Developing High-Performance Teams: A Report on Primark's HR Strategies

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes Primark's HR strategies and their impact on high-performance teams.

Developing Teams Individuals and Organisations
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 3
MAIN BODY 4
TASK 1 4
P1Professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by HR professionals 4
P2Personnel skill audit and professional development plan 6
M1Detailed professional skills audit 8
TASK 2 9
P3 Organisational and individual learning, training and development 9
P4Need for continuous learning and professional development 12
M2Learning cycle theories to analyse the importance of implementing continuous professional
development 13
D1Detailed and coherent professional development plan has set out learning goals and training in
relation to learning cycle. 13
TASK 3 13
P5Understanding of how HPW contribute to employee engagement and competitive advantage
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M3 Analysis of the benefits of applying HPW 14
P6 Different approaches to performance management that support high performance culture and
commitment. 15
M4 Critical evaluation of the different approaches to support high performance culture and
commitment. 16
D2Judgement on how HPW and mechanism used to support HPW lead to improve employee
engagement, competitive advantage 17
CONCLUSION 18
REFERNCES 19
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INTRODUCTION
Development of an overall organisation depends upon teams and individuals this is so because if
the individuals and team will give their best in achieving their personnel goals then it will indirectly leads
in achieving the overall organisational goals and development. So it is very much essential for every firm
to keep on rendering training and development session to its workforce so that they get developed in every
aspect of business concern which would result in the overall development of an organisation too. The
organisation which is being taken into consideration to carry out this assignment is Primark which is an
Irish fast fashion retailer firm and was founded in 1969 by Arthur Ryan. Beside this it offers wide range of
products, including children and newborn clothing, men’s ware, home ware, women’s wear, footwear,
beauty products, confectionery, accessories etc. This assignment will focuses on explanation about the
professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by HR professionals and about the concepts
of organisational and individual learning, training and development. In addition to this understanding of
how HPW contribute to employee engagement and competitive advantages will also be explained in this
report. Lastly this file will focuses on the approaches to performance management in achieving high
performance culture.
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MAIN BODY
TASK 1
P1Professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are required by HR professionals
Human resource professionals
Hum resource department of every organisation plays a crucial role in the overall development of
an organisation, teams and individuals (West and et. al., 2014). As it performs certain important function
such as recruitment, selection, training and development of workforce in an effective manner so that the
firm can get talented workforce who could give their best for the achievement of organisational aims and
objectives. Therefore HR professional of Primark organisation should possess some professional
knowledge, skills and behaviour which are being explained below:
Professional knowledge:
 HR manager of Primark must possess professional knowledge about procedures and principles of
personnel recruitment, selection, training, benefits and compensation system. Beside this
knowledge about the management principles which are involved in resource allocation, strategic
planning, and leadership techniques etc.
 Second basic professional knowledge which must be possess by HR professional of Primark is that
the HR must have knowledge about the laws, court procedures, agency rules, government
regulations, legal codes etc. In addition to this HR should also have knowledge about the principles
and curriculum methods of training design (Gormley and van Nieuwerburgh, 2014).
 Other professional knowledge which must be possessed by the HR manager of Primark is that of
technical and mathematical knowledge so that record can be maintained accurately upto the mark
without doing any kind of fraud system.
Skills:
 Active listening skill must be possessed by the HR manager of Primark Company, as this skill
involves that HR should give full attention to what workforce are saying , taking of time so as to
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understand the points being made. Beside this HR should also possess the critical thinking skill so
that by using reasoning and logic skills strength and weakness of alternative solutions to problems
could be identified (Anne Loewenberger, Newton and Wick, 2014).
 Second most important skill which must be possessed by HR manager of Primark is that of
operational analysis which means analysis of needs and products requirement for creating designs.
Beside this HR should also possess effectual decision making skill by taking the right decision on
the right time
 Other skills such as effective leadership, maintaining of team collaboration, planning, producing
quality and accurate information must be possessed by the HR manager of Primark so as to achive
the target aims and objectives on time.
Behaviour:
 Adaptability is the utmost behaviour which must be possessed by HR manager of Primark
Company, as it’s the personality which helps in determining how the HR responds to change
(Eraut, 2014).
 Second utmost behaviour which must be possessed by the HR manager of Primark is that of
solution oriented as well as must possess behaviour of working collaboratively and effectively with
wide range of individuals both outside and within an organisation.
 Other behaviours such as proactivity and professional scepticism must be possessed b y the HR
manager of Primark Company. It means that HR manager must possess the behaviour, drive and
energy to get things done from workforce even under pressure.
P2Personnel skill audit and professional development plan
Personnel skill audit:
Personnel skill audit is a framed document which is being prepared by the individual themselves so
as to acknowledge the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats of itself. Therefore being an HR
manager given below is my personnel skill audit which is being done with the help of SWOT analysis
technique (Johansson, Miller and Hamrin, 2014):
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Strength Weakness
 One of my key major strength being a HR
manager is that I possess strong knowledge
about the legal laws, regulatory framework
within which organisation needs to
functions.
 Second major strength of my being as a HR
manager is that I possess in-depth
knowledge about the concepts and principles
of recruitment and selection procedures.
 The very first weakness of my as a HR
manager is that I possess weak decision
making skill.
 Second major weakness of my as a HR
manager is that I do not possess good
listening skill.
Opportunity Threats
 As I possess strong in-depth knowledge
about the recruitment and selection process
which can help me to grab an opportunity in
the form of acquiring talented and skilled
workforce.
 Second opportunity which I can grab as a
HR manager in the form of brand image of
organisation by carrying out operational
activities of firm in a legal and ethic manner
as I possess strong knowledge about legal
laws and regulatory framework.
 As a HR manager my major weakness is my
poor listening skill which result in creating
employee dissatisfaction level which is a
major threat for business as it may lead in
increase in employee turnover ratio.
 As a HR manager I possess weak decision
making skill that sometime may result in
taking wrong decision for firm which result
in turning down to major threat for business
in the form of loss in profitability margin
level.
Professional development plan:
It is a documentary framework which is being prepared by the individual themselves on the basis of
personnel skill audit so that the weakness which is being identified can be overcome on set time period.
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Therefore as a HR manager given below is my professional development plan this is being prepared on the
basis of personnel skill audit (Dewar and Cook, 2014).
Skill required to be
improved
How will improve my
skill.
Who will measure my
improvement?
Time period to improve
my skill.
Listening skill In order to improve my
listening skill first of all
I will focus all my
attention in present
moment by shutting
down the mind chatter or
inner conversation.
My criteria for judgment
will be done by the
people in front of whom
in will be listening to
their lectures.
1 month
Decision making skill In order to improve my
decision making skill I
will analyse the different
alternative solution by
taking each one cost and
benefits into
consideration, so as to
come up with right
decision which would
turn into an advantage
for firm in the form of
increase in profitability
ratio (Kenworthy and
Wong, 2014).
For decision making
skill my criteria for
judgement will be based
on my senior manager.
3 month
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M1Detailed professional skills audit
In order to develop professional skill audit firstly I have prepared my personnel skill audit through
SWOT analysis so as to acknowledge the strength and weakness of my as a HR manger and it was being
estimated that I possess two major weakness one is poor listening skill and other is poor decision making
skill (Duffield and Whitty, 2015). So in order to improve my this weakness I have prepared professional
development plan so as to set my time period to improve my weakness and this is done by setting the
judging criteria and by interpreting how can I overcome my weakness. For example I possess the weakness
of poor decision making, for which in order to improve skill I will analyse the different alternative solution
by taking each one advantages and disadvantages into consideration, so as to come up with right decision
on time and the criteria for my judgement will be done by my senior manager and in order to improve my
this weakness the time period I have is et is about 3 months. Thus, this professional development plan
helps me to overcome my weakness and turn into strength so as to achieve the competitive advantage in
marketplace.
TASK 2
P3 Organisational and individual learning, training and development
Organisational learning:
It is a learning style in which the knowledge about the new concepts, ideas, techniques and process
are being passed on within an organisation so as to develop the overall business growth. Beside this an
organisation will be said to be a learning organisation if it has a structure which let employees to take off
from their everyday roles and responsibilities and provide learning opportunities to not just group or elite
but each individuals working in an organisation (Tortorella and et. al., 2015).
Individual learning:
When learning take place by self through customer interaction outside and within an organisation,
by observing workers at workplace, by performing daily activities or by working under an experienced
person is refers to individual learning (Bourne, 2016).
Difference between organisational and individual learning
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Organisational learning Individual learning
Organisational learning takes place when the past
experience brings some changes in the way
organisation performs and takes decisions for future
actions.
Individual learning is the process where an
individual learn by coming into contact with
external and internal environment of an organisation
like by observing senior workers, performing daily
activities etc.
Organisational learning helps in the overall
development of business concern.
Whereas individual learning helps in the personnel
development of an individual both at personnel and
professional level.
Kolb’s learning cycle:
As per Kolb there are basically fours stages of learning cycle from which an individual passes
through so as to acquire and gain knowledge. Similarly workers of Primark too pass through four stages of
learning cycle given by Kolb and they are mentioned below (Harris, Pattie and McMahan, 2015):
Concrete learning style:
In this learning cycle stage employees of Primark passes through new situation or experience or it
can be said at these stage employees makes the reinterpretation of existing experience.
Reflective learning style:
In this stage of learning cycle employees of Primark just review or think upon what they have done
and experienced.
Abstract learning style:
In this stage of learning cycle employees of Primark generate a hypothesis about the meaning of
experiences.
Active learning style:
It is the last stage of learning cycle in which employees learn by performing the act, means by
actively working on hypothesis that is being generated during abstract learning cycle stage.
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Figure 1Kolb's learning cycle theory
Source: Kolb’s learning cycle theory, 2017
Training:
It is defined as the programme which is being organized by firm so as to develop skills and
knowledge level in workforce as per the job requirements. It can be said that it is a short term process for a
definite period of time or it can be said that it has a defined end time period (Ozmen, 2018).
Development:
It is defined as an organized activity in which the workforce of an individual’s grow and learn or
simply it can be said it is a self-assessment act. In development process it can be said that it is a long term
process which continuous and it does not have any end time period. As a individual continues to growth
and develop in every stage of life (Liljenberg, 2015).
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Differences between training and development:
Training Development
Training is job oriented process. Whereas, development is carrier oriented process.
Training helps in improving the work performance
of employees.
Whereas development helps in preparing employees
for future challenges.
P4Need for continuous learning and professional development
Continuous learning:
It is defined as the process of learning techniques on a daily basis so as to develop skills and
knowledge level by setting up a routine. Beside this it also helps to remain update about the changes taking
place in the internal and external environment (Kools and Stoll, 2016).
Professional development
It is the process of development and growth of an individual’s on the basis of acquiring of degree
and masters. Beside this it also refers to an array of specialized training and education so as to improve
skills sets, competency and overall professional effectiveness in the world.
Need for continues learning and professional development:
Prepare employees for future challenges:
One of the very first needs for continuous learning and professional development s that it helps to
prepare workers for future uncertain challenges which can arise during the working of operational
activities. As employee’s knowledge and skill level will get boost up this will help employees to tackle
easily with every type of situation without the help of superior and without wasting much time. Thus, it
will help business concern to achieve their target aims and objectives on time.
Helps in achieving increase in profitability growth:
Second importance for continuous learning and professional development is that it will be helpful
for firm in achieving increase in profitability growth. If the employees of Primark company will be trained
to adopt the practice of learning and developing skills and knowledge on continuous basis then each
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