Developing individuals, teams and organisation

This report covers the professional skills and knowledge needed by HR personnel working for Tesco. It includes a personal SWOT and skills audit to develop a professional development plan. The differences between organisational and individual learning, training and development are discussed. The need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business performance is analysed. The report concludes by evaluating different approaches to performance management.

Developing
Individuals, Teams and
Organisations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
P1. Determine appropriate and professional Knowledge, skills and behaviours that are
required by HR professionals......................................................................................................1
P2. Analyse a completed personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and
behaviours and develop a professional development plan for a given job.................................3
P3. Analysing the differences between organisational and individual learning, training and
development................................................................................................................................6
P4. Analyse the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance...............................................................................................7
P5 Demonstrate understanding of how HPW contributes to employee engagement and
competitive advantage within a specific organisational situation. .............................................9
P6. Evaluate different approaches to performance management (e.g. collaborative working),
and demonstrate with specific examples how they can support high performance culture and
commitment...............................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References:.....................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
For an organisation, it is necessary to develop individuals and teams so that those employees can
eventually help the company in accomplishing their objectives(Hüseyinoğlu and Christopher,
2019). The company considered in this report is the UK based retail giant Tesco. It operates its
businesses through multi-format stores and online. The company has more than 5,000 stores
around the world. In this report, the professional skills and knowledge needed by HR personnel
working for Tesco will be covered. A personal SWOT and skills audit will be conducted in order
to develop a professional development plan. Also the differences between organisational and
individual learning will be discussed. Then the continuous learning and professional
development to drive the sustainable performance will be analysed. This will be followed by the
demonstration of the HPW's contribution to the employee engagement and the competitive
advantage within a specific organisation. The report will be concluded after evaluating the
different approaches to performance management. This will be done with the specific examples
based on the said evaluation.
MAIN BODY
P1. Determine appropriate and professional Knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required
by HR professionals.
Human Resource professionals needs to be good at finding, screening and training job applicants
as a primary requirement. They also need to help companies like Tesco with the changing trends
and regulate the employee demands and availability. They have a task of keeping employees
productive and be the mediator between the the company and the employees.
Knowledge refers to the techniques and the 'know how' of the things that needs understanding.
There are specific knowledge requirements that are needed to work as a good HR professional.
These knowledge requirements are:
 Strategic Knowledge
There is a need for strategic knowledge to be an effective HR. For an organisation like Tesco,
only the person who can make good strategies can keep the workforce stable. These strategies
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can help solving the inter personnel problems and can also create better environment in the
organisation.
 Technological knowledge
Everyone needs technological knowledge as without it no growth is possible in these modern
times. In a workforce of a company like Tesco, technological usage is on a growth itself and
even HR professionals need them for their precise working(Agarwal, 2020).
 Psychology
Individual and group psychology needs to be dealt effectively if they want their organisation to
work better(Baldé, Ferreira and Maynard, 2018). So, to deal with the employees of a company
like Tesco, HR needs to know about the different psychological behaviours such as human
emotions and satisfaction.
Skills are the learned knowledge gained with experience. It is highly required by the
professionals for their credentials. There are specific skills required to excel as a HR
professional.
These skill requirements are:
 Advising skills
They need to be a good advisor as this is one of the basic skill requirement needed to be an HR.
Their advising skills together with the good communication will lead them to becoming a good
HR.
 Reporting skills
Their daily activity includes reporting people's behaviour and credentials. There are times when
the situations are very critical and any miscommunication could lead to making those situations
even worse and hence, putting a bad impression on the customers of a consumer dependent
company like Tesco(Gupta and Pathak, 2018).
 Communication skills
Communication is a skill which can only be a need and never be something which in excess
could become a weakness. Only a good communication skill could help them in advising people
well(Hartmann and et.al., 2020).
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Behaviour is meant to be the thought with which people operate. Behaviour of a person changes
with the situation. These are not necessarily instinctive but could also be learned. HR
professionals need to adapt certain behaviours for better productivity.
These behaviours are:
 Decisive thinker
HR handle situations which could involve fights, emotions and arguments. For these moments
they need to be decisive and at point with their decisions.
 Collaborative
They need to be collaborative in their team and with the others to solve their issues properly.
This aspect could help them in personal lives too(Muduli and et.al., 2020).
 Eager to know human emotions
If a person isn't interested in understanding human emotions and solving their issues, this may
not be the right job for them. Human behaviours and mental health is now a big issue among the
workforce.
P2. Analyse a completed personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and
behaviours and develop a professional development plan for a given job.
SWOT analysis
Strengths
 I am very creative and have strong
interpersonal skills.
 I am good at working towards a
particular objective and always have
the patience to accomplish them.
 I am a very quick learner and
understand people's behaviour quickly.
Weaknesses
 I don't have a proper vision and often
do things without a proper plan in my
mind.
 I am not a very courageous person and
often hesitate to ask questions to my
superiors.
 My time management skills are not up
to par.
Opportunities
 I have the opportunity to improve my
relations with my peers and clients.
 Learning new skills is big opportunity
Threats
 The increasing technological
advancement is a big threat to my
career prospective.
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that I will have while working as a HR.
 This gives me an opportunity to
understand human behaviours.
 My skill levels are too low to avail new
opportunities.
 The need to keep up with the finances
is a big threat.
Skill audit
Skill audit is done to know the different strengths and weakness in a detailed manner. It helps an
individual in knowing what they need to improve and evaluate.
Skill/ Behaviours Poor Average Good Excellent
Time
Management
*
Management
skills
*
Approach
towards human
behaviour
*
Quick learning *
Communication *
Challenging *
Professional development plan
Skills Resources Judging criteria Time period
 Time
Management
This skill can only be
improved by putting
time management
skills into my habit
and daily routine.
The best judge of my
time management
skills is me and only
my seriousness and
determination can help
The time period for
improving my time
management skill will
vary from few months
to even a year.
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me in improving.
 Communicatio
n
The mode of
communication that
needs improvement
can be the written and
oral communication.
This can only be
improved by speaking
regularly with people
and reading many
books.
The best judge of my
communication skill
are my colleagues,
friends and family.
The time period
required to improve
my communication
skill can be few
months to a year as
this skill can only be
improved with
regularity.
 Challenging Being challenging is
something which is
gained by a person
with a gut feeling. It
should begin with
taking up small
challenges and then
working the way up
towards taking big
challenges.
Whether I am taking
challenges in a
positive way can be
judged and evaluated
by myself. Other than
that someone who has
seen my strengths and
weaknesses can tell
whether we play safe
or like taking
challenges.
The time period
needed to be
challenging totally
depends upon person
to person. There could
be a determined
decision taken which
could evolve the
personality or it could
take few months to
evolve into a
challenging person
slowly.
P3. Analysing the differences between organisational and individual learning, training and
development.
The organisational and individual learning will both help an individual in gaining knowledge and
skills. Though in a different manner, but in a way that its combination will be the best solution to
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improvement. Training and development have similar applications but are different in meaning.
In a simple context, learning is required for development.
Individual learning Organisational learning
 It focuses on individual achievements
and goals. It is individual learning that
doesn't need collaborative efforts but
just individual strengths.
 The individual learning will increase
the personal development and may
involve getting future settled.
 It needs personal determination and
will involve tasks that could only be
done individually.
 Individual learning may or may not
align with the organisational learning.
 It is the easier form of learning and
need not involve more than 1 person.
 Its objective is to attain the results and
the achievements.
 It focuses on achievements and
objectives of an organisation as a
whole. It needs collaborative learning
by which an individual can excel
together with the others.
 The organisational learning will
increase the company's profit and
performance. It will also help in
developing the individual's knowledge.
 It needs everyone's collaboration and
will involve tasks that can only be done
in teams.
 Organisational learning always helps
individuals in their growth and
knowledge.
 It is tougher to attain and will always
include not only people but the whole
company.
 Its objective is to complete the
processes and accomplish the purpose.
Training Development
 It could be considered as an education
process. It involves developing skills
and learning new things.
 It can happen in a short time or could
be done for a fixed duration.
 It is considered as an informative
process. It involves understanding the
growth and improving the different
skill of an employee.
 Development can take a lot of time to
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 It is a work oriented process.
 Training refers to learning new things
and improving on the old learnings.
 Training focuses on the role of an
employee. It is done to improve on that
particular role.
 Trainings are focused on improving the
skills are mostly needed to excel in the
existing jobs.
get completed. The duration cannot be
fixed.
 It is a career oriented process.
 It refers to applying the learnings into
practical work and improving on them
through experience.
 It focuses on the person or the
employee. It is done for the personal
growth.
 It is focused on the aim of improving
the skills needed to tackle the future
challenges.
P4. Analyse the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable
business performance.
Continuous learning is the process of learning new things on a regular basis. It comes through
the initiative taken by the person and his determination to not stop at any level of success. When
it comes to learning, there is never any end point and there is always a room for improvement.
Even the most successful people keep on learning new things. In an organisation, continuous
learning is needed to keep yourself in the race with the others. If there is no learning then there
will be scarcity of new innovation in the organisation. The employees need to gain new
knowledge and skill to take a next in their career(Ogbeibu and et.al., 2020). The ways by which
continuous learning will help in driving the sustainable business performance of Tesco are:
 Identifying the need to improve the skill sets.
Only continuous learning can help in identifying the skills which are yet to be improved by the
employees. These skill sets will be their best consideration of improvement.
 By creating a more responsive environment.
continuous learning could be used to create a open and responsive environment in the Tesco's
workspace. This responsiveness will help in generating more ideas and creativity.
 Keeping the company relative in their industry.
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continuous learning for a company as a whole will help in staying relevant to the trends and
advancement in the industry. Being relevant will help Tesco to be consistent for a longer time.
 Improving the productivity of the employees at all levels.
Learning and improving with time will increase the productivity of the workforce at all levels.
From a new joiner to a management lead, everyone needs improvement(Pollitt, 2018).
Professional development means improving the skills of a employee to meet the needs of the
organisation's objectives. For Tesco, it is important to train and develop the skills of their
employees as most of their employees work in direct contact with their customers. These
developments will be under the leadership, technical and management segment. Professional
developments is needed in people to be consistent in their career growth. These are the ways by
which professional development could help in sustainable business performance:
 Building key performers
Professional development plans will help in building and identifying good performers in the
company. In Tesco, these development plan could be used in finding productive customers.
 Giving financial gains
Development plans in an organisation might incur some costs but their return rate is high and
will certainly stay for a longer period of time. In Tesco, if most of their employees are
professionally skilful then their profits can even be doubled(Rezvani, Barrett and Khosravi,
2018) .
 Increasing loyalty
If an organisation is continuously developing professional evaluation and improvement plans
then by that they are showing their intentions of keeping the employee for along period of time.
These plans and a good working culture will help in increasing the loyalty of the employees.
 Raising business competence
These development plans gives the job information required for better understanding. This
increases the employee's productiveness and in turn increases the business competence.
P5 Demonstrate understanding of how HPW contributes to employee engagement and
competitive advantage within a specific organisational situation.
High performance work or HPW, as the name stands is the heavy work done by the employees
which will help the company in generating more sales and profits. These mostly favours the
organisation but sometimes when done in a long period of time could end up lowering the
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patience level of the employees, hence it should be done to a certain level. It is usually measured
by the overall productivity of the organisation(Rowe, Karg and Sherry, 2019) . If the employees
of Tesco are able to do the High performance work then they will be able to provide high quality
products to their customers. These are the ways by which the High performance work helps in
employee engagement:
 Organisational commitment
High performance work helps in sticking to the commitment of the organisation. This also helps
in completing the objectives that were set for the organisation.
 Employee satisfaction
High performance leads to setting a standard for the employees and hence making the employees
confident and satisfied. For Tesco, the satisfaction of the employees is necessary for the
betterment of the organisation.
 Talent Retention
The high performance work leads to employee satisfaction and that leads to talent
retention(Semerci, 2018). For Tesco, it is important to retain effective employees as there are
many competitors present in the market and loosing employees could sometimes mean loosing
customers.
 Employee productivity
The main advantage of the High performance work is the increase in productivity of the
employees and the organisation. Tesco needs productive employees to keep consistency in the
market. Also it helps in improving the quality of the products they are making.
To gain competitive advantage means making products at a low cost and having higher sales
than the competitors. This competitive advantage can be considered after the evaluation of
variety of factors like branding, quality etc. These ways by which competitive advantages are
gained by the high performance work in an organisation are:
 High growth in sales
High performance work are the best way to increase sales of any organisation. And the sales are
the reason of the competitive advantage gained by the companies. Tesco could increase their
sales if their employees and the management give high performance.
 Gaining market share
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These high sales will in turn result in high market share for the organisation. Tesco could use the
HPW strategy to gain competitive grounds in all the markets they are present in.
 Increasing shareholder value
Increasing the shareholder value is one of the requirements for a business to succeed. That can be
done if their employees and management give high performance(Van Waeyenberg and
Decramer, 2018).
 Increasing profits
The profits are based on the company's performance and value. The HPW will be responsible the
increase in profits. Competitive advantage give companies a status and recognition which is itself
very important for the future profits.
P6. Evaluate different approaches to performance management (e.g. collaborative working), and
demonstrate with specific examples how they can support high performance culture and
commitment.
The performance management can be considered a modern management tool which is used in
monitoring employee's work and performance. It is a very important aspect of an organisation as
it helps in understanding the employee strengths and weaknesses. Taking into a practical
approach, performance management is when an organisation is working on developing the
employees and establishing thorough objectives for them. In Tesco, there is a system for
performance management and it is used for aligning the workflow and taking decisions that can
help in effective strategic planning. There are different approaches of performance management
which are:
 Collaborative working
The performance of the workforce can improve in collaboration with the others if the
coordination is up to the mark. Sometimes collaboration can lead up to lower performances than
what they were performing individually. But it is easy to judge performances when they are
working with someone else. Tesco's employees with collaborative working can boost up their
sales (Watts and Corrie, 2022).
 Shared goals
The goals set by the organisation, if shared with the others can improve the productivity and the
goals can be achieved in a lesser time than it will take. The people developing the product or
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service must be inclined together in moving towards the goal. In respect to Tesco, shared goals
can be effective at all the levels of the organisation. Only if the whole company is working
towards a similar goal, the organisation can succeed.
 Decision-making
Decision making is one factor which could the performances at different stages. Performance
management of the workforce can be influenced by the decision made by the management. In
Tesco, the decision making is connected, as in the decisions taken by the one person can effect
the enterprise and the ecosystem.
 Management by objectives(MBO)
MBO is known to be the objectives given to the employees that are accepted by the management
and the employees themselves. This, in turn, leads to better motivation and more productivity in
their performances(Widmann and Mulder, 2018). In Tesco, management by objective leads to
better communication between management and the employees. However, a weak point of this
approach is that it is not necessary that these will be achieved in a systematic manner.
Conclusion
From this report, it can be concluded that there are few skills, knowledge and behaviours needed
to succeed as HR professional. In respect to these skills and behaviours, my personal qualities
were compared and a professional development plan was created which helped me in
understanding the need for improvement in my skills. It was also observed that there are few
differences between organisational learning and individual learning. Also it was noted that
training is key to development of an individual's career. To drive businesses successfully there is
a need for consistent learning in the organisation which will lead to professional development of
the employees. The ways by which Tesco gains competitive advantage through High
Performance Work was demonstrated with examples. This was followed by evaluating the
approaches of performance management and how they can support the high performance culture
of Tesco.
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References:
Books and Journals
Adivar, B., Hüseyinoğlu, I.Ö.Y. and Christopher, M., 2019. A quantitative performance
management framework for assessing omnichannel retail supply chains. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, 48, pp.257-269.
Agarwal, A., 2020. Investigating design targets for effective performance management system:
an application of balance scorecard using QFD. Journal of Advances in Management
Research.
Baldé, M., Ferreira, A.I. and Maynard, T., 2018. SECI driven creativity: the role of team trust
and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Gupta, S. and Pathak, G.S., 2018. Virtual team experiences in an emerging economy: a
qualitative study. Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Hartmann, S., and et.al., 2020. Resilience in the workplace: A multilevel review and
synthesis. Applied Psychology, 69(3), pp.913-959.
Muduli, K.K., and et.al., 2020. Environmental management and the “soft side” of organisations:
Discovering the most relevant behavioural factors in green supply chains. Business
Strategy and the Environment, 29(4), pp.1647-1665.
Ogbeibu, S., and et.al., 2020. Technological turbulence and greening of team creativity, product
innovation, and human resource management: Implications for sustainability. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 244, p.118703.
Pollitt, C., 2018. Performance management 40 years on: a review. Some key decisions and
consequences. Public Money & Management, 38(3), pp.167-174.
Rezvani, A., Barrett, R. and Khosravi, P., 2018. Investigating the relationships among team
emotional intelligence, trust, conflict and team performance. Team Performance
Management: An International Journal.
Rowe, K., Karg, A. and Sherry, E., 2019. Community-oriented practice: Examining corporate
social responsibility and development activities in professional sport. Sport Management
Review, 22(3), pp.363-378.
Semerci, A.B., 2018. Examination of knowledge hiding with conflict, competition and personal
values. International Journal of Conflict Management.
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Van Waeyenberg, T. and Decramer, A., 2018. Line managers’ AMO to manage employees’
performance: the route to effective and satisfying performance management. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(22), pp.3093-3114.
Watts, M. and Corrie, S., 2022. Growing the ‘I’and the ‘We’in transformational leadership: The
LEAD, LEARN & GROW Model. Coaching Practiced, pp.139-157.
Widmann, A. and Mulder, R.H., 2018. Team learning behaviours and innovative work behaviour
in work teams. European Journal of Innovation Management.
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