HR Report: Skills, Learning, Performance, and Development at Whirlpool

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of HR practices at Whirlpool, examining the skills and behaviors required of HR professionals, and the importance of individual and organizational learning. The report includes a personal skills audit, identifying strengths and weaknesses in the context of an HR role, and outlines a personal development plan. It further evaluates the differences between individual and organizational learning, analyzing the need for continuous learning and professional development within the company. The report also assesses the impact of High Performance Work (HPW) systems on employee engagement and evaluates various approaches to performance management within Whirlpool, offering insights into how these practices contribute to overall organizational success.

DEVELOPING
INDIVIDUALS TEAMS
AND ORGANISATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Determining skills and behaviour that are required by HR Professionals.............................1
P2 Analysing completed Personal Skill Audit in context with Organisation.............................3
TASK 2 Evaluating the difference individual and organisational learning................................5
P4 Analyse the need for continuous learning and professional development.............................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Evaluating how HPW contributes in Employee Engagement...............................................8
P6 Evaluating different approaches towards performance management....................................9
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................10
References .....................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Every business enterprise requires a set of distinct skills in order to survive and grow in
the market. It is very important for an organisation to get a right range of individual to adjunct
and fortify the various enterprise activities. Having an efficient and effective administration team
helps to create competitive advantage over their rivals. Employees and employers are considered
as an asset of the company,therefore it required to motivate them in order to extract their best
(Dettmer, Knackendoffel and Thurston, 2012). Personnel development creates a learning
environment that strengthen the capabilities and upgrade the knowledge of the employees.
Employee and personal development bridges the gap between existing and desired stage of
workforce and giving them various training session in order to make them self-dependent and
competent enough to deal with future contingencies. This report is based on developing
individuals and team in Whirlpool which is an American multinational manufacturer. This
assignment also covers evaluating the performance management and impact of high performance
worker that contributes towards competitive advantage and employee engagement.
TASK 1
P1 Determining skills and behaviour that are required by HR Professionals
HR department deals with an employee development process that held in every business
enterprise. It generally includes providing various training and development session to workforce
in order to enhance their skills and knowledge. It creates healthy atmosphere which encourage
and motivate the workers by building trust among them. Human resource team focuses on
improving the performance of employees in an effective way. Every individual holds different
set of competencies and knowledge which makes them to perform efficiently (Erez and et. al.,
2013). HR Team is focusing on combing the distinct attributes of different individuals in context
with skills, behaviour which enhance their productivity that leads to achieve overall objective of
an organisation.
Skills refers to the individual competency in order to deal with current and future contingencies
in an efficient and effective way. Generally skills can be classified into two categories one is
hard and another is soft. Hard skills are those that are easy to quantify. Such type of skills are
usually learn in classroom, through training material, books, jobs. Example: Typing speed skills,
skills related with computer programming. On the contrary soft skills are subjective skills that
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are little harder to quantify. These are also known as inter-personal or people skills. For example:
Communication Skill, Leadership Skill, Team work skills etc.
Knowledge refers to facts, information that are gained by an experience. It is considered as both
theoretical and practical concept of understanding something that helps an individual take better
and appropriate decision.
Behaviour is the way in which one present its individuality in front of other members.
There are different knowledge and abilities of an employee which are needed by HR Team to
assign various duties to personnel in an effective and efficient way which are as follows:
 Work as Consultant: Human Resource Manager acts as a Consultant which gives advice
and guidance to its top management and employees in order to perform better and extract
best out of them. They give counselling to staff members regarding their job description
which gives them clear picture of what work they have to do (Hutchinson and et. al.,
2010). Whirlpool has organised one day team development session for its employees
which improve their team functioning that lead to achieve overall objective of an
organisation adequately.
 Policy Formulation and Implementation: HR Team are required to make policies in
such a way that promotes the interest of an employee within a company. Its is important
for an organisation to give clear description to its employees regarding their roles and
responsibilities. Whirlpool is focusing on sharing the commitments of its staff members
to their vision and goals. This makes them feel contributed in an enterprise.
 Conflict Resolving Skills: Conflict in company arises due to different style, thinking and
opinion of an individual related to particular task. It is the duty of HRM to solve such
issues that arises between employees. HR Team are required to understand the
perspective of both parties so that they can take measures effectively. Whirlpool believes
in transparent communication and mutual respect and solidarity among personnel so to
avoid unwanted conflict.
 Negotiation Skills: HR Manager acts a negotiator by settling the difference between
employee and employer. It includes different perception of two individual that ends on a
conclusion that mutually satisfies the both. There are various ways in which negotiation
held out in a company such as wages issues, conflict resolving, regarding downsizing
decision, financial allocation etc. (Mahajan, 2011). Whirlpool focuses on sharing the
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accountability among their labours in order to create healthy environment among them.
Also the company tries satisfy the different needs and wants of an individual by adopting
collective bargaining.
 Understanding the behaviour of individual: Organisation consists of different
personnel having distinct needs, capabilities, knowledge, behaviour which works
collectively in order to achieve overall objective of company effectively. Thus, an urge
for understanding the individual arises as they contributes in firm profitability. Whirlpool
staff has made individual commitment to align the behaviour of different personnel with
newly developed teams so as to enhance the level of their productivity.
P2 Analysing completed Personal Skill Audit in context with Organisation
Personal Skill Audit is done in order to do self assessment of an individuals. It tells
strong and weak areas of personnel and encourage them to work on it. It refers as a framework
which enhances the productivity of an individual and makes them more effective and efficient.
There are certain skills and capabilities which are required for the role of HR Manager in
Whirlpool such as decision making, problem solving, team building, confidence level etc. As per
the required skills I have done my personal audit so to find out my pros and cons related to this
position:
Sr. No. Skills and Competencies Self-
assessed
Score
Score from
others
Variances
1 My Team Building Skills 7 9 -2
2 My Conflict Resolution
Skills
7 9 -2
3 My Decision making skills 9 8 1
4 My Confidence Level 9 7 2
5 Me Acts as Team leader 7 9 -2
6 My communication skills 7 8 -1
7 My Information Technology 8 6 2
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Skills
8 My time Management Skills 8 9 -1
(Here negative variance are considered as my strength and positive are considered as my
weakness)
Following are the strength and weakness on the basis of my personal audit:
Strength Weakness
 I am good at building and managing
team.
 I am good at handling conflicts.
 I am a good team leader which
motivates and enhance the productivity
of other member as well.
 I am good communicating with other. I
consider myself as an extrovert person.
 I finish my work on time which makes
me more effective and efficient.
 My decision skills are moderate
 I am an overconfidence person which
proves to be major drawback.
 I need to update my skills in context
with IT Department.
 I need to focus on improving my
analytical skills .
Personal Development Plan:
Sr.
No
Learning
Objective
Current
Proficiency
Target
Proficiency
Development
Opportunities
Criteria
for
judging
success
Time
Scale
Evidence
1 Motivation skill
s
I am a
motivated
person who has
a great hold
managing team
and motivating
others.
For more
effective
motivation
skill, I can
apply various
theories
related to
Seminar,
conference,
motivational
lectures.
Team
Members
- Colleague
s
Judgemen
t.
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motivation
on employee.
2 Decision
making skills.
I am moderate
at making
decision.
I need to
have right set
of
knowledge
and skills
which help
me take take
right
decision
quickly.
For
improving
myself in this
area I can
take
simulation
training and
seek guidance
and advice
from other
team
members.
Senior
manager
will
assess me
on
quarterly
basis.
3-4
mont
hs
Top
managers.
TASK 2 Evaluating the difference individual and organisational learning
Individual Learning refers how an employee of Whirlpool respond to the external
stimuli and perceive awareness accordingly.
Organisational Learning refers to the knowledge from past experience and then apply
on current situation in an effective way.
Individual Learning Organisational Learning
 It refers to the process in which
employee's of whirlpool learn from
their seniors by simply observing them.
 It is easy and quick process
 Enhances the confidence level of an
employee as they itself has to deal with
the problem.
 It refers to the process where worker
learn through sharing and transferring
knowledge within the boundary of a
company
 It is a time consuming process
 With numerous solution, they opt for
the best one for solving the issue.
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Both Individual and Organisational learning has a significant impact on the Whirlpool
performance. Whirlpool has include their staff commitment to the company's vision and goals
which grows them personally and professionally. They believe in transparent communication,
mutual respect and solidarity among their employees which motivates them to retain with the
organisation for longer period. By providing clear pictures to their employees regarding what
needs to be accomplished, makes them to perform in an effective and efficient way towards
achieving their goal. Whirlpool has replaced the hub and spoke model and influence other team
members to contribute in solving the problem by listening to each other and challenging one
another which enhance their productivity and morale.
Training refers to the process which includes sharpening the abilities, knowledge and
attitude of an employee in order to enhance their productivity.
Development refers to aspire to build the competencies in a new desired state that
effectively benefits the company.
Training Development
 Focus on developing extra skills
 short term process
 Objective of training is to meet the
existing need on individual
 Focuses on developing entire
personality
 continuous process
 Objective of development is to meet the
upcoming needs
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P4 Analyse the need for continuous learning and professional development
Theory of Continuous learning is the process that is applicable on both an individual
and organisational level. At an individual level, it means enlarging the capabilities to learn and
frequently modify the skills and knowledge. Whereas At Organisational level it refers how group
adapt themselves and respond to the changing situations effectively (West, 2012).
Professional Development refers to learn through professional credentials such as MBA degree.
Following are the needs required for continuous learning and professional development are as
described as:
 Build Sustainable Engagement: Sustainable Engagement depicts the direct relation
between nature and quality of employee's experience at the company. Basically it refers
how Whirlpool is engaged with their personnel through transparent communication,
providing training and development and mutual respect and solidarity to its workers in
order to retain them for longer period (Marquardt and et. al., 2011).
 Increase Employee Retention: Whirlpool focusing on retaining their employees through
involving them in their decision making process which motivates them to remain in an
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Illustration 1: Interpersonal skills of an Individual

organisation for longer period. Whirlpool focuses on having transparent communication
among their workers and provide them respect and solidarity which enhance their
performance.
 Encourages Problem Solving: Whirlpool has made constructive conflict resolution team
which focuses on handling and solving the issues effectively and efficiently. It is very
important for an organisation to maintain healthy relationship between employer and
employee as employer adds value in the performance of its sub-ordinates (McCormack,
Dewing and McCance, 2011). Whirlpool focuses on eliminating the end run
communication and hub spoke model which are considered as root for any problem.
Whirlpool tries to involve their workers in the decision making process so to make them
feel as a part of the organisation.
 Respond to Technology: In today’s competitive world, where nothing is constant
everyday an invention or change takes place. Therefore, it is primarily important for
every company to adapt high end technology which enable them to become more
productive and effective so as to gain high competitive edge in the market. For instance:
Whirlpool needs to embrace new technology for making their product which helps them
to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. They can provide adequate training to
their employees so that they can use upgraded technology in an efficient way.
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Illustration 2: Employee Engagement

TASK 3
P5 Evaluating how HPW contributes in Employee Engagement
Employees generally considered as the factor between the company who reaches up-to
their potential level and the one who does not. Basically employee engagement deals with
various range of activities that improves the knowledge, skills, competent and productivity of
worker in order to gain their higher level of satisfaction. Whirlpool is highly dependent upon its
team for innovation and productivity, but being effective was not enough for Whirlpool to
sustain in such competitive advantage. Therefore Whirlpool has managed its team on the basis of
NAR five dimensions for exceptional performance that includes constructive conflicts, mutual
respect and solidarity, shared commitment towards company's vision and goals, transparent
communication etc. It also focuses on eliminating hub and spoke model and end run
communication among their personnel (Nahavandi, 2016). Apart this, Whirlpool has adopted
various practices of High Performance Working which are as follows:
 Selective hiring of worker: Whirlpool select the best candidate from the pool of
applicants and put it on right place at right time. They usually consider or select
employees on the basis of their educational credentials such as MBA holder.
 Flexible job description: Whirlpool believes in making transparent communication
among their workers which provides them clear idea regarding what needs to be
accomplished (Tsiotsou, 2012). If an individual know what he has to do regarding their
assigned work, it makes them to do it more effectively and efficiently towards achieving
their overall objective.
 Shared Commitment towards Company's vision: Whirlpool involves their employee's
in the process of decision making and also in company's vision and goals which make
them motivated as they considered themselves as the part of the organisation and it
automatically decease their retention rate.
 Conflict Resolution Team: Whirlpool is focusing on making conflict resolution team
which handles the issues by listening to each other and then set measures accordingly.
Whirlpool has an appropriate forum in their organisation in which they discusses various
issues faced by the company (Panahi, Watson and Partridge, 2012). Also they tries to
share the accountability results with their workers which reduces the chance of conflict
among their personnel.
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P6 Evaluating different approaches towards performance management
Performance Management refers to the set of various activities that helps to achieve
organisational goal effectively and efficiently. Basically it means managing the performance of
an individual, organisation, and workforce collectively. It is the broader concept which includes
assessment of employees, transparent communication and building trust and solidarity.
Following are the various approaches used by Whirlpool for measuring the performance of their
employee are mentioned below:
 Result Approach: Under this, Whirlpool measure personnel on the basis of their
performance result (Robbins and Judge, 2012). Generally result falls in two category
which includes Balance Scorecard and Productivity Measurement. Under this approach,
Whirlpool convert the strategy into operations.
 Quality Approach: Under this, Whirlpool tries to satisfy the consumer by removing the
fault or error. They focusing on maintaining the quality standard of their product. Good
Quality retain customer for longer period which contributes in their revenues whereas
Bad quality makes consumer to switch.
 Comparative approach: Under this approach, Whirlpool generally compare the
performance of different individuals in the following team. They rank personnel on the
basis of their contribution towards the assigned task. For instance A and B works in a
same department but A is more efficient than B therefore, Whirlpool will rank A higher
than B.
 Attribute Approach: Under this, Whirlpool rank personnel on the basis of certain
criteria such as innovation, problem solving, communication, judgement, and teamwork.
They use Graphic Rating Scale for ranking their employee that ranges between 1-5. On
the basis of this ranking (Sitkin and Hackman, 2011).
 Behavioural Approach: In this approach, Whirlpool uses different vertical scales such
as BARS to measure the different dimension of individual jobs. They rank the
performance of employees on the basis vertical anchors ranges between five to ten.
CONCLUSION
From the above based report, it has been concluded that in the modern age of
globalization it is important for the firms as well as individuals to manage their professional
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development. It is the role of HR managers to manage the skills that are required for the firm’s
employees. High performance working is one such strategy that is used by the firm for managing
their product’s quality. It is important for the leader of the organization to motivate their
employees on the regular basis so that their confidence level remains on the higher side and
hence the overall performance of the firm gets increased. There are many kinds of approaches
that is utilized by the managers to manage the performance of the employees. It is also essential
for the leaders to add team culture inside the firm so as to enhance the productivity of the whole
operations.
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