HR's Role in Developing Individuals, Teams, and Organizations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the essential skills, knowledge, and behaviors required of HR professionals, using Whirlpool as a case study. It delves into the analysis of employee needs, skills audits, and the development of professional development plans to enhance individual performance. The report contrasts individual learning with organizational learning and emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and professional development in driving sustainable business performance. It also explores the impact of High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) on employee engagement and competitive advantage, and examines various approaches to performance management that support a high-performance culture and commitment within the organization. The report aims to provide a strategic framework for HR practices, with practical examples and recommendations for optimizing employee development and organizational success.

Developing individual, Teams
and organization

Contents
INTRODUCTION:........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
P1: Analyze employee knowledge, skills and behaviors required by HR professional.................................3
P2: Personal skills audit to develop a professional development plan......................................................5
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................7
P3: Difference between organization and individual learning, training and development........................7
P4 Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance...............................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3........................................................................................................................................................11
P5 HPW contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage............................................11
Task 4...........................................................................................................................................................12
P6 Different approaches to performance management which support high-performance culture and
commitment.............................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................................13
REFERNCES...............................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION:
HR professional and team play an important role in the success of any organization in the
market. Their main work is to fit each individual into a team so that common purpose of their
existence in the organization can be achieved (Katzenbach, and Smith, 2015). Whirlpool is an
American multinational company that deals in home appliances and headquarters in Michigan,
United States of America. They have more than 92,000 employees in the organization and
manufactures in more than 50 countries. In this report will discuss about the knowledge, skills
and behaviors required by HR professional. Moreover, personal skills audit to develop a
professional development plan is also discussed. Apart from that difference between
organizational, individual learning and training and development is also mentioned in the report.
HPW and its contributions to employee engagement are scrutinized. At last different approaches
of performance management is explain with functional example.
TASK 1
P1 Analyze employee knowledge, skills and behaviors required by HR professional.
HR simply stands for Human resources. They are the people who make the personnel of
the organization. Their core work is to maintain the environment of the organization in the
desirable manner so that productivity of the organization doesn’t get affected by any external
factors. Big companies like Whirlpool need HR in great number as their headcount are big.
There are few important things like knowledge, skills and behavior requires in HR professional
which is mentioned below,
Knowledge
Employment laws: HR professional needs to learn and know how to apply the law on the
workplace so that environment of the Whirlpool becomes ideal for the employee. Law includes
employment law, safety law, wages and salary law etc. These laws should be properly applied
and improved regularly by the company so that employee’s motivation remains high.

Counseling: Productivity of the employees can get affected if there mind is not stable or
they are suffering from any problem. So HR professional work is to take a counseling session of
the employees so that their problem can be resolved within the time. For instance, it will help the
employees to overcome from their problem so that productivity doesn’t get affected. It leads to
increase productivity of the Whirlpool also.
Education and training: HR professional should have a proper knowledge of every job in
the organization so that they can give training to new joiner. Besides this training can be given to
the old employees so that there will be a change in professional and individual development of
the employee (Ford, 2014).
Skills
Negotiation: Negotiation is the critical factor that must be require in every HR
professional. They need to negotiate with labors, employees for their salary, working timing,
working condition etc. Company like Whirlpool have large workforce and to maintain them at
the same time negotiation skills is mandatory for the HR professional.
Judgment and decision making: HR professional needs to taken decision at interview
time, when assigning a task to the employees or deciding their work timing. Proper decision and
judgment should be taken by the HR at the time of interview as it affects the future of the
company.
Time management: When the headcounts of the employees are high time management
become automatically important. Assigning the task to the specific employees at the right time is
important. It helps the company to maintain the productivity of the employees.
Behavior
Transparency and trustworthiness: HR professional should be a one who can be trusted
by the employees of the organization. If there is trust among the employees then climate of the
whirlpool should be ideal for the employees. Besides this, transparency of process while taking
decision like selection should be there so that no employee or candidate can feel betrayed.

Adaptability: Climate, culture and external factors of the organization changes with time.
To tackle these kinds of conditions, HR professional should be aware and adaptable
according to the circumstances so that they can tackle each hurdle in the future.
P2: Personal skills audit to develop a professional development plan
Personal audit refers to assessment of own skills and behavior and to find the solution of
that to increase the individual efficiency. When the individual improves themselves according to
their assessment then it also helps the company also as it improves the knowledgeable workforce
(Sessa and London, 2015). So as a HR professional I will discuss my strengths and weakness.
Strengths Weakness
I am people friendly and diplomatic in
nature and that helps me in difficult
situation.
I lose my temper more frequently as
sometimes I lose my patience for no reason.
My decision making skills are very good as
I can solve most of the problems with
perfection
My communication skills are not that good as
sometimes I feel hard to express myself in a
better way.
My team management skills are good as I
can manage different task at the same time.
My productivity gets down when I work
under pressure.
After the strengths and weakness mentioned above, I will make my personal development plan
according to my weakness so that it can be improved and helps my productivity to increase.

PROFESIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Development
objectives
Priority Activities I need to
undertake to achieve my
objectives
Mentor and monitor by-
Communication
skills
3 months Proper communication
improvement classes will
be taken by me so that
stage fear, public speaking
and accurate words to use
can be solved.
My coaching tutor and my
manager
IT skills 2 months Classes will be taken so
that I can learn new skills
like SAP, SAS and
improve other skills like
MS powerpoint, MS Excel
etc.
My tutor and my colleague
Innovative thinking 6 months By reading books,
magazine, newspaper,
journals for my specific
field.
Manager.

TASK 2
P3 Difference between organization and individual learning, training and development
Learning means change in knowledge due to past experiences. Knowledge is a vital resource for
any organization as it helps the company to create the competitive advantage over others.
Knowledgeable workforce is the most productive personnel for any organization (Goetsch, and
Davis, 2014). Whirlpool needs to impart knowledge to their employee so that they can tackle any
future hindrance that can affect the company in a harsh way.
Individual learning refers to increase in skills and capabilities of the individual through
learning. Whirlpool can help the individual to possess new skills, abilities, new knowledge etc
that can help the company to increase their productivity. Individual learning can never be
stopped as circumstances changes with time and so does the knowledge. HR professional can
help the individual by motivating them regularly through different programs like training session
etc.
In organizational learning, individual plays an important part. If the knowledge of
individual is increasing then the organization knowledge is also increasing. Organization
learning is totally depends on the individual and their abilities to learn. Whirlpool can encourage
their employees to learn, exchange information among others, giving proper skills training to
every employees. It will help the company to achieve their share vision (Klotz, and et. al.,
2014)..
Difference between individual and organizational learning is as follows,
Individual learning Organizational learning
It deals with personal development of the
organization. Like whirlpool employees
could learn through changing their skill set
so that can they can adapt according to the
situation
It deals with the overall development of the
organization. Like if employees of Whirlpool
become knowledgeable then its impact can
be seen in the profits.
It helps the employees to increase their It helps the company to increase overall

productivity at work. productivity so that profit could increase
gradually.
Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation of the
employees help the individual to shift in
knowledge and not dependent on
organization. Though the culture and climate
of the company plays an important part.
Organization learning is totally depend on the
individual learning
Training and development
Employee training and development is an important work of the human resource team.
Proper T&D helps the company to grow or vice versa. Training is a program organized by the
company so that job related knowledge and skills imparted to the employees. Development is an
activity where personnel of the company learn and grow gradually (Hoch and Kozlowski, 2014).
Key differences between training and development is given as follows,
Training Development
Training is given for the present task or job.
Whirlpool should give their new and old
employee’s regular training so that they can
achieve higher productivity in their work.
Development is for the future purpose. It
helps the company to achieve their goals in
the future. Moreover it will help the whirlpool
to tackle the future hindrance.
Training is given by the tutor or trainer by
the company itself.
Development program are personalized in
nature. It is a self learning process and based
on the individual itself.
If training is given properly then only it
would help the individual and organization.
If the training is not properly given then it
will affect the company is a negative way.
Development program will always help the
individual and organization as it is a positive
process.

P4 Need for continuous learning and professional development to drive sustainable business
performance
Continuous learning
In simple terms, continuous learning is the process of perpetual expansion of knowledge,
skills and abilities through learning. Through this individual would aware of their strengths and
weakness and that will make them more valuable to an organization. Whirlpool should give
emphasis on giving training, seminar and workshops on new skills and technology, coaching and
mentoring by the experts to their employees (Flaherty, 2015). It will help them to increase their
productivity to a certain level. In the uncertain market, whirlpool can only survive in future if
they constantly push their employees for continues leaning and become more valuable in the
market.
Professional development
It is a long process of continuous improvement in skills and competencies of the
individual so that there won’t be any skills gap among the employees. It will be accomplished
with the help of academic degrees, conferences, certifications etc. Whirlpool should use this
technique so that employees can grow in their professional field (Humphrey, Morgeson and
Mannor, 2009). It will help the whirlpool to retain their employees, re-energies their staff,
increase confidence and credibility etc. It will also help the employee to unblock their barriers to
learning. Importance of the continuous development will be discussed or explain with the help of
learning theory.
Learning theory: This theory explain that learning involves the acquisition of the knowledge and
then applies it according to the circumstances. It is divided into two parts. First is cycle of
learning and second is learning styles.
Leaning cycle is divided into 4 stages.
Concrete experience: It means that when an individual learns new things from their unique
experiences. Whirlpool can give this type of training through workshops, class room training or
on the job training through which they can become adaptable to different situation.

Reflective experience: It means that when an individual learn things from their past experiences.
But sometimes it becomes bad as individual does not interpretate clearly. Thus create difference
between understanding and experiences. Whirlpool can overcome this if proper training is given
to the individual.
Abstract conceptualization: This happens when an individual learns from their past reflection.
Modification of idea or improvement of idea happens. Whirlpool should motivate this type of
responses as It will help the company to create unique and new product that can be helpful for
the company.
Active experimentation: When the individual learns the concept and applies in the real scenario
to solve the problem. It improves the productivity and performance of an individual and become
more valuable for the Whirlpool. If the company can solve the problem with unique solution then
it can gain the competitive advantage over others. Proper use of concept can help the company to
create sustainable business performance as it can remove any problem faced by the company.
(Morgeson and Mannor, 2009).
Learning style: It is also divided into four distinctive styles
Diverging: In this, individual generally prefer to observe rather than doing. They look at the
problem from different perspective and then choose the best one. Whirlpool should promote this
kind of style as it will help the company to scan the environment and then work accordingly. It
will help the company to gain the competitive advantage.
Assimilating: These kinds of people prefer to work on logic after clearly understanding the
problem. They prefer to read and make the solution according to the scenario. Whirlpool can use
this kind of style to make the best from the limited resources.
Converging: These kinds of individual prefer to solve to technical task through finding the
solution of the actual problem. They prefer to take action rather than watching it. It will help the
Whirlpool to solve the daily problems of the company and try to remove it as soon as possible
(Hinsz, 2015).
Accommodating: This kind of style is rely on other to carry out the research and then solves it.
This style can be dangerous if research is not done properly.

Advantages Disadvantages
CPD helps in building the confidence and
credibility within the organization.
This process is time consuming as it takes time
to learn and become complex.
With the help of CPD, employees productivity
will increase and thus leads to promotion.
Proper resources shoulld be there to
accomplished the CPD.
TASK 3
P5 HPW contributes to employee engagement and competitive advantage
High performance working: It is an approach of managing the organization so that employees
can perform their best and productivity of the employee reaches its pinnacle. Whirlpool can
become HPW organization if all the employees would work at their best and resources are
allotted according to the circumstances (Tjosvold, and et. al., 2014). It helps the company to get
the competitive advantage.
Whirlpool should follow different HPW practices which are described as follows,
Recruitment of skilled workforce: Skilled workers are the assets of the company. They are the
one's who help the company to grow significantly. It believes that HR should recruit indivdual
on the basis of knowledge and skills. As it will help the company to gain the competitive
advantage. Whirlpool should hire the candidates according to their skills and abilities so that they
can excel in their respective works. Skilled workforce helps the company to grow and create
sustainable business performance.
Flexible work statements: Whirlpool need to focus on improving the climate and culture of the
organization through transparency and flexiblity. They shouild allow employees to take part in
decision making process so that their motivation level could increase to a certain level. Work
should be given according to indivdual capablities and skills so that they can excel it. It will help
the company to maximize their efficency (Curry, 2015). Moreover the efficency of the
employees would also increase and that will help the company to gain the competitive
advantage.

Employee reward programs: Employees should be given reward if their work is desirable or
extraordinary. Whirlpool should give rewards like bonus, hikes, trips to the top performer of
every department. Through this the motivation level of employees would go high. They will try
to give their full commitment to the work so that they can earn more bonus or trips. If all the
employees starts to give their full commitment towards work then surely the company will gain
the competetive advantage.
Task 4
P6 Different approaches to performance management which support high-performance culture
and commitment
Performance management: It is a process of managing and monitoring performance of the
employees and improving it regularly so that employee can attain highest productivity (Castle,
and et. al., 2016). It includes actions which are taken to achieve the pre set goals with efficiently
and effectively. It starts when an employee joins the organization and ends when the person
quits the organization. It is the process of improving the performance of the organization through
improving the performance of the individual within an organization. It encompasses of all the
activities done by the employee within an organization. Performance management includes
proper job analysis, clear set of goal, continuous coaching and exit interviews. There are various
approaches of performance management which are described as follows,
Comparative approach: In this approach, performance of the employee is compare with the
performance of other employees. Through this, best and least performer can be find out.
Whirlpool can use this approach to reward the best employee and take decision regarding the
least performer of the organization. Training plan can be map out with this approach so that low
performer can also become the best performer with proper training. Every employee of the
company will try to give full commitment towards their work and thus it will leads to high
performance of the individual and Whirlpool..
Attribute approach: In this approach, employees are rated with specific set of parameter like
problem solving skills, teamwork etc (Mathieu, and et. al., 2014). Graph can be made out with
the help of this technique. Whirlpool can use this technique at the time of promoting the
employee. It will help the company to place the right candidate at the right position so that