Hightown Housing: A Report on HPW Systems and Employee Development

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes High-Performance Work Systems and their impact.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS AND ORGANIZATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................1
SECTION 1.................................................................................................................................2
A) APPROPRIATE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED TO CARRY OUT ROLE
AS A HR ADVISOR................................................................................................................. 2
B) DETAILED PERSONAL SKILLS AUDIT..................................................................................3
C) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN WITH REFLECTIVE STATEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT
NEEDS...................................................................................................................................5
D) DETERMINING INCLUSIVE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT TO DRIVE SUSTAINABLE
BUSINESS PERFORMANCE....................................................................................................6
SECTION 2...............................................................................................................................11
A) KEY ELEMENTS THAT MAKE-UP THE HPW SYSTEMS AND HOW THESE SYSTEMS WORK
ON THE GROUND............................................................................................................... 11
B) HOW EMPLOYERS USE HPW PRACTICES TO IMPROVE ORGANISATIONAL
PERFORMANCE AND HOW CAN THEY DEMONSTRATE SUCCESS/IMPACT.........................12
C) HOW HPW PRACTICES ENABLE BETTER SKILLS UTILISATION IN HIGH TOWN HOUSING 13
D) WAYS IN WHICH PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT, COLLABORATIVE WORKING, AND
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION CAN BE USED TO SUPPORT A HIGH-PERFORMANCE
CULTURE AND COMMITMENT WITHIN HIGHTOWN HOUSING..........................................15
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 17
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 18
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INTRODUCTION
In the present competitive business environment, every individual should possess added
knowledge and skills to become competitive in the market and to contribute to the
development of their teams and workplace. This report will discuss how individual’s
performance, skills, and abilities contributes to improving their own performance along with
the improvement in the teams and organisational performance in which they work. In the
context of the Hightown Housing Association, the required knowledge, skills and behaviour
of HR professionals will be analysed in this report to develop essential capabilities in an
individual. Moreover, in order to drive sustainable business performance, the different
factors for implementing and evaluating inclusive learning and development will be
determined. This report would also support in gaining awareness about the ways in which
high-performance working contributes to employee engagement and competitive
advantage. At last, the different approaches to performance management will be evaluated
to support high-performance culture and commitment.
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SECTION 1
Human resource management is one of the core functions of any business organisation.
Hightown Housing Association is a charitable housing association that aims to provide
affordable homes to support people live independently. Being an HR Advisor at the
company, I am responsible to inform senior management about HR practices and
requirements at the company. This portfolio contains a review of my first-year performance
and identification of future development plan.
A) APPROPRIATE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED TO CARRY OUT ROLE
AS A HR ADVISOR
As an HR advisor in the Company, I should have to comply with the required knowledge,
skills, and attributes (KSA) to carry out my job effectively. The required KSA for my Job role
are:
 To have proper knowledge of the HRM practices to support managers & senior
managers in the different matters related to HRM such as absence management,
performance management, employee relations issues, and terms and conditions of
HRM
 To be able to support in the management of team changes restructures, relocations,
redundancies, and transfers to support staff members and identify and manage risks
appropriately
 To have proper knowledge and understanding of employment laws and legislation to
comply with the statutory requirements
 To develop an effective working relationship with the staff
 To have effective communication skills to produce clear and precise letters, e-mails
and proposals
 To have significant knowledge and experience to advise on the disciplinary,
capability, grievance, whistleblowing and similar cases in relation to the policies and
procedures of the company
 To consult and liaison with internal teams and other external bodies
 To respond to general HR enquiries received via telephone and e-mail
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 To develop, review, implement and communicate employment policies and
procedures to ensure legal compliance and alignment with the company's values and
practices.
B) DETAILED PERSONAL SKILLS AUDIT
A personal skills audit supports in identifying the personal strengths and weaknesses that
could affect an individual’s performance at the workplace. For effectively complying with
the above-mentioned skills and requirements, I should have a proper understanding of my
own capabilities and skills to identify and utilise my strengths and overcome my personal
weaknesses (Cottrell, 2015). The technique of SWOT analysis could be effectively applied to
analyse my personal strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths Weaknesses
 Computer literate
 Health and safety training
 Excellent communication skills
 Pursuing HND level education
 Problem-solving abilities
 Professional work experience of
more than 10 years
 Poor knowledge of employment law
and legislation
 Little experience in the field of HR
management and advisor
Opportunities Threats
 Promotional opportunities in the
company
 Development of required skills
 Continuous learning and
development
 High competition in the market
 Fear of failure and negative results
SKILL AUDIT PLAN
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In order to analyse and evaluate the personal skills in relation to the required skills for the
role of HR manager, a skills audit plan is presented below;
REQUIRED SKILLS PERSONAL REFLECTION AND EVALUATION
Knowledge of HR practices I possess a great professional working
experience. However, I have not worked in
HR management. I have worked as a team
lead and supervisor that enable me to
manage human resource effectively. I just
need to gain extra theoretical knowledge of
HR practices.
Communication abilities (McDonnell and
Sikander, 2017)
I Possess excellent communication skills that
would support me in interacting with senior
management and staff members effectively.
Knowledge of employment law and
legislation
I need to develop my knowledge of
employment law and legislation to ensure
statutory compliance.
Developing an effective working relationship My good communication abilities would
enable me to develop an effective working
relationship with others.
To handle grievance, and conflicts I Possess good problem-solving abilities that
would support in handling grievance and
issues at the workplace.
Assist, consult and liaison with others My education, Communication, and
problem-solving skills would support me in
assisting and liaison with others at the
workplace.
C) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN WITH REFLECTIVE STATEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT
NEEDS
The term professional development refers to the process of improving and increasing the
professional skills and abilities through access to education and training opportunities at the
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workplace, outside the workplace or through personal observation. Continuous professional
development refers to the process of tracking and recording the skills, knowledge, and
experience that is gained in both formal and informal ways. It helps in managing own
development on a continuous basis (Sanghi, 2016). CPD is a planned and lifelong process
through which individuals try to develop their personal and professional qualities to
improve their knowledge, skills, and practices that would lead to improvement and
empowerment. It is essential to record and evaluate CPD to keep track of what has been
achieved and how knowledge, skills, and competencies have improved over time.
Reflective learning can be applied to gain an insight into the levels of performance in
comparison to the levels of expectation. It helps in developing critical thinking skills and
improve future performance. by analysing my personal skills and the requirements for HR
advisor, I have developed a continuous development plan for developing my skills to meet
the requirement for being a competitive HR advisor for my company.
Table 1: Professional Development Plan
DEVELOPMENTAL
OBJECTIVES
RESOURCE AND
STRATEGIES
TIMESCALES MEASURES AND
STANDARDS
Gain knowledge of HR
practices
Internship as HR
advisor
Within 6 months Being able to
identify and
perform essential
HR functions.
Learning to use
specialist HR software
Technical classes Within 6 months Being able to use
software to
perform HR roles
and responsibilities
Understanding
employment Law and
legislation
Law books and
news as well as
during the
Internship program
3 months By developing HR
practices in
compliance with
the law and
legislation
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Develop critical
thinking abilities
By emphasising on
developing an
ability to think
from a different
perspective
2 months Being able to
evaluate and
analyse things from
different
perspectives
Improving analytical
and reasoning skills
Through personal
observation
2 months Being able to make
prompt decisions
Developing
interpersonal skills
Regularly involved
in a conversation
with people
2 months Being able to
develop an
effective
relationship with
others
D) DETERMINING INCLUSIVE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT TO DRIVE SUSTAINABLE
BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL LEARNING, TRAINING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Organisational and individual learning:
Organisational learning could be defined as the procedure of sharing knowledge and
learning within organisational premises to increase the efficiency of individual employees to
ensure higher productivity and performance. On the other hand, individual learning refers
to the process where an individual learns and gain knowledge through internal motivation
to improve their knowledge and skills to progress in their career (Burke and Noumair, 2015).
Difference between organisational and individual learning
Organisational Learning Individual Learning
It emphasis on fulfilling organisational goals
and objectives
It emphasises on fulfilling personal goals and
objectives
Its results in the overall development of
employees at the workplace
It results in personal growth and
development of an individual
It is for short -term It is a continuous or long-term process
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It draws group reflection It draws reflection in individual abilities
The learning skills are focused to comply
with the job role and requirements
The learning skills are focused on developing
personal competitiveness and may or may
not relate to job roles and requirements.
It is affected by business activities It does not affect by business activities
Organisational learning is customised with
organisation goals rather than individual
skills and abilities
Individual learning is customised by
analysing personal strengths and
weaknesses
It involves organisational expenses and costs It involves personal costs and expenses
Training and Development
Training could be termed as pre-planned efforts or learning process that is aimed at bringing
out improvements in the skills and behaviour of employees through providing new
knowledge, skills, and behaviour to the learners. On the other hand, development refers to
the process of improving existing skills, abilities and knowledge of individuals to enable to
become professionally and personally competitive (Bell, et al. 2017). The development is
aimed at achieving long-term goals and objectives.
Training and development both are considered as the learning tool that leads to higher
motivation and development of competitiveness among the employees within the Hightown
Housing Association.
Difference between training and development
Training Development
Training relates to the development of
required skills, knowledge, behaviour and
attitude among the employees
Development relates with the process of
improving existing abilities, skills and
knowledge to meet desired goals.
Training is aimed at enhancing individual
performance
Development is aimed at enhancing an
individual's abilities to prepare them for a
future challenging role
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Training leads to improvement in job
performance
Development leads to overall growth and
development (Sung and Choi, 2014)
Training is for short-term Development is for long-term
It involves the use of extrinsic motivation It involves the use of intrinsic motivation
Training is essential for performing
organisational activities
Development is not as essential as training
It facilitates in meeting immediate needs and
requirements
It helps in meeting future needs and
requirements
NEED FOR CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The term continuous learning refers to the process where an individual emphasises on
bringing significant improvements in their existing skills and knowledge through
continuously involving in learning new skills and knowledge by making optimal utilisation of
available resources (Mone and London, 2018). At the High town housing association,
continuous development enables the employees to enhance their skills with respect to the
changing work environment and roles. Continuous learning does not affect by any external
factors and based on the sustainable living, social inclusion and active life of an individual.
Professional development at Hightown is aimed at improving the current skills and
knowledge of employees to meet the requirements of their roles within the organisation.
Continuous learning and professional development are vital for the growth and
development of the individuals as well as the overall organisation as it emphasises on
transforming employees into the more competitive asset for the organisation. the
professional development of an employee should be based on continuous learning to
promote sustainability in the current job (Megginson and Whitaker, 2017). The Kolbs
learning cycle can be effectively applied to drive sustainable business performance through
continuous learning and development/
A Kolb’s learning cycle helps in the continuous professional development of the employees
by identifying four key stages in the journey of individual learning;
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Concrete Experience: it is the initial stage in learning journey where an individual is ready to
gain new experience and knowledge to identify new things to develop their capabilities and
knowledge (Kolb and Kolb, 2018). It relates to the experience of an event that drives the
need for learning new things.
Reflective Observation: this stage involves continuous observation of the surroundings and
new events to gain an understanding of personal abilities and identify self-importance.
Figure 1: Kolb's Learning Cycle
[Kolb and Kolb, 2018]
Abstract Conceptualisation: at this stage, the individuals execute continuous learning and
share their learning experience by identifying and incorporating new ideas and concept to
ensure sustainability in their job role.
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Active experimentation: at this stage, the new ideas and concepts developed at the
previous stage are actively implemented by the individuals in order to develop their skills
and knowledge through continuous learning (Kolb and Kolb, 2018).
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