Report: Developing Individuals, Teams, and Organizations - HR Skills

This report examines the essential knowledge, skills, and behaviors required by HR professionals, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and professional development. It includes a personal skill audit identifying strengths and weaknesses, alongside a development plan. The report differentiates between individual and organizational learning, highlighting the significance of training and development programs. It further explores the contributions of high-performance work practices (HPWP) to employee engagement and competitive advantage. The report also details various approaches to performance management. The case study uses Whirlpool as an example, analyzing how HR strategies impact organizational success.

Developing individuals,team
and organisation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Illustrate appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviour required by HR professional......1
P2 Perform a personal skill audit to find knowledge, skills and behaviour..........................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3 Differentiate between individual learning and organisational learning............................4
P4 Examine the requirement of continuous learning and professional development in the
performance............................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P5 HPW contribution in employee engagement and earning competitive advantage..........6
TASK 4 ...........................................................................................................................................7
P6 Explain different approaches to performance management..............................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Development is the essential thing for the success and growth of human life. Business
should develop skills and knowledge of the employees so that they can perform their work
effectively in order to achieve organisation objectives (Belbin, 2012). Whirlpool is an American
manufacture of home appliances, whose headquarter is situated in Michigan united states. The
company deals in home and kitchen appliances such as washing machine, refrigerator ,air
conditioner and many more things. In this report there is a discussion about the knowledge,
skills and behaviour needed by HR professional to carry out operational activities. It also help to
know the HR strength and weakness and how it can be developed for the welfare of the
organisation. Moreover, it informs about the need of lifelong learning in improving performance
of the individual and enterprise. Along with this it provide various approaches of performance
management which was used by the company in order to enhance their productivity and
profitability.
TASK 1
P1 Illustrate appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviour required by HR professional.
HR professional is the important part of the organisation whether it established on small
scale or large scale. On the basis of the organisation size there is a difference in HR working. In
large organisation generally HR duty is limited to recruit new candidate but in the small or
medium organisation they have to perform multiple task. It is duty of HR to hire correct person
on the right job on the basis of their knowledge and qualification. Organisation and the human
resource manager should provide proper training to the employees to increase their knowledge
and skills (Curtis and O'connell, 2011).
Continuous professional development aims is to empowering individual with the skills
and knowledge to achieve target and improve performance. HR should generate advisor skills in
them so that they can provide technical guidance and human capital service to their enterprise
which enhance performance as well as productivity. In order to achieve organisation objective
HR should need to develop or enhance their skills and knowledge.
Knowledge required by HR officer to carry out business activities are as follows :
Management knowledge : Organisation HR should have the knowledge of various
management principles and theory so that they can properly allocate resources,adopt leadership
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technique,production method and coordinate employees with the available resources. In context
of Whirlpool, HR staff required to gain management knowledge so that they can solve any
difficult problem properly and work effectively.
Legal knowledge : HR need to have a good understanding of the basic employment law
so that it can't become barrier in the development of organisation. There are many times when
HR manager need to take on the spot decision regarding legal consequences. If the business
does not follow the legal rules regarding employee than have to face many problems
(Liljenberg,2015). Whirlpool follow data protection act for the safety of employees personal
information.
Skills needed by HR in the organisation are explain under :
Multi-Tasking : HR is a field in which individual have to perform various
responsibilities. There are many duties which change with the passage of time. They have to
perform interviews advertisement, training programs, compensation and many more things. HR
officer should remain calm and patient even if the manager find a problem in the recruitment
process. Whirlpool HR manager should know how to undertake multi-task in the organisation.
Conflict management : HR staff should have negotiation and mediation skills. Various
times in an organisation they have to solve the conflicts between two colleagues or an employee.
At the time of dispute they should patiently listen both the parties and then provide decision. In
Whirlpool, HR should have dispute solving skills so that it does not affect the organisation
performance and productivity.
Communication : HR professional work as a mediator in between employees and
manager. They should have efficient oral and written communication skills so that they are able
to transfer the relevant information to the employees of the organisation. In whirlpool HR
contain communication skill in their personality which help them to conduct a training session,
exit interview, prepare a speech regarding employee safety and many more things
(Anagnostopoulos,Byers and Shilbury,2014).
Behaviour required by HR in the establishment are described briefly below :
Politeness : HR should behave calmly with their employees even in the adverse situation.
They should treat the employees in a respectful manner so that they can present any problem in
front of them. A polite attitude present as a signal that the person really care about them. In
whirlpool HR is polite with their staff which help them to create a good relationship with co-
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workers and clients. Due to having good relations HR can brought any new policy for their
employees which they adopt ultimately with low opposition.
P2 Perform a personal skill audit to find knowledge, skills and behaviour.
Personal skills are those which person contain in his personality. There are some skills
which individual posses from its birth and there are also skills which individual develop through
the life experiences. Personal skills help individual to communicate efficiently with others and to
express himself. From personal skill audit HR able to know what skills and knowledge they
contain and what they need to develop in the upcoming period for the welfare of the
organisation. For the development of whirlpool organisation is is need that HR take certain
actions in order to improve their skills.
Strength Weakness
 My Communication skills is good due
to which able to make cooperation
between different employees of the
organisation.
 Ability to give effective presentations
and convince people which helps me
while hiring eligible candidates.
 I can easily manage my time and
ability to work under pressure (Anne
Loewenberger, Newton and Wick
2014).
 Unable to perform multiple task at a
time which is the major duty of the HR
professional.
 Less knowledge about the HR software
which helps in performing activities
effectively.
 Being overconfident and bold
personality sometimes play negative for
me.
 Difficulty in taking quick decision due
to which sometimes opportunity get
missed.
Personal development plan : It is the process of creating aims and objectives that
inform what individual want to achieve and where they want to go in the long tern or short term
of their career. The plan was prepared after assessing current realities of an individual.
S.
No.
Learning
target
Present
Proficiency
Target
Proficiency
Development
Opportunities
Criteria for
Judging
Attainment
Time
Scale
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1 Multiple
task
3 5 By participating in
different activities
such as seminars,
conferences,
organisational
debates, new tasks
and so on.
Perform good
even in the
pressure
situation.
2
months
2 HR software 2 5 By taking classes
regarding different
software.
Start calculating
employees
salary and
leaves properly.
3
months
3 Decision-
making
3 5 Involve with the
authority and see
how take decisions in
different situations.
By solving
issues for hard
situations and
taking quick
decision for
different
challenges.
2
months
TASK 2
P3 Differentiate between individual learning and organisational learning.
Learning can take place at any stage of the life. Learning is undertaken in order to
expand the capacity of creating the desired result (O’Boyle,2015). It brings permanent change in
the behaviour of the individual because person get to know new things from their experience
and study. For learning it is not necessary that it can only be taken from educational institution,it
can be taken from life. Whirlpool’s take learning in the organisation so that they can make their
strong presence in the market.
Individual learning Organisational learning
This type of learning is completed depends on
the individual interest and abilities.
This learning depends upon the individual
involved in the group.
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Individual learning remains with the individual
through out his life wherever they go.
Organisational learning remains for a limited
period of time which individual take in order to
survive in a enterprise culture.
It is undertaken to achieve the personal goals
or objective.
Organisation learning take place in order to
achieve organisation and personal goal.
It is take place to improve the capacity of
individual and grabs the opportunities.
It is undertaken in the business to improve the
capacity of the group and explore market
opportunities.
Organisation learning and individual learning help organisation in improving its
performance and productivity. People learn from any medium bring necessary changes in their
skill and knowledge of performing the task. These both learning practices aid to employees of
whirlpool in order to enhance their abilities and working efficiency. Individual learning helps to
improver abilities of individual on the basis of their own as well as specific job role requirement
while organisational learning is required to attain a specific target of business firm. In the terms
of whirlpool these both practices provides their own contributions effectively.
Training and development : Training is the essential part of the organisation which take
place immediately after the appointment of the new employee. It is a activity which increase the
technical skills of the employees to do specific job effectively and efficiently ( Wesselink and
Wals, 2011). Training of new staff is done to make him familiar with organisation structure and
working procedures. It is not necessary that training is only done for new recruitment it is also
perform for the old staff for the improvement in their performance. In whirlpool, management
uses individual as well as organisational learning approaches in the terms of business
requirement and their future objectives. These both learning methods and approaches assist to
improve skills of workers so that they can achieve maximum success with the help of their own
performance.
Need of training and development are as follows :
Reduce learning time : When the individual learn the things from the training process
then they able to know the correct way of perform a particular job. There is a huge time involve
in trial and error method which individual take in absence of training program to know the right
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way of the job. Whirlpool should provide their employees development program so that there is
no wastage of time and organisation able to achieve its target.
Decrease in the turnover : At the initial stage when employee is train than it will cost
enterprise time and money. But when the employee get skilled then there is a reduction in the
cost and they start generating revenue for the organisation. Expertise in some field bring quality
of the work and growth of the organisation (Firth, Maye and Pearson,2011). Whirlpool should
provide training to the employees at work place because it generate confidence and security in
the minds of workers which directly decrease labour turnover.
P4 Examine the requirement of continuous learning and professional development in the
performance.
Continuous learning and professional development program is undertaken in the
organisation to enhance the skills and knowledge of employees so that they can deliver efficient
services to their customers and clients. Continuous professional development is important to
make the employee competent in their work. It is a continuous process which remains with the
individual throughout his career. Organisation should facilitate their employees continuous
professional development plan which develop and enhance their professional knowledge and
skill time to time (Chung and Jackson,2011). It is undertaken in the whirlpool’s to provide
personal and professional growth to its employees so that they perform best. Whirlpool’s should
perform continuous learning and professional program in their organisation to increase their
market share ,productivity and many more things which are described below :
Improves productivity : Professional development help organisation in improving its
productivity. It provide the proper training and the feedback to the workers so that they can make
positive modification in their performance. Employees are able to know how the particular
activity should be perform in the organisation which directly increase their and business
productivity. Whirlpool should teach their employees time to time how the particular activity
should be perform in a correct manner so that their performance and business productivity
increases.
Job retention : In today 's time people does not rely on one post for a longer period of
time because they believe that they does not get growth (Cherubini and Nielsen,2016). By the
help of continuous learning organisation able to retain their employees as it provide more
flexible and stimulating work environment to the worker. Whirlpool should also give proper
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growth opportunities to their employees so that they can retain in the business for a longer period
of time.
Innovation : By the help of continuous learning organisation improves its operational
activities. When people development take place in the organisation then they test new tools and
methodologies rather than sticking on a conservative and old culture. Due to this organisation
able to get new better things as the employees coming out of their comfort zone. Whirlpool
should develop their employees and skills so that they can ready to take any challenges of the
market and provide unique thing to the organisation.
TASK 3
P5 HPW contribution in employee engagement and earning competitive advantage.
High performance work practice is used in the organisation to improve the performance
of the workplace. The higher performance of staff members can be improved when they get
satisfaction, motivation, involvement ,pleasant working condition and growth opportunities in an
organisation. Whirlpool should try to provide all the things to the employees so that they can
make contribution in the firm's growth. Business not solely able to achieve its objectives they
need an effective team for innovation and performing work (Shah and Jain,2017). When business
concern provide guidelines to everyone for performing better way to enhance their productivity
and performance.
Communication : For an organisation growth it is necessary that employees
communicate effectively in the organisation. If there is no proper communication between the
team then the organisation not able to achieve its goals with full efficiency. Team can get high
performance only when they work with the mutual support. When employee and team get
information and guidance about their task than they will get more involved in organisation
working and perform better to earn competitive for the welfare of the business. In the terms of
whirlpool, these communication practices play a most important role because it assist to
resolving issues and conflicts between employees. Through this firm can get maximum
competitive advantages effectively.
Mutual respect : In a business organisation, it is required that employees working
together with appropriate coordination. In this procedure, mutual respect play a most important
role. It define respect of other works that helps in maximising knowledge criteria from others. In
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whirlpool management requires to pay their maximum attention toward mutual respect approach
so that works feel motivated and create positive alliances with their peers. These activities assist
to enhance team working abilities in individual that can be a beneficial approach for whirlpool.
These activities provide their own contribution in high performance working practices.
TASK 4
P6 Explain different approaches to performance management
Performance management is the process to develop an appropriate environment of
reducing threats of working so that employees can perform the best of their individual abilities.
Performance management is undertaken so that there is a improvement in the organisation and
employees performance (McKenzievan, Winkelen and Grewal,2011). It help whirlpool in
increasing their employees contribution to the organisation goal. Business persons generally
measure employees performance on the bases of their contribution in the organisation's growth.
By measuring the performance of the individual organisation and its authority provide valuable
feedback to employees so that they can improve their productivity. Whirlpool can use any one or
combination of these approaches on the basis of their management structure and target for the
development of the organisation.
Attribute approach : In this approach employees are ranked on the bases of their
characteristics such as problem solving skills, team work cooperation, creativity, innovation and
many more. For improving staff productivity on the basis of this method, organisation use
graphic rating scale and mixed rating scale. On the basis of these judgemental practices, senior
employees of whirlpool can provide feedback to their employees in order to enhance their
working quality abilities.
Comparative approach : It is approach under which employees performance is
compared with the person of the same group. For doing comparison between employees business
use forced distribution technique and paired comparison. Under this method employees are
ranked on higher to lower on the bases of their performance. Comparison between employees
performance assist to motivate other in order to target them on high level by improving their
abilities easily.
Result approach : It is method under which workers performance is measured on the
ground of their end result(McKenzie and Aitken,2012). Employees result is get through the
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balance score card technique and productivity measurement and evaluation techniques. The
major disadvantage of this theory is that is concentrate on the employee achievement not the
efforts they made to accomplish their goals. The advantage of this approach is that through this
management of whirlpool can measure performance of employees on the basis several strategic
options that assist to maximise learning growth of employees.
Quality approach : This approach is used in the enterprise to increase the customer
satisfaction level through reducing errors. Under this worker performance is evaluated by using
kaizen process. Organisation employer take regular feedback on the individual and professional
traits of the employee from their supervisor to improve their performance. When organisation
adopt this method in their working than employees make full efforts to provide qualitative
product to the customer.
Behavioural approach : It is the most oldest and mostly used performance
measurement technique. Under this method worker performance is measured on the behaviour
regarding some particular situation. To measure the employee behaviour organisation use
behaviourally anchored rating scale and behavioural observation scale. If the business want
reliability and accuracy in the data they can use this method. Behaviour approach teach
employees to take challenges and remain positive even in the adverse situation.
Performance management is a continuous process in which manager and employees work
combine to plan , monitor and review employees objectives with the overall contribution to the
system. For example : Organisation who does not use performance techniques unable to achieve
arrangement objectives as there employees become lazy and does not perform their best as they
know nobody is watching their work (Payne and Calton,2017). For improving employees
performance it is necessary that proper supervision take place on them. Where as whirlpool’s
getting growth because they continuously monitor their employees performance and take
necessary step to improve it like training session and feedback.
CONCLUSION
From the above report , it is known that individual development and growth is the way
through which organisation able to improve its performance. It also inform that HR need various
kind of skills and knowledge in order to develop its organisation and the staff. In this there is
audit of the HR skills is done to know what technique need to be develop for the welfare of the
organisation. By the help of continuous professional development organisation provide life long
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learning to their employees. Throughout the analysis, it has been observed that high performance
work practice need to implement at workplace for enhancing the overall productivity of an
association. At last, several approaches of performance management are mentioned including
attribute, comparative, result, quality and behavioural.
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REFERENCES
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McKenzie, J., van Winkelen, C. and Grewal, S., 2011. Developing organisational decision-
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McKenzie, J. and Aitken, P., 2012. Learning to lead the knowledgeable organization:
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Payne, S.L. and Calton, J.M., 2017. Towards a managerial practice of stakeholder engagement:
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Online
The importance of continuing professional development.2014. [Online] Available through :
<http://continuingprofessionaldevelopment.org/why-is-cpd-important/>
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