Hightown Housing Association: HR Adviser Role and Development Report

This report examines the role of an HR Adviser within Hightown Housing Association, detailing the necessary knowledge, skills, and attributes (KSA) required for the position. It includes a personal skill audit, identifying strengths and weaknesses, followed by a Professional Development Plan (PDP) to address skill gaps. The report also explores the application of Kolb's learning cycle model for continuous professional development, emphasizing organizational and individual learning. Furthermore, it analyzes High-Performance Working (HPW) systems, their impact on organizational performance and employee engagement, and the role of performance management, collaborative working, and effective communication in fostering a high-performance culture. The report offers insights into how HPW practices enable better skill utilization and contribute to sustainable business performance.

Developing Individuals, Teams
and Organisations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
SECTION 1......................................................................................................................................3
a) Knowledge, skills and attributes (KSA) required for role of HR Adviser.........................3
b) Personal skill audit.............................................................................................................4
c) Professional Development Plan (PDP)...............................................................................6
d) Learning cycle model for continuous professional development for sustainable business
performance............................................................................................................................7
SECTION 2....................................................................................................................................10
a) Key elements which make HPW systems........................................................................10
b) How employers use HPW practices to improve organisational performance and their
success..................................................................................................................................11
c) How will HPW practices enable better skill utilisation...................................................12
d) Ways in performance management, collaborative working and effective communication
used to support high performance culture and commitment................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
For surviving in competitive market, it is very important for organisation to continuously
improve and expand their individuals, team and capabilities of people to get success. The
organisation which want to grow and success develop capabilities of their person through
selective assignment, mentoring and development (Baldwin, 2016). It is responsibility of HR
manager to build skills and knowledge of workplace. The given assignment is based on
Hightown Housing Association which was founded in 1967 at England. It is providing support
and building new homes for those people whom want it. This provide affordable housing, care
and supported housing, homeless services, learning disability support and others. This report
highlights about knowledge, skills and behaviours required for HR professional and factors for
implementing and evaluating learning and development to drive sustainable business
performance. It also covers high performance working which contribute to competitive
advantage and employee engagement along with ways through which performance management,
collaborative working and communication can support culture and commitment.
SECTION 1
a) Knowledge, skills and attributes (KSA) required for role of HR Adviser
In order to perform roles and responsibility of HR adviser, it is very important for
employee to have proper knowledge, skills and attributes regarding particular field. The HR
manager of Hightown Housing Association should possess following:
Knowledge
It is awareness, familiarity and understanding of something or someone like information,
skills, descriptions, facts that is developed from education, experience by discovering, learning
and perceiving (Bourne, 2016). Some of them are as follows:
Human Resource Knowledge- The HR adviser of Hightown Housing Association should
have proper knowledge of policies, training, development required for employees to carry out
task.
Employment Law- It is very important for HR adviser of Hightown Housing Association
to possess knowledge regarding employment law. It includes minimum wages regulations,
employer-employee relationship so that proper advice can be given to business to carry out task.
Skills

It is defined as ability for carrying out task with set outcome within given energy and
time. It is divided into three categories such as technical, conceptual and human. They are given
below:
Communication Skills- This is the most important skills which should be possessed by
each and every individuals. In order to play role of HR advicer, there should be proper
communication skills with them so that they can provide proper advice and guideline to manager
for performing task.
Decision Making- The HR adviser of Hightown Housing Association should have
decision making skills in order to make various decision required in business. It can be related
with hiring of new employee, training and development requirements and so on.
Attributes
Attributes is defined as characteristics, features and quality of person, thing, and place for
performing any work (Cherubini and Nielsen, 2016). Some of attributes are as follows:
Adaptability- Environment is dynamic that keeps on changing. The HR adviser should be
flexible for adopting surrounding easily. It is responsibility of HR to guide their employees for
changes need of society and adopt it easily.
Positive Attitude- The HR adviser of Hightown Housing Association should carry
positive attitude behaviour with themselves. As they should try their best to solve queries and
issues of their staffs and employees in best possible manner. Thus, negative attitude leads bad
impression about organisation and individual.
b) Personal skill audit
Personal skill audit is the process used by individual for identifying their strengths and
weaknesses. It is procedure in order to record and measure skills of individual or group. The
main reason for audit is identifying current skills and knowledge which is required for
organisation in future time period (Clarke and O’Connor, 2012). This is conducted for improving
oneself to achieve goal and objectives. It assist in identifying skills, knowledge and behaviour of
staff and employees. As I have conducted my personal skills audit to identify my strengths and
weaknesses which are as follows:

Requirements Personal
Audit
Rating
(Scale 0-10)
GAP Remedial
Actions/Strategy
Deadline
for
remedial
actions
Human
Resource
Knowledge
9 I did not focus on
human resource
knowledge to learn new
things. As I
concentrated on old
concept rather than
learning new things.
I should participate in
different meeting
conducted by HR
manager to know about
plans, policies and
strategy related with
human resources to
improve myself.
2 months
Employment
Law
6 I did not read books
related with
employment laws
which is required in
business in order to
carry out task.
I should go through
several books for
learning various laws
which are necessary for
treating employee in
better and effective
manner by providing
them all rights and
responsibilities required
to them.
6 months
Communication
Skills
7 I lack confidence and
nervous in front of
audience due to which
my communication
skills is not good.
Firstly, I should read
books and build
confidence level by
participating in various
activities like debate,
public speaking for
improving my
5 months

communication in better
manner.
Decision
Making
6 As I cannot make on
the spot decision
regarding to problem
that can arise in
organisation due to lack
of knowledge regarding
subject matter.
I can improve my
decision making skills
by reading books related
with decisions so that I
can make decision in
effective and efficient
manner.
4 ½ months
Adaptability 4 Sometime frequent
change in environment
create problem for me
to adopt those changes.
In order to improve my
behaviour I should be
flexible enough to adopt
changes need of society
and people.
3 months
Positive
Attitudes
9 I think all people are
selfish due to which I
develop negative
attitude for them.
For improving myself I
should built positive
attitude behaviour for
people and organisation.
2 months
c) Professional Development Plan (PDP)
PDP is developed by manager of Hightown Housing Association who are working with
employees in order to identify resources and skills for supporting firm needs and staff members
career goals. This is the process for creation of action plan that is based on goal setting,
awareness, value, reflection, self improvement and relationship (Cohen, 2017). This is created by
help of personal skill audit plan. In order to overcome weaknesses from skill audit, PDP is
prepared. The strengths and weaknesses of skills audit are given below:
Strengths Weaknesses
Human Resource Knowledge
Positive Attitudes
Employment Law
Communication Skills

Decision Making
Adaptability
For improving weaknesses, PDP is developed which is given below:
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Objectives GAP Hurdles Success Criteria Target Dates
Employment
Law
Lack of
availability of
books.
This leads to
employee turnover,
lack of goals
achievement.
I should read
book and apply in
practical
situation.
17th May, 2019-
17th November,
2019
Communication
Skills
Due to lack of
proper interaction
among
employees and
staff.
Due to poor
communication,
productivity of
organisation was
low.
In order to
improve my skills
I should focus on
group activities
for better results.
17th May, 2019-
17th October,
2019
Decision
Making
Lack of
coordination and
cooperation with
group members,
teams and
employees.
The ideas shared
among teams was
not appropriate for
me to take decision.
Each and every
employees should
be involved for
better decision
making.
17th May, 2019-
30th September,
2019
Adaptability Lack of flexible
nature to adopt
changes.
This creates
problems in
adopting new
things which lead
loss to organisation.
I should change
my behaviour in
order to work in
business for
achievement of
goals.
17th May, 2019-
17th July, 2019

d) Learning cycle model for continuous professional development for sustainable business
performance
Organisational and individual learning
Organisational learning is defined as procedure for transformation and creation of
knowledge within corporate (Frost and Durrant, 2013). This can helps organisation to improve
from time to time by gaining experiences. This can be learned from conferences, training and
development, seminars for achievement of goals and objectives. The organisation need to learn
from their competitors in order to achieve maximum gain and profits. Thus, it is very essential
for Hightown Housing Association to improve themselves for providing goods and services to
their consumers.
Individual learning is defined as capacity for developing knowledge through with
reflection with help of external sources, personal collaboration and experience from
environment. This helps in enhancing skills, knowledge and behaviours of personnel for result
achievement. Hightown Housing Association can improve learning by providing training and
development to their employees.
Training and Development
Training and Development is the system of a establishment that pay attention on
performance development of individuals, teams and groups. Here, Training is defined as
procedure that consists of skills sharpening, attitude change and gaining knowledge for
performance increment of staff (Goodwin and et. al., 2014). The proper and systematic training
can help Hightown Housing Association staff in enhancement and development of skills and
knowledge. With training, Hightown Housing Association employees can acquire new methods
and raise their practical knowledge and skills. Similarly, development is activity which aims for
building quality to accomplish and prolong new desirable state for betterment of organisation.
Need for continuous learning and professional development
Continuous learning is way of expanding ability for learning and improving skills and
knowledge on regular basis. This is needed by Hightown Housing Association to improve their
employees and staff for better work performance.
Professional development is the way of learning to maintain professional qualifications
such as informal learning opportunities, academic degrees and formal coursework (Johansson

and Sundin, 2014). This is need in Hightown Housing Association to improve professionalism of
employees working in organisation for better result achievement.
The learning cycle model for implementing continuous professional development for
sustainable business performance are described below:

Kolb's learning Theory
This model was founded in 1984 by David Kolb which is divided into two parts which
are as follow:
Learning Cycle- There are four stages of learning cycle which are as follows:
 Concrete Experience- Hightown Housing Association should provide learning to
employees for solving problems. This can help them in making debates, presentations,
games and so on (Macdonald, Burke and Stewart, 2017).
 Reflective Observation- This is stage where individual review their performance and
learn from their experience. This can help Hightown Housing Association employees in
writing report and giving feedback to make better decisions.
 Abstract Conceptualisation- It is type of comparison cycle which reflects things done
and known. Hightown Housing Association employees can abstract significant facts and
theories for better results.
 Active Experimentation- It is stage when things learned are put into practices. This
learning can help Hightown Housing Association to solve case studies, real life issues
and others.
Learning Style- There are four learning style which are described below:
 Diverging- There are many problems arise in Hightown Housing Association where
employees prefer to watch rather than doing. It provide better solution to problems.
 Assimilating- Hightown Housing Association employees uses such style for exploration
of analytical model in order to provide solution. It is used by science and information
careers for effectiveness.
 Converging- This style can help in finding solution for practical issues. It can be used by
respective organisation in order ton get solution of practical problems.
 Accommodating- The employee of respective organisation prefer new challenges and
experience for carrying out plans. This provide better result to business as they firstly rely
on others and then carry own analysis.

SECTION 2
a) Key elements which make HPW systems
High Performance Work System (HPW) is defined as right combination of technology,
people and organisational structure for making proper utilisation of opportunities and resources
in achievement of goals and objectives (Madter, Bower and Aritua, 2012). This helps in
increasing employees empowerment, skills and knowledge that helps in motivating for better
achievement of performance. The elements of HPW system are as follows:
(Source: Elements of HPW system, 2019)
Illustration 1: Elements of HPW system, 2019

Information System- HPW system can help Hightown Housing Association to improve
their information systems for working in innovative and different manner for achievement of
goals and objectives.
Organisational Structure- The structure of every organisation is different from each
other. It is very important for respective company to analyse their structure and focus on HPW
system so that work can be done in effective and efficient manner.
Task Design- In order to design task, training and development is very important which
should be provided by respective organisation to their employees (Payne and Calton, 2017). The
HPW system consists of such elements so that goal can be achieved and efficiency can be
enhanced.
People- HPW system should consists of people for working in better and systematic
manner as people are ultimate sources who works for organisation.
Reward Systems- It is also an important components of HPW system. Employees are
motivated and encourage for better work performance if they are provided with reward in terms
of salary, gifts, promotion and so on. Hightown Housing Association employees can improve
themselves for achievement of results.
b) How employers use HPW practices to improve organisational performance and their success
HPW systems are very important for both employees and employer to work effectively
and efficiently in organisation in order to achieve their goal and objectives (Perrewé and et. al.,
2014). The following are ways which employees use for HPW practices in order to improve
Hightown Housing Association performance. They are described below:
Ensuring Security of Employee- The employer uses HPW practices for security of
employees as they provide protection to part-time, contract and full time employees. Hightown
Housing Association manager focus more on security of employees so that they can work for
betterment of organisation.
Decentralised Decision Making- The respective employer of organisation uses HPW
system in order to make decision for business. As employer following HPW system have clear
goals and objectives. They have better decision making in business and their activities to run
operation in systematic manner.
Training- The employer of Hightown Housing Association using HPW practices to carry
out work in better manner. They focus on providing training and development to their employees

with best use of HPW systems. This can help staff in solving problems and taking responsibility
for quality.
Sharing Key Information- The employers can share data of Hightown Housing
Association in terms of financial, performance information and strategic to employees who
utilises information to assist business in achievement of goals and objectives. This provide
effective result to business (High Performance Work Systems, Building Commitment to Increase
Profitability, 2018).
Selective Hiring- Employees possessing HPW practices can select best staffs for their
organisation. They can easily identify employees attributes and skills so that work can be done in
proper and systematic manner. The respective organisation requires skilled and knowledge
employees in order to carry out different activities and operations.
Performance Compensation- The development of compensation system helps to provide
reward to all employees who are best performer which helps in increasing staff awareness for
contribution to profitability. This compensation is developed only after proper HPW system
possess by manager.
c) How will HPW practices enable better skill utilisation
High performance work system (HPW) is refer as a systematic and integrated approach
of managing human resource toward alignment of human resource function and achievement of
business goals. With help of HPW Hightown housing association employees can improve their
skill and achieve organization goals. There are several practices which hightown housing can
use. They are described below:
Increase enthusiasm in employees- By high performance work system in organization
each and every employee is highly motivated. This type of work environment make employees
more enthusiastic about their work. Hightown housing association can create high performance
work system in organisation by giving incentive to their employees (Tian, Risku and Collin,
2016). Every employee of organization will fully utilize their best skill to work in more effective
and efficient way. Company can give extra pay, rewards other benefits to their high performer
employees. Compensation for their extra work will create enthusiasm in employees. This will aid
to using the best skill and knowledge of employee for achieving organisation objective. This also
leads to attachment of staff towards organisation and give best to achievement of goals and
objectives.

Training employees- High performance work system helps in training employees for
working better in organisation. Hightown housing association can train their employee about
process and system of working in organisation. By training employees can improve their skills
and work more effectively in company. After training employee will be ready for high
performance work system and achieve business goals. Trained employees can set higher standard
of work by increasing their quality and quantity of work (Wickramasinghe and Widyaratne,
2012).
d) Ways in performance management, collaborative working and effective communication used
to support high performance culture and commitment
In order to run business and their activities in competitive market, it is very important for
Hightown Housing Association to have proper system, communication and working to achieve
goal in terms of high performance and commitment. They are described below:
Performance Management
It is continuous and ongoing procedure of communication among employer and
employee which occurs on daily basis for accomplishment of objectives of firm. It identify,
develops and measure for performance of workforce in business (Persson, Mathiassen and Aaen,
2012). In order to measure performance, three steps are followed such as performance interview,
performance data archiving and using appraisal data. It is used by Hightown Housing
Association for achieving high performance culture and commitment toward results. If respective
organisation measures performance of staffs on daily then they can be improved and committed
towards organisation and result achievement.
Collaborative Working
The collaborating building in teams leads to group members to force each other for
performing, giving and helping to become professional. With rise in competition at market, it is
important for Hightown Housing Association to encourage creativity, improve productivity and
promoting healthy relationship among employee and employer. If each and every staff work for
betterment of organisation then they can increase high culture performance and commitment.
The company which follows commitment and culture in business can work for betterment of
business and their operation activities. The firm can improve collaborative working by including
every members of organisation in decision making for increment of culture, performance and
commitment (Raes and et. al., 2013). Working team are quick in solving issues and problems as

they worked in group and develop more creativity within themselves. Thus, if every corporation
focus on collaborative working then they can achieve goal and objectives without any
difficulties.
Effective Communication
It is the process of sharing data, information, opinions and views from one person to
another with help of effective channel (Thorpe, 2016). Hightown Housing Association requires
effective communication in their business for sharing of data and information from one person to
another. There are different types of work which need to be performed by HR manager of
respective organisation in order to achieve goal and objectives. As per structure of business,
communication channel is selected by employer in order to communicate with their staff. The
effective communication helps in supporting high performance culture and commitment toward
work. Firm following high culture represent image and goodwill in market for that business and
employees get attached to business and focus on commitment of goal and objectives.
From above it can be said that Hightown Housing Association need to have effective
performance management for staff and employee, collaborative working with each and every
members and effective communication in order to support commitment and high performance for
their employees and employers. There are different ways which can be used by respective
organisation for achievement of goals and objectives such motivation, encouragement and
rewards. This leads to better result in terms of commitment and high performance.
CONCLUSION
From above report, it can be concluded that organisation requires proper skills,
knowledge and behaviour for achievement of goals and objectives of business. The personal skill
audit aid in knowing about strengths and weaknesses of individuals for working in better and
effective manner. In order to overcome weaknesses, professional development plan is prepared.
High Performance Working System can help business to improve skills and making various
decision in consideration of future needs.

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