HR Officer Role, Training, and Development for Sustainable Business

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the HR Officer role within Marks and Spencer (M&S), focusing on the skills, training, and development required for effective performance. It begins by identifying the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors (KSB) for an HR Officer, followed by a personal skills audit to determine training needs. A professional development plan is outlined, covering decision-making, time management, and the ability to work under pressure. The report differentiates between organizational and individual learning, as well as training and development, and emphasizes the need for continuous learning to drive sustainable business performance. The report also explores the contribution of High-Performance Working (HPW) to employee engagement and competitive advantage, and discusses various approaches to performance management, providing examples to support a high-performance culture. The content covers topics like labor laws, MS Office, teamwork, and disciplinary procedures, offering insights into the practical aspects of HR management within a retail context, and the importance of continuous professional development (CPD). The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations for optimizing HR practices within M&S.

Developing Individuals, Teams
and Organisations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SCENARIO 1..................................................................................................................................1
P1. (a) Appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB) that are required by HR
professionals................................................................................................................................1
P2. (b) Completed personal skills audit for an employee to identify training and development
needs considering the knowledge, skills and behaviours............................................................2
(c) Professional development plan for the role of HR Officer....................................................4
P3. (d) Differences between organisational and individual learning; training and development6
P4. (e) Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable
business performance...................................................................................................................8
SCENARIO 2................................................................................................................................10
P5. Contribution of HPW to employee engagement and competitive advantage within a
specific organisational situation................................................................................................10
P6. Different approaches to performance management and using specific examples showing
the way they support high performance culture and commitment............................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
In today’s era, it is not easy to differentiate between great and non-great teammates in an
organisation. Likewise, to make difference in between outstanding employees from lacklustre
ones is also not a simple task for a manager. However, this is significant for a firm to develop its
individuals and teams to gain improvement in organisation as high-performing teams serve as the
building blocks of a company (Haber‐Curran and Shankman, 2018). In the present report, an
understanding of role as an HR Officer will be developed along with studying about inclusive
learning and development within the organisation for driving sustainable business performance.
For this purpose, Marks and Spencer (M&S) has been chosen which is one of the leading fashion
and retail stores of UK. Further, discussion on effective use of high-performance working
(HPW) framework and performance management models to support high-performance culture
will be done in the report.
SCENARIO 1
P1. (a) Appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB) that are required by HR
professionals
In Marks and Spencer, HR Officer is required to possess high knowledge, skills and
behaviours to perform the role assigned effectually. These are given as below:
Knowledge as an HR Officer
 BSc/BA in Business Administration or relevant field – This degree is mandatory to be
there in the HR Officer of M&S.
 Understanding of MS Office and HRMS (human resource management system) – Having
good knowledge of using these software is required in HR Officer to perform all related
tasks.
 Knowledge of labour laws and related disciplinary processes – It is necessary to have
knowledge regarding labour laws and other related disciplinary processes so that conflicts
occur anytime can be solved easily and in a fair manner.
 Experience as HR Officer or at any other HR position – In M&S, HR Officer is to have
previous experience of working at the same designation or any other position in HR
department.
Skills as an HR Officer
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 Negotiation – To be able to negotiate effectively at the time of conflict or dispute, if
occurs at workplace is necessary being HR Officer in M&S.
 Effective communication and interpersonal skills – HR Officer needs to interact with
everyone in company for some or the other purpose and so, he must be able to
communicate in an effective way and should maintain healthy relations with others.
 Teamwork and collaboration – One of the major skills that HR Officer in M&S should
possess is to work in teams with high coordination (Martin and Manley, 2018).
 Worker’s compensation – He must be skilled to solve any issues related to the
remuneration of staff members as well as their promotion and benefits.
Behaviours as an HR Officer
 Working closely with various departments – It is vital for the HR Officer in M&S to
coordinate with all other units rather focusing only on HR department.
 Promoting equality and diversity – He is supposed to treat all employees at workplace
with equality and respecting the differences they have in terms of culture, background
and race.
 Implementing disciplinary procedures – HR Officer is required to follow all rules and
policies like being in professional attire and entering and exiting from the office on time
(Dowling and et.al., 2018).
 Delivering induction for new staff – The way they speak and behave should be soft
enough while giving induction to new employees to make them feel comfortable.
P2. (b) Completed personal skills audit for an employee to identify training and development
needs considering the knowledge, skills and behaviours
As per analysis made on personal skills audit for the position of HR Officer in M&S,
training and development needs can be effectually identified based on the knowledge, skills and
behaviours he possess which is like:
Skills that HR Officer
require
Required skills that have
been achieved
Skills development needs
Administering payroll and
maintaining employee
records
Using MS Office Database Management and
using HR software
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Interpreting and advising on
employment laws
Working on internet Drafting contracts of
employment
Developing HR planning
strategies with considering
immediate and long-term
needs of staff
Using e-mails Delivering training sessions
Negotiating with staff and
their representatives
Writing reports Using excel spreadsheet
Analysing training needs in
conjunction with
departmental managers
Producing material to support
presentations
Taking notes of disciplinary
hearings
Preparing staff handbooks Exploring more than one
solution to solve a problem
Resolving
disputes/complaints,
interviewing and advising on
HR issues
Promoting equality and
diversity to maintain a
positive culture at workplace
Considering the ideas of
others to solve issues
Making effective use of
verbal reasoning skills and
having ability to deal with
complex data with selective
use of information
Training and development plan
Training and
Development
Needs
Priority (rating
1-5)
Activities to be
Done
Monitoring and
Evaluation
Methods
Time Frame
DBMS and HR
software
2 Sessions based on
use of DBMS and
HR software will
be organised by
HR and IT
Taking feedback
and tests
2-3 months
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manager in M&S.
Problem solving
skills
5 Conferences by
some known
leaders will be
arranged (Martin
and Manley,
2018).
Through providing
case studies and
checking the
solutions.
5-6 months
Verbal reasoning
and data handling
3 Coaching and
workshops will be
provided by higher
management.
By providing
complex and
variety of data at a
time
3-4 months
Employment laws 4 Sessions will be
held in firm based
on all employment
related laws and
legislations by the
HR manager or
HR head of M&S.
By giving cases of
conflicts to resolve
related to
employee issues in
M&S
6 months
(c) Professional development plan for the role of HR Officer
Professional Development Plan
Development
Objectives
Ways by which new skills
or knowledge will be
acquired
Standards and measures
used to assess achievement
of objectives
Timeline
Decision making By using rationale thinking,
taking advice from the HR
head or other senior
authorities and dealing with
complex situations like
This skill can only be
evaluated after
implementing the decisions
and checking its results that
whether it proved to be
5-6 months
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handling conflicts in
between workers and
complicated tasks, decision
making by HR Officer can
be acquired.
beneficial for business or
not. Also, with determining
the solution of issue for
which judgement has been
made, it can be evaluated
(OH and et.al., 2018).
Time management By setting the priorities,
making to-do lists,
scheduling the tasks,
bifurcating the duration for
each activity, setting
deadlines and delegating
responsibilities, skill of
time management can be
acquired by HR Officer in
M&S (Samajdar, Garg and
Krishna, 2018).
By checking that whether
set deadlines have been
achieved or not, time
management skills of HR
Officer in M&S can be
monitored as well as
evaluated. Along with that,
as per the made schedule,
though following up the
tasks to be done, evaluation
can be made.
2-4 months
Creating solidarity Through making the
frameworks which makes it
realise that all employees
have something to take and
give, recognizing the
similarities and differences
of all at workplace and by
having effective as well as
equal communication with
teams, this skill can be
acquired by the HR
Officer.
Observing the culture at
workplace that whether
employees started
coordinating with each other
nor not and if
communication gap is being
eliminated, this skill of HR
Officer can be evaluated in
M&S.
3 months
Ability to work To acquire this skill, it is It can be evaluated through 4-6 months
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under pressure crucial for HR Officer in
M&S to perform multiple
and complex tasks at a time
by dividing the time and
priority for each. Dealing
with many tasks at a time
with specific deadlines will
make him able to learn this
skill.
checking the results gained
after assigning many tasks
together to HR Officer by
the HR manager in terms of
quality being achieved
(Maltoni and Lomonaco,
2018). Also, by checking if
deadlines are met or not, it
can be evaluated.
P3. (d) Differences between organisational and individual learning; training and development
Organisational and individual learning – Individual learning refers to the process of
developing employees of the organisation in such a way that their knowledge, skills and
behaviours will get improved in a manner that set targets will be attained effectually.
Organizational learning on the other hand is much more complex and dynamic as the level of
complexity in this is high due to a large number of diverse individuals (Sprinkle and Urick,
2018).
Training and development – Training can be referred as a program with assists employees in
an organisation to learn specific knowledge and skills so that their current job roles can be
improved. While, development is a vast term, main emphasis of which is on the growth as well
as future performance of staff, rather just focusing on current job role.
Differences between organisation and individual learning are:
Organisational learning Individual learning
 At organisational level of learning,
employees are developed through
promoting a healthy workplace
environment.
 Organisational learning is highly
significant as it is directly affected
with what individuals in firm have
 However, when learning is given at
individual level, employees are made
able enough to deal effectually with
changes and adapt same without any
resistance (Wingreen and Blanton,
2018).
 Individual learning results in promoting
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learnt with respect to impacting its
processes and functioning.
 Organisational learning brings
innovation in Marks and Spencer that
increases creativity of employees and
thus, leads to create an environment
at workplace where people are
willing to learn (Sartori and et.al.,
2018).
 Organisational helps in formulation
and implementation of company
strategies with delivering the same to
human resources of firm.
continuous professional development
(CPD) at workplace for which, mainly
HR professionals in Marks and Spencer
are responsible.
 Individual learning is rendered
considering the social background of
employees, their relationship with staff
members and designation on which
they are working.
 In M&S, individual learning results in
enhancing the existing skills and
knowledge of employees that are
required to perform assigned tasks
effectually along with their personal
growth (Oinas-Kukkonen and
Harjumaa, 2018).
Differences between organisational and individual training and development are:
Organisational training and development Individual training and development
 Training and development at
organisational level results in
improving the behaviour of
employees from the inside out and
thus, leads to improve the workplace
culture (Lv and Xu, 2018).
 Performance of business gets
improved as a whole when at
organisational level, training is
imparted to employees which leads
M&S to perform with higher
efficiency resulting in quality work
 Training and development sessions in
Marks and Spencer leads to improve
the existing skills, abilities and
knowledge of employees that makes
their work improved.
 As per today’s highly competitive and
dynamic environment, M&S needs
skilled employees who can perform
complex tasks effectively for which
training and development is required
(Buchanan and McCalman, 2018).
 With the help of providing training at
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and so, gaining increased goodwill.
 Organisational training and
development plays a vital role in
increasing the competencies of
individuals and therefore, ensures to
meet the set targets on time
effectually (Colloms, 2018).
individual level, gap between actual job
performances with the expected one is
eliminated.
 Training and development at individual
level increases the confidence of
employees and so, they work with
higher efficiency that results in rise in
the productivity.
P4. (e) Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance
Being operating in a highly competitive market, it is crucial for Marks and Spencer to
focus on continuous learning and professional development of staff so that they will be able to
drive business to perform in a sustainable manner. Need for same can be understood by the
following:
 To encourage personal growth – Continuous learning and professional development
leads employees to boost their performance and so, help in gaining growth at personal
level.
 To improve performance in current job – The current jobs which employees are
performing at present in M&S will get improved through continuous learning as existing
skills and knowledge enhances with same (Samajdar, Garg and Krishna, 2018).
 To prepare employees for future opportunities – With this, employees become confident
and efficient enough in their work which ultimately leads them to get ready for grabbing
the future opportunities which in turn is beneficial for M&S.
 To enhance work experience of employees – Also, with gaining learning on continuous
basis and professional development as well, overall work experience of employees will
be enhanced which will be beneficial for M&S in long run (OH and et.al., 2018).
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle is the theory proposed by David Kolb will prove to
be highly helpful in explaining the need for continuous learning and professional development in
Marks and Spencer which is given as below:
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Figure 1: Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle
(Source: Kolb's Learning Cycle, 2018)
 Concrete Experience – This is the first phase of learning where employees in
organisation start their work performing the tasks they are assigned with. Here, their
active participation in same is the key to learning. It says that in M&S, people will learn
by practically performing the tasks; rather just watching it.
 Reflective Observation – It is the second phase where employees are supposed to
stepping back from the tasks and taking some time to have a look on what they have
performed and review their experience. Here, many questions are asked from the teams in
firm. Vocabulary here plays a crucial role among members of team in M&S (Kolb's
Learning Cycle, 2015).
 Abstract Conceptualisation – This stage is all about making sense that what has happened
in the past performance. Comparison is done here in terms of what they have done in
tasks assigned, reflect upon and also, what exactly they were knowing. Employees of
M&S in this phase take ideas from colleagues, any new knowledge if developed or
previous observations.
 Active Experimentation – This is the last and final stage of learning cycle as per which
learners i.e. employees make decision to put their learning into practice for which
effective planning is to be done (Kolb's Learning Cycle, 2015). Here, prediction about the
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future outcomes is done on the basis of which actions are decided that are to be taken to
handle the tasks.
SCENARIO 2
P5. Contribution of HPW to employee engagement and competitive advantage within a specific
organisational situation
High-performance work systems (HPWS) Reduced Status Barriers – Under HPWS, it is assumed that good ideas can be received
from any level of the organisation. It says that great organisations are those which seeks
to main high trust culture and value their employees. Selective Hiring – It refers that organisations like M&S should be précised enough to
identify the critical skills and attributes of employees so that hiring can be done
accordingly to best fit the needs of vacant positions (Buchanan and McCalman, 2018). Ensuring Employee Security – It says that organisations which are focused on retaining
existing workforce rather employing part-time or contract employees have advantage of
gaining their trust, loyalty and commitment for longer span of time.
Elements of HPWS Training – Training is the major element of high performance working systems as
without rendering it to employees, to expect improvement in their performance is of no
use. Participation in decision making – Under HPWS, for gaining effective performance of
employees, it is important to increase their motivational level that can be done by making
them involved in decision making process of M&S to make them feel valued (5 Elements
of a High Performance Work System, 2018). Communication – Another major element of HPWS is communication which if not
effective in the organisation, may lead to hamper the performance of employees. It is
crucial to have effective communication in between the management and employees of
Marks and Spencer (Lv and Xu, 2018).
Outcomes of a high-performance work system
 Achievement of goals – Ultimate objective of HPWS is to attain the goals of firm within
specified timeframe with meeting the set standards.
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