Personal and Professional Development(PPD ) Assignment

PERSONAL
AND
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

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INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development (PPD) is formal method through which an
individual determine its own objectives, strategies and results of learning and training. It further
help in improvising the skills, abilities and knowledge of the individual so that they give their
best performance. Personal and professional development is important method adopted by
supervisors, managers or leaders to amend the efficiency, capability and learning of their
employees (Polly and Hannafin, 2011). It further involve use of various educational and training
development programs in the workplace.
PPD is effective way for building the morale of employees and influencing them to give
their maximum productivity. It further build self awareness among members so they know what
is expected from them and how they should work to fulfill the expectation of their employer.
With the help of PPD plan individuals can perform their work in better way and chances of the
mistakes is reduced to large extent (Potter and Rockinson‐Szapkiw, 2012). The overall
effectiveness of employees is improved with the help of Personal and professional development
program.
In this report, clear learning will be shown regarding various aspect of personal and
professional development. The evaluation about various approaches to self managed learning
will be discussed along with their benefits to individuals as well as organization. Discussion
about the own development needs and the activities required to meet them will be provided. The
development plan will be updated as per feedback. Further, solution to work based problems will
be provided. Thereafter, evaluation of time management strategies will be given.
TASK 1
1.1 Evaluating the approaches to self managed learning
Self managed learning depict a procedure through which a person take initiative, with or
without the help of others, in identifying their learning needs, developing learning objectives,
assessing the resources for gaining knowledge and thereafter, selecting and employing suitable
learning strategies (Sailors and Price, 2010). This process is followed by the evaluation of
learning results. Self managed learning help individual in achieving its individual objectives in
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terms of learning. This further them in getting the desired job or career growth in present job.
There are various approaches of self managed learning which are discussed as follows:
 Learning through research: In order to gain in depth knowledge of various concept, a
individual can use analyze qualitative and quantitative data.
 Internet: It is cost effective source that provide plentiful information about every aspect
related to learning. There are various, books, journals, PDFs, news and other information
that can be accessed by individual to gain knowledge (Segers, Beausaert and Gijselaers,
2011).
 Mentoring: The individual seeking knowledge can learn new theories and concepts and
from more knowledgeable individual in specific field. The mentors further provide
support, guidance and advice to the employees which improves their understanding about
various aspects (Self Directed learning. 2009).
 Seminar: The individual can attend different seminars that provide information and
training. The seminars are further organized by experts and scholars that share their
knowledge and experience (Shagrir, 2010).
Other than this, there are various approaches and theories of learning which can be used
by individual to gain knowledge. They are discussed as follows:
VARK theory: According to this theory, the individual can use their learning preference to gain
knowledge. As per this, one can use its visual, aural, reading and kinesthetic sensory models for
gaining information (VARK Modal, 2016). These learning styles are further elaborated as
follows: Visual: According to this aspect, individual can gain knowledge through its visual ability.
Therefore, learners gain knowledge through information depicted through charts, spider
diagrams, maps, graphs etc (Stanley, 2011). Auditory: It involve learning of information through hearing aids. Here, individuals can
learn through the group discussions, seminars, lectures, brain storming session etc. Reading: This aspect, states that individual can enhance its learning through its reading
skills (Zimmerman and Labuhn, 2012). Therefore, one can access various books,
journals, reports, manuals etc. The data available on internet can also be used to enhance
knowledge.
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 Kinesthetic: It is effective method that state best learning can be done through practicing
and experiencing. The learner in this style solve case study or try new things to enhance
their knowledge.
Hence, it can be concluded that, VARK theory can be considered by individual for
facilitating self managed learning.
1.2 Proposing ways in which lifelong learning in PPD context could be encouraged
In order to foster life learning among employees within the organization there are various
methods that can be used (Wallace and Priestley, 2011). This aspect will help management of
entity to stimulate individuals to continuously improve their knowledge to attain personal as well
as organizational goals. Following are the methods that can be used to encourage life long
learning in personal and professional context:
 Regular check: The work of employee should be checked periodically by themselves so
they can learn from their past mistakes. It further help them in identifying their weakness
which can be improved by them by taking suitable actions. Such as employee facing
issue in technical areas can attend various workshop or training and development sessions
(Kraus, and et.al., 2015).
 Self-motivation: The employee must be self encouraged to learn new aspects of life. By
recognizing the past experience and understanding own capabilities and skills one can be
motivated to perform even better in future.
 Self evaluation: It is important process that help individual in assessing and determining
its own strength and weakness. Therefore, individual can use its capabilities to overcome
its inefficiency. On the basis of this, person can determine the field in which he or she
can excel and those which require improvement (Olsen, 2015).
1.3 Evaluating the benefits of self managed learning to the individual and organization
It has been identified that, self managed learning yields advantages to both individuals as
well as enterprise. The detail discussion of this is provided as follows:
Benefits to individual
 Career growth: With the help of personal and professional development, as individual I
can gain knowledge regarding various fields. The overall efficiency of me is increased by
adopting PPD plan. This further provide opportunity to me as a individual to assure
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advancement in career and build employability skills. I can get promotion by performing
my work in effective and cost efficient manner. Learning as per preference: I can chose the learning method as per my likes or
orientation. Such as, I prefer learning through hearing, therefore, I can take part in
various group discussions or attend seminar, coaching by experienced person. Also, I can
manage my time as per my need.
Benefits to organization
 Improved productivity of employee: By encouraging self managed learning program
within organization, management can stimulate individuals to improve their deficient
skills. Therefore, employee work on their lacking skills so as to enhance their overall
efficiency. In addition to this, employee are encouraged to perform work beyond their
capacity. This further leads to improved productivity of individual.
 Reduction in operational cost: The self managed learning encourage individual to give
their best performance. The employees perform their work in effective manner with
minimal chances of mistakes. They further use and manage the resources in optimum
manner so as to reduce their wastage (Irwin.Sutherland, Howard and Markauskaite,
2010).
 Increase in staff morale: It has been identified that self managed learning increases the
career advancement opportunities for individuals. This further enhances their morale
which encourages them to take more challenging jobs. The motivated employees give
their best performance and also stay for longer duration in organization. Therefore, the
staff retention rate is increased (Olsen, 2015).
TASK 2
2.1 Required skills and competence for meeting organizational goals
In order to give maximum contribution towards organizational goals and ensure success
in career, there are various skills and competencies that are essential. Presently, I am working as
executive in famous retail company, Tesco. The skills that I will be requiring to work effectively
in cited company are described as follows:
 Interpersonal skills: It is important skills that will help in working cordially and
collectively with various individuals having different nature, educational qualification
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