Personal and Professional Development

This document discusses the importance of personal and professional development for achieving long-term goals. It covers topics such as self-managed learning approaches, ways of learning, benefits of self-managed learning, skills and competencies, development needs, development opportunities, and processes and activities. The document also provides a development plan for personal and professional growth.

Personal and Professional
Development

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
1.1: Self-Managed Learning Approaches....................................................................................1
1.2: Ways of Learning..................................................................................................................2
1.3: Benefits of Self-Managed Learning......................................................................................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
2.1: Skills and Competencies.......................................................................................................3
2.2: Development Needs..............................................................................................................4
2.3: Development Opportunities..................................................................................................4
2.4: Development Plan.................................................................................................................5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................8
3.1: Processes and Activities........................................................................................................8
3.2: Documentation of Development Activities..........................................................................8
3.3: Reflection..............................................................................................................................9
3.4: Updated Development Plan..................................................................................................9
LO4................................................................................................................................................12
4.1: Problem Solving Techniques..............................................................................................12
4.2: Bullying and Harassment....................................................................................................12
4.3: Time Management Strategies.............................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development is very necessary for a person for achieve its
long-term goals. In the personal development process, a person take some actions towards self-
improvement. In this process that person firstly address their weak points which necessarily need
to be developed. Then it takes specific training and guidance for develop or improve their
weaknesses, On other hand, the professional development is something different from the
personal development, because professional development is only necessary in those places where
the person involved in some professional jobs, like; Business, Bank, Finance firm, Corporate,
Organization, etc. In these all professional areas the personal always need to be a highly
professional for put effective impression on the other parties, like; Boss, Clients, Customers,
Colleague, etc. This is mainly focuses on the aspects like; self-managed learnings and lifelong
learning. This report is discusses the personal and professional development of a new appointed
manager in the National Trust (a registered charity, set up in 1985).
LO1
1.1: Self-Managed Learning Approaches
Self-managed learning is a learning practice where a learner prepares and implements a
plan for gain high knowledge on selected topics. There are some approaches of the self-managed
learning are discusses below;
 Conferences and Seminars: Conferences and seminars are major ways for the people
for learning new things. In these many professionals giving and sharing their knowledge
to other. They transfer their important information to the others by these conferences and
seminars (Bates, Phalen and Moran, 2016). In which it is great option for the person
which appointed as a member and visitor welcome manager in the national trust for learn
new and important things. With these the manager is able to develop their
professionalism. A person gains high knowledge with the help of conferences and
seminars. This is big advantage of this approach. In other hand the main disadvantage of
this approach is, a person is not able to gain high knowledge by this because sometimes
these conferences and seminars covert into boring lecture.
 Internet: Internet also very effective approach to self-managed learning, because it
provides various and different way to the manager for learn things which help them in
professional development. Currently on the internet thousands of blogs, videos, coaching
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classes, and online training portals are available related to the self-managed learning. So,
the manager able to learn things through internet for personal and professional
development. The main advantages of these approach are, it is providing lots of
information through videos and blogs which are very helpful for this job role. The
disadvantage of this approach is, it is very time-consuming.
Internet is very appropriate approach for me as a membership and visitor welcome
manager. In other hand it is appropriate for my team also in visitor services within the National
Trust, because it provides almost all knowledge which highly required the trust's operations.
1.2: Ways of Learning
Lifelong learning is the 'self-motivated' goal of people which they use for gain specific
knowledge to develop their personal and professional life. There are various ways are available
for lifelong learning in both terms; personal and professional. In which some ways of lifelong
learning are discusses below;
CPD (Continuing Professional Development): For perfect personal and professional
development the manager need to set CPD aspect in their daily life for measure own
development related to the personal and professional life. In this the manager need to analyse
changes in self-behaviour. In case when manager realize their behaviour is something change
and improved from the pastime (Mark, 2016). Then the manager is completely on the
progressive path of self-development.
Short Courses: These are also highly productive lifelong learning tool to the people. With these
courses people are getting inspire and motivate for self-improvement. In this case the manager
also needs to take these short courses which will effectively develop the personality and
professionalism of the manager.
Development Activities: For self-development the manager always need to conduct some
development activities. It is really first term for the lifelong learning. Many times people not
accept their weaknesses, they think they are completely perfect and no need for improvement.
So, they can't develop themselves in whole life. In this situation the manager is able to remove
their weaknesses through these development activities, because these are too productive in
lifelong learning.
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1.3: Benefits of Self-Managed Learning
There are many benefits of self-managed learning to the visitor welcome manager and
national trust.
Benefits to the individual: With the help of self-managed learning the manager is able to
learn many things like, management skills, innovation ability, people management,
organizational management, risk handing abilities, etc. At the workplace these all things will too
much help to the manager for effectively manage their work in the national trust. In thin case
once the manager learnt these all things, then it will easily maintain a progressive path for the
trust.
Benefits to the organization: The self-managed learning also too beneficial for the national
trust. The main reason behind this statement is, once it gets workforce in their operations which
interested in self-managed learning aspect. Then their operations become more productive and it
also able to improve its overall performance (Barone, Vercio and Jirasevijinda, 2019). With the
help of self-managed learning its work culture also filled with skilful employees. The national
trust will able to reduce its lots of unnecessary time and cost in their daily activities when it
employs various approaches of self-managed learning at their workplace.
LO2
2.1: Skills and Competencies
I have almost that all skills and competencies which are needed for the job role of the
visitor welcome manager in the national trust. My some major skills and competencies are
mentioned below;
Leadership Skills: I completely understand the value of good leadership skills. In which with
the help my last self development practices now I have great and effective leadership skills. I
think these skills are very necessary in the job role of visitor welcome manager, because in trust
many visitors come on the daily basis. In this case with the help of the effective leadership skills
I'll able to impress visitors.
Conflict Management: With the self-managed learning I was also developed my conflict
management skills. These skills are also necessary for a manager. Many times the trust faces
different conflicts in their operations, in which with the help of good conflict management skills
I'm able to systematically handle them (Vähäsantanen and et.al., 2017). In this case my these
3

skills or competencies will support to the national trust in remove such conflicts from the
workplace.
2.2: Development Needs
I also have some more skills, but they are not completely developed. I still need to more
develop and improve them to take great advantages. There are included those skills below which
need to be highly improved.
Time Management: Time Management skills are also highly needed in the job role of
visitor welcome manager. These are necessary because a manager always needs to be punctual
for take specific advantages. In this case my time management skills also needs to be improved.
For improvement or development I'll read some books and novels where writers or authors
shared many techniques for improve time management skills. I'll practice those skills in my daily
life for make them completely developed.
People management: I understand in the visitor welcome manager's job role one of my
major responsibilities is to manage people and employees which comes under my command. I
agree my skills of people management are too poor. For improve or develop my these skills I'll
start learning 'how to manage people in the organization' topic deeply, I'll attend some training
sessions which provide knowledge of the people management etc. My these steps are too
necessary for my new job role.
2.3: Development Opportunities
There are lots of development opportunities are available for me to more and more
improve my skill which are highly needed in the job role of the visitor welcome manager. There
are some major opportunities are discusses below:
Blogs: Currently thousands of blogs are available on online and offline portals which are
completely based on the development of skills (Derrick and Wighting, 2019). So, here is great
opportunity for me to read these blogs and try to understand basics of managerial skills for work
in the National Trust as a Membership and Visitor Welcome Manager. On the basis of my
knowledge these blogs are too much helpful in development of own skills. I fully consider these
blogs as a development opportunity to me.
Coaching centres: There are many coaching centres are also existing which specially
providing the classes of the management are learning. Here is one more opportunity for me to
learn the all aspects of the management through these coaching centres. Many of the coaching
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centres also providing some practice example also for better understanding (Moreillon, 2016).
So, I'm able to develop and improve my skills with the help of these coaching centres. With these
opportunities there are also many additional opportunities are still available for fulfil the needs of
skill development. For example: Trainer, instructor, performance consultant, etc.
2.4: Development Plan
Here is mentioned a plan for personal and professional development.
Skills
which
needs to be
improved
Current
Performan
ce
Future
Needs
Activities Opportunit
ies
Threats Dates
People
management
skills
My current
people
management
skills are
not much
effective.
I want to
improve my
skills for
perfectly
manage
people
under my
command.
For develop
my skills I'll
join some
training
sessions and
seminars
which are
providing
the
knowledge
about
people
management
in the
organization
. I take
special
advices
from the
trainer for
highly
Here are
great
opportunitie
s for me to
manage a
charity trust
with my
skills.
In case if I'll
not improve
my skills,
then I'll face
many
challenges
at my new
job role.
Achievemen
t date: 25th
April 2020
Review
date: 05th
May 2020
5

develop my
skills.
Influencing
skills
Currently
I'm too
weak in
influence
somebody.
My future
need is, I
want to
impact or
influence
people with
my
influencing
skills.
Influencing
skill are
playing
great role in
the
management
work. In this
case for
develop my
influencing
skills I'll
read some
books and
magazines
which are
completely
based on the
influencing
skills
learning. I'll
use these
skills in my
daily life
also for
effectively
develop
them at my
work place.
With these
skills I'll
able to put
great
impression
on those
parties
which talk
to me.
If I not
improve my
skills, then
I'll not
easily able
to convince
people.
Achievemen
t date: 29th
July 2020
Review
date: 7th
August 2020
6

Team
building
skills
In this time
I'm not able
to makes an
effective
teamwork,
because my
team
building
skills are
not much
good.
I want to
improve my
team
building
skills for
make a
productive
teamwork
under my
control.
Team
building
skills are
highly
needed for
the job role
of manager.
In this case
for develop
or improve
my team
building
skills I'll
work under
those
managers
which have
great team
building
skills. I'll try
to learn
major topics
from them
which are
related to
the team
building,
like; role of
effective
team, what
makes an
With proper
team
building
skills I'm
able to
achieve
great targets
in specific
time period.
Team
building is
very
important
part in the
trust. In case
if I'll not
improve my
skills, then
I'll badly
impact to
the trusts
overall
performance
.
Achievemen
t date: 20th
September
2020
Review
Date: 30th
September
2020
7

effective
team etc.
LO3
3.1: Processes and Activities
There are various activities need to cover by me for systematically implement the
development plan.
Discuss with business consultant: For systematically implement development plant I
will take advice from the business consultant which show me all aspects and impacts of this plan
on the national trust. I specially try to know both, positive and negative influences of the
development plan. Then I take the decisions for when and how implement this plan on the basis
of consultant's advice at my workplace.
Talk to employees: I also talk to the employees which come under my command about
the development plan. I try to know their opinions on this plan implementation. In this case if I
got a perfect idea of plan implementation while talking to the employees then I'll use it during
employ the plan.
Use strategies: For plan implement in proper manner I'll use some strategies which give us
perfect ways of the implementation. These strategies are playing great role in the any plan
implementation (Webb, Diamond-Wells and Jeffs, 2017). So, I'll also study about which are the
major strategies are required for the implementation of the development plan. Then I use them
for perfectly employ the development plan.
3.2: Documentation of Development Activities
 This development plan is prepared for the time period of 9 months.
 Firstly, I need to focus on develop my skills which are based on the people management.
 For develop my skills I'll attend some training sessions.
 I also take special guidance from the business trainers which have great knowledge about
the people management.
 In this case, I'll attend some seminars also where speaker share their information about
the people and their behaviour.
 I put my all efforts to learn all things about the people management.
 I'll fully develop my people management skills within 3 months.
 I'll also focus on develop my influencing skills.
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 To completely learn all aspects related to the influencing skills, I'll read books and
magazines which are taught influencing skills.
 I need the time period of 6 months for develop my skills.
 My team building skills are also very poor, so I'll also take special treatment for develop
my these skills.
 I try to work under those managers which have great skills of team building.
 I'll see their actions and strategies which they use in the teamwork for makes team very
effective.
 For perfectly develop and employ these skills at my workplace I need 9 months.
3.3: Reflection
Activities which are mentioned in the development plan are too helpful for me. These all
activities make able to develop my various skills which are needs to be developed. Here is I
specially follow the perfect schedule for learn all things which improve my skills. The main
objectives of my development plan are to fulfil my skill development needs. Proper
implementation is also very necessary for gain positive results from the development plan. So, I
used some plan implementation strategies to proper implement it. I learn some additional things
also while following this plan. This plan teaches me many new skills also, like; delegation,
patience, task management, etc. Now I'm completely able to use these all developed skills except
team building, because I realize still my team building skills are not completely developed. I still
need to take some more actions towards development of my team building skills. With this
development plan I only developed my people management skills and influencing skills. I'll
create updated version of the development plan only for more develop the team building skills.
This plan is too helpful for me, because with the help of this plan I'm able to improve my
personality and professionalism on the job role of the Member and Visitor Welcome Manager in
the National Trust.
3.4: Updated Development Plan
This development plan only prepared for the purpose of fully develops my team building
skills at my workplace, because my skills are still unimproved. So, this updated development
plan only focuses on the development of my team building skills;
Skills
which still
Current
Performanc
Future
Needs
Activities Opportunit
ies
Threats Time
Period
9

needs to be
improved
e
Team
building
skills
My current
performance
in team
building is
still
unimproved.
I want to
highly
develop my
skills for
makes an
effective
teamwork.
For develop
my skills I'll
do that all
things
which are
make
develop my
team
building
skills. I join
the coaching
centres
which
provide
special
knowledge
about the
team
building. I
also attend
various
seminars
which
organize for
teach
lessons of
effective
team. I also
purchase
With these
skills I'm
also able to
build
effective
relations
with my
employees.
In case if I'll
not improve
my skills in
the future,
then I'll
decrease the
National
Trust's over
all
performance
.
Achievemen
t date: 25th
December
2020
Review
date: 30th
December
2020
10

some books
which are
written on
the team
building
topic. I'll
always try
to interact
with my
employees
for make
better
relationship,
because for
makes an
effective
team the
strong
relationship
between the
employees
and the
manger
played great
role.
LO4
4.1: Problem Solving Techniques
There are various problems solving techniques or models in order to identify main cause
of problems and to give solutions accordingly.
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First the problem should be understood clearly: The organization should understand the type
and nature of the problem. In this case, the organization needs to investigate upon why some
senior employees are working harder than newer employees.
Then problem's impacts should be considered: After investigation of problem, the
organization needs to identify the problem's priority, whether it's a serious concern or not and
analyse its impacts. In this case, the organization should be aware of consequences of unbalance
workload among employees, as this will led to demotivation of senior employees and
bullying/harassment for new joiners.
Try catching main cause: To tackle with these problems, organizations should identify root
cause of this problem. In this case, organization should identify why some employees are
working harder than new joiners. They should identify factors like time-management issues or
lack of skills or training etc.
Planning and Implementation of strategies: Then after identifying root cause of the problem
the organization should plan and develop and implement those strategies to eliminate problems
(McNeese, 2020). In this case, the organization if they find time management issues of new
joiners then they should organize seminars which will make new joiners learn to efficiently
manage time. Or if organization find any other problems like lack of skills or abilities. Then with
the help of SWOT analysis or other techniques they should identify their employee strengths,
weaknesses and plan and implement strategies according to that.
Analyse results: After applying necessary problem solving techniques organization should
analyse results of the same. In this case, organization after implementation of appropriate
strategies should look that the problem of unbalance workload still exists or not.
Make necessary changes: If the problem still persists make necessary changes to the
organization. In this case, if the problem of unbalance workload still exists, then the organization
should develop different strategy to in order to eliminate those problems.
4.2 Bullying and harassment
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13
Workplace Bullying and Harassment
Workplace bullying refers to behaviour which is meant to harm an employee and makes them unable to respond. It is
considered as unwelcome behaviour. And harassment at workplace refers to threatening behaviour from boss or head
against an employee. In order to tackle harassment and bullying at workplace, organizations can do some measures.
Organization can build and use bullying and harassment policies, which clearly states types of bullying and harassment it
includes. By using these policies, an organization will protect individuals against such cases. Organization should conduct
internal investigations if they encounter case of harassment and bullying in order to get to know about situation completely.
Also, those employees which are experiencing bullying or harassment, can stand against such behaviour, they should
directly talk to the person. Also, they can tell them to stop such behaviour or threaten them to take legal action and express
clearly about how they felt. They can also report to HR department or management and can post complain against harasser.
REFERENCES
Carter Andrews, D. J. and Richmond, G., 2019. Professional Development for Equity: What Constitutes Powerful Professional
Learning?.
Mackay, M., 2017. Professional development seen as employment capital. Professional development in education. 43(1). pp.140-
155.

4.3: Time Management Strategies
An employee should be aware of amount of
time he/she is spending on a particular task.
An individual should now how much work he
has to do and spent time accordingly so that
he/she can do all of their tasks. In order to be
successful, an employee should manage time
effectively to accomplish its goal. Employee
should prioritize goals and objectives.
Employees should set everyday tasks to do.
Employees should not go for perfection,
because going after perfection will result in
delay in completing tasks. Employees should
take short brakes in between, in order to
refresh their mind, which will also help in
Boosting productivity. Employees should
maintain their focus while diverting from
negative though and distraction, resulting in
positive vibes which will help in working
efficiently. They should not be doing
multitasking, because multitasking is not
possible for humans, this will result in poor
completion of every task. Employees should
develop and work upon their own time
management strategies, because everyone has
different working abilities. Employees should
always ask for help whenever they need, this
will result in time saving, and appropriate
completion of tasks.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that self-managed learning approaches are very important in learn
new things at workplace. With these approaches anyone can easily able to improve their work
efficiency. There are various ways are also available for lifelong learning to develop self-
personality and professionalism. It also included major benefits of the self-managed learning
which positively impact to the individual and the National Trust. The person which is looking for
the job of visitor welcome manager at the national trust always needs to use some skills and
competencies at their workplace. It also needs develop their various skills which really need to
be developed. There are also attached two development plans for fulfil skills development needs.
The first one is success in develop skills called; people management and influencing skills. The
14

second one is updated plan for develop rest team building skills. Visitor welcome manager at the
National trust always need to maintain an effective personality and professionalism for put great
impression on the visitors.
15

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barone, M. A., Vercio, C. and Jirasevijinda, T., 2019. Supporting the development of
professional identity in the Millennial learner. Pediatrics. 143(3). p.e20183988.
Bates, M. S., Phalen, L. and Moran, C., 2016. Online professional development: A primer. Phi
Delta Kappan. 97(5). pp.70-73.
Carter Andrews, D. J. and Richmond, G., 2019. Professional Development for Equity: What
Constitutes Powerful Professional Learning?.
Derrick, M. G. and Wighting, M., 2019. Cultural Awareness Research and Implications for
Practice and Professional Development. In Multicultural Andragogy for Transformative
Learning.(pp. 1-8). IGI Global.
Mackay, M., 2017. Professional development seen as employment capital. Professional
development in education. 43(1). pp.140-155.
Moreillon, J., 2016. Building your personal learning network (PLN): 21st-century school
librarians seek self-regulated professional development online. Knowledge Quest. 44(3).
pp.64-69.
Vähäsantanen, K., and et.al., 2017. Professional learning and agency in an identity coaching
programme. Professional Development in Education. 43(4). pp.514-536.
Webb, T., Diamond-Wells, T. and Jeffs, D., 2017. Career mapping for professional development
and succession planning. Journal for nurses in professional development. 33(1). pp.25-
32.
Online
Mark, K. 2016. Lifelong Learning In Personal And Professional Contexts. [Online]. Available
Through: <http://www.expertsmind.com/blog/post/lifelong-learning-in-personal-and-
professional-contexts-7291.aspx>.
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