Whirlpool's Organizational Development

The project discusses how Whirlpool, a company that has faced significant drawbacks, achieved remarkable success by re-structuring and promoting a healthy relationship between employers and employees. The company's decision to work together as a team to achieve its vision and extra-ordinary goals is highlighted as a key factor in its success. Transparent communication and the encouragement of all employees are also emphasized as essential elements in developing credibility and trust within the organization.

UNIT 35 DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS,
TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
QUESTION 1...................................................................................................................................1
Determining the appropriate and professional knowledge, skills and behaviours that are
required by Human Resource professionals................................................................................1
QUESTION 2...................................................................................................................................3
Personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours and develop a
professional development plan....................................................................................................3
QUESTION 3...................................................................................................................................5
Differences between organisational and individual learning, training and development ..........5
QUESTION 4...................................................................................................................................6
Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance.................................................................................................................................6
QUESTION 5...................................................................................................................................8
Understanding of how HPW contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage
.....................................................................................................................................................8
QUESTION 6...................................................................................................................................9
Evaluate different approaches to performance management.....................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Development of individual, teams and organisation provide opportunities to evolve new
skills to achieve the goals and objectives of business (Bolden, 2016). This project aims at
determining appropriate and professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by
Human Resource professionals.
This report will discuss issues related with individual, team and organisational
development of Whirlpool. It is an American multi-national manufacturer which supply home-
made appliances. Thus, assignment covers personal skills auditing to identify appropriate
knowledge, skills and behaviour and develop a professional improvement plan, and needs for
continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business performance.
QUESTION 1
Determining appropriate and professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by
Human Resource professionals
Human Resource are the individuals who uses strategic approaches to coordinate efforts
of employees in a common direction.
Skills
Employee relation: It is significant to maintain relations between employee and
employer to resolve problems and issues arising in at work place. This will assist Whirlpool in
offering happy and satisfying work environment, where all employees work effectively as a
team. HR manages and controls behaviour of workforce to accomplish the goals (Meneghel,
Salanova and Martínez, 2016). Establishing of employees’ relationship will help Whirlpool in
resolving the disputes by communicating vision and extraordinary goals
On boarding: This process help HR manager of Whirlpool in establishing strong
relations with employee which will result in reduce turnover rates. Whirlpool hires new
employees and motivate them to adjust according to social working environment. HR
professional practice includes techniques to boost up morale of employees and encourage them
to actively participate in decision making process.
Performance management: It is technique that helps Whirlpool in identifying key areas
of improvement (Woodcock, 2017). Human Resource Management continuously evaluate and
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measure performance of workforce, which is essential to achieve goals and objectives within
prescribed time frame.
Key behaviour of Human Resource can be defined as a tool to critically examine
carrying out of individuals and design development plan for the same. Whirlpool HR manager
communicates the expected level of performance to workforce and provide feedback to enhance
competencies.
Transparency and trustworthiness: Human Resource professionals are expected to deal
with highly sensitive issues, which has direct impact on their work. Positive environment of
Whirlpool influence employees to share their issues and point of views without the fear of
being judge. Employees should be aware about the organisation’s policies, development of
transparency in decision making process is essential for the success of business. As in the
mentioned case team members were engaged in the transparent communication to enhance team
performance.
Purpose oriented: HR of Whirlpool understand the objectives of business and develop
certain policies to achieve them (Bourne, 2016). They must coordinate workforce efforts in a
common direction and motivate them to work effectively and efficiently.
Knowledge
English language: Human Resource professional of Whirlpool has high knowledge of
English structure, content and grammar. This is essential for delivering of right information to
clients and making them understand about the company’s policies (Huczynski, 2017). In the
world of globalisation, HR should have knowledge of English to establish good relations with
others.
Education and Training: Selecting capable workforce is fundamental responsibility of
Whirlpool as they organise training workshops to develop new skills
Skills which required in HR professionals:
 Good communication skills
 collaborative
 time management skills
 knowledge of rules and regulations
 confident
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 skilled influencer
QUESTION 2
Personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours and develop a
Professional Development Plan
Personal Audit Plan
Basis Good Average Weak
Skills
Time management
skills

confident 
Communication skills 
Knowledge
Knowledge of rules
and regulations

Human resource
knowledge

Behaviour
Skilled influencer 
collaborative 
Personal Development Plan
Areas need to develop Activities Time frame
Time management skills For developing positive work
culture in organisation, I have
to improve my time
management skills by which I
will able to develop effective
Within 2 weeks from starting
date.
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strategies.
Knowledge of rules and
regulations
To motivate employees of
organisation and to fulfil their
basic needs, I have to improve
my education in employee
rules and regulations.
1 week from the starting
date.
Communication skills To appoint right person at
right place, and for developing
effective communication
relationship with employees, I
have to improve my
communication skills.
3 weeks from the starting
date.
collaborative To work effectively and
efficiently with a range of
people within and outside
organisation, I have to
improve my collaborative
skills.
1 weeks from the starting
date.
Human resource knowledge For developing effective
recruiting process in
organisation, I have to
improve my knowledge in
human resource management.
2 weeks from the starting
date.
QUESTION 3
Differences between organisational and individual learning, training and development
Organisational learning: This is defined as a process of developing and retaining of knowledge
within the organisation. Improvement of procedures and policies is essential to gain experience,
to develop knowledge. Whirlpool implements various ways to decrease cost of production and
increase overall profits which is beneficial for their investors.
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Learning curve is the most common measure used by organisation to measure its
outcome. It identifies the process which will increase productivity and efficiency with minimum
return. Improvements in Whirlpool is measured by coordination between technological
advancement and organisational structure (Ghobadi, 2015). Learning is an effective tool that
develop new knowledge and define the scope of this mechanism. Business has implemented
organisational learning process because of its restructuring, which occured after “company
crisis”.
Organisational training and development: This is concerned with activities and
procedures which help in improving performance of individuals. Whirlpool use this process in
enhancing the capabilities and developing positive attitude of workforce towards their jobs.
Management organise various workshops and seminars, which help individuals in identifying
their key points for improvement. T&D program of Whirlpool is necessary for implementing of
innovative and creative approaches. A one-day team’s development session was organised by
Whirlpool to guide staff members.
Human Resource Management is responsible for optimum utilisation of resources in the
training and development plans (Cameron and Green, 2015). Departments like marketing,
production has different goals and agendas as it is important to coordinate the efforts of every
group in a common direction. Whirlpool uses different approaches like job training, mentoring,
apprenticeship to train staff members working in business.
Individual learning: It is a specific program which support employees in identifying
strengths and weaknesses. Individuals can learn and develop themselves with the help of
reflection (Armstrong, 2018). Employees of Whirlpool develop certain skills essential in
continuous interaction with each other and business environment. Individual learning will help
employees of Whirlpool to pay more concentration on the work and reduce their informal
chatting.
Individual training and development: It covers activities which aid individuals in
identifying and developing skills essential for growth. Employees of Whirlpool has improved
quality of life and contribute towards goals. They identify the key areas of improvement and
perform both formal and informal activities essential to enhance profession. This Individual
training and development will help Whirlpool employees in enhancing their overall productivity
and efficiency.
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Basis Organisational learning,
training and development
Individual learning, training
and development
Objectives This aim on overall growth
and development of company,
their main objective is to
increase profits and
productivity of business
(Maguire, 2017).
It helps in identifying
individual strength and
weakness, which are essential
in personal growth and
development.
Focus Both organisation and
workforce.
Only on individual.
Efficiency Organisational training and
developing will minimise the
cost of operation and
maximise the overall revenue
and turnover. As employees
will focus on their work and
avoid personal conversations.
According to the case study,
NAR staff has developed
innovate skills and also
committed towards their work
by accomplishing the
extraordinary goals.
Productivity This can be improved as all
strategic issues and problems
are being addressed in a
general team meeting
Proper training will help in
enhancing individual skills in
an appropriate manner and
thus it can be considered as an
important tool.
Growth Training programs of
Whirlpool is significant for
developing new skills and
improving the existing skills
Organising training classes is
essential for future growth of
employees to develop
themselves on professional and
personal levels.
Goals Organisation aims at Staff members of Whirlpool
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delivering valuable services
and improve its costing. Its
main objective is setting
standard which will create
good impact on their
customers.
coordinate their individual
behaviours and attitude
towards accomplishment of
goals
Creativity Management of this company
resolve all difficulties
creatively in the formal
meetings as it will tend to
create positive working
environment.
Individual learning will focus
on developing creativity which
is essential in designing of
policies and plans.
QUESTION 4
Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance
CPD (Continuous Professional Development) is a term used to explain about learning
workshops and activities, which benefit in enhancing performance of individuals. It is described
as methodologies and learning workshops that motivate employees of Whirlpool to share their
ideas and opinions. It is essential to focus on key areas of improvement. Such growth is
supported by academic qualifications, skills and behaviour which is based on practical learning
to develop individuals professionally and engagement in continuing development process help in
both personal growths.
Sustainability refers to present growth and development without affecting the future
capabilities of concern (Gill, Henderson-Sellers and Niazi, 2018). Here, continuous learning is
expanding the existing set of skills and knowledge according to changing environment and
development (The importance of continuing professional development, 2014).
Importance of continuous learning at workplace
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Recognising talent: Human Resource Department of Whirlpool is working effectively in
identifying talent and knowledge of workforce. Managers of Human Resource identify strengths
and weaknesses of individuals; on the basis of above, they develop learning programs and
seminars to enhance talent. Effective communication skills help leaders in motivating employees
to come out of their comfort zone and work in a desired manner for career development.
Continuous learning is beneficial for Whirlpool in identifying the hidden talent of workers and
improve their performance.
Setting up of goals and target: HR of the said company set a benchmark to measure
performance and growth of employees. Whirlpool promotes new talent by providing incentives
which can be termed as a reward for team members. Standard goals are essential in unlocking the
potential of employees, HR team will motivate them to achieve it.
Provide resources: Whirlpool provide suitable learning equipment, which help individual
in developing skills at workplace. Human Resource invite speakers from outside company to
share their experience and knowledge with staff members (Meneghel, Salanova and Martínez,
2016). This is relevant as the workforce will get motivated and work together to achieve the aim.
Resources are effectively allocated with central planning, to improve employees’ performance
and bring out the best in them.
Importance of Professional Development
Increase Retention: Whirlpool organise professional development programs to improve
existing skills for their development. In this way organisation express concern about workers’
career progression which is beneficial in long term (Benefits of professional development, 2017).
According to the case study after the continuous development plans, report for higher job
satisfaction has been seen.
Build confidence and credibility: Professional Development Plans of Whirlpool provide
transparency in communication between employers and employees which is essential in
developing credibility and trust for growth.
Make succession planning easier: This is an effective tool used by Whirlpool for training
employees to become future leaders and managers. Development of new skills will reduce
knowledge gap which will lead in reducing employees turnover and hiring of workforce. NAR
has organised special off site team meetings to address the issues, which were required in
developing plans and policies.
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Improved efficiency: Development plan of Whirlpool offer set of new skills and
knowledge and provide individuals an opportunity to learn from workshops and training
programs. Team members were working in a collaborated form to resolve problems and
improve efficiency.
QUESTION 5
Understanding on how HPW contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage
High Performance Working (HPW) is an approach used by Whirlpool that is essential in
motivating employees to participate in business process to achieve the desired results. It can be
defined as a process which is essential in improving capacity of the business to attract and hire,
develop and retain high performance personnel.
According to UK Commission, it is a general approach used to manage effective
employees to aim at high level of performance (Flin and Arbuthnot, 2017). This is a flexible
approach which provides management freedom to choose from the policies which is beneficial
for accomplishing over all objectives.
Employees engagement: This practice is used by Whirlpool to develop sense of
commitment towards organisational goals and objectives. Human Resource team motivate
employees to work effectively towards attainment to desired outcomes. If employees value their
work this will create positive working environment and it will lead to organisational success. HR
manager effectively communicate scope and purpose to the workforce and identify importance of
their role in accomplishing it. This will reduce informal chats which takes place in Whirlpool,
thus workers will get more time to focus on their work. Superiors will effectively deliver the
visions and strategies to team members and they will work accordingly. They decided to interact
with each other in professional way, this company has organised one-day development plan to
improve skills (Miletzki and Broten, 2017). Capable employees will enhance the sales and
productivity, and resulting in growth of business. Transparent communication has established
positive working environment; it has resulted in positive working environment. Staff members
respect opinions of each other and resolve operational issues which were affecting the business’s
productivity.
Whirlpool Manager organises meetings in which every team members express their
opinions and give ideas about resolving the issues arising at workplace. Motivated staff members
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utilise organisational resources effectively which will minimise cost of operation thus resulting
greater profits and revenue.
Competitive advantages: High performance work system has become significant in the current
business environment.
Company has used SAP (System Application Process) software in standardising the
efforts of employees to expand and develop their business world-wide. Capable employees have
reduced overall cost of business by reducing the wastage, thus by resulting in higher efficiency
power. Human Resource management is responsible for selecting, retaining, motivating and
developing capable workforce.
Whirlpool will develop new products and services using innovative strategies which will
increase their sales. Team members share accountability of their jobs and they regularly discuss
all the issues related to company, it has resulted it delivering valuable experience to customers
(Boer and et.al., 2017). It has resulted in overall increase of profits and market share. If the
revenue is increased, employees will get good compensation and work effectively towards the
accomplishment of goals.
There are certain barriers which stop business from being HPW, some of them are as follows:
Insufficient education: Senior leaders some time fail to understand the importance of the
said HPW which will lead to wastage of resources, time, energy as it tends to decease overall
profits of Whirlpool.
Informal working environment: According to the case, earlier employees were wasting
their time in personal communication. This situation has led to decrease of productivity and
profitability of business.
QUESTION 6
Evaluate different approaches to performance management
Performance management: It refers to activities which is essential in achieving goals in an
effective and efficient manner. It focuses on maintaining coordination between workforce and
objectives of business and continuously monitor employees’ performance to get the best
outcomes.
Approaches of performance management
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Comparative Approaches: To achieve the strategic goals and objectives, Human
Resource management compare the performance of individual performance with the standard set.
This technique is used by Whirlpool to rank the lowest performer and high-performer employees.
This strategy is essential in retaining capable and talented employees which help Whirlpool in
achieving the goals and exceeding all expectations (McGuire, 2014).
HR team identify improvement points for underperformed staff members and implement
improvement strategies to enhance their skills. Rewards help in motivating employees to fulfil
the goals within the prescribed time frame.
Positives: Whirlpool employees work collaboratively towards the attainment of the
organisational goals and objectives. It provides job specific competencies to workforce. This
process is continuous, as it assures that team members participate in business process and take
feedback to improve the procedures and policies. In order to derive the best results, it is
important to align the efforts of workforce with organisational goals.
Negatives: According to this theory, people are ranked below on the basis of their performance,
and due to this, lower level employees will feel demotivated and unsatisfied.
Behavioural Approach: Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) is served as a guide to
measure the level of performance and provide them with the said diameters. To assure the
effective performance it is significant to make behaviour of employees more descriptive and
specific. Competency models is used in identifying the skills and capabilities essential for
performing a particular task. Team across the organisation should work together for competency
performance evaluation.
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Positives: Manager of HR use transparent communication to inform about the vision of company
to employees and also set the benchmark (Almahendra and Ambos, 2015). They motivate
employees by providing them with rewards like incentives to achieve the standard. Average
employees are influenced to achieve said target by developing the cooperate strategies which are
discussed in the team meeting.
Negatives: It is time consuming and complex procedure because it requires critical observation
of each and every team member.
Collaborative working environment: It is defined as a joint partnership in which two
organisations are working together in the form of alliances or informal network. According to the
given case study, team members were aware about the cross functional collaboration of the
business. Employees of the company has decided to work together as a team to achieve the
vision and extraordinary goals. Transparent communication is essential in resolving the issues
and problems which has resulted in cooperation and coordination between team members.
Positives: Employees will work together to achieve goals and objectives of business; thus it will
result in establishing of positive working environment. Leaders motivate individuals to perform
job collaboratively to put their efforts towards common direction.
Negatives: Team consists of individuals who have different opinions so, there are high chances
of conflicts and issues. This will result in decreasing overall efficiency and viability of the
business.
Given below are various ways to achieve these approaches, which is essential in
performance management process:
Defining of goals: Human Resource Management of Whirlpool identify individual goals
and coordinate it entirely with business. Setting of goals is a mutual understanding between
employees and employers
Delivering of information: Human Resource Manager spread awareness to each
department about the goals and mission which is to be achieved and acknowledge their success.
Appraisal process: Whirlpool can include this process to listen, observe and give
feedback so that recognition in terms of rewards which can be in monetary and non-monetary
terms will be made to motivate employees for undertaking enhanced tasks.
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CONCLUSION
This report concluded that employees of Whirlpool had informal communication with
each other that resulted in decreasing overall profits and efficiency. This company had decided to
undergo restructuring process to resolve all problems and motivate team members to work
together for development and growth. Transparent communication between employers and
employees is essential in developing of credibility and trust so that there is healthy relationship
between them. Further, this project explained that employees has decided to work together as a
team to achieve the vision and extraordinary goals. To sum up, Whirlpool achieved all the
drawbacks and made a remarkable success by encouraging all employees in precise track after
re-structuring.
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REFERENCES
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Woodcock, M., 2017. Team development manual. Routledge.
Online
Benefits of professional development. 2017. [Online]. Accessed through:
<https://www.kaplanfinancial.com/resources/pdc/5-benefits-of-professional-
development/>
The importance of continuing professional development. 2014. [Online]. Accessed through:
<http://continuingprofessionaldevelopment.org/why-is-cpd-important>.
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