HR Skills Development: A Report on Whirlpool's Team and Individuals

This report examines the essential skills, knowledge, and behaviors required of HR professionals, focusing on a case study of Whirlpool. It delves into the importance of skills like communication, problem-solving, and business knowledge, as well as the necessity for ethical conduct and equal treatment in the workplace. The report analyzes individual skills audits, identifying strengths and weaknesses related to technological proficiency and supervisory management. Furthermore, it explores the distinctions between organizational and individual learning, emphasizing the need for continuous professional development to enhance sustainable business performance. The report also discusses the significance of high-performance work systems in employee engagement and competitive advantage, and it concludes by examining various approaches to performance management, aiming to foster effective communication, commitment, and collaboration within the organization.

DEVELOPING TEAM
INDIVIDUAL AND
ORGANISATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Determining appropriate and professional knowledge, skills and behaviour that are
required by HR professionals.................................................................................................1
P2 Personal skills audit to identify appropriate knowledge , skills and behaviours for
developing a plan of given job role........................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Difference between organisational and individual learning in training and development6
P4 Analysation of need for continuous learning and professional and development to drive
sustainable business performance...........................................................................................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5 Understanding of HPW in contribution to employees engagement and competitive
advantage in specific organisational situations......................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P6 Different approaches to performance management with a specific examples................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
For enhancing business in respect to global economics,, it is essential that company
provide higher productivity which will improve and provide firm competitive advancement. To
grow in market area, it is essential that organisation take eligible candidates for operating
business in an effective manner. Whirlpool organisation is considered in this assignment which
deals in electronic sector (Pinjani and Palvia, 2013). This report includes analysis of knowledge
of employees, their behaviour and skills which are required for being HR professional. Apart
from this, various factors are analysed which must be taken in consideration for evaluating and
implementing development and learning so that sustainable performance can be attained.
Furthermore, ways in which understanding and knowledge can be effective for analysing
performance and contribution of employees so that competitive vantage can be achieved are
analysed. At last, this report includes ways in performance management can be enhanced,
impressive communication so that high performance can be supported and commitment and
collaboration can be achieved is discussed.
TASK 1
P1 Determine professional knowledge, skills and behaviour which are required by HR
professionals
American multinational company, Whirlpool deals in electronic items which contain
appliances used at home. As per case scenario, in 2011 firm was going through a occasion that
was culminated and this happened due to adopting and making relevant modification in their
strategies. They restructured their integral business in new form. This helped enterprise in
restructuring entire business in a new way or form. Organisation works as a team in collaboration
so that they can achieve objectives and goals in effective way (Knowledge and skills required by
HR professional. 2016). As the result, it is assisting for enterprise to attain a strong position at
market area as when people work in group then they can share opinion and skills with each other
easily which aid employers in obtaining improved results. Thus it is necessary for management
to manage, develop and get effective work from employees of a team, it is necessary to gain few
peculiar skills, knowledge and behaviour of managers as discuss below:-
HR professionals possess following skills

Skills refers to qualities possessed by people within an organisation by which they can
conduct different kinds of operations easily. Skills incidental to management and leadership: Whirlpool manager must possess skills
by which they can give appropriate guidelines to employee within workplace in a specific
direction. It will help in accomplishing goals and objectives of business in a given time
framework. In addition to this, it is also the responsibility of managers to assign task as
per skills and abilities of workers so that productivity of them can be increased.
 Skills related to communication: Environment of a company can only become positive if
workers have healthy communication with each other as well as with management also
(Amabile, 2012). Therefore, it is a responsibility of managers to provide employees with
open environment so that they have opportunities to speak out about problems related to
work and share opinion with each other.
HR professionals possess following knowledge
Knowledge refers to information which is gained by individual in an association through
personal experience as well as by taking a learning session. If people have possessed right
knowledge that it will help them in taking quick decision related to enhancing business or select
a best alternative from different alternatives (Ford, 2014). Thus, when a firm creates
modifications in order to introduce new technologies, then it is necessary for managers to
organise training programs for workers so that skills and knowledge of them which can be
enhanced. In context with this, some kinds of knowledge required by an employee or employer
are:- Business knowledge: This kind of knowledge is important for every person associated
with industry included managers to have gained adequate kind of knowledge related to
business. It includes information related to type of business as well as type of operations
going on. This will help managers of organisation to set goals and operations which are to
be performed within organisation in effective manner.
 Laws and regulations of Government: Every organisation need to adopt certain policies
and rules which are established by government of a country. Therefore, it is necessary for
HR managers to possess knowledge of rules and provide that information to employees at
the time of recruitment about their basic rights and duties in proper manner so that chance
of conflicts can be reduced.

Behaviour required by human resource professionals:
Behaviour is stated as attitude that reflects the way a person use to make interaction with
others in order to convey message of own and influence them to follow the same (O'leary,
Mortensen and Woolley, 2011). Two kinds of behaviour a person must have shown while
working in an organisation like Whirlpool are:- Ethical behaviour: This kind of behaviourism of manager can help in maintaining
positive environment at workplace. It helps in making effective business decisions based
on establishing “code of ethics”. Through this, manager can resolve different problems
occur at workplace easily and motivate workers to do well.
 Equally treating skills: Managers are required to generate feeling of equality in workers
by treating them equally. As Whirlpool has more than 92000 workers having different
background therefore, it is a duty of managers to make ensure that any kind of
discrimination cannot be occurred with them due to distinct characteristics.
P2 Audit of personal skills to determine knowledge, behaviour and skills for developing a plan of
desired job role
In this context HR manager of Whirlpool must be effective, individual need to execute
various kinds of functions in business. It includes determining need of members in different
departments and conduct operations required to hire employees as per requirement (Gibbs,
2013). In addition to this, they have to manage entire operation of business also related to get
right work of people, determine their needs and fulfil the same. Thus, in this manner to perform
these functions, organise and create effective environment within organisation. I am working
within manufacturing, as technologies have changed at fact manner, so whenever new
techniques are introduced in organisation then it disturb entire working system as well as
behaviour of employees. Thus, in such kind of situations sometimes I feel unable to resolve
problems and manage the condition. In this manner, by conducting personal skills auditing, I can
analyse strengths and weaknesses of mine in following manner:-
Personal skills audit of HR professional is presented below:
PERSONAL SKILLS AUDIT

Seque
nce
Acquisition
objective
Actual
competence
Mark
skillfulness
Improvement possibility Time
period
1 Problem solving
skills
3.5 5 In an enterprise, where many
workers are working together
for accomplishing a task on
time then different kinds of
problems occurred with them.
In general, misconceptions
among employees and
management is considered as
main reason for occurrence of
issues. Thus, in this manner to
resolve such issues I am
feeling less skilled. So, it is
essential for me to get a
proper training session.
30 to 45
days
2 Information
technology
3 5 As Whirlpool is known by its
innovative technological
products, so to maintain this
image, it is necessary for
managers to have updated
with latest technologies. If
knowledge of applications of
IT are possessed then
requirement of business
related to recruitment and
selection can be fulfilled in
short period of time. As I am
weak in this kind of skills, so
I need to take regular classes
6 months

in IT field.
3 Communication
skills
4 5 In order to manage workplace
where thousands of workers
are working, it is necessary
by managers to make proper
communication with them. It
will help in influencing
employees towards set
objective and targeted goals
of business. Communicating
in adequate manner with
visitors, management,
customers and all reflects
good market image of a firm.
As I have good
communications skills to
deliver high customer
satisfaction in Whirlpool but
still I need to make
improvement in the same By
attending some group
discussions.
2 to 3
months
4 Supervisory
management
3 5 As in large organisation,
various kinds of situations are
occurred on daily basis, so it
is necessary for managers to
have possessed strong
managerial skills. In this
regard, I need to take a
training session under which I
3 to 4
months

can develop skills related to
supervisory management.
Strengths: By working in such a large company where thousands of workers are present,
provide opportunity to me to understand role of different culture in conducting an operation.
Now, I am able to handle problems related with difference in characteristics of workers and
maintain relationship among them.
Weaknesses: Having less knowledge related to new and updated technologies reflects
the weakness point of me. So, I need to attend continuous learning programs which updated my
skills as per innovation in latest technologies.
In order to gain a high position in company, it is required by me to attend some training
sessions. It will help me in enhancing my knowledge more in a particular field. Training sessions
will take near about 80 hours to enhance skills as per requirement.
Therefore, by doing such kind of analysis, HR manager of Whirlpool can easily
understand in which field there is a need of improvement. Through this process, they can reduce
as well as enhance knowledge and abilities of own in more efficient and effective manner.
TASK 2
P3 Difference between individual and organisational learning in development and training
Due to intense competition at marketplace, it is essential for all organisations to furnish
training and learning program to employees. This will aid them to enhance their knowledge and
skills related to a particular field. The term training is defined as a process of inducing
information to employees so that they can carry day-to-day operations easily (Goetsch and
Davis, 2014). While, learning is a procedure of absorbing information for increasing abilities and
makes use of the same in various manner. This kind of program aids a person in handling present
and future issues easily.
Individual learning: This concept can be defined as personal abilities of persons by
which they can grab knowledge from their surroundings. In an association, improvement in
skills, abilities and knowledge of people is necessary to be enhanced on regular basis. It will
provide them to get aware about latest tools and technology used within business to carry out
operations in short period of time. This would aid in delivering innovative services to customers

through high competitive advancement that can be gained (Hirst and et. al., 2011). Online and
offline type of training programs are provided by management of organisation as individual
learning programs. Training and development will also help organisation to enhance their
profitability as all employees will acquire knowledge related to latest trends.
Organisational learning: This concept associates to enhancing skills and knowledge by
intercourse opinion with each others. It is necessary for people to work in team so that they can
analyse way of conducting a same work in different manner by others. It will help in completing
a task in given time framework easily so that business of an organisation can grow in rapid
manner. In addition to this, by learning in group, employees deliver best quality of services by
which profitability and productivity of organisation can be enhanced. In this context,
conferences, seminars and more as a part of organisational learning are included.
In context with Whirlpool, both kind of learning assist in creating innovative products as
well as achieving sustainability at marketplace. When workers have gained required skills and
knowledge through personal experience either by working in team or on individual basis then it
can lead them to resolve different problems and perform operations well.
In this manner, differentiation in individual and organisational learning can be stated as
beneath:
Individual learning Organisational learning
 This kind of training helps in enhancing
skills and knowledge of employees on
individual basis which helps in
boosting morale of each (Levi, 2015).
 In this kind of learning, managers are
needed to provide special type of
training programs to train workers in
reducing their weaknesses.
 It is simple and easier to conduct but if
a company has large working
organisation then determining and
fulfilling needs of each is much harder.
 In this process, managers used to
engage workers in group task so that
personal relations can be developed
among them.
 In organisational learning, identical
training program is provide to
employees which will aid in providing
opportunities to employees to work in
group. This aids managers in generating
feeling of equality so that chance of
discrimination can be reduced.
 As compared, it consumes much time
and efforts but easy if business has

large working organisation.
Training and development helps individual within organisation to acquire new skills and if they
possess some knowledge in that domain then it can be enhanced. Apart from this,
organisation can enhance their productivity and profitability as each employee will work as
a team to achieve common goal. They will work effectively on latest technologies.
P4 Analysis of need for uninterrupted learning, professional and development for actuation of
sustainable performance of business
Continuous learning assists people within working premises to reduce their qualities as
well as increase skills in an uninterrupted way (McCormack, Manley and Titchen, 2013). In this
process, individuals can gain knowledge by what they are doing at their workplace or by
experience they gained.
Professional development is referred to as different from continuous learning. In this
process, a person gains knowledge and skills only by taking professional and academic degree.
By having professionals in business, aids employers to resolve problems easily. In addition to
this, it will help to enhance morale of other workers also.
Therefore, in this manner for large working organisation, both kinds of learning program
that are professional development and continuous learning are needed. It helps in dynamic
required position and enhancing performance of business as well. As per current scenario of
Whirlpool, both kinds of learning programmes aids individuals to enhance their knowledge and
skills by continuous working under professionals (Seibert, Wang and Courtright, 2011). It is
necessary for managers to set up different training session for employees by which high talented
workforce can be gained. They also require need to track record of each and compare their
performances with past experience which would help in analysing whether workers have learnt
in desired manner or not. Along with this, in order to reduce labour turnover, it is a major
responsibility of HR managers to supply open working and healthy environment to employees.
This will aid workers to share views and problems with each other which further develop a
powerful relationship among them also. Therefore, all such processes support Whirlpool in
gaining productivity of workers and achieving its targeted goals in a predetermined time.
Assets of learning process:

Quality lead an employee to become confident: When workers become able to do work
in given time framework in efficient manner then it will help in boosting confidence level of
them. It will also help in encouraging other people to work well by generating feeling of
competition among them.
Growth of an individual and organisation: By providing learning programs, managers
give opportunity to workers to grow with Whirlpool. It will help in increasing productivity of
them and gain loyalty as well.
Learning Theories of kolb is being discussed which helps in the continuous development of
employee within the respective organisation. According to kolb, process of learning follows a
pattern or a cycle consisting of four stages which states that employees learn from the
experiences of life and on every day basis. Four stages of learning style has been described
below-
 Concrete Experience- This step signifies the new experience or the situation which the
employee faces in the organisation or in one's own life helps them to gain understanding
and makes them to learn patterns and behaviours in order to execute work properly in
future period.
 Reflective observation of the new experience- In this phase employees within the
organisation learns from watching work or performance of other employees as well as
develops observation about one's own experience. This helps the employees of Whirlpool
to work more effectively and productively.
 Abstract Conceptualisation- While reflective observations focuses on learning from
previous experiences, abstract conceptualisation takes the reflective process a step ahead
and focuses on channelising those observation by a theoretical approach. For example
leaders at respective organisation reflect upon their own learned assumptions and by
observing others. But by practising new approaches and tactics leader have more
effective interactions with their subordinates which helps them to maximise their learning
potential.
 Active experimentation- This component of experiential learning deals with the process
of existing ideas by creating new experiences. This stage is related to the concept of
scientific experimentation in which employee makes hypothesis based on existing ideas
and tests and helps in developing learning.

Continuous learning and professional development plays crucial role within organisation. By
providing training to employees to acquire knowledge related to different aspects and can have
hands-on on trending techniques and tools. By this they (employees) will be aware of current
methodologies used within organisation and this will help them to gain knowledge in respective
domain. Apart from this, organisation can easily adopt new technologies and can gain
competitive vantage within market. Different barriers which management of Whirlpool are their
like employees have acquired effective knowledge about tools on which they are working,m they
may not be willing to opt for new technologies, on behalf of organisation new techniques can be
costly and if employees are not active during this process then the money will be wasted and
desired outcome cannot be achieved. For this management must motivate employees and
generate interest among them in respective domain.
TASK 3
P5 Understanding of HPW in contribution to employees engagement and competitive advantage
in specific organisational situations
Employee engagement- It is the extent to which employees feel passionate towards their
work and job, and they are highly committed towards the organisation and works effectively in
order to achieve organisational goals.
Competitive advantage- Competitive advantage are the conditions or the favourable
position that an respective organisation wants to achieve in order to more profitable and to be
ahead of rivals.
High performance working (HPW)- It refers to a process of developing and managing
workplace of an enterprise. It assists managers in providing employee engagement through
which complex tasks of business can be accomplished in shorter period of interval. HPW force
superiors of a firm to engage workers in group task if they belong to different culture. This helps
individual to acquire different skills which will provide competitive vantage in both terms,
among employees and within organisation. It may help them in developing strong relationship
with each other by which they can share their ideas and problems easily. This would help
workers in reducing weaknesses as well as enhance skills and knowledge in a particular field
(Berry, 2011). As per present scenario, Whirlpool has a large working environment where