Analysis of HR Skills, Development, and Performance at Hamleys Report

This report analyzes key aspects of Human Resource Management within the context of Hamleys, a UK-based toy retailer. The report begins by identifying crucial skills, behaviors, and professional knowledge required for HR managers, including interpersonal and communication skills, recruitment, and an understanding of HR systems and regulations. It then develops a personal skills audit and personal development plan for an HR advisor role, detailing strengths, weaknesses, learning cycles, and specific skill development goals. The report also discusses the differences between individual and organizational learning, as well as training and development, emphasizing their importance for organizational success. Furthermore, it evaluates the need for continuous learning and personal development plans to enhance business performance. Finally, the report explores the concept of High-Performance Work (HPW) and its contribution to employee engagement and competitive advantage, along with different approaches to performance management, highlighting how these support a high-performance culture and commitment. The report provides a comprehensive overview of HR strategies and their impact on organizational effectiveness.

Developing Individuals, Teams and
Organisations
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
SECTION 1......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1) Analyse suitable skills, behaviour along with professional knowledge for HR
managers.....................................................................................................................................3
P2) Develop personal skills audit and personal development plan for given job role................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3) Discuss different between individual and organisational learning & training and
development................................................................................................................................7
P4) Evaluate the need of continuous learning and personal development plans for effective
business performance..................................................................................................................8
SECTION 2......................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5) Demonstrate understanding of how HPW contributes to employee engagement and
competitive advantage within a specific organisational situation.............................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P6) Evaluate different approaches to performance management (e.g. collaborative
working), and demonstrate with specific examples how they can support high-
performance culture and commitment .....................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFRENCES 14
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INTRODUCTION
In business sector, continuous growth and development of both individuals as well a
team are required to attain predefined goals and objectives (Passos, Araújo and Volossovitch,
2016). There are several functions carried out by companies on regular basis which need
higher expertise, knowledge and skills. The current report is about Hamleys, that is renowned
toy retailer based on UK. It is a multinational company that was founded in the year of 1760
and currently owns nearly 90 franchises globally. report comprises about professional skills,
knowledge as well as behaviour that need to be perform by HR managers. In addition, a
personal development plan along with the concept of HPW and various approaches of
performance management have been also included in the following report.
SECTION 1
TASK 1
P1) Analyse suitable skills, behaviour along with professional knowledge for
HR managers
Human resource managers are crucial part of an organization as are responsible to
manage work force in an efficient manner to accomplish predefined goals and objectives.
There are some skills, potential and knowledge are required for managers to operate business
effectively. In reference of Hamleys, some essential skills are given as under:
Interpersonal skills: It is a crucial skill which helps HR managers to interact with
others in an efficient manner (Gray and Jones, 2016). With this, they are able to deal with
several problems arise at work place and maintain effective coordination among employees.
Communication Skills: Here, HR managers are responsible to communicate
necessary information, policies and strategies to subordinates that is essential to get minimize
ambiguity & disputes at work place.
Recruitment and Selection: It is essential for managers to hire a potential candidate
who will be able to perform assigned task in an efficient manner to achieve desired goals.
Therefore, HR managers are required to have this skills to select most suitable applicant for
job opening. It is monitored that interviewing skills are used by HR managers during
recruitment and selection of a potential candidate. It will help them to gather necessary
personal and professional information from candidates.
Behaviour:
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Here, Behaviour is also important for HR professionals as it helps to undertake
various business functions effectively. There are certain kind of behaviour prevailing at work
place which need to be follow by both individuals as well as managers to attain desired goals.
In reference of Hamleys, it is given as under:
Collaborative behaviour: There are several individuals work together in an
organization to attain predefined objectives. It is essential for HR managers to maintain
mutual understanding in order to take better decision. This behaviour also helps to reduce
down conflicts and disputes arise at work place.
Willingness to help/ Support: It is an another important behaviour of HR personnels
as they are supposed to help employees in best possible way (Al Saifi, Dillon and McQueen,
2016). In addition, managers also provide support to work force to resolve grievance and
constraints arise at work place.
Knowledge:
Technical Knowledge: Nowadays, there are certain soft wares are followed by
organizations to undertake various HR functions effectively. It is related to various tools,
applications which assist managers to perform assigned activities best possible manner. For
instance, there are a system called Manage our application tracking which are used by
respective company to provide better training facilities to employees. So, managers are
required to have proper knowledge of various soft wares and tools to perform task effectively
in minimum possible cost.
Laws and Regulations: There are several rules and regulations have been formulated
by higher authorities to ensure safety and security of work force in organization. Here a Atlas
platform is being used by Hemlays company to protect individuals who are working within
company (Lindon and Brodie, 2016). It is essential to eliminate the risk of legal disputes and
maintain higher brand image of organization. Therefore, it is essential for HR managers to
have exponential knowledge of laws and compliances.
HR System: There are a predefined HR system is followed by an organization to
maintain positive environment at work place. It comprises several activities such as
recruitment, selection, training, development and more that is essential to follow in an
efficient manner. So, managers are required to have appropriate knowledge of HR system
adopted by company to accomplish desired goals.
Knowledge of Payroll: Human resource manager prepare salaries for the individuals
who are working in organization. For this, they are required to have proper knowledge about
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payroll and its different aspects to review as well as manage whole annual pay of employees
in an efficient manner.
From the above discussion, it is analysed that there are certain skills, behaviour as
well as knowledge that are integral part of HR roles and responsibilities. Therefore, it is
significant for HR managers to be aware about these abilities and skills in order attain
predefined objectives.
P2) Develop personal skills audit and personal development plan for given job
role
Personal skills audit is a process by which individuals identify their skills as well as
potential which provide them an edge over other (Cheng and Szeto, 2016). In addition, it also
help to assess the weak points which need to be improves in order to get success and grow in
professional career. In Hamleys, manager use this to analyse internal capabilities & potential
of employees working within company.
Strength: I am working as an HR advisor in Hamleys and got this position on the
basis of my skills and abilities. I posses required qualification & competencies to perform
various job roles associated with work profile. Through personal audit, I realised that I posses
exponential interpersonal skills which helps me to interact with internal as well external
stakeholders in better manner. In addition, I am well aware with various new and advance
technologies, tools and applications which are used in the field of HR to perform several
functions effectively.
Weakness: During personal audit, I analysed that I was not capable enough to manage
multiple functions at same time. In addition, my time management skills are not up to the
mark thus face difficulty to complete assigned work at deadline. It is the biggest drawback of
my personality which also restrict my performance at work place.
After analyse my strengths as well as weakness realised that I need to undertake some
improvements in order to get success in professional career.
Learning cycle: It is a process which is undertake by an individual while learning a
new skill ans potential. Steps of this cycle are given as under:
Concrete experience: I wish to improve my time management and decision making
skills. For this, I make a lot of preparation like looking for mentors, extract time from work
and more so that I can get required skills in minimum possible period of time.
Reflective Observation: At this stage, I analyse the behaviour, personality and attitude
of my mentors and take necessary advice from them to improve my potential.
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Conceptualization: Under this, I also noted down some of the strategies which I need to
follow in order to develop desired skills.
Experimentation: This is the last step under which I reviewed my own performance
in order to make some plans for further improvements.
Personal development plan: It is a plan that is prepared to by individuals to develop
some necessary skills in predefined period of time (Albert, Balve and Spang, 2017). Here,
skills are determined and an action plan is formulated in order to develop those skills in
stipulated period of time. PDP is crucial as it helps an individual to work for own personality
development which will help in future growth and success. A plan for personal development
is mentioned below:
Skills Current ability Targeted ability Time limit
Time
management
After analysing my time
management skills, I will
give myself 3 score out of
5.
Here, I determined to
improve my time
management skills
within a stipulated
period of time.
I have decided to
give myself 50 days
to develop this skill I
am an quick learner
and able t grasp new
things in minimum
period of time.
Problem
solving skills
As there are several
critical situations arise at
work place thus I faced
difficulty to solve it
effectively. Here, I give
myself score of 3 out of 5.
My target is to
improve this skill so
that I am able to
resolve various
problems arise at
work place in better
manner.
For this, I have
determined a time
frame of 60 days in
which I will develop
some strategies to
take effective
decisions.
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TASK 2
P3) Discuss different between individual and organisational learning &
training and development
In organisation, it is significant to arrange proper training and development programs
for individuals as well as team. It is essential to accomplish predefined goals and objectives.
In context of Hamleys, there are highly efficient managers who are well aware about the
importance of learning, training and development for individuals within company.
Difference between Individual and Organisational learning:
Basis Individual learning Organisational learning
Meaning It is a process by which new
and efficient knowledge is
developed in an individual so
that they can grow and prosper
in professional career.
Here, organisation is taken as a
system in which learning and
experience are gathered
through continuous process.
Aim Main purpose of individual
learning is to enhance the
skills, knowledge and potential
of employees so that they can
perform various organisational
task effectively.
In this, main aim to develop
valuable insights, knowledge
as well as experience that are
used by an entity for further
growth and development.
Learning objective It is identified that individual
learning is based on
improvement of skills and
knowledge of an individual
that will help to grow and
enrich in career.
Here, organizational learning
is related to solve business
problems that is essential for
betterment of whole
organization.
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Difference between training and development
Basis Training Development
Meaning It is a process which is
undertake to improve in the
skills and potential of an
employee related to a
particular area & field.
While development is a
process which aims overall
development & growth of
individuals within
organisation.
Time period Training is short term process
that is carried out to develop
job oriented skills in work
force
It is a long term process that is
perform for overall
development of personnels in
an organization.
It is monitored that there is huge difference in organizational and individual learning. Here
individual learning is a process of developing new skills, abilities to perform different task.
On another side, organizational learning is more depend to resolve several problems,
challenges faced by a company. It is related to improve the skills and knowledge base of
employees and managers so that they can perform assigned task in an efficient manner.
P4) Evaluate the need of continuous learning and personal development plans for effective
business performance
In professional world, to develop effective skills, knowledge and competencies on
continuous basis. It will help in future growth of company and also crucial to get higher
competitive edge (Hooper and Potter, 2019) . Continuous professional development plan is
vital for individuals as it helps them to develop some essential skills which are significant to
attain desired outcomes. Being an HR advisor I always try to learn some new and creative
skills that will assist me in future career growth.
Concept of CPD is helpful to develop professional as well as academic skills in an
individual that is crucial to attain predefined objectives in stipulated period of time. In the
current competitive environment to create a difference and become employable, it is
imperative to develop innovative as well as creative skills. It is analysed that Himleys uses
CPD approach to enhance capabilities of individuals working within organisation. For
this,managers arrange proper training and development program for both new as well as old
employees to get better results.
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Rationale for need of continuous learning and professional development:
Enhance confidence level: It is analysed that professional development and
continuous development plan play a significant role in enhancement of knowledge & skills of
individuals working within organisation. That will further boost they confidence level of
employees as they are able to perform assigned task in an efficient manner.
Increase productivity: Here, another need of continuous development plan is to
improve the productivity of employees so that they can perform better in professional career.
In addition, personal development plan is also play a major role in enhancement of work
efficiency of individuals.
The above discussion demonstrate significance of personal and continuous
development plan to enhance overall performance of individuals at work place. Both of the
concept play a vital role organisational growth and success. It is monitored that continuous
development plan helps to enhance knowledge, skills, potential of work force in an efficient
manner. With this, they are able to perform different task effectively that is essential for
betterment of company. In addition, personal development plans help people who are
working in organization to evaluate their performance of an individual. They get to know
about their strengths and weak points which need to improve. These enhancements will not
only improve performance of employees as an individual but also help in increasing
efficiency of overall organization.
SECTION 2
TASK 3
P5) Demonstrate understanding of how HPW contributes to employee
engagement and competitive advantage within a specific organisational
situation.
Here, HPW stands for higher performance working that is related to create a positive
environment at work place. There is higher emphasis of formulation such as culture that
comprises higher transparency, trust and open line of communication. Main aim of this
concept is to enhance better communication at work place in order to keep employees
motivated. High performance work is a method of managing an organisation which aims is to
increase employees effectiveness towards the achievement of the goal of an organisation. In
this employees share their goals and achievements, communication, and leadership abilities
(Astakhova and Porter ., 2015).
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Features of High performance work: Clear communication: Clear communication allows employees to get more engage
and understanding the work what they do. This also matters in the achievement of
companies success. Manage conflicts: HPW had a capability to handle all the conflicts occur in the
business environment. It treatevery one fairly and efficiently. Leadership participation: It helps in leading a team. As it identify companies goals,
decision making and strategy development. Effective decision making: Decision making is the another feature of HPW and it is
key skill which is most important for the leaders.
HPW and Employee engagement of Hamleys organisation:
Employee engagement is the involve of employees into various activities done in the
organization. Employee engagement is based on trust, communication, integrity between its
members. By this chances of business success increases. High performance work includes
three categories that is employee involvement practises, HRM practises and compensation
and rewards practises. HPW and employee engagement are the operation of Hamleys
organisation as it involves how employees manages to work and how the leadership issues.
High performance working focuses on improving employee engagement in the organisation.
To create HPW environment in the company, management should focus on the HRM
practises issues. As HPW and employee engagement concepts are interrelated with each other
because these are considered to be the chain practises of an organisation to attain predefined
objectives.
Moreover, HPW leads to give benefits to the employees by providing them job
satisfaction, employee involvement, innovation of employees, etc. HPW ensures that
organisational functions have proper alignment of HR towards attainment of goals. High
performance working practises of Hamley's are made so to enhance the performance of
employees participation and leadership role. The leadership has a role of performing there
actions in the organisational cultural from senior managers and junior mangers (Marchington
and et.al., 2016). Hamley's leaders coordinates with employees and works to increase their
performance through HPW practises. These practises ensures that there is a relation between
employers and employees which is based on shared values and organisational culture. The
one most important challenge which is to be considered of HPW is that low level of trust
between managers and employees leads to decrease in business success. And also there is less
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competitive advantage. In addition, HPW concerned with employees efficiency and
effectiveness on the quality of work they re performing in the organisation.
HPW and Competitive advantage:
Here, HPW is a concept that is followed by HR managers in order to manage work force
within company in an efficient manner. It helps them to facilitate better communication with
work force that is essential to maintain long term relationships at work place. With this,
managers are able to retain employees for longer duration that provides higher competitive
advantage. Now, it is not easy to retain employees but this approach play a great role in
motivating work force so that they stay with entity for longer duration.
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CONCLUSION
Above discussion concluded that development of individuals and team is necessary
for the betterment & growth of overall organisation. It is analysed that organisation,
individual as well as team development are crucial aspects and essential to enhance
productivity of employees within company. Discussion has been carried out regarding
knowledge, skills and behaviour of HR professionals along with personal audit and a detailed
personal development which is essential for self analysis thus make further improvements.
Further, there are different approaches such as high performance management system and
more used to manage performance of employees in an efficient manner.
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