Developing Individuals, Teams, and Organizations: A Report

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DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS, AND
ORGANISATIONS
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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
LO1 Analyse employee knowledge, skills and behaviours required by HR professionals.......4
LO2 Analyse the factors to be considered when implementing and evaluating inclusive
learning and development to drive sustainable business performance...................................7
LO3 Apply knowledge and understanding to the ways in which high-performance working
(HPW) contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage............................11
LO4 Evaluate ways in which performance management, collaborative working and effective
communication can support high-performance culture and commitment..............................13
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................17
Reference list.........................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Organisational development is highly dependent on the quality of employees present within
the organisations. The HR professionals are responsible recruiting the employees for an
organisation. The company’s development is highly reliable on the roles and responsibilities
of the HR. In this regard, the study will be carried out for identifying the appropriate skills,
knowledge, behavioural skills required to be possessed by the HR professionals. The study
will also comprise the analysis of the factors needed to be considered while implementing
the technique of inclusive learning and development within the organisation. Further
discussion will continue on the ways of achieving high performance working, and employee
engagement for the betterment of the organisation. Finally, the methods of achieving high
performance culture and collaborative working in a company through effective performance
management and communication will be explained in details. The organisation chosen for
this study is Biffa plc, which is a waste management company, flourishing in UK.
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LO1 Analyse employee knowledge, skills and behaviours required by HR
professionals
P1 Professional knowledge, behaviours and skills of HR professionals
In an organisation, the HR professionals play a very significant role. They help in driving the
managerial operations within an organisation. A company can hedge towards profitability
with the contribution and role played by the HR professionals. The HR professionals should
know certain important skills. They need to have the knowledge of effectively handling the
social media platforms for collecting relevant information that can help for the development
of the organisation. They require the social media platform for promoting their brand name
as well as posting job advertisements (Noe et al., 2017). They can easily access the profiles
of the candidates who have shown interest to work for the organisation. It is also useful for
improving the communication of the employees with them.
They should possess knowledge about other essential software like the Human Resource
Information Software (HRIS), Talent Management Software and others. The human
resource information software helps in minimising the amount of manual errors in business
operations of the organisation. On the other hand, the talent management software helps in
formulating strategic and effective plans for attaining the business objectives of the
company. The HR professionals can utilise the knowledge of cloud technology for better
tracking the operation systems (Davis et al., 2016).
The HR professionals should have a lenient and decent behavioural approach towards the
subordinate employees of the organisation.
It is evident that the HR professional need to possess wide-dimensional skills for fulfilling
their entitled responsibilities in an organisation. The significant skills that should be present
within an HR professional are:
Business management and leadership skills: Every HR should mandatorily possess the
leadership and management skills within them. It is of utmost importance for implementing
their job roles. They should train their employees for developing their skills required to face
challenging conditions.
Excellent communication skills: The way of communication of the HR professionals
should be very transparent, professional, and warm. The employees should not have any
problem while communicating with them.
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Skills for developing strategic plans: One of the main tasks performed by the HR
professionals in an organisation is developing a strategic plan for attaining the desired
targets of the company.
P2 Analysis of personal skills audit and development of professional development
plan
Personal skills 1 2 3
Decision-making skills 
Self-confidence 
Communication Skills 
Training and Developing skills 
Table 1: Personal skills audit for HR professionals
(Source: Created by learner)
The personal skill audit mentioned above shows the fact, that I have self-confidence to play
the role of an HR in Biffa. It helps in the process of recruiting employees for the organisation.
It has been said by various scholars that the HR should be confident enough while
interacting with others for achieving success (Trullen et al., 2016). I faced a situation while
working in Biffa when I was entitled to train the new employees. Some of them could catch
up the work very easily but few of them could not inherit the traits taught in the training
process. It made me realise that I need to develop my training skills.
For better assessing the strengths and weaknesses of my skills, a SWOT analysis has been
conducted. The analysis is as follows:
Strengths
- High decision-making skills
- Great communication skills
- Well behaved in nature
- Strong leadership qualities
Weaknesses
- Lack of self-confidence
- Lack of training and developing
skills for training the employees
- Lack of knowledge of the foreign
languages
Opportunities
- To gather other technical skills in the
context of organisational development
Threats
- Threats related to development of
Career in the chosen organisation
Table 2: SWOT Analysis
(Source: Created by learner)
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The SWOT analysis mentioned above clearly describes that my key skills are related to
decision-making and proper communication with the employees. Moreover, I possess strong
leadership qualities that help me to synchronise the team coordination. These skills help me
to fulfil my job roles in Biffa. On the other hand, I need to develop my self-confidence level
and training skills. My self-confidence restricts me from remaining strict while negotiating
with the employees about their salary where most of the other HRs does not get easily
convinced. Moreover, the opportunities identified in this context will help me to develop my
career in this organisation.
For better analysing and rectifying my lacking skills, a personal and professional
development plan will help in a better way.
PDP plan
Skills that
needs to be
developed
Ways to mitigate the
skill gap
Resources
required
Time
Duration
Evidence of
improved skills
To develop
training skills
-Discuss with seniors of
the organisation
-Follow the leadership
styles of the globally
recognised leaders
Effective
training
sessions
from the HR
department
One month In a recent training
session, I found
that the employees
could better
understand my
instructions
To improve
self-
confidence
-Arranging meeting and
discussion sessions with
the experienced
employees in this field
Real life
situation
handling
experiences
Two weeks I found that I can
better handle the
negotiation
sessions with the
employees about
their salary
To develop
knowledge on
other foreign
languages
-Attending training
course sessions of
foreign languages like
French, Spanish
Listening to
the tutorial
sessions
available on
the internet
4 months I can interact with
the foreign
delegates in a
better way
Table 3: Personal and Professional Development Plan
(Source: Created by learner)
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LO2 Analyse the factors to be considered when implementing and evaluating
inclusive learning and development to drive sustainable business performance
Biffa is one of the top waste management organisations that is situated in High Wycombe,
within the United Kingdom. It provides a range of services that span from performing landfill,
collection, recycling, and special waste disposal. The company has over £1076.7 million in
revenue as per 2018 and was founded in 1912 by Richard Henry Biffa. The managerial
heads of the company include Michael Topham (Chief Executive). The company is active
exclusively in the United Kingdom.
P3 Analyse the differences between organisational and individual learning, training
and development
Training and development is the method through which employees become more capable
of performing a job (Larsen, 2017). Through the training process, employees are enrolled in
a program through which they are provided necessary skills that enable them to be more
productive. Development is the means through which overall personality development is
provided. Two types of learning mechanism occur within a business, that is, organisational
learning and individual.
Organisational individual learning, training, and development
In this form of learning, the managerial heads and team leaders of Biffa focus on the overall
growth of the teams that exist within an organisation. Within this form of learning, team
members are made familiar with every aspect of the organisation so that they are able to
understand how every aspect of the recycling system operates. When it comes to this type
of team based learning then several members are taught simultaneously so that group
learning occurs and there is less wastage of time (Ford, 2014).
Individual learning, training, and development
This type of learning occurs at a micro level whereby which individual employees are
influenced. Through this form of learning managerial heads, provide the guidance through
which the skill gaps that are present within a single individual are improved. The training and
development providers here allocate time the employees that are lacking a specific skill and
help them to improve that aspect (Cohen, 2017).
P4 Analyse the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance
In order to improve the performance of employees and make them more able to survive
longer in a company like Biffa so that they do not become obsolete. In order for employees
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to improve, there are two pathways present, which would make them more skilled. This
includes continuous learning and professional development.
Continuous Learning
This is the process an employee is able to increase their knowledge base at an incremental
rate. Through a process such as this, the employees are made to re-evaluate their methods,
techniques, and assumptions through which they are able to grow at every point of their
career. In the context of Biffa, there are four steps through which a subordinate can learn
which includes initial assessment, leaning skills, applying them and reassessing (Sessa and
London, 2015).
Figure 1 - Continuous Learning
(Source: George, 2015)
Professional Development
Professional Development is the way through which the employees of Biffa would enroll in
small courses, attend seminars, and be present at similar learning experiences. Through
processes such as this, employees are attempted to be given several work tools in a short
period. When contrasting this method with continuous learning, then it can be said that this
process is inferior in nature as it is temporary. There are several steps to professional
development, which includes mentoring, consultation, practice, improvement, reflection, and
learning (George, 2015).
Mentoring- Within this stage, the managerial heads of the organisation observe and detect
the flaws they feel which the employees have.
Consultation- Through this step, the managerial heads discuss and consult with the
employees on the skills in which they lack.
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Learning- Following which they are entered in a program through which they are provided
skills for the gaps, which they have.
Practice- After that they are made to practice the new skills, which they have acquired.
Improvement- Following which they are motivated to improve on the areas within which
they are still lacking.
Reflection- When these employees are made to reflect on the new abilities, which they
possess and contempt if there are any more areas of improvement they need (Trorey and
Cullingford, 2017).
M2 Apply learning cycle theories to analyse the importance of implementing
continuous professional development.
Several types of learning cycle theories exist through which the employees that are present
in Biffa can be improved. For the purpose of this study, high emphasis will be put on Kolb’s
leaning styles.
In this theory, four key stages include experience, observation, conceptualization, and
experimentation. All four of these steps have been illustrated here down below:
Figure 2 Kolb’s leaning styles
(Source: Smith, 2016)
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Experience - This is the first stage where the employees have a concrete feeling towards
the work that they perform. At this step, they put a strong emphasis on processing and
realising that they are learning something (Smith, 2016).
Observation - Within this step, the employees observe and analyse the work process of
managerial heads and other employees so that they are able to learn from the actions that
other perform.
Conceptualization – At this stage, the employees create a mental framework through which
they are able to learn and understand faster. Through this process, they not only focus on
mental thinking they also put emphasis on learning through others mistakes.
Experimentation – The employees start learning through doing actions through this final
stage. Within this stage, they not only think but they feel and go through a process of self-
actualization whereby, which their growth is wider.
When analyzing this theory in the context of continuous professional development, then it
can be understood that Kolb’s leaning is one of the best frameworks that can be used in
conjunction with the prior. Owing to the ongoing process of continuous development, a
learning cycle like this would enable there to be self-reflection and introspection on a timely
basis.
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LO3 Apply knowledge and understanding to the ways in which high-performance
working (HPW) contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage
P5 Contribution of HPW for competitive advantage and employee engagement
Benefits of the application of HPW
In the modern generation, there is a dire need for the organisations to develop suitable
strategies that can affect the organisations and contributes the employees to develop their
competencies in the various fields of operations. The management of Biffa Plc has to ensure
that the employees are provided with an influential guidance and appreciation that can
promote the High Performance Working of the employees. The HPW creates value for the
employee while maintaining a high productivity of the employees and deliver the expected
outcome in the operational procedures (Shin and Konrad 2017). The organisation also
receives a significant competitive advantage by implementing the High Performance Work.
The development in the technological sectors have allowed the organisations with an
abundant resources that can be applied in enhancing the productivity as well as efficiency of
the operational procedures and reduce the involvement of the employees. This has allowed
the organisation to allocate the roles of the employees in several other fields of operations
thus, enabling the organisation to take their productivity levels to the further extent.
The Human Resource Management has to ensure that the ambience of the workplace is
suitable that promotes the growth of productivity. A suitable atmosphere in the workplace
allows the employees to provide their best for the betterment of the organisation. Thus
having high level of employee engagement allows the organisation to receive more
opportunities for the development of the organisation in the existing markets as well as in the
future business venture. Being a waste management company, Biffa has to ensure that the
resources that are available for the organisation are used suitably. The HPW of the
employees can affect the resource management suitably. The higher rates of the workforce
have a direct impact on the growth as well as development of the organisation and therefore,
the management of the organisation has to ensure that the technological as well as human
assets are used viably. Technological resources such as the Mech and Bio Treatment and
the refuse derived fuel that are used in incinerating the wastes have to be used suitably
otherwise the company can suffer economical loss (Biffa, 2019).
The Human Resource Management has the responsibility of managing the most valuable
assets of an organisation, which are the employees. The management of the organisation
expects a high amount of work from the human assets and therefore, the High Performance
Work of the employees of the organisation allows the management to receive substantial
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amounts of benefit from the human assets. In order to make sure that the employees are
indulged in the operational procedures, the management of the organisation has to motivate
the employees (Trevor et al., 2016). Motivation allows the employees to provide their best for
the organisation and the provision of incentives have allowed the organisations to increase
their productivity significantly thus promoting the HPW of the employees.
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