Personal Development for Leaders in MSc Procurement and Supply Chain Management

This portfolio is a part of MSc Procurement and Supply Chain Management and focuses on Personal Development for Leaders. It includes a review of the occupation, profession, organization, and industry it sits within. The document also highlights the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of the Royal Dutch Shell company. The author is a Maintenance Supervisor at Royal Dutch Shell, UK.

Personal Development for Leaders PSLE7006
Portfoliofor
MSc Procurement and Supply Chain Management
FOR SUBMISSION
Note: This portfolio incorporates the review of your Occupation, Profession and Organisation (if
applicable). It encourages the audit of transferable skills and mapping across your industry competencies.
Name
Student Number
Indicate with a  in the appropriate box
Are you currently employed? Yes No
If yes, what is your job title? Maintenance Supervisor, Royal Dutch Shell, UK.
Your Programme Structure
1

2

PG Cert
phase
credits
Semester How acquired/chosen module
20 Personal Development for Leaders (Core)
20 Global Supply Chain Management(Core)
20 Financial Management for Purchasers (Core)
PG Dip
phase
credits
Semester How acquired/chosen module
20 Strategic Procurement Management (Core)
20 Research Skills and Consultancy Planning (Core)
20 Legal and Contracting Arrangements in Purchasing (Core)
Masters
phase
credits
Semester The following modules are all elective choices
Option 1
20 Advanced Logistics and Supply Chain Systems
20 Business Analysis and Project Management
20 Business Strategy and Transportation Technologies
Resourcing and Assessing Talent
Option 2
40 Consultancy Project
40 Dissertation
3

Section 2: Rationale and Academic Coherence
1. Programme aim
The primary aim of this program is to develop the foundation of the future sustained professional development ventures of the
student, deriving resources from the postgraduate study of the student. By synthesising aims and objectives for personal as well as
career development, I will attempt to set personal learning outcomes for my development plan. While conducting this program, I
also aim to identify as well as nurture my career goals as an employee of the downstream oil and gas sector, based on personal
development of knowledge, professional interests as well as industrial skills gained. By developing a sound understanding of
theory as well as practice related to WBL, this program will allow me to capitulate on continuing provisional development,
thereby developing scope of creating new knowledge as well as practices.
2. Programme learning outcomes. Used numbered bullets – no more than 10.
On completion of my programme I will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of my professional designation including my job roles as well as
responsibilities.
2. I will be able to apprehend how my job role will impact the organisation in context to the structure, interactions, origin as
well as the outside drivers along with critical understanding and demonstration of the current trends as well as issues.
3. Explore as well as evaluate the critical models for professional development by referring to extensive information related
to current practice
4. Demonstrate research work related with large range of professionals as well as disciplines.
5. Demonstrate strategies of application of the models and other frameworks for personal as well as organisational
development needs.
6. Demonstrate ability of individual learning that is necessary for providing self-direction of continued professional
development.
7. Demonstrate originality of effort in tackling as well as solving problems.
8. Able to act autonomously for planning as well as implementation of tasks at a professional or at an equivalent level.
9. Incorporate a wide range of activities for self development by conducting wide range of intensive programs through
lectures, tutorials as well as workshops.
10. Exhibit the capability of conducting structured activities like assessment preparation as well as self directed study.
4

3. Review of (preferred) occupation, profession, organisation and the industry it sits within.
I am occupied in the downstream oil and gas sector, which is the most varied part in the oil and gas process of the whole
petroleum industry. The primary works in the downstream oil and gas sector involves crude oil refining as well as processing,
purification of natural gas, product distribution, product retail, marketing, through to sales and other allied activities. The
deliverables of this industrial sector also includes manufacturing petrochemicals as well as plastics.
The crude oil products derived or manufactured for the downstream stage includes liquefied petroleum gas, antifreeze
pharmaceuticals, diesel oil, petrol, LPG, fertilisers as well as cosmetics.
The downstream sector is responsible for providing closest connection with the everyday consumers. This implies that the job
roles in this sector are incredibly sought after as well as diverse. In this case, I should consider the OCEAN model in order to tally
compatibility with my current job roles at the organisation. In this regard, it deserves mention that since there have been exhibiting
traits of openness conscientiousness, I feel that I am most empowered to deal with job roles like retail, product marketing and
dealing with dynamic customer base.
Other than being a lucrative area for working, the downstream oil and gas sector of the petroleum industry has the most lucrative
opportunities of personal development as an employee also. My expected average salary that I will be getting after working for a
year is £50000 per annum and the annual hike in this sector is also standard.
Other benefits that I will be able to enjoy working in this sector are flexible working hours, opportunity to travel to various global
locations and fore-mostly develop a dedicated set of skills that would highly in demand among the relevant industries. I hope that
for the individuals who are looking for a career with long term and sustainable growth, along with excellent work environment
and standard pay scale, there can rarely be a better choice compared to the downstream oil and gas sector.
I have been involved in the position of Maintenance Supervisor with The Royal Dutch Shell, UK. My job role involves a set of
significant activities. I am responsible for ensuring safety as well as efficiently maintain a wide range of equipment as well as
machinery. I am also liable for leading a team of specialists in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineers along with the
team of wielders. The participative style of working that I have manifested, helps me to get along with such kinds of working
styles. I have to work with processing equipments in oil processing plant. I am also in charge of a conveyer system. My liabilities
also include management of preventive management schedules as well as planned shutdowns. I have to ensure that the ad hoc
repairs are properly executed for keeping the equipments of the facility run smooth and safely. I feel that I have all necessary
qualities as well as attitude for dealing with the required stakeholders.The main set of my responsibilities include planning and
organisation of on-site as well as off-site work, task distribution among the work groups, and overseeing progress of the tasks.
Lastly, I also work with the senior management team and with other supervisors for accomplishing other work goals like team
building, motivating individual employees as well as solving problems for achieving better results.
5

The company is one of the leading providers of services in the downstream oil and gas sector of UK. The company have 500
facilities all over UK with their head office in Hague, Netherlands, along with 17 lab facilities also.
SWOT Analysis of Royal Dutch Shell
Strengths
One of the major strengths of the company, where I work, Royal Dutch Shell, UK is their vertically integrated operations. The
operations of my company are spread across three international markets of North America, Europe and Asia. The vertically
integrated growth of our company is ensured by merger and acquisition of the other companies.
Our company serves in three of the major markets of downstream oil sector, namely North America, Asia as well as Europe. IN
the downstream sector, our organisation operates in partnership for the sectors of refining and marketing. For evidence, in the year
1998, we had entered in to a partnership with the Saudi Aramco for delivering refined petroleum in the Asian countries under the
joint venture named Motiva Enterprises. This was a limited liability partnership. This shows that in our downstream sector,
companies can indulge in to joint venturing with limited business risks. The revenue accumulated in the joint venture was worth
$24 billion fiscal policy. We also have some of the largest oil refineries in the North America with capacity of 740,000 barrel
equivalent of oil every day (Shell.com 2019). This helped to enhance the market size and market authority of the company in
America. In turn, it entrusted a need for greater employee base and the salary structure of the executive and managerial employees
like us were also increased. As i have experienced in my service tenure, the business growth of our company is based up on the
two themes of deep water exploration in the upstream sector and the integrated gas supply in the downstream sector. About 15%
of the global demand for energy is met by our downstream sector.
Another major strength of the Royal Dutch Shell is their strong exploration capability. The upstream ventures of our company saw
a dramatic increase in the year 2014, when the business value of the upstream sector rose by 800 million. As an impact the
valuation of the business of the downstream sector also increased by 0.9 billion. This emphasised a subtle requirement for
increasing the business volume of the downstream sector and the need for further employment also. This called for a recruitment
drive and this is the time that I got the opportunity of serving the company (Shell.com 2019).
6

Figure 1: Earnings of Shell in the year 2013 and 2014.
(Source: Shell. Plc, 2014)
The dramatic increase in the financial growth of the company helped to maintain relative stability as well as quick ratios. The
amplitude of the current resources of our company helps allows us to easily take care of the short term liabilities of the company
also. Thereby the business shares are concentrated over limited hands. As an impact of this employees like us can enjoy stable
working environment.
Lastly, the strong market position of our company also deserves mention. We have almost one fourth of our employees involved
in the research and development sector, out of which there are 65% employees involved in downstream research. This has helped
us to stay in the forefront of the fuel technology. I remember that I was in the charge of handling one business process of
development of a very advanced fuel which was track tested with the Ferrari F1 model. This product was a boon for the sports
cars that were diesel powered.
Weaknesses
In order to highlight the appropriate employment conditions of my company, it is necessary to discuss the limitations of the form
also. The company have been facing issues in the context of human rights as well as environmental degradation that it has
encountered in the last 36 business months. For evidence we were criticised for the business operations in the Niger Delta region
where one of the biggest oil rigs of our company is located. The carbon output in the Ogoniland was exaggerated and the big oil
spills in the Niger delta severely affected the lives of the Ogoni people who came up to revolt. In this context it deserves mention
that although oil exploration activities are part of the upstream business of our company, the culture of internal sabotage is
predominant here. Again, this in itself is the cause of the big oil spill by the company (Shell.com 2019). This is predominantly a
problem in the African and the Asian business sectors of the business of Royal Dutch Shell. The reason behind this is that there is
severe market competition among the major oil rand of the world in this region. Hence, there are competitive perpetrators who are
7

tended to bride the internal managers and the executives so that they neglect their duties and let scams like this occur. In this
context this deserves mention that such loopholes are not present in the downstream sector where I operate. This is because of the
fact that our work involves much more liability and we are directly involved with the domain of client service. In this case I would
like to highlight John Stacey Adams' equity theory of Employee motivation. As per the theory, there is strong need of money and
compensation in the employees. However, there are other factors that determine the motivation level of the employees also. This
is the feeling of fair or advantageous treatment. In the upstream sector there is high instability in the executive job roles. However,
compared to that the treatment that we receive in the downstream sector is more cherish-able. Besides, we feel honoured to able to
directly serve the major clients of the company. That is why the job motivation level among us is very high.
Since, Shell has been involved in scams in the recent times, A culture of corruption has prevailed in the company. This is why I
feel that there is the need of alternating the code of ethics of the company. This will not only be beneficial for the employees of
the upstream sector, but it will also ensure that the employees involved in the downstream sector never involve them in such
criminal acts. 14 employees of the downstream sector were involved in criminal acts like development of fabricated invoices for
the third parties. Hence, new ethical rules are needed to be formed in order to bring more transparency in to the process of
invoicing (Shell.com 2019).
Another major weakness is the scale and the size of the operations of Shell. Because of the large client base and the
operational sphere of the company, there have been acute difficulties in managing the quality as well as standard of the products. I
am directly engaged in the process of inspecting the processes involved in the downstream operations. However, the issue that I
face is that there are third parties involved in this sector also. Lastly, analyzing the operations of the company, it can be analyzed
that the major factors plaguing the business of our company is higher depreciation, weak industry conditions as well as increased
exploration expenses.
Opportunities
Innovation and technology are at the core of the success strategies of Shell. So long I have worked for the company, my managers
have always instructed me to manage the carbon output of the operations and offer warnings to the third party operators also, to
reduce their carbon output. The advanced and self generated technologies that we use in the downstream sector help us to stay
ahead of the major competition in terms of output and quality.
8

The success factors of our company
(Source: strategy, 2013)
Shell is intended to share major benefits with the community where they operate by supporting the objectives of the host
government. This is aimed at rendering economic and social benefits that can help the local governments to foster development
for the local areas. The Prelude Floating Energy project that I had also been a part of was aimed at satisfying the local energy
needs of the developing nations at competitive price and easy availability.
The enhancing demand for fuel in the world can also be considered as a great business opportunity for our company. We have
developed LNG as an alternative source of energy for the world. While checking the order supply rate by the other companies in
Europe, I witnessed that no other company have been able to supply alternative fuels in massive volumes like us. Our joint
ventures with Gazprom are another significant business opportunity for the company. Although Gazprom is signed for upstream
activities in collaboration with Shell, their high hydrocarbon yield provides us with ample resources that help us to meet the
clients’ demand easily. I found the Cammon Creek project equally helpful for us our reliable energy output largely depends on the
supplies from this project.
Threats
Government intervention and the change in the environment laws can be considered as big threats for both upstream and the
downstream sector of our company. Another major threat for the company is economic instability that is accountable for a big
drop in our profits. In the refining sector of the company also this issue has had its impact. There have been 23 orders from major
clients cancelled in the last minute. This cost us loss worth 65000 barrel equivalent of oil in all. Terrorism activities in the Middle
East have also caused a setback for us, since this is the biggest cause behind the fluctuation of crude oil prices in the Middle East.
Last major threat of the company is that the market segmentation of the company is occurring at a high rate.
PESTLE Analysis of the downstream Oil and Gas sector of UK (Shell.com 2019)
Political Factors
9

The political factors have a key role to play in determining the long term profitability of our market operations. The integrated oil
and gas services comprise the majority of our market operations. We operate in more than 12 countries with limited enterprising.
Although I am experienced with the political environment of UK only, I am aware of the basic challenges that the company faced
from the political factors of other countries. The system risks in the various political contexts of Asia and Africa is very high. The
political stability of the African countries like Nigeria is very high and there are always chances of social or political revolts.
These interrupt the operations of our company and often disrupt our supply as well as delivery networks. As an outcome, the
crude oil from those countries reaches with delay which hampers our production. There is also the risk of military invasion in the
Middle East countries where we have been operating in strategic partnership with the local companies. In fact, Aich and Antusch
(2016), have also assessed that Royal Dutch Shell have very less experience of operating in a VUCA world. The level of
corruption in the Basic Materials sector is very high in UK itself, which is why we face issues in equipment development. The
legal framework for contract enforcement is quite complicated in UK since we do not enjoy the Brexit advantages any more. As
an outcome, many potential clients do not want to provide bulk orders to Shell, UK.
Economic Factors
Several macro environmental factors like high inflation rate, interest rate, economic cycle and the foreign exchange rate
highly influence the business of our company in UK and elsewhere. There are free market conditions in many of the trade areas of
Asia as in China. However, the market factors are highly fluctuating. There have recently been two major employee revolts in the
Asian market because of which the entire UK operations of Shell was engaged in delivering the supplies to the American clients
who were supposed to get their deliverables from the Asian downstream operations. This is why; the company was forced to raise
capitals in the local markets and operating cost increased by 8% in Asia. Another, important economic factor that have been
affecting the business of our company is the high labor cost. The economic growth rate of the company could have been faster if
the wage rate in UK has been 10 to 15% lower. However, the high unemployment rate of the developing nations of Africa and
Asia allows the company to employ local skilled workers at 20 to 30% lower wage rate compared to that in UK. However,
inflation rate is higher here (Shell.com, 2019).
Social Factors
The culture of individual societies where the company operates impacts the brand name as well as business performance of the
company. Shared beliefs as well as attitude of the local population also help the marketers of our company to understand the
nature of demand and the kinds of customers they are handling. The skill level is one of the important factors that differ across
demographics. The skills level of the workers in UK allows them to be incorporated in the mainstream workforce. However, in
spite of having potential skills, the employees of the developing countries (with lower wage rate) need linguistic and professional
training so that they can be absorbed in the mainstream workforce. There social conventions regarding gender specific roles in
many countries with VUCA environment. The aspect of CSR also needs to be considered under the social factors. Health and
environmental aspects needs to be considered when working in the African countries only. There is also the pressure of the local
10

government to provide oil and gas to the local people under subsidized price. Hence, we have to increase our production in order
to meet the local demands for oil and gas under subsidized price is always high (Shell.com 2019).
Technological Factors
Technological factors are one of essential factors that affect industries in the oil and gas sector. The impact of the
transportation industry is one of the important aspects to consider. The transportation costs are gradually becoming higher which
is forcing us to raise the prices of our finished products. The new refineries that have developed in our labs are able to deliver 240
more barrel equivalent of oil every 3 hours. However, this involves automated technology that utilizes extra fuel cost also. As an
outcome, we have to incorporate more demand to meet up with our production cost.
4. Audit of transferable skills.
(Here you should explore and audit the transferable skills you have. What practices, knowledge and general skills do you have
that you use effectively within your workplace setting? You will need to provide support from literature to help you identify your
skills and their value and from experience to help you support your claim’s authenticity. You may provide appendices that contain
material evidence such as email, testimonials, feedback for examples of practice or achievement.)
I have adopted the Self Management Learning method for assessment of my learning as well as personal development. This is a
method by which the employees learn individual skills in different ways. I am an employee who has to work under diversified
working environment. As highlighted by Lin et al. (2016), this helps an employee to find ways in which he or she can find the
strategies to sustain in a global workplace setting. Blount and Mullen (2015), further highlights that SML is a holistic approach,
that helps individual learners to strengthen their values towards their job.
The blueprint of the SML approach that I am following for my personal development is as follows:
11

Figure 3: Self Development Management program that I am following for my career development
(Source: Developed by the Researcher)
The learning contract phase helped me to understand the personal development needs based on which the development
criteria would be determined. The next stage is as demonstrated; mapping the context of the program, indulge in to diagnostic
activities as well as setting of the career goals and finally the strategy for organisational involvement.
The other phase of the management plan will be constituted of working up on individual contract goals that will help me indulge
in to various activities in order to be settle myself with my workplace needs.
Benefits of self managed learning for individuals
An individual can work easily towards fulfilment of personal work goals. Working in a team an individual gains different kinds of
knowledge that helps him or her to develop their presentation skills. The SML approaches have personally helped me to amend
my mistakes in the management approaches that I undertake and thereby undertake proper decision. I have realized through time
that the perception of the individual employees towards their organization is different. That is why it is not possible to satisfy the
personal as well as professional development needs of every individual employee. On the contrary, I feel that there is the need to
identify some intrinsic motivational strategy that can produce confident employees.
Strategies for lifelong personal and professional learning
I know that the internal atmosphere of the organization is changing dynamically. That is why the managerial needs of the
organization are also alternating. In order to achieve that, I need to engage in to lifelong learning so that I can constantly update
my management skills. In order to gain knowledge about how to manage operations and supervise employees parallely, I have
12

decided to consult the experts and experienced employees who have acted in my job role for considerable period.
I have talked with the people who were previously occupied as Maintenance Supervisors in the company. I have also consulted
other employees of the organization who are adept in handling onsite and offsite affairs. I also read blogs and articles by eminent
managers of various organizations that have immense experience of handling the pressure of managing work groups, facilities and
supervise product stock mobility.
I also organize inmate workshops with my peers who are supervisors in the other sectors of the same company and also
with the team members who are subordinate under me. My peers share various opinions and ideas that help me to rectify my
managerial approaches. My juniors also share some of the major internal issues that often surpass my eyes. I also attend various
kinds of seminars and conferences where the higher manager briefs us regarding the company’s expectations from us and guides
us regarding how to develop our approach towards our work. These are the various portals that I use for lifelong learning. In this
context, Meyer, Ohana and Stinglhamber (2018) offers that the multinational organizations gives training to their employees,
regarding new management approaches, that can help to manage operations and employees. However, I feel that since I have to
work with processing equipments in oil processing plant, I need to consult with the mechanics managers of our team so that they
can brief me about the ways in which the refinery and purifiers of the plants work. By this way, I can understand the change needs
of the mechanical team also. I also need to consult with the third party suppliers. That is why, I follow the blogs of supply chain
managers and their YouTube videos for learning strategies that can help me to gain timely deliveries from our supply line.
Skills for building Oil safety System
As highlighted by Derrington and Campbell (2015), many employees of the oil refineries or distribution system as well as the
technical division team do not have college degrees. That is why, Seibert et al. (2017), feels that competency based training needs
to be provided to the downstream employees of the oil and gas sector. As a supervisor, I must have the knowledge to understand
the individual knowledge deficiencies and the training needs. Otherwise, if I launch competency based training without
identifying the skill gaps of the employees in person, it would b a waste of organizational resource only. Besides, () feels that a
supervisor should also be able to understand the safety needs of the employees and guide them, accordingly. This is where I feel
that I should possess sound observation skills also. There are various fragmentations in the workforces of global companies. For
evidence, it will be difficult for an UK based supervisor to understand needs and issues that a refinery fitter or turner or a oil
collection employee in the refinery from African origin might face. That is why, a supervisor also needs to understand the
technical factors like the geology, frac gradient or the port pressure of the oil delivering vents. In fact, Baron (2016) also
advocates that the whole crew should be aware of what kind of work process is going on. For a supervisor, it can be stated that,
having a theoretical knowledge of the operations is very necessary.
Situational awareness is another organizational skill that employees of managerial positions should be possessing.
Suddenly, if the pressure washer of the container vessel cracks and there is reverse flow of oil, a supervisor should have the
knowledge to apprehend what risks are prevailing on that spot and how it can affect the human and the physical resources of the
13

company.
Partnerships for development of knowledge, skills and attitudes
Group dynamics are integral part of inter-collaboration among the work groups in a company. A marketing manager should
communicate regularly with the product innovation team of the company. This will help the organization to understand the
consumer needs properly. I have also analyzed from the ideas of Beenen, Pichler and Levy (2017), and understood that there I
acute need of making the employees learn how to handle the short term goals as well as the long term goals. The same applies for
me also. At times we face arbitrary orders to stop production in a specific genre and dedicate the entire workforce for catering to
the needs of a different client. In fact, Crockett and Hays (2015) asserts that the management of employees have become difficult
nowadays considering the fact that employees of the modern day have become more aggressive. In this context, the Theory of
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be highlighted. The ultimate aims of the workers in any field are self fulfillment. Their ultimate
aim is to generate maximum monetary benefit along with maximum compensation against deliverance of minimum effort. Hence,
Jeske and Axtell (2017) feels that a manager should capitulate on the need of self fulfilment of the individual employees. In this
alignment I have analyzed that in order to become a successful employee; I have to learn how to align the personal needs of the
employees with their professional needs. The role of managers in our organization is not active. Rather, the supervisory
employees take the leading role to make the operations move faster. That is why; I feel that I have to ensure my work readiness
towards fulfilling my job goals.
5. Exploration and evaluation of models of professional development informed extensively from
current research and practice with an application to your own and organisational learning
needs
(For example, revisit your audit of skills and identify what needs you still have in fulfilling your role, and your projected career
development. Then, explore and identify the models of professional development that might be applied to you and assist you in
deciding what you might do on your programme – link this discussion to you learning outcomes. Justify them.)
Following the Honey and Mumford learning theories
Based on Kolb’s work model, Honey and Mumford developed few styles of personal learning. These are
activists, pragmatists, reflectors and theorists.
The activists are people who prefer to learn as they work. They prefer to keep themselves extremely busy in
their work. However, they are quite open minded in their learning and do not constrict themselves from
learning concepts or strategies from employees of members of the lowest rung of the organization also.
14

Next in order comes the pragmatist, who learns from various sources and analyses how to implement their
learning in real life contexts. They love to experiment with new learning ideas as well as strategies in order
to find out which works best for them. They unabashedly involve them in new learning experiences that can
help them to develop their managerial perspective. In contrary to the pragmatists, Litano and Major (2016)
opines that the reflector which another learners’ group, tend to learn new concepts by reflecting on the past
experience that they gained by applying various managerial styles. They do not leap in to implement a new
learning style the next day. They rather prefer look at the experience that others have made by implementing
the same leadership and managerial style that they have learned before implementing them to their
professional field.
The Honey and Mumford Model
(Source: Baron and Parent 2015)
Identification of personal learning style based on the model
Among the Honey and Mumford learning styles that have been discussed above, I prefer to call myself an
activist, who indulges himself in new experiences, without any bias. I always enjoy being subjected in to
instant experiences. That is why I prefer to call myself an activist learner. I am always enthusiastic about
something new since I feel that I am quite open minded, and not being skeptical. Before considering the
outcomes or consequences of my decisions I prefer to act in advance. Even, Chaimongkonrojna and Steane
(2015), professes that the activist are always ready to take up new challenges. I prefer this method of
15

working since I feel that my indulging myself .in new experiences I can show others that I am striving to
help them in a particpatve manner. This will help to establish my goodwill among others and also aggravate
the interest among others to help me to successfully implement my decisions. I generally do not bind my
subordinates to any rules or strict guidelines and always prefer that they also implement new ideas to make
the work flow easier. I implement the same methodology advocated for activists by Ryan and Gottfried
(2017). I brainstorm for new ideas to tackle problems every day. I know that in this way, I make my work-
life stressful. However, I hope that in the near future I will be able to make my work methodologies sorted
so that I can ensure smooth flow of work. I feel that is the best managerial way to handle pressure for
employees who have to work in multiple domains.
SWOT analysis of my personal Development
My strengths are that I have basic technical skills and work habits make others working with or under me
feel friendly or amiable to work with me. My learning skills are also sharp. Besides, I also gave good
interpersonal communication skills. These elements help me to perform under pressure and make my team
work in the most sorted manner. My creativity and strengths are other two elements of my strength. I would
use these elements as a part of the CPD plan which helps me to keep pace with the new industrial
requirements and standards. The CPD helps to ensure that I am able to maintain as well as enhance the
knowledge and skills that are needed to be delivered as a part of the professional service that to the
customers, clients as well as community.
My basic weaknesses are lack of experience, knowledge, detailed knowledge about the intrinsic factors of
my company. Secondly, I should state that I am an emotional person that makes me get to much involved in
to any issue that is troubling me or any of my teammates.
My major opportunity is my urge to for lifelong learning.
Lastly, my threat is my linguistic barriers that often prevent me to make good presentation and indulge in to
prolonged discussions with peers.
Skill audit for determination of key skills and the skill gaps
Skill Area Level of Skills Skill Gaps
Written Communication I have definite skills in making Typing speed is slow
16

written presentation in various
organizational formats and the
written message that I convey can
effectively communicate my issue
with the audiences
Oral presentation skills I can speak with seniors or peers
with conviction. I can make good
oral presentation that often helps
others in problem solving also.
Sometimes my linguistic barriers
prevent me to make god
presentation, which creates negative
impression about me.
Time Management I am well capable to accomplish
tasks within deadlines
However, I feel that because of my
taste in experimenting with new
work methodologies, I am often
unable to meet the deadlines. This
prevents me to meet the client
deadlines at times.
Leadership I always aim to innovate new ways
of motivating my team and make
them achieve the team work goals. I
am always careful about their
personal and professional needs so
that they can strive towards
fulfillment so that they feel
connected as a valuable part of the
organization.
I often encounter keadership
differences when any of my peers
innovate new team directing styles
and reap heavy benefits in terms o
employee engagement. This brings
down my confidence.
Problem Solving When faced with critical problems, I
strive to find logical, constructive as
well as realistic solutions for the
problems.
Teamwork I use communicative and
participative techniques for making
my team perform under ease. I
always seek the factors for personal
I am often panic stricken when I am
faced with, multiple issues in the
team.
17

motivation of the team members and
ensure that they are equally
motivated. I also take care of the fact
that no single team member is
spreading any negative vibe that
demoralizes the others in their work.
IT skills Although I have god IT knowledge,
it will still take me some time to
understand the internal
communication portal that keeps me
connected with seniors and members
of higher management.
The lack of programming
knowledge prevents me from
detecting the “worms” that bugs the
devices with which I work. This
slows down my pace of work also.
Information skills I am at ease with online research. I
am also good at evaluating
information for finding out their
reliability.
Independent Learning. I am well capable of handling my
own professional workload and
complete my duties with the
minimum efforts. I also need
nominal guidance from my teachers.
SMART objectives for personal and professional development
Specific I will be the head of Operation Supervision within the
next 6 to 7 years
Measurable I have to clinically accomplish the next 5 projects that I
will be leading or assisting. I also need to develop my
own unique style of leadership so that my juniors feel
free, comfortable and confident.
Achievable I will update my skills in the ways I have mentioned
previously in the file.
Realistic Establish myself as a top rated project manager in the
18

next 3 years.
Time Bound If I am able to achieve my dream designation within 6
years, only then I will be able to touch my desired salary
slab.
Personal Development Action Plan.
Skill Gap Action Plan Rationale Time Frame
Lack of coaching and
refined skills in team
members
Work individually with
team members to develop a
personal development
schedule. The coaching
approach of asking has to
be used. The employees
might not be able to
understand their areas of
personal development.
Hence, the issues that they
face in the organization
have to be analyzed at first.
In case if the employees
gain soft skills and refined
skills, they would be able to
work in accordance to their
daily deliverables. This
would help me to ensure
smooth work flow also.
Arrange for 1 coaching
class every week for 1
year.
Lack of personal skills in
handling conflict
The first step is to develop
active communication with
the team members and the
subordinates. Secondly I
have to develop an
empathetic nature towards
my employees, so that I am
able to understand the
issues that are the root
cause of conflict. Thirdly, I
have to undergo a
mentorship program.
Under this program, I will
Successful conflict
management is the key to
getting individual project
lead position. In this context
I should mention that I
would be able to gain higher
position in the company if I
am able to successfully
manage projects under
individual supervision.
The time frame is 10
months.
19

have some experienced
organizational leader as my
guide and discuss the
conflict issues that I am not
able to mitigate. After
discussing the issues, I will
be trying to implement the
prescribed strategies.
Lack of listening skills I have to be attentive and
stay relaxed as well.
Otherwise I would not be
able to pay heed to the key
problems that other people
are trying to convey to me.
I have to stop interrupting
people amidst the
conversation and listen the
entire issue to deliver a
solution.
This will help me to
establish effective
communication with the
subordinates.
Time frame is 2 months
Lack of Time
Management skills
I have to learn working in a
more organized manner.
Thereby I need to prioritize
tasks based on the
ascending order to the task
deadlines. I have to
streamline tasks much
early in the employee
schedule and lastly
dedicate time to constantly
check the alternations to
the project timings that
have been suggested by the
My project management
skills will help me to
become a better leader and
that would in turn help me
to gain the position of a
unique project team leader.
The time frame is 6
weeks.
20

higher management. If the
projects are shuffled
irrationally, I have to
communicate the issue to
higher management.
21

6. References and Bibliography
Acevedo, A., 2018. A personalistic appraisal of Maslow’s needs theory of motivation: From “humanistic”
psychology to integral humanism. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(4), pp.741-763.
Aich, P. and Antusch, A., 2016. Organizational Identity. Contemporary Practice and Theory of
Organisations–Part 1:: Understanding the Organisation, p.83.
An, D. and Carr, M., 2017. Learning styles theory fails to explain learning and achievement:
Recommendations for alternative approaches. Personality and Individual Differences, 116, pp.410-416.
Baron, L. and Parent, É., 2015. Developing authentic leadership within a training context: Three phenomena
supporting the individual development process. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(1),
pp.37-53.
Baron, L., 2016. Authentic leadership and mindfulness development through action learning. Journal of
Managerial Psychology, 31(1), pp.296-311.
Beenen, G., Pichler, S. and Levy, P.E., 2017. Self‐Determined Feedback Seeking: The Role of Perceived
Supervisor Autonomy Support. Human resource management, 56(4), pp.555-569.
Blount, A.J. and Mullen, P.R., 2015. Development of an integrative wellness model: Supervising
counselors-in-training. The Professional Counselor, 5(1), p.100.
Bulto, L. and Markos, S., 2017. Effect of performance appraisal system on employee motivation. Prestige
International Journal of Management & IT-Sanchayan, 6(2), pp.25-36.
Chaimongkonrojna, T. and Steane, P., 2015. Effectiveness of full range leadership development among
middle managers. Journal of Management Development, 34(9), pp.1161-1180.
Crockett, S. and Hays, D.G., 2015. The influence of supervisor multicultural competence on the supervisory
working alliance, supervisee counseling self‐efficacy, and supervisee satisfaction with supervision: A
mediation model. Counselor Education and Supervision, 54(4), pp.258-273.
22

Derrington, M.L. and Campbell, J.W., 2015. Implementing new teacher evaluation systems: Principals’
concerns and supervisor support. Journal of Educational Change, 16(3), pp.305-326.
Dorca, F.A., Araujo, R.D., De Carvalho, V.C., Resende, D.T. and Cattelan, R.G., 2016. An automatic and
dynamic approach for personalized recommendation of learning objects considering students learning styles:
an experimental analysis. Informatics in education, 15(1), p.45.
Healy, K., 2016. A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham H. Maslow (1942). The British Journal of
Psychiatry, 208(4), pp.313-313.
Hezlett, S.A., 2016. Enhancing experience-driven leadership development. Advances in Developing Human
Resources, 18(3), pp.369-389.
Jeske, D. and Axtell, C., 2017. Effort and Reward Effects: Appreciation and Self-Rated Performance in e-
Internships. Social Sciences, 6(4), p.154.
Lin, W., Wang, L., Bamberger, P.A., Zhang, Q., Wang, H., Guo, W., Shi, J. and Zhang, T., 2016. Leading
future orientations for current effectiveness: The role of engagement and supervisor coaching in linking
future work self salience to job performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 92, pp.145-156.
Litano, M.L. and Major, D.A., 2016. Facilitating a whole-life approach to career development: The role of
organizational leadership. Journal of Career Development, 43(1), pp.52-65.
Menges, C., 2016. Toward improving the effectiveness of formal mentoring programs: Matching by
personality matters. Group & Organization Management, 41(1), pp.98-129.
Meyer, M., Ohana, M. and Stinglhamber, F., 2018. The impact of supervisor interpersonal justice on
supervisor-directed citizenship behaviors in social enterprises: A moderated mediation model. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(20), pp.2927-2948.
Nisula, A.M., 2015. The relationship between supervisor support and individual improvisation. Leadership
& Organization Development Journal, 36(5), pp.473-488.
23

Ryan, T.G. and Gottfried, J., 2017. Elementary supervision and the supervisor: Teacher attitudes and
inclusive education. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(3), pp.563-571.
Seibert, S.E., Sargent, L.D., Kraimer, M.L. and Kiazad, K., 2017. Linking Developmental Experiences to
Leader Effectiveness and Promotability: The Mediating Role of Leadership Self‐Efficacy and Mentor
Network. Personnel Psychology, 70(2), pp.357-397.
Sluyterman, K., 2017. Decolonisation and the organisation of the international workforce: Dutch
multinationals in Indonesia, 1945–1967. Business History, pp.1-20.
Smith, B. and Dodds, B., 2017. Developing managers through project-based learning. Routledge.
Truong, H.M., 2016. Integrating learning styles and adaptive e-learning system: Current developments,
problems and opportunities. Computers in human behavior, 55, pp.1185-1193.
Willingham, D.T., Hughes, E.M. and Dobolyi, D.G., 2015. The scientific status of learning styles theories.
Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), pp.266-271.
24

7. Appendix (For example; Personal Development Plan; Skills Audit, industry competencies, job
description.)
Mail in communication of the workplace issues
To,
The Lead Project Manager
Subject: Reply to official investigation about slow work rate
I have asked to investigate about complains regarding lack of employees. Project leads have been
complaining about deadline misses, flaws in packaging and funneling and barrel filing. They also
complain about the staffs’ attitude. In my investigation I have found that our refineries are under-staffed
because 15 of the staff in holiday and another sub-supervisor is absent due to recent accident. As a
consequence acting project leads had to be appointed.
It creates lots of pressure to them; some of them have to work in other’s position in which he isn’t
expert. If we don’t take proper action our customer will be more disappointed. We need to appoint two
staff on temporary basis. We should train our staffs to work more swiftly. It also recommended making
the check-in and check-out procedure more quick. We must force our staffs to deal with operations
rather than being busy with personal matter.
Best wishes
Supervisor
25