HR Management and Development: A Whirlpool Corporation Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of HR management practices, focusing on the context of Whirlpool Corporation. It begins by outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and behaviors required of HR professionals, emphasizing areas like training and development techniques, contract law, and communication skills. A personal skill audit is presented to assess strengths and weaknesses, followed by a detailed professional development plan aimed at enhancing skills such as active listening and IT proficiency. The report then differentiates between individual and organizational learning, highlighting their respective roles in employee and company development. Furthermore, it explores the contributions of high-performance work practices to employee engagement and competitive advantage, as well as various approaches to performance management. The report draws conclusions on the importance of continuous learning and effective HR strategies for organizational success.

Developing
Individuals, Teams and
Organisations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1. Need of Professional Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour of HR professionals.....................3
P2. Analyse Personal Skill Audit and Develop a professional Development Plan.....................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3. Difference Between Individual and Organisational Learning, Training and Development. 7
P4. Analysis the Need of Continuous Learning and Professional Development........................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
P5. Contribution of HPW in Employee Engagement and Competitive Advantage..................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................13
P6. Different Approaches of Performance Management..........................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Individual development refers to the study of skills, knowledge, capabilities and
behaviour of an individual which can be improve by learning from different situations and
applied at workplace. Performance of individual and team make direct and positive impact on
organisational growth and success (Berry, 2011). When there is a development of employees and
team members in an organisations then it ultimately develop overall performance and
productivity of a company. This project is based on Whirlpool Corporation is a type of private
company which was founded in 11 November 1911 by Louis Upton and Emory Upton. Its
headquarter is located in US. It deals in appliances both major and small. In this report there will
be a discussion about knowledge, skills and behaviour which is require by HR manager. Personal
development plan will discuss to analyse personal skills. Organisation and individual learning
with training and development is discuss. Apart from this, need of continuous learning
contribution of high performance working is discuss. At last, different approaches of
performance management will discuss.
TASK 1
P1. Need of Professional Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour of HR professionals
HR professional is a person who manage all the things in an organisation. HR manager
play an important role to deal with workforce and analyse performance of individual and team
members. They helps in recruiting best suitable candidates for a company who contribute their
efficiency for enhancing the productivity of an organisation. It is essential for HR managers to
have appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviour as per the requirement of Whirlpool.
Knowledge of HR Professional
Training and Development Techniques- HR professional should have complete
knowledge different techniques of training and development. HR manager of Whirlpool have all
the techniques of training because there are different types of employees in a firm who learn
from different ways. So, manager have to conduct training and development program for
improving skills of employees (Bolman and Deal, 2017).
Contract Law- It is necessary for a HR professional to have knowledge about laws and
legislation made by government. There are different act made for organisations such as contract

law, business law, employment law etc. HR manager of Whirlpool should have knowledge about
these laws by which they can deal with any legal issues arises in an organisation.
Skills of HR Professionals
Communication Skills- HR professionals should have the the skill of proper
communication by which they can easily communicate ideas and opinions with every employees.
Better communication also helps to reduce conflicts and make working environment more
positive and effective.
Problem solving Skills- It is one of the important skill which is required by HR manager.
Firstly, they have to find out causes of problem and then generate ideas and find out the solution
of that problem. This helps to Whirlpool to removing obstacles in performance and improving
productivity.
Behaviour of HR Professionals
Ethical Behaviour- It is a responsibility of HR manager to behave politely with every
person. Every individual should be treated equally in an organisation. HR manager have to
behave ethically with their subordinates. It make environment more positive and friendly.
Confidentiality- This behaviour is necessary by a HR manager at the time of performance
appraisal. If performance of ant employee is not much better than others then it should not tell to
everyone in an organisation. Because this thing can demotivate an employee in Whirlpool. So,
HR manager should behave confidential (Chaskalson, 2011).
P2. Analyse Personal Skill Audit and Develop a professional Development Plan
Personal skill audit is simply a determination of knowledge and skills of an individual
which helps in getting them success or need to be improved their behaviour and skills. It is a self
judgement of strength and weakness of a person. It helps to identify the need of training and
development in organisation. It collect data of assessment by self and others and measure the
differences occur in that appraisal. Individual also decide a target to develop the need of
knowledge and skills. Here, I'm presenting a personal skill audit for analyse my strength and
weakness for the position of HR:-
Sr.
No.
Skills and Competencies
Requirement
Self-
assessed
Score
Gap Remedial
action
Deadline for
remedial
action

1 Contract law 6 Need to
improve the
knowledge of
law
Attend law
course for 2
weeks
2-3 weeks
2 Training and development 9 Need to
develop
training
program
Conduct
training and
development
program
On-going 1
week
3Decision Active listening 7 Improve active
listening
Reading
books and
communicate
with
colleagues
On-going 1
week
4 Decision making ability 7 Improve
decision
making ability
Consult with
seniors
On-going 1
week
6 Ethics 10 Behave
ethically with
peers.
Refresh
knowledge
with reading
books.
On going
7 IT skills 6 Need to
improve IT
skills.
Refresh
knowledge
On going
(From the above mentioned table, positive variance are shown my weak component and negative
variances are indicates my strength or strong element).
Strength and weakness as per personal skill audit
Strength Weaknesses
 I have good communication skills in
both verbal and written.
 I'm not an active listener so it become a
weakness for me.

 My problem solving skills are good and
I can manage every type of situation
arises in an organisation.
 My negotiation skills are good and I
can helps in reducing cost.
 I am a multitasking person. I can
perform different work at same time
and I have knowledge to perform
several activities.
 My IT skills are not much good.
 Sometimes I feel overconfidence which
become a major weakness for my
thinking and decision making ability.
Personal Development Plan
It is a process of creating a plan which is based on performance of an individual. This
plan is made to develop the efficiency of a person and overcome their weaknesses (Darling-
Hammond and McLaughlin, 2011). My personal development plan as an HR professional is
presenting as below:-
Sr.
No
Learning
Objective
Current
Proficiency
Target
Proficiency
Development
Opportunities
Criteria
for
judging
success
Time
Scale
Evidence
1 Active listening I'm not an
active listener
of my superior
and
subordinates.
I have to
improve my
skills of
active
listening by
coordinating
with my
colleagues.
I have
opportunity to
improve and
develop my
skill of active
listening by
learning from
others.
Top
managers
2-3
mont
hs
Opinion
of team
members
and
seniors
2 Information
technology
skills
My IT
knowledge is
no so good
I have to
improve my
IT skills and
I have an
opportunity to
get eduction
Manager
of IT
departme
4-5
mont
hs
Opinion
of group
members

which impact
on my
professional
life and career.
getting
knowledge
about
different
tools and
technologies
which
improve my
efficiency.
online or from
IT department
of company.
It will
improve my
knowledge in
IT sector.
nt and IT
manager
3 Decision
making ability
I have an
average
decision
making ability.
Sometime, I
have to take
more time for
taking decision.
It may either be
positive or
negative for
company.
I need to
improve my
knowledge
which helps
to increase
my ability in
decision
making
process.
I will join
training
program to
improve
decision
making ability
and take
direction from
my superiors.
Outcome
of
performa
nce
which is
done as
per my
decision.
5-6
mont
hs
Top level
managers
and peers.
Evaluation of Professional Skills Audit
Professional skill audit is necessary in an organisation to evaluate the strength and
weakness of professionals or managers. There are different skills a manager should have to
achieve organisational goals and objectives such as communication skills, problem solving skills,
IT skills, active listening etc. If a manager is multitasking then it helps to focus on their personal
as well as professional reflection (DuFour and DuFour, 2013).

TASK 2
P3. Difference Between Individual and Organisational Learning, Training and Development
Individual Learning
It is a process of increasing knowledge by an individual by learning from different
sources. In this type of learning, individual set a goal and learn various things to achieve that
objective. It is important for employees. When they use this technique in Whirlpool then it is
beneficial for a firm to get knowledge from their colleagues and give contribution to an
organisation to achieve their goals and objectives. It is also a responsibility of HR manager to
focus on individual learning by providing them training timely to get knowledge about upgrading
technology which improve efficiency and productivity of individual towards achieving goals.
Organisational Learning
It is a process of transferring knowledge within a company. By applying organisational
learning, company can enhance their knowledge and skills for better development (Esposito
Berlin and Lal, 2012). There are different situations arises in Whirlpool, so it is necessary to
manager to develop their knowledge, competitors strategy and outsiders which helps in
improving productivity and development of overall organisation.
Difference Between Individual and Organisational Learning
Basis of Comparison Individual Learning Organisational Learning
Definition It refers to improving
knowledge and skills of an
individual by learning from
different sources (Flint,
Zisook and Fisher, 2011).
It refers to retaining and
transferring of knowledge and
opinions within a firm to
improve their productivity.
Sources Individual have different
sources of learning such as
past experience, society,
colleagues etc.
In organisational learning, both
managers and workers are
learn from inside and outside
activities for overall
development of Whirlpool.
Aim Aim of individual learning is
to increasing knowledge and
Main aim of organisational
learning is to make task more

skills even in dynamic
environment.
challenging which improve the
efficiency of employee as well
as performance of Whirlpool
Training
Training is an activity which guide a person to develop their knowledge and skills for a
specific work or job position. Generally, training is provided to new joining employees to aware
them about companies policy, environment and their work in an organisation. Whirlpool provide
training to their workers for enhancing their skills and knowledge and improve their productivity
by which they can contribute in organisational growth and success.
Development
Development is a study of improvement in overall performance of an organisation.
Development is focuses on theoretical and conceptual knowledge of employer and employees. It
is long term continuous process in order to enhancing growth of a firm (Ford, 2014). Whirlpool
use different techniques of development of employees and overall company such as monitoring,
job rotation etc. it ultimately raise performance of individual as well as overall organisation.
Different Between Training and Development
Basis of Comparison Training Development
Meaning It is a process of learning
which provide opportunity to
develop skill and knowledge
as per requirement of job
position.
It is a conceptual process
which focuses on overall
development of an
organisation.
Term Training is done for a short
time period.
Development is a process of
long term activity.
Motivation Leader or trainer motivate
employees.
In development, employees are
self motivated.
P4. Analysis the Need of Continuous Learning and Professional Development
Continuous Learning

Continuous learning refers to enhancing skills and behaviour of workers in an
organisation by learning from different sources. Main purpose of this learning is to improving
knowledge as per continuous basis and improve productivity of employees and sustainable
performance of an organisation (Hsu and et. al., 2012). It is important for employees of
Whirlpool to learn as regular basis and contribute their ability in organisational growth and
success.
Needs of Continuous Learning
Generate New Ideas- Continuous learning is essential for creating thoughts and ideas
which helps in development of firms in attaining sustainable business performance. It is focuses
on find out the causes on problems and generate ideas of problem solving skills.
Develop Confidence- When employees are confident about their work then they give
their best in performing task and activities and it helps an organisation to attaining sustainable
business performance. It is only possible when they continue learn different things related to
their work and perform effective task in Whirlpool (Hu and Liden, 2011).
Relevant Information- Employees should have proper and relevant information about
organisational activities and taste and preferences of consumer with current market trends. A
proper information helps Whirlpool to gain sustainable growth in market.
Professional Development
It is the process of improving the ability of employees by providing them proper training
and development. It is essential for Whirlpool for proper development of their employees by
giving them educational opportunities in which they learn behaviour of people, environment of
organisation and performance of activities in order to achieve firm's objectives.
Need of Professional Development
Increase Retention- It is important for an organisation to conduct professional
development program to increase retention of employees. For this, company have to invest more
amount in developing program. When employees of Whirlpool have opportunity of better growth
in existing firm then they will not think about leave an organisation (Leonard and Rayport,
2011). And it is beneficial for company to improve their sustainability in business activities.
Life long learning- professional development is a technique which help employees to
learn for life time. A company is become success when it have knowledgable employees and
innovative technologies and equipment.

Learning Style
The concept of learning cycle is defined that how individual learn from their past
experience and knowledge. This process is based on direction and learning that focus on a series
of path that helps to employees for better performance.
Kolb's Learning Cycle
This theory states that people are learn from their experience of life (Kolb - Learning
Styles, 2013). There are mainly four steps of Kolb's learning theory which are as follows:-
Experience- It is focuses on past experience of a person which they get by doing some
activities. It thought that individual can better learn from their past experience (Leonard, 2011).
Reflect- It states that there may be a difference between work done by a person or
outcome of experience.
Conceptualise- It is an interpretation of experience and create a concept of that
experience.
Plan- It is a last step of Kolb's learning cycle which evaluate the concept and helps it to
support new experience.
Barriers of Learning
Lack of Confidence- Sometime, employees feel unconfident in training environment and
they don't want to learn something new which create a barrier in learning.
Fear of Failure- Employees are not able to adopt new things easily because they have
fear of failure. It crease a barrier in learning because due to this fear they don't want o learn
something new.
Overcoming the Barriers of Learning
Make Positive Environment- Environment of learning should be positive and noiseless
where learner can easily concentrate on learning new things (McCleskey, 2014).
Enhance communication- There should be clear communication between trainer and
learner by which can easily understandable by each other.
Analyse the importance of implementing continuous professional development
Implementation of professional development is important for an organisation to improve
the performance of employees and development of employees in an organisation. Employees can
develop their knowledge and skills by past experience and continuous learning. It is important

aspect for Whirlpool for development of worker by providing them proper training and
conducting educational program.
Coherent Professional Development Plan
Professional development is important for an organisation to accomplish the goals and
objectives of firm. In this, proper training is provided to employees by which they can perform
their task effectively and efficiently. There are different types of skills, knowledge and behaviour
a professional have which can learn from training. A proper training helps to achieve sustainable
organisational performance and objectives.
TASK 3
P5. Contribution of HPW in Employee Engagement and Competitive Advantage
High Performance Working (HPW)
It is a process of making that culture and environment where open system of
communication and trust is exist. It is advance level of performance where employees are are
performing their task more effective and efficient manner. In context of Whirlpool, environment
of company is more transparent where employer and employees can easily communicate with
each other (Salas and et. al., 2012).
Employee Engagement
It refers to the involvement of employees in organisational activities. It is important for
Whirlpool to engaged their workers in every task and decision making process by which they can
generate ideas and opinions for organisational growth and success.
Competitive Advantage
This concept is based on gain advantage from competitors by implementing innovative
technology and improve their working environment. For gain competitive advantage Whirlpool
have to identify need of customers and make quality products to satisfy their needs and attract
more customers.
Benefits of HPW Practices in Employee Engagement and Competitive Advantage
Collaboration: High performance working environment make a collaboration between
employees and employers. It make positive working environment where employees are engaged
to perform their tasks effectively and helps to gain competitive advantage to Whirlpool.