Professional Development Strategies

This assignment delves into the multifaceted concept of professional development. It examines various theories and perspectives, including practice-theory, highlighting the crucial role of continuous learning and self-reflection in enhancing professional growth. The assignment analyzes different strategies for professional development, such as mentorship, online courses, and collaborative learning communities. It also considers the impact of external factors, like institutional policies and individual motivation, on successful professional development.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P 1.1: Evaluate various approaches to self managed learning.........................................................1
P 1.2: Propose ways how lifelong learning......................................................................................1
P 1.3: Benefits of self-managed learning to me and Hilton Hotel...................................................2
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................3
P 2.1: Evaluation of personal skills and competencies....................................................................3
P 2.2: Identification of the skills needed to work professionally.....................................................3
P 2.3: Identification of personal development opportunities...........................................................4
P 2.4: Personal and Professional Development plan (PPD)............................................................4
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................6
P 3.1: Ways to implement PPD plan................................................................................................6
P 3.2: Undertaking of development activities by documenting and making references to the
process and key activities................................................................................................................6
P 3.3: Reflection on the achievement against the expected aims and objectives.............................7
P 3.4: Review and update of the plan based on the outcomes.........................................................7
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................................8
P 4.1 Investigate and select work-based problem in work environment.........................................8
P 4.2: Communicate solutions using appropriate methods and styles at different level..................9
P 4.3: Evaluate the application of effective time management approaches.....................................9
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................11

INDEX OF TABLES
Table 1: Analysing personal skills and competencies..........................................................................3
Table 2: Personal and Professional Development Plan........................................................................5
Table 3: Reviewing and Updating plans...............................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development is the process by which an individual sets out the
goals, strategies and outcome of learning and training. A plan should clearly align the time frames,
activities, outcomes to meet the predefined objectives and meeting related to final objectives and
goals. Learning activities include formal and informal training, reading, attending meetings,
observing colleagues and developing new study skills for achieving the goal (Von Haenisch, 2011).
As per the case scenario, the research consists of various approaches to self managed learning and
their use for lifelong development at different levels. It also includes the theories and techniques to
analyse strengths and weaknesses as-well-as threats and opportunities for personal and professional
enhancement.
TASK 1
P 1.1: Evaluate various approaches to self managed learning
Self managed learning is the process in which an individual can use different approaches to
manage their own learning. I am working in Hilton Hotel as a human resource executive. There are
many approaches that are followed by me to develop my skills and are as follows: Seminars: I participate in different seminars related to self development topic which is
conducted by company. I communicate or share my views regarding the self enhancement to
the experts who present in the seminar. They also guide me that how to improve my
interaction process with the other people and co-workers. Talking with expertise also
develop my mind and directly reflect my own personality. This also increases my motivation
level and performance at the workplace.
 Social Network: This is another way which I choose for self-learning. It may be local or
virtual community like Facebook, Twitter and many more internet based communities for
me to get socialise. By communicating with different people, I improve my interpersonal
skills and knowledge. This also provides me a view to understand different people with their
opinion, perception etc. related to various fields. This helps me in increasing and improving
my relation at workplace.
P 1.2: Propose ways how lifelong learning
Lifelong learning of an individual can be established through framework such as SWOT
analysis. By doing the self evaluation by my own, I can improve my confidence level and enhance
effective interaction at professional level. For lifelong learning, I can choose Kolb's and Vark’s
model for encouraging my personal/professional life.
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 Kolb's Learning Model: This model suggests four stages for learning. Through concrete
experience, it adds sensitivity in me towards other's feeling. Next is reflective observation
through which I can increase my observation power in order to make judgement by viewing
environment from different perspectives. By Abstract conceptualisation, I logically analyse
ideas and understand the situation. I undertake Active experimentation through which I
increase my risk-taking ability.
 VARK model: According to this model, there are three ways to learn new skills and abilities.
For adapting visual learning style, I learn to absorb and retain information from the pictures
and videos. From auditory skills, I enhance my listening skills by attending seminars and
conferences. Kinaesthetic learning style is adopted to learn various experiences. Through
this, I see the facts available for reality.
P 1.3: Benefits of self-managed learning to me and Hilton Hotel
The benefits of self-managed learning to me and Hilton Hotel are as follows:
Benefits for ME:
 Performance level: On daily basis, I evaluate myself to work on pre-established objectives
formulated by me. This is measured on the daily basis performances measure.
 Self Initiations for work: For initiating on work, I attend different motivational programs
which increase my confidence and motivation level. Presentable: Self learning could be
worked upon by attending seminars and group discussions with others that enhances my
confidence and communication level. Team work: There is lacking coordination and cooperation between my team members. So,
in order to improve the relationship and communication level, I will attend different training
and development program.
Benefits for Hilton Hotel
 It helps in better time management as hotel started to provide services on time to the
customers (Busse, Aboneh and Tefera, 2014).
 It reduces conflicts and disputes by maintaining and establishing better relationship with the
employees.
 It increases performance level by achieving objective on time that enhances sustainability of
the Hotel (Hunzicker, 2011).
 It develops coordination and cooperation among the workers.
 This helps the company to gain revenue through proper management of different
departments.
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 It also develops effective management structure with proper utilisation of resources.
 It increases better relationship with the customers by providing high quality services to them
(Busse, Aboneh and Tefera, 2014).
TASK 2
P 2.1: Evaluation of personal skills and competencies
For evaluating my personal skills and competencies, I conducted my self evaluation. It is
one of the best ways to identify my weaknesses and strengths. This helps me in improving my
weaknesses for developing myself on both personal and professional level. I used to self evaluate
my work and personal attitude so that I can bring improvement in myself by developing and
improving my skills, abilities and knowledge. At the time of self evaluation, I determine my skills
and competencies which are as follows:
Table 1: Analysing personal skills and competencies
SKILLS AND
COMPETENCIES
DESCRIPTION
Relationship Management
Skills
I maintain my relations with seniors, colleagues, relatives, friends,
etc properly.
I used to communicate with my co-workers for maintaining good
relations with them.
I cooperate and coordinate with my team members and try to
understand their opinion and perception.
Leadership Skills I can guide my subordinates properly.
I am able to handle challenges and risks.
I communicate and also actively listens their views for other
workers.
Positive Attitude I posses positive attitude towards any kind of work. This helps me in
handling and managing my tasks properly without losing patience.
Hard Working I am hard worker and can do new task or work properly. This habit
also helps me in developing my skills and capabilities.
P 2.2: Identification of the skills needed to work professionally
I am working as an HR executive in Hilton Hotel. It is important for an individual to have
effective skills and abilities for working professionally and developing career. My post demands
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various skills and abilities for achieving objectives. For working in Hilton Hotel and dealing with
employees, it is important to have following skills professionally: Time Management Skills: For an individual, it is essential to have time management skills
for managing and maintaining his/her work properly. In Hilton, this skill helps in reducing
the work load or pressure among the staff members. By organising work, prioritising the
tasks, making work-list, etc support workers to manage time appropriately and effectively
(10 strategies for better time management, 2016). Technical Skills: It is important to have effective technical skills for the employees. The use
of technologies and applications help in managing work properly. With the help of this,
workers can use computers. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship
Model (CRM) and many more tools can be used at the workplace (Safford and Hancock,
2013).
 Team Management Skills: It is one of the important skills with the help of which staff
members of Hilton can work cooperatively. This also leads to maintain the relationship
among the team members. By using this skill, leader of different teams effectively manage
their team members by handling conflicts (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 2013).
P 2.3: Identification of personal development opportunities
For identifying my personal development opportunities, I use following methods: Clear Goal Setting: With the help of appropriate analysis and research, I set my goals for
developing my skills and abilities. For identifying the personal development opportunities, it
is essential to have clear and fare vision of the objectives that individual wants to achieve.
By setting the goals, I will be able to develop and improve my skills personally and
professionally. I will improve my skills and abilities by taking guidance from my senior
employees, by attending seminars and conferences, joining coaching, etc.
 Personal Empowerment: I will develop my personal skills with respect to stress
management, team management, change management and diversity management by joining
training programmes. This will help me in knowing about the latest trends, strategies,
approaches, etc regarding the areas of improvement. Along with this, I can communicate
with the top management or seniors through mails to improve my team management skills.
P 2.4: Personal and Professional Development plan (PPD)
Personal and Professional development plan with the specific development objectives within
the Hilton Hotel are as follows:
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Table 2: Personal and Professional Development Plan
SPECIFIC
OBJECTIVES
ACTIONS MEASUREMENT OF
THE SUCCESS
TIME
FRAME
To develop
communication
skills
 To attend training
programmes
 To practice daily
(Greenleaf and et.al., 2011)
 By increasing interaction
with the colleagues
 Reading and writing
 Use of internet for
improving vocabulary
 Feedbacks from
higher authorities
 Appreciation from
managers
2 months
To develop stress
management skills
 By attending time
management course work
 By organising work as per
their priorities (Huffman
and et.al., 2014)
 Doing yoga and meditation
 Increase in social networks
 Joining parties, team lunch,
etc
 Reviews of family
and friends
 Improvement in
performance
1 month
To develop
presentation skills
 By taking active
participation in training and
development programmes
 Regular practice
 Improving body language
 Participating meetings and
conferences (Burgstahler
and Doe, 2014)
 Attending different
activities like role play
 Feedbacks from
the senior
employees at the
time of
presentation
1 month
To develop change  By watching the positive  By positive or 1 and half
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management skills side of change
 Accepting the change for
my development and
growth
 By training sessions
 By understanding the
importance of change
(Hopkinson, 2014)
negative
feedbacks from
leader
month
TASK 3
P 3.1: Ways to implement PPD plan
For implementing my above discussed PPD plan, I will firstly prioritise each and every skill
as per the requirement and urgency. After this, I will select the most appropriate methods for
improving or developing those skills and abilities. Along with this, I will evaluate the cost of the
training sessions required for developing the different skills. This information will help me in
forming my budget properly. I will evaluate the training hours for balancing my work with it. All
these factors will lead to effective implementation of the PPD plan and achievement of the decided
objectives. I will also communicate with my seniors for taking their advice regarding the
implementation of the plan in appropriate manner. There suggestions will help me in taking right
decision for developing and enhancing my skills and knowledge personally and professionally. I
will also evaluate the barriers which can affect my plan for accomplishing the objectives. As per the
results, I will keep alternative options with me for using them at the time of any problem or issue.
After the analysis of all the factors, I will select the most important skill for my personal and
professional development. As per the skill, I will start doing the actions which can help me in
proper and effective development. I will try to achieve the objectives within the decided time
period.
P 3.2: Undertaking of development activities by documenting and making references to the process
and key activities
Documentation of the activities and processes is essential. It helps in keeping all the
information about the activities conducted by an individual for his/her personal and professional
development (Herman, 2013). I also document all the processes and key activities properly into the
worksheet. This information can help me in my future development. I can also evaluate
improvement and changes in me with respect to the skills, abilities and knowledge by comparing
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the previous results with the present ones.
In the documentation, I include skills which I want to develop. This will further include
problems occurred, strategies used for handling them, time frame achieved or not, accomplished
objectives, issues behind them, etc. All these information help me in improving my personal and
professional development plan for my future development and enhancement. Proper management of
the worksheet results to prioritise my skills and objectives as per their importance and requirement
in my personal and professional life. I also included feedbacks and reviews of the higher authorities
into my worksheet. This leads to aware me about the development of skills and capabilities.
Positive feedbacks represent that I am using right activities but negative feedback shows more
improvement or start learning process again by considering appropriate changes.
P 3.3: Reflection on the achievement against the expected aims and objectives
As per the PDP plan, I am able to achieve all the objectives properly and within the decided
time period. In the first stage, I analyse my learning style for developing skills appropriately and in
effective manner. After this, I use that learning style for developing all these skills and abilities one-
by-one as per their priority. Along with this, I use internet for acquiring information in the field of
communication, stress management and other skills. For developing communication skills, I take
guidance from my higher authorities. Their regular feedbacks and appreciations result to enhance
my personality and communication as well. I increase interaction with the employees for reducing
my stress from the work. In addition, I start organising my work properly so that I can do them
properly without any kind of pressure or tension. I also start joining team lunch, parties, picnics
conducted by the hotel or leaders of the team. This keeps me refreshed and stress free. On the other
hand, I also attend various training programs, seminars, conferences, etc and take active
participation in them. These activities also help me in developing my communication skills (verbal
and non-verbal).
P 3.4: Review and update of the plan based on the outcomes
On the basis of evaluation and various feedbacks of the seniors, my updated PDP plan is as
follows:
Table 3: Reviewing and Updating plans
SPECIFIC
OBJECTIVES
EVALUATION REVIEW
To develop
communication skills
 I started communicating
with my colleagues
 Positive feedbacks from my
family, friends, colleagues and
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properly.
 Used Information and
Communication
Technology (ICT)
 Communicate with my
co-workers with the help
of mails
 Increase social network
higher authorities
 Increase in confidence and
motivation level
To develop stress
management skills
 Yoga and Meditation
keeps me fresh and stress
free
 Started enjoying my
work
 Proper management of work
helps me in achieving the
objective
To develop
presentation skills
 Effective body language
 Increase in involvement
of company meetings
 Accomplishment of daily
practices
To develop change
management skills
 Understanding the
importance of change in
personal and professional
development
 Positive and appreciable
feedbacks from higher
authorities
TASK 4
P 4.1 Investigate and select work-based problem in work environment
As an employee in Hilton Hotel, I analysed the work based problem faced with workers like
communication gap, time management, team work, self discipline, lack of motivation, pressure of
work etc. Communication gap is the most specific problem which is faced by the employees at the
work place. The autocratic leadership style is followed by the managers and subordinates thereby
the communication gap between the employees and leaders of the Hotel (Coughlin, 2014). This
increases the de-motivation, stress of work, lack of work management etc. to the employer. Through
this, the employee does not make an effective and productive work. Another is relationship with the
co-workers and colleagues which is not strong enough and thereby decreases the communication
level. Lack of communication also decreases sharing of information among the members of team
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(Moon, 2013). This reduces skills or knowledge of the employee in order to have proper
communication to the immediate superior. The goal of the organisations or individual cannot be
achieved by miscommunication of the different departments. The communication gap also increases
with the dispute and conflicts between the employees. The inappropriate communication resist to
deliver qualitative services provided to the customers (Stenfors-Hayes and et.al., 2010).
P 4.2: Communicate solutions using appropriate methods and styles at different level
Hilton Hotel consists of three different levels such as upper level; middle level and lower
level management (Hilton Hotel, 2016). The bottom level generally faces communication gap. This
can be reduced by providing different methods and techniques which are as follows: Employee with regular feedback: Young workers enjoy receiving regular feedback to their
immediate superior. By this method, employee increases his/her present performance
through the task performed in the past. This is the best method to build communication
between the managers and team leaders (Hager, Lee and Reich, 2012).
 Use video conferencing: It is the effective and inexpensive way which an organisation uses
for communication. By video conferencing, an individual communicates the present issues
and problems in order to meet the objective of the company (Calderhead, 2012).
 Club activity and workshop: This activity is used at the work place for making interaction
between the staff members. This is used to improve relationship and develop friendly
environment to communicate the task. Through this, the employee easily shares the
problems for improving their performance. This also enhances the perceptions and out of
box thinking which makes employee understandable about the required action (Nicholls,
2014).
P 4.3: Evaluate the application of effective time management approaches
The time management techniques help to deal with overload work. These allow me to
improve productivity in smart way. Different time strategies that I can use for effective time
management are explained below: Set priorities: I used to segregate the important and urgent task at the work place. For this, I
prioritise tasks as per their importance and urgency. As per the result, I spend less time to the
activities which are less important. By focusing on these activities, I gain greater control on
time and possibly reduce the number of tasks which are not important.
 Use planning tools: I use different planning tools (like pocket diaries, calendars, computer,
wall charts, index cards) for improving the performance of the task. It makes me easy to
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prioritise activities on daily basis. With the help of this approach, I will be able to manage
my time properly at the workplace.
CONCLUSION
With the help of present research report, it is articulated that in order to develop the personal
and professional skills, it is better to join self managing learning programmes into groups, where
people can share their knowledge and skills. Along with this, it assists an individual to increase the
learning in both professional and personal life by using various methods. Hilton Hotel uses time
management approaches in various situations to improve its productivity. Along with this, it also
uses different communication approaches for resolving its issues of communication at the
workplace.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Busse, H., Aboneh, E. A. and Tefera, G., 2014. Learning from developing countries in strengthening
health systems: an evaluation of personal and professional impact among global health
volunteers at Addis Ababa University’s Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (Ethiopia).
Globalization and health. 10(1). pp.1.
Calderhead, J., 2012. The contribution of research on teachers' thinking to the professional
development of teachers. Research on teacher thinking: understanding professional
development. London. pp.11-18.
Chipchase, L. S., Johnston, V. and Long, P. D., 2012. Continuing professional development: the
missing link. Manual therapy. 17(1). pp.89-91.
Greenleaf, C. L. and et.al., 2011. Integrating literacy and science in Biology teaching and learning
impacts of reading apprenticeship professional development. American Educational Research
Journal. 48(3). pp.647-717.
Hager, P., Lee, A. and Reich, A., 2012. Practice, learning and change: Practice-theory perspectives
on professional learning. Springer Science and Business Media.
Herman, J. H., 2013. Faculty incentives for online course design, delivery, and professional
development. Innovative Higher Education. 38(5). pp.397-410.
Hopkinson, C., 2014. Personal and professional development. Becoming a Nurse: A Textbook for
Professional Practice. pp.383.
Huffman, J. B. and et.al., 2014. Professional learning communities: Leadership, purposeful decision
making, and job-embedded staff development. Jsl Vol 11-N5. 11. pp.448.
Hunzicker, J., 2011. Effective professional development for teachers: A checklist. Professional
development in education. 37(2). pp.177-179.
Moon, J. A., 2013. Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice.
Routledge.
Nicholls, G., 2014. Professional development in higher education: New dimensions and directions.
Routledge.
Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T., 2013. A Manager's Guide to Self-development. McGraw-
Hill Education (UK).
Safford, K., and Hancock, R., 2013. Approaches to small-scale enquiry and research in primary
schools. Small-Scale Research in Primary Schools: A Reader for Learning and Professional
Development. pp.7.
Stenfors-Hayes, T. and et.al., 2010. Being a mentor for undergraduate medical students enhances
personal and professional development. Medical teacher. 32(2). pp.148-153.
Von Haenisch, C., 2011. How did compulsory personal therapy during counselling training
influence personal and professional development?. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research.
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11(2). pp.148-155.
Online
10 strategies for better time management. 2016. [PDF]. Available Through:
<http://www.fcs.uga.edu/docs/time_management.pdf>. [Accessed on 3rd June, 2016].
Coughlin, D., 2014. Communication Approaches that strengthen working relationship. [Online].
Available Through: <http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/Communication-Approaches-
That-Strengthen-Working-Relationships.aspx>. [Accessed on 3rd June, 2016].
Hilton Hotel. 2016. [Online]. Available Through: <http://www.hotels.uk.com/Hilton-Hotels/>.
[Accessed on 3rd June, 2016].
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