Performance Management Approaches in Whirlpool

The assignment delves into the different performance management approaches utilized by Whirlpool's Human Resource department, encompassing behavioral, result-based, quality, and collaborative working techniques. Each approach is examined in detail, highlighting its benefits and drawbacks, as well as methods for evaluation. The document concludes with an overview of how these approaches can be effectively implemented to support a high-performance culture and commitment within the organization.

UNIT 35 Developing
Individuals, Teams and
Organisations

INTRODUCTION
Personal Development means activities which improves identity and awareness, develop
potential and talent, etc. also enhance life quality. This project report is a brief analysis and
research on development of individuals or teams of company Whirlpool which deals in home
appliances. In this assignment, appropriate professional skills, knowledge and behaviors that are
required to be a Human Resource Manager accompanied by its development to refurbish missing
skills are explained briefly. Further, more emphasis is also given to difference between
individual & organizational learning and development & training accompanied by needs of
professional development and continuous learning. To provide clear understanding about HR,
HPW contributions to employee engagement and competitive advantage are also illustrated. This
report is concluded by different types of approaches that could be used to evaluate employee
performance.
MAIN BODY
P1. Determination of professional and appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours that are
required by HR professionals
Following are the skills that HR professional must have
Active listening: HR should have the active listening. Apart from all agendas, HR should should
understand what others are trying to sat (Zepeda, 2013). In Whirlpool listening is important
criteria for managers and especially for human resource manager. HR manager should provide a
full attention on their subordinates that what they are saying.
Speaking ability: One of the important and essential characteristics which HR professionals
must have is speaking ability. To speak confidently in front of crowd is the major skill of human
resource managers. The able of making yourself capable presentable in speaking in crowd boosts
confidence. It removes the stammering and allow presenting yourself confidently. HR manager
should talk in such a way that information could receive to people effectively. The human
resource manager need to have effective communicating skills because it is demanded by their
field.
Organization skills: HR manager entails lots managerial functions including training
recruitment, performance appraisal, employee relations and development plan of an individual.
To go through all the processes' HR manager supervise all these functions and must have an
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organized way (Mone and London, 2018). Apart from these functions, HR manager performs
many more functions in Whirlpool HR manger needs to be very organize because they have
arranged all their work systematically. They have to maintain all the documents such as
employee's profile and other legal documents.
Multitasking: HR professional must have a multitasking. Sometimes, human resource manager
need to deal with personal issues of an employee. One minute, a recruiting strategy for a hard-to-
fill job minute after, a sporadic leave question next. And that’s to say nothing of wage/hour ,
social media, retention, engagement, and other things which HR has to deal inside Whirlpool.
These are some important criteria on to which human resource managers have to work
simultaneously. That is why it is said that HR manager should be multitasking.
Training and development: HR manager should have training and development skills in order
to be trained the employees in Whirlpool (Blandford, 2012). Training and development is
another important function which is to be performed by the human resource manager. HR
manager takes responsibility of providing training and assessment to employees for their
development. Managing sessions on management training and leadership. For example, will
furnish more different skills to the employees. This permits them to assume added tasks and
support their career growth at the same time.
Empathetic skill: In work place, human resource professionals have to deal with many
individual and their ailments regarding workload to salary objection. As a manager of human
resource these skills are required to understand place from where the person is coming before
making any sentiment. There are many cases from employee’s side in daily basis which Human
resource managers of Whirlpool have to deal with. Whatever case, it's HR manager’s main
responsibility to hear their employees and ensure that they get complete message clearly.
Following are the knowledge that HR professional must have:
Administration and management knowledge: An HR professional should have adequate
knowledge about the administration and management as well as their processes. They need to
have an adequate knowledge about it because they need to take care of all the corrections that are
needed to be made within the organization.
Following are the behavior that HR professional must have:
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Patience: it is one of the most crucial behavior that every HR professional need to have as they
need to deal with many kinds of sensitive issues such as payment issues, conflict issues,
employee benefit issues etc.
P2. Professional development plan
SWOT analysis of Human Resource:
Strengths
 Company's brand image.
 Existing profile of leaders.
 Work Culture.
 Workforce interest.
 Technology innovation.
 Defined recruitment process.
 Good manual records.
 Computerized HR system.
Weaknesses
 Lack of payroll integration.
 Poor training record.
 Too operational.
 Company's brand image.
 Existing profile of leaders.
 Work Culture.
 Workforce strength.
 Technology innovation.
Opportunities
 Services expansion.
 Geographical expansion.
 Acquisition of more consumer
preferences.
 Engaging of more talent pool.
 Leadership Stability.
 Reduce bureaucracy.
 Training and skills development.
 Improve Information.
Threat
 Market place uncertainty.
 Budgetary constraints.
 Environment stagnancy.
 Interpersonal conflicts.
 Maintaining employee diversity.
 Own system of Line manager.
 Inconsistent HR applications.
 External consultants use.
Personal Skill Audit
Skills Expert Moderately skilled Need training
Communication Skills
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I can communicate with
anyone in English

Time Management
I can manage all my work
within deadline

IT skills
Can use new software's'
efficiently

Confidence
I have confidence to deliver
opinions

Analysis skills
I am capable of accessing any
information

Administration and
management knowledge
Have adequate knowledge
about administration and
management knowledge

Patience
Patience is one of my main
key behavior that I have

Professional Development Plan
Following is the HR professional development plan of Whirlpool which indicates list of
skills and abilities that will be transformed by HR and will undergo a change:
What things I What will be What support or What will my Targeted dates
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need to learn done by me to
achieve this?
resources will I
need?
success criteria
be?
for review and
completion.
Communication
skill
Seize
opportunities to
talk with
colleagues in
English. Can start
with prepaid
topic, encourage
myself to talk in
confidence.
Find a companion
who is also
interested in
improving
communication
skills. Talk more
in seminars.
I will be more
confident in face
to face
communication. I
will be able deal
with colleague
conflicts in a
calm way.
4 months.
Time
Management
Make up a
calendar or a
specific time
schedule to set
myself deadlines.
And will force
myself to follow
the schedule.
Download time
management app
to record my to-
do list and finish
list. Check results
to conclude the
experience.
The task on my to
do list completes
before deadline.
My work
efficiency will be
high.
3 months.
IT skills Utilize new
software like
Prezi to try a
different
presentation style
(Aguinis, 2013).
Practicing skills
with word, excel
and power point.
Finding some
useful skills
recommended
online and trying
those skills to
find out which
ones are
applicable to me.
The document
that I offered will
satisfy my boss. I
will be able to
analysis the data
in the document
in a flexible way.
3 months.
Have confidence
to deliver
Start talking
without panic
Attend workshop
or spotlight
My peer’s
feedback on my
4 months.
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opinions. about whether it
is right or wrong.
classes and learn
the art to talk.
delivery of ideas
will be good, I
will be able to
give professional
advice's to my
boss.
Obtain individual
academic
research and
analysis skills.
Read more
academic articles
in journals and
editorial work in
newspapers.
Attending related
spotlights.
I will be capable
of using the
research method I
have learned in
class with the real
case and can
analysis data.
3 months.
Acquire the skills
of dealing with
employee
relations.
Learn to think in
other ways to
understand the
desire of different
people.
Sharing different
ways of
communication
with classmates
from different
countries.
I will have good
relationship with
my colleagues
and classmates.
3 months.
P3. Difference between individual learning and organisational learning, development and
training
Introduction:
Development and training are completely different things like training is given to the
employees in order to develop key skills required for the job while development is for the
development of skills required by employees to grow in their carrier.
Similarly, Organizational learning and individual learning are different. Organizational learning
means to gain knowledge within the organization and is done within a group while individual
learning is done alone and is done individually from different sources such as surroundings,
internet etc.
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Development and training
Basis Training Development
Meaning Training is an opportunity for
trainees in which they learn key
skills which are essentially required
to do the job, hence learning with
earning is known as training in
Whirlpool (Pollock, Jefferson and
Wick, 2015).
Development means training
for top level employees also
termed as management or
executive development in
Whirlpool.
Term Term is short Term is long
Focus on Focus is on present Focus is on future
Orientation Orientation is regarding job Orientation is regarding carrier
Motivation One to motivate for this is trainer Self-Motivation.
Objective Improving employees performance Preparing employees for future
Number of Individuals Many individuals are involved Just one individual is involved
Aim Job related. General knowledge and
conceptual
Major Differences:
1. Training is a process in which trainees get to know about the key skills required for the
job and development is a process for existing employees for their overall growth in
Whirlpool.
Training is a short term process of around 3 to 6 months and development is a continuous
process.
2. Training focuses on developing skills and knowledge for the current job and development
put emphasis on building knowledge, competencies and understanding for future in
Whirlpool.
3. Training has limited scope and development is career oriented.
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4. In training trainers are appointed to instruct trainees and in development manager self
directs him for future assignments (Gruman and Saks, 2011).
5. Training is attended by many individuals and in development one person himself is
responsible for one's development in company.
Training and development of individual as well as organisation
Basis Organizational as a whole Individual
Meaning Organizational learning means
gaining knowledge and skills
in a group.
Individual learning is depend
on the capabilities of the
individual who develops the
skills to deal with the future
opportunities in business.
Time taken These are long termed and
takes more time than other
types of training.
This type of learning is like
earning with learning, it goes
with work.
Effectiveness More effective, as group
learning contains learning of
each and every aspect.
Less effective, as one
individual is less focused than
a group.
Motivation Includes motivation by
trainers.
Includes self-motivation.
Permanent or not Not permanent. This could be a continuous
process as an individual can
practices anywhere he or she
wants.
P4. Professional development plan and professional learning in order to achieve the sustainable
development of the firm.
This is important to provide the continues training to the employees in order to drive
sustainable business performance in a business because if in a company like Whirlpool, if any
employee does not have the confidence to deliver their ideas or express or explain then them it
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will be really difficult for an employee to sustain in the company environment. This will hinder
companies' performance as their employee will not be able to explain himself as well as to
others.
There is a need for continuous learning because of following reasons:
Keeps mind sharp and skills fresh: In today's era only ones who are learning
consistently and are improving constantly will be employable. This will prevent brain from
getting dull. It will keep an individual in a state of readiness.
Competence leads to confidence: Without competing against fear, nervousness one
cannot achieve success in confidence. He has to be a continuous learner to fight from these fears
in order to be confident.
More options in work and in life: Non stop learning and improvement will provide with
more options. It will assist in changing careers or industries (Moynihan and Pandey, 2010).
Developing skills will open new worlds of success for any professional.
Professional development is needed because of following reasons:
Confidence and Credibility: It helps in providing a professional with new perspective
and increased expertise in any field.
Efficiency: It helps in achieving the stated objectives within a desired time period along
with the accurate productivity
Influencing power: By making use of skills and knowledge the employee is able to gain
the ability which leads to the development of an individual strength.
Network: In order to get the better result, it is very important to encourage
communication and interaction between the staff members so building the network plays
important role.
Keep Current: It helps in utilizing the better opportunities so employees need to posses
the updated knowledge regarding the upcoming advances.
Career pathways: For many it is just a part of moving up the career ladder.
Become a better employee: Above mentioned are needs of continuous learning and
professional development which can drive sustainable business performance of Whirlpool. An
individual can be better employee if they concentrate towards the better work.
Learning Cycle Theories
Learning cycle theory consist of four steps which are:
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Prepare: In this steps advance preparation for the tasks is done or for any other learning
experience.
Absorb: Then all the required information is absorbed from the preparation so the efficiency and
effectiveness can be increased.
Capture: then that information is captured either by making notes or by increasing the
understanding about the tasks.
Review: In last step notes are reviewed so that task can be completed in an efficient manner.
P5. High power work of Employee
Employee engagement can easily be defined as an extent to which employees feel a sense
of commitment to their organization and to its values and goals. In other words, it also means
extent to which an employee feels and chooses to invest their time, efforts, physical, mental
energy in their work and Whirlpool (Kearney, 2018). The process of engaging employees is
called drivers of employee engagement. Five keys have been identified to unlock employee
potential in Whirlpool are as follows:
 Know Them: Workplace programs should be placed to win hearts of employees and to
know them.
 Grow Them: Often people commit to those companies that help them in growing
through proper training and development to fulfill their needs to excel in their jobs.
 Inspire Them: Emotional connection should be established between employees and
work to give meaning to their work.
 Reward Them: Respect and rewards to the employee motivates them, to perform better. Involve them: Communication with employees should be done clearly to gather their
input and let them act.
Role of HR in improving employee engagement
By being a HR of Whirlpool company, first step is to measure it and second is to develop
strategies to fill gaps in order to improve employee engagement and these strategies should
include:
 Consistent and clear communication of goals of Whirlpool.
 Policies to be implemented that support employee engagement rather than hindering it.
 Trust could be built by continuous open dialogue between employees and management in
company.
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 Opportunities to grow and develop for employees of Whirlpool.
 Employees should be rewarded for their contribution.
It is interrelated with HPW contribution in employee engagement and competitive
advantage. It is a matter of fact that employees success contributes towards the sustainable
development of the business.
Above figure illustrates the link between employee engagement and competitive
advantage. Above figure suggests that HPW contributes in employee engagement which in turn
finally results in competitive advantage. It also shown above that employee engagement results
in employee’s commitment towards organization, alignment with organizational goals, employee
satisfaction and productivity among other things. Relationship between customer and employee
engagement will assist Whirlpool Corporation in gaining competitive advantage in terms of sales
growth, market share, shareholder value, profitability. This leads to better customer service and
consumer satisfaction which benefits organization with sales growth and increased shareholder
value.
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Illustration 1: Link between employee engagement and competitive advantage
(Source: Employee engagement and competitive advantage, 2015)

It is concluded that HPW contributes in Employee Engagement and Competitive growth.
In an organizational situation, HPW helps in improving employee efforts and directs them in one
common direction of achieving group goals (Katzenbach and Smith, 2015). These collective
efforts will result in achievement of goals which will further lead to customer satisfaction and
employee engagement which in turn will give competitive advantage to Whirlpool.
P6. Evaluation of different approaches to performance management
Following are different approaches to performance management that could be used by
HR manger of Whirlpool:
 Comparative Approach: This approach involves ranking of employees from top to
bottom. This ranking is done on the basis of performance of individual with respect to
that of others in group. In Whirlpool, every individual is ranked on the basis of highest
and lowest performer. There are several numbers of different approaches in Whirlpool
such as forced distribution technique, graphic rating scale and paired comparison. For
example: a company who knows the skilled and knowledgeable employees will take their
skills to the another level.
 Attribute Approach: In this type of system, employees in Whirlpool are rated on the
basis of a specific set of parameters like: problem solving skills, innovation, judgement,
creativity, teamwork, communication, etc. this approach allows to change the factors
related to the success within business on the nature of the evaluator in case of Whirlpool.
 Behavioural Approach: This is one of the oldest performance techniques. It consists of
series of vertical scales for different dimensions of the job. This could be easily done by
BARS technique. These scales are based on set parameters which are decided con-
sensually from all employees. Then employees. Then employees of Whirlpool are ranked
on each of the anchors according to their performance.
 Result Approach: This approach is straight forward and simple where Whirlpool
employee rate based on their performance results. This technique mainly focuses on four
perspectives; internal & operations, customer, financial and learning & growth. The
second approach is termed as productivity measurement and evaluation. This could be
very effective in motivating employees for enhanced productivity and measuring the
feedback (Approaches for measuring performance of employees, 2017). The basic
advantage of this approach is that covers strategy into operations with a more polite view.
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Secondly, it considers the external environment of the jobs like customers and learning
and growth. The disadvantage of it is that it lacks focus on human resource aspect, and
there is absence of certain key stakeholders.
 Quality Approach: This approach focuses on improving customer satisfaction of
Whirlpool by reducing errors and achieving continuous service improvisation. This
considers both professional and personal traits from manager of employees, clients and
peers (Buchanan and McCalman, 2018). The advantage to it; assessment of both
employee and system, use of multiple sources to evaluate performance, problem solving
through network and external and internal factors involvement.
 Collaborative Working: It is also known as joint or partnership working as it covers a
variety of ways that two or more organizations could work together. It could last for a
fixed length of time and can form a permanent arrangement.
Benefits of using performance measuring approaches are:
 Firms uses approaches like these together in an effective manner in order to evaluate
performance of employees.
 Due to this positive impact is put on employee morale and motivation and performs in a
better manner.
 Skills, strengths and weaknesses can be identified by them.
 Performance of employees enhances communication between supervisor and workers in
order to discuss issues related to work and their duties at work.
 Above stated performance management approaches could be used by HR of
Whirlpool in order to evaluate employee performance.
Evaluation ways in which performance management, collaborative working and effective
communication can support high-performance culture and commitment.
Evaluation of performance management, collaborative working and effective communication can
be done by following methods:
 Auditing: Weekly auditing can help in performance management and collaborative
working. This weekly auditing helps in identifying how much work has been done, what
are the hurdles in completion of the tasks etc.
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 Performance measuring: By measuring the performance collaborative working can be
evaluated i.e. if the performance of team members has increased that means collaborative
work has also been increased.
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