Professional Development: Skills, Learning, and HPW in Next Plc

This report delves into the professional development of HR professionals, emphasizing the importance of skills, knowledge, and behavior. It analyzes the skills required by HR professionals, particularly within the context of Next Plc, and includes a personal skill audit to identify areas for improvement for an HR assistant manager, culminating in a detailed development plan. The report further explores the differences between organizational and individual learning, training, and development, highlighting the need for continuous learning to drive sustainable business performance. It also examines the role of High-Performance Work systems (HPW) in fostering employee engagement and competitive advantage within Next Plc and evaluates different approaches to performance management, demonstrating how they can support a high-performance culture and commitment. This comprehensive analysis offers valuable insights into enhancing HR practices and driving organizational success.

Professional Development
Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1

TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
P1. Determination of appropriate professional knowledge, skills and behaviour required by
HR professionals..........................................................................................................................1
P2. Analysis of personal skill audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviour,
and developing a development plan for HR assistant manager...................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3. Analysing the difference between organisational and individual learning, training and
development ................................................................................................................................6
P4. Analysing the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance ..............................................................................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5. Understanding the role of HPW to employee engagement and competitive advantage
within a specific organisational situation in context with the Next Plc.....................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P6. Evaluating the approaches to performance management and demonstrating it with specific
examples how they can support high performance culture and commitment............................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Professional Development is concerned with the individual learning or personnel
management into efficient and effective workforce. This is helpful in developing the ability of
earning for an individual and prepares them to be financially independent(Bates and Morgan,
2018). It includes professional credentials that is, all the necessary documents such as, academic
degrees, experience folders, diploma courses, certificates, verification documents, etc. This is a
mutual process where performance of employees improves and as a result, they contributes
towards the growth and development of an organisation. It checks for updates regarding latest
trends in the industry and lets them to get handy with the new skills. Companies like Next Plc,
can be taken into consideration in this regard, the company is established in United Kingdom.
Next Plc is a British multinational having its headquarters in Enderby, England retail brand for
clothing, footwear and home décor products (Next Plc, 2022).
This is a brief report on the development of new management skills, knowledge and
behaviour of employees.. It may also encourage employees to contribute towards the
development of others and make a positive impression to the sustainable growth of the
organisations. This is a note on understanding the ways HPW contributes to employee
engagement and competitive advantage through applying knowledge.
TASK 1
P1. Determination of appropriate professional knowledge, skills and behaviour required by HR
professionals
Professional skills referred to as a fusion of various hard skills and soft skills that are
required to build a career of an individual in any respective field or profession (Borg, 2018). In
Next Plc, the career competencies and abilities that an HR professional will require involves
communication, teamwork, confidentiality, leadership, team management, adaptability, problem
solving,personal skills, etc. Apart from this, HR specialists nowadays also compulsorily required
to have data-driven and analytical skills along with the desired technical knowledge.
Professional knowledge required by HR assistant manager in context to Next Plc are given
below:
 Legislative awareness: Legislative aspects of a company incorporates the legality or
laws related to the employees and a company itself. HR assistant manager for any
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organisation should necessarily required to have a proper knowledge regarding
appropriate and essential laws. In Next Plc, managers should provide a legal guidance
about company laws and the laws related to employee concerns. Software knowledge: Software knowledge is essential for any HR manager or any other
professional in this digital world, where one may access anything and everything online.
HR managers in Next Plc should provide proper guidance regarding the software they are
using to their managers.
Skills of HR managers in context to Next Plc are given below:
 Excellent communication skills: Communication skills are an important aspect for any
HR professional working in a company (Desimone and Pak, 2017). HR process requires
both written and verbal communication skills for smooth functioning of its operations.
The HR assistant needs to have a proper knowledge regarding the document negotiation
and its essence in order to guide other personnel. Managers at Next Plc should inculcate
the abilities of teamwork and leadership in themselves for ensuring proper
communication among subordinates and employees. Negotiation: Negotiation is a necessary leadership skill to build healthy relationships at a
workplace. Negotiation skills helps to strike a solution for the differences in opinion
prevailing in a firm. Managers in Next Plc should focus on maintaining a goodwill in the
firm and adding value to it.
Behaviour required by HR managers in context of Next Plc are:
 Transparency and trustworthiness: Transparency is a fundamental aspect fostering
openness between employees and managers. HR Professionals at Next Plc are expected
to deal with highly sensitive issues, pay and benefits, violations of organisational policies
or personal challenges impacting work.
 Purpose oriented: Purpose orientation is a skill that drives focus of an individual
towards their goals and objectives. HR professionals at Next Plc, should provide
motivation towards accomplishing their individual as well as group goals. They should be
trained to identify the purpose of their role in the organisation.
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P2. Analysis of personal skill audit to identify appropriate knowledge, skills and behaviour, and
developing a development plan for HR assistant manager
Personal skills audit can be understood as an analysis of an individuals personal abilities
or skills regarding the particular job or role at the workplace (Elliott, 2017). It is the perfect way
to check an individual's negative and positive aspects regarding their job role. This also fill the
gaps and brings the advancement in the existing skills of the employees. It makes it easy for the
HR managers of Next Plc to determine the steps to be taken in the career. Also formulate a
roadmap to secure an individual relevance, pay increment, promotion, desired jobs. Personal
SWOT analysis can be done for the purpose of understanding strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats which is challenging for the managers.
Strengths:
 I can pursue better time management
skills.
 Can provide resolutions to several
conflicts prevailing in the firm
 I have good interpersonal skills such as
kindness, friendliness, generosity along
with professionalism.
Weaknesses :
 I lack in good communication skills.
 I do not have any prior experience in
the field.
 I'm indecisive in nature regarding the
choice of work.
Opportunities :
 I have a good hand with the personal
level competition at workplace.
 I have a good hand with soft skills.
 I can lead the organization towards
greater success with my strategy
building ability.
Threats:
 I get frightened while handling work
pressure.
 I have lack of knowledge regarding the
field work.
 I'm kinda addicted to technology.
From the above SWOT analysis of a HR assistant manager, it can be noticed that the
strengths are better time management, excellent conflicts management, good interpersonal skills.
Weaknesses includes lack of good communication skills, no prior field experience, indecisive
nature. The opportunities lies within personal level competition, good with soft skills, strategy
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building ability. Threats involve afraid of handling work pressure, lack of field work knowledge,
addicted to technology. This will help the organization to develop a quick & easy report of an
individual regarding the job role, payroll functions, leave applicability, etc. It is rated below from
highest proficiency level to lowest below:
Personal skill audit
Skills Proficiency level
1 2 3 4 5
Legislative awareness 
Software skills 
Excellent Communication
skills

Negotiation 
Transparency and
trustworthiness

Problem solving skills 
Opportunist 
Leadership skills 
Analytical skills 
Command on technology 
Creative skills 
Courage to challenge 
Decision making skills 
Teamwork skills 
From the personal skill audit mentioned above, it is analysed that there are certain skills,
knowledge and behaviours which requires improvement by the HR assistant manager. An
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individual applying for HR Assistant Manager should focus more on their command on
technology, software skills, creative skills and teamwork. These are career competencies that an
individual uses in a workplace which are beneficial for any professional department.
Personal development plan :
Personal development plan refers to the self-evaluation and self-realisation process that
helps an individual to grow and develop in an organisation (Gubbins and Hayden, 2021). This
ensures the development of person's capabilities, potential, human capital, employability,
enhancement in the quality of life and realization of one's dreams and aspirations. The purpose or
plan is set on the basis of values, achievements, performances, knowledge, learning and
awareness about the current scenarios.
Personal Development plan
Knowledge, skills and
behaviour which need
development
Action to be taken Importanc
e
Time
period
Progress
track
Achievable
Command on
technology
 Participating
in various
online
courses such
as Java, C++,
etc.
 learning data
analytics
from the
websites like
Wharton.
Highly
important
6 weeks In process yes
Creative skills  Improving
imagination
through
watching
related videos
Moderately
Important
3 weeks Brief
done
Partially
yes
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on internet.
 Observing
people on
higher
designation to
learn the
operations.
Leadership skills  Practising
discipline and
keep
learning.
 Actively
listening.
Very
Important
2 weeks In process Yes
TASK 2
P3. Analysing the difference between organisational and individual learning, training and
development
Difference between Organisational learning and individual learning in context with Next Plc:
Basis Organisational learning Individual learning
Meaning Organisation learning refers to
the process of creation,
retention and transferring
knowledge within an
organisation.
Individual learning is based on
individual instructions
regarding technology and other
aspects of learning in business
that is based on the abilities
and interests of each learner.
Purpose This process allows Next Plc to
gain the competitive edge in the
market.
Members in Next Plc can deal
with new innovations and
technologies with an ease.
Benefit This concept has benefited this It provides several benefits to
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with increased productivity and
thereby increasing profits.
this firm by allowing them to
take initiatives on the
knowledge of their own.
Strategy Next Plc uses the governance
model of learning in the
organisation.
For individual learning, this
company uses continuous
conversational feedback for an
individual.
Learning outcome This focuses on increased job
satisfaction among HR
professionals in Next Plc.
This facilitates Next Plc with
measurable achievements of
their managers and other
employees.
Difference between training and development in context with Next Plc:
Basis Training Development
Definition Training in business refers to
provide a certain guidance for
learning and practising specific
skills in an organisation.
Development is an act or
process of creating advanced
version of an individual skill
or an objective.
Importance This improves the skills and
knowledge of the managers in
Next Plc.
This increases the
effectiveness of managers
working in Next Plc.
Strategy formulation Next Plc has used strategy of
performance based appraisal
to improve the efficiency of its
managers.
Here, the company uses fiscal
policy for the overall
development of its managers.
Advantages It helps the HR managers of
Next Plc to empower
themselves as well as their
subordinates.
This facilitates the managers of
Next Plc with the better
understanding and handling of
unexpected situations.
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Disadvantages Training of HR professionals
in Next Plc is a time
consuming process.
This may often lacks in
support from top management
of Next Plc.
Scope of understanding Scope of understanding
depends upon the level of
understanding of Next Plc
managers.
Here, Next Plc focuses on
understanding and learning the
optimal human capital
development.
P4. Analysing the need for continuous learning and professional development to drive
sustainable business performance
Continuous learning or lifelong learning is a self motivating process of learning which
helps the employees or managers to compete and enhance their business performance.
Continuous learning at workplace helps the businesses to grow and develop in the competitive
market (Lofthouse, 2019). This involves values, assumptions, methods, policies and practices that
prevail in the society in context to several business organisations. Continuous learning and
professional development are essential aspects of many business organisations like Next Plc.
These process helps the company to learn and develop through its following requirement or
necessities:
 Identifying skill gaps: Any deficiency caused in the performance in a firm due to lack in
their professional skills are said to be skill gaps. These benefits the company to identify
and rectify several skill gaps prevailing in the firm. In Next Plc, continuous learning and
professional development helps the firm to discover employee training needs. Several
skill sets are required in an organisation for the smooth running of its operations. Skill
sets such as financial management, marketing, sales, communication, leadership,
networking, etc. are required in a firm.
 Check-listing learning opportunities: In a business, there would be a lot of
opportunities to learn and develop a positive culture within an organisation. Continuous
learning and professional development checklist those opportunities for the firms. This
concept helps the firms like Next Plc to shortlist opportunities related to market
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expansion. By coping with the latest or updated trends prevailing in the market
environment.
 Foster a culture of collaboration and innovation: Collaboration deals with enhancing
implementation of innovative ideas and alternatives. A company do so by creating a joint
ownership to divide the stress among professional stakeholders. On the other hand,
innovation in business takes care of new processes, services or products to affect positive
changes in their business. In Next Plc, continuous learning and professional development
helps the business to foster a culture of collaboration and innovation within its business
culture.
From the above information, this may be concluded that continuous learning and
professional development drives the firm towards achievement of its goals and objectives. It is
essential for enhancement of business performance of a firm and provides a direction to its
workforce.
Learning cycle theories analysing the importance of implementing continuous professional
development is given below:
Learning theories can be understood as the method of personal skill and job necessities of
an individual in measurable terms within the same language (Mackay, 2017). Effective learning
can be traced through the progress of a learner on the learning cycle. Entering in learning cycle
can be done at any stage with logical sequence. In Next Plc, these learning theories are vital
aspects of measuring the improvement of an individual. They are as follows:
 Concrete Experience: Concrete experience refers to the new experience or situation or
new version of existing affairs in the light of new concepts. In Next Plc, whole new
section of women clothing has been established to explore newer markets.
 Reflective Observation: Reflective observation referred as any inconsistencies between
experience and learning in light of a newer experience with the existing knowledge.
Managers in Next Plc is working on their catalogue selection process for their clothing by
giving importance on employing several sketch artists for the designs.
 Abstract Concepts: Abstract concepts checks for the newer ways of adaptive thinking or
construction of newer ideas based on reflection of their experience. In Next Plc,
managers are updated with latest trends to meet the demands and desire of their
customers.
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