use of Microsoft
office word
 Good knowledge on using the internet
 Good in terms of using e-mail
 Knows how to use Microsoft PowerPoint
 Knows how to consider the ideas of others
in order to solve problems
 Knows how to explore more than one
solution for solving problems
 Good in writing reports
 Good in terms of producing materials for
supporting presentations
Weaknesses
 No or little experience in drafting the
contracts of employment
 No or little experience in delivering
training sessions
Opportunities
 Adequate knowledge on making good use
of reasoning skills verbally, having the
ability of handling complex data as well as
making selective use of data and
information
 Adequate taking notes on disciplinary
hearings
 Adequate skills for resolving complaints
and disputes
Threats
 Less than 1 month experience in
placements
 Has not managed even one person at one
time
 No experience in terms of using a database
 Does not know how to use a specialist
human resource software
6 | P a g e

 Adequate knowledge on interviewing
 Adequate advising capacity on human
resource issues
 Knows the adequate use of excel
spreadsheet
Table 1: Table showing the strengths and weaknesses of the personal skills of Jane
Cambridge along with her respective threats and opportunities
(Source: Created by the author)
Depending upon the positive points and negative points relating to the personal skills possessed
in Jane Cambridge, the plan for her professional development has to be prepared. All the above
points have to be kept in mind so that Jane Cambridge’s strengths and opportunities can be
utilized for developing her career while the threats and weaknesses can be focused on for
bringing about improvement. The following table indicates the professional development plan or
PDP that has been prepared for Jane Cambridge -
Long-term
goals
Specific
career goals
Key skills
required for
each of the
career goals
Skills needed
to be worked
on for
improvement
Actions that
are going to
be taken
Time span to
be completing
the training
A successful
human
resource
officer
Becoming a
successful
human
resource
executive
Effective
communication
and leadership
skills
Skills on
drafting
employment
contracts and
using database
Leadership
courses by the
company
1 month
Becoming a
successful
leader of the
human
resource
department
Effective
communication
skills, effective
leadership
skills, skills for
project
management,
skills for
Skills on
training, skills
on drafting
employment
contracts and
being aware of
placements
Online courses
on CPD,
working under
seniors and
attending
seminars and
conferences
2 months
7 | P a g e

presentation as
well as
management
Becoming a
human
resource
officer
Effective
management
skills,
decision-
making skills,
skills on
networking,
skills on
strategic
thinking and
self-
management
skills
Effective
placement
skills,
managing a
large number
of employees
at one time and
becoming
acquainted
with HR
software
Online course
on CPD
strategic
thinking and
practical
experience
6 months
P3 Analyse differences between organisational and individual learning; training and
development. (P3)
The learning within an organization in terms of generating, holding and conveying information is
known as organizational learning. By the experience and knowledge, the Toyota Motors can
enhance and improve its operations. The relations with the investors and efficiency of the
product are increased with the help of effective learning (Dixon 2017). The four main
components are involved and developed under the organizational learning-
 Individual
 Group
 Organizational
 Inter-organizational
Individual learning is an element of organizational learning. There is a slight difference between
both the styles of learning. The individual learning may be defined as the process of training and
enlargement for an individual (Mesoudi and et al., 2016). An individual should take self-
8 | P a g e

initiatives if any problem is encountered or experienced by an employee to improve him or
herself personally.
Origin of Distinction Organizational Learning Individual Learning
Objectives The objective of
organizational learning is to
improve the overall
performance and efficiency
of the organization.
The objective of individual
learning is on the
improvement of an individual
of the organization to defeat
their weaknesses.
Processes The process of organizational
learning involves
arrangement of different
sessions of development and
training, workshops and
indulging of employees in
various time tasks. This
provides an opportunity to
the employees of the
organization to communicate
with different groups of
people.
The process of individual
learning involves learning
practices personally and self-
analysis to improve oneself
in achieving their objectives.
To develop their learning,
they can
Undertake several learning
programs and can participate
in different sessions.
Effects The effect of organizational
learning is on the entire
organization. The group
learning helps in building the
skills and talents of all the
employees of an organization.
The entire focus of this type of
learning is on a group of people,
The effect of individual learning
involves the learning and
development of an individual
which would only be valuable
to them. Overall productivity of
an organization is not assured
by individual learning.
9 | P a g e

thus the process does not affect
an individual employee alone.
Table 2: Difference between organizational learning and individual learning
(Source: Created by the learner)
Away from this, the distinction between training and development are as follows-
Origin of distinction Training Development
Meaning The learning process, which
assists an employee in
developing their skills and
talents, where they lack with
other employees of the
organization, is termed as
training.
The process, which focuses on the
growth and development of an
employee to assist them in increasing
their efficiency, is known as
development (Mabogunje, 2015).
Aim Training aims on developing
the skills of the employees to
achieve the objectives and
goals of an organization.
The aim of development is to expand
the overall efficiency of an employee
together with the organization in the
long period.
Goals The goals of the training
process are to accomplish all
the short-term objectives and
augment the performance
level.
The goals of the development process
are to assure that all the individuals of
an organization are able to
countenance all the concerns and
apply their skills and knowledge to
develop doable solutions.
Time-period The training process is of short
term
The development process is of
lifelong period.
Table 3: Distinction between Training and Development
(Source: Created by the learner)
10 | P a g e

P4. Analyse the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance. (P4)
The process of continuous learning and professional development refers to the method of
documentation to keep the track of the skills, talents and knowledge of an individual, which is
gained formally as well as informally. The “Continuous Professional Development” or CPD
provides and helps an individual in managing their process of own development on an everyday
basis (Sachs, 2015). The individuals can keep a record and critically analyses and review to
monitor their learning. It helps in enhancing the overall performance of Toyota Motors. Several
initiatives are undertaken by an organization to search effective employees for enhancing the
overall functioning of an organization. The CPD process supports the organizations to respond,
anticipate and embrace the current changes. It helps in creating a positive work environment. The
chief features of CPD are as follows-
 The individuals should set an objective to analyse the self performance
 The different training programmes should be undertaken by the individuals to enhance
their performance
 The process of continuous development should be properly documented
 The dependence on the employers should be less that is the individuals should be self-
functioning.
The process of continuous development of Toyota Motors can be linked with diverse learning
theories. As stated by the theory of “Kolb’s learning cycle”, an individual observe their set of
experiences and reflect them in the learning cycle. This learning cycle helps an individual in
gaining knowledge from their experiences (Kolb, 2014). They incorporate their theoretical
knowledge with the experiences and reflections they gained in the process. This process assists
an individual in developing and enhancing their skills on a continuous basis.
 As per the theory stated by Alan Mumford and Peter Honey’, diverse learners have diverse
approaches of learning (Bontchev and et al., 2018). The learning approaches help an
individual in maximizing their personal learning. The distinct types of learners in the theory
are the activists, the reflectors, the theorists and the pragmatists. The different experiences
that help an individual in gaining idea about different styles and processes of learning are
11 | P a g e

“Active experimentation”, “Reflective observations”, “Abstract conceptualization” and
“Concrete experience”.
The learning style by Kurt Lewin studies the pattern of interaction between the environment and
the individuals. The theory explains that the environment of workplace, their people and
behaviour mainly influences an individual’s experience.
12 | P a g e

Section 2
Essay on ‘Effective use of high-performance working (HPW) framework and performance
management models to support high-performance culture’
Introduction
At present, organizations are working in a very complicated business environment and so it is
difficult to improve the performance standard of the business. In this scenario, it is important for
the organizations to maintain a positive working atmosphere at the workplace. The term “High-
Performance Working” indicates the culture of transparency, openness and trust that the
organizations need to follow to improve overall performance of the business. This modern
organizational concepts motivates the employees and management towards better performance.
The concept of HPW has been first developed during 21st century, when the companies are
facing trouble due to increased level of competition in the market.
However, this essay aims to evaluate the impacts of High-Performance Working culture on
business operations. The essay will disclose the contributions of HPW in employee engagement
and performance improvement. At the same time, the essay will also focus on the performance
management models that influence the organizations developing a culture of high performance.
Discussion
Demonstrating the understanding of how HPW contributes to employee engagement and
competitive advantage within a specific organizational situation. (P5)
Employee engagement is a very important factor for the success of a business. If the organization
successfully engages its employees in business, it becomes easier to improve performance
standard of the business. On the other hand, achieving competitive advantages is very important
for creating a strong place in the market. The primary target of HPW is to influence overall
development of organizational performance. Buchanan and McCalman (2018) stated that the
concept of HPW was initiated to improve productivity standard of the employees. At the same
time, Cai et al., (2018) mentioned that HPW helps in improving the overall performance
standard of the companies by encouraging managements for engaging employees more in the
13 | P a g e

organizational activities and decision making. In the current scenario, most of the large
organizations are giving much emphasis on the HPW concept for improving their performance
standard.
If the particular business scenario of Toyota Motors is considered, it can be identified that the
higher management of the company has focused on team performance in order to integrate HPW
concept in the business. The HPW concept has encouraged the teams in Toyota Motors using
their expertise and creativity at the workplace. The managers or team leader of every team
conducts meeting to develop better strategies by considering the ideas of team members. This
decision making process helps to engage the employees in the decision-making process of the
business. At the same time, as the company follows HPW concept, the team leader and team
members maintain standard level of transparency at the workplace. Team performance
encourages the employees and management to trust each other, which is very important for
valuing the opinions of each other. Moreover, the HPW concept has created a transparency at the
workplace, which has also enhanced level of employee engagement at the workplace (Toyota-
global.com, 2018).
On the other hand, as the employees and managers both maintains friendly working atmosphere
at the workplace and maintains standard level of transparency in the business, employees get
motivated for better performance (Toyota-global.com, 2018). Improved performance standard of
the employees, helps the company adopting change and improving the level of expertise in the
business. These two are very important for creating and enhancing competitive advantage of the
business.
Evaluating the different approaches to performance management and using specific
examples showing how they support high performance culture and commitment. (P6)
Performance management is very important for maintaining employees’ performance at a
standard level. However, in the current scenario, managing the performance standard of the
employees is quite difficult because of the changing scenario in the business world (Ding et al.,
2017). However, in this context, it can be mentioned that performance management of the
employees depends on different factors like, skills and knowledge of the employees, pay package
that the employee receives, organizational policies regarding human resource management and
14 | P a g e

many others. At the same time, it can also be stated that effective performance management in
the organizations also depends on the working environment and quality of the management at the
organization. However, in this context, it is important to be mentioned that there are several
approaches of performance management that the organizations may adopt for managing the
performance standards of their employees in a better way. These approaches of performance
management are discussed below:
Behavioral approach of performance management – This is one of the most popular performance
management approaches available to the organizations. This approach is considered as the oldest
performance management approach that the companies follow. Under this approach, the
performance standard of the employees is measured and managed using the Behavioral
Anchored Rating Scale. This technique helps the management judging performance standard of
the employees in more critical way (Mone and London, 2018). There are different organizations
using this particular approach for better performance management.
Result approach of performance management – This is another performance management
approach available to the organizations. Under this particular approach of performance
management, the ProMES concept is used. This concept is very effective for keeping the
employees motivated while working at the organization. This concept follows the holistic view
while measuring and managing the performance standards of the employees. Using this concept,
the managers can focus on the mentality and surroundings of the employees to understand their
level of performance (Kearney, 2018). This particular approach of performance management is
very effective in the large scale organizations.
Quality approach of performance management – This approach is also effective in managing the
performance standards of the employees. This approach analyzes the performance standard by
considering employees’ strengths and weaknesses. This is very simple and quick approach of
performance management (Mone and London, 2018).
If the particular example of Toyota Motors is considered, it can be identified that the
organization is following the result approach. At Toyota Motors the managers or team leaders
are always available to help the employees when they require. The management at Toyota
believes that instant help can improve the performance standard of the employees in a better way
15 | P a g e

and due to that the company gets better result. The managers also focus on the past performance
evaluation, which helps the workers improving the current performance standard and deriving
better results (Toyota-global.com, 2018). In this way, Toyota follows the result approach for
performance management of the employees.
Conclusion
In this essay, it has been identified that HPW is a very useful concept for engaging the
employees in the main business process. At the same time, the essay has also indicated that the
HPW concept is useful for achieving competitive advantage in the business. On the other hand,
the essay has also focused on the performance management approaches that are followed by
different organizations in the world. Mainly three performance management approaches have
been discussed – quality approach, behavioral approach and result approach. These three are
very effective in analyzing the performance standards critically,
16 | P a g e

Conclusion
The discussion and analysis in this study has indicated that personal and professional
developments are very important for overall performance improvement of the employees. The
discussion in this study has disclosed the responsibilities of the human resource professionals
within the organization. The study has also disclosed that the performance standards of the
employees are affected by different factors. On the other hand, this study has also indicated the
importance of HPW concept in performance improvement and achieving competitive advantage
of the business. The study has also mentioned that different approaches like, quality approach,
behavioral approach and result approach are very effective for performance management at the
companies.
17 | P a g e

Reference list
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bontchev, B., Vassileva, D., Aleksieva-Petrova, A. and Petrov, M., 2018. Playing styles based
on experiential learning theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 85, pp.319-328.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Buchanan, D.A. and McCalman, J., 2018. High performance work systems: The digital
experience. Routledge.
Cai, J., Lv, C., Aoyagi, E., Ogawa, S. and Watanabe, A., 2018. Laser Direct Writing of a High-
Performance All-Graphene Humidity Sensor Working in a Novel Sensing Mode for Portable
Electronics. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.
Ding, Y., Zhao, Y., Li, Y., Goodenough, J.B. and Yu, G., 2017. A high-performance all-
metallocene-based, non-aqueous redox flow battery. Energy & Environmental Science, 10(2),
pp.491-497.
Dixon, N.M., 2017. The organizational learning cycle: How we can learn collectively.
Routledge.
Kearney, R., 2018. Public sector performance: management, motivation, and measurement.
Routledge.
Kolb, D.A., 2014. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development.
FT press.
Mabogunje, A., 2015. The development process: A spatial perspective (Vol. 14). Routledge.
Mesoudi, A., Chang, L., Dall, S.R. and Thornton, A., 2016. The evolution of individual and
cultural variation in social learning. Trends in ecology & evolution, 31(3), pp.215-225.
18 | P a g e

Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
Sachs, J.D., 2015. The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press.
Toyota-global.com. 2018. TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION GLOBAL WEBSITE. [online]
Available at: http://www.toyota-global.com/ [Accessed 17 Jun. 2018].
19 | P a g e