Business Administration: A Professional Development Report for Zara

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of professional development within a business administration context, specifically using the fast-fashion retailer Zara as a case study. The report begins by comparing various sources of information on professional development trends, such as e-learning and on-the-job training, evaluating their validity and impact. It then delves into current trends like blended and mobile learning and their influence on the need for professional development. A skills gap analysis is conducted to identify current and future personal and professional development needs. The report evaluates the benefits of personal and professional development for employees, teams, and the organization, and explains how development actions are selected. It also covers the creation of a personal and professional development plan, incorporating SMART objectives and feedback mechanisms. Finally, the report outlines strategies for executing the plan and leveraging professional networks for further development. The report provides a well-structured framework for understanding the importance of professional development in business administration.

Business
Administration 2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Compare Sources of information on professional development trends and their validity.1
1.2 Trends and development that influence the need for professional development.............3
1.3 Own current and future personal and professional development need relating to the role...4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Evaluate the benefits of personal and professional development.....................................4
2.2Explain the basis on which types of development actions are selected...........................5
2.3 Current and future skills, knowledge and experience needs using skills gap..................5
2.4 Agree a personal and professional development plan that is consistent with business needs
and personal objectives...........................................................................................................6
................................................................................................................................................7
2.5 Execute the plan within the agreed budget and timescale................................................7
2.6 Take advantage of development opportunities made available by professional networks or
professional bodies.................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Explain how to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART)
objectives................................................................................................................................8
3.2 Obtain feedback on performance from a range of valid sources......................................8
3.3 Review progress toward personal and professional objectives........................................9
3.4 Amend the personal and professional development plan in the light of feedback received
from others............................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business administration is an important process which deals with performing out all
business operations of a firm in an effective manner. This process comprises of a combination of
numerous aspects such as directing and perceiving business operations in an effective way so
that activities can be performed with greater efficiency (Bailey and et. al., 2017). Business
administration is a quite vast topic and comprises of a variety of departments namely, accounts,
finance, marketing, research and development etc. This report has been framed based on ZARA
which is fast fashion retail sector business concern. ZARA is a UK based fashion retailer chain
with its headquarters in Artexo in Galicia. It is world's largest fashion retailer which was founded
in 1974. This report highlights sources of information along with own current and future needs.
Also this report focusses on various ways training can be ensured in combination with trends that
focus on overall skill development.
TASK 1
1.1 Compare Sources of information on professional development trends and their validity.
Professional development is a name given to a process which is undertaken or considered
by individuals so that they can enhance and develop their overall professional credibility. In
context of professional credibility, there are a number of sources which can further be used by
individuals:-
Sources Development Trends Validity
E-learning E- learning is an online
learning channel where
knowledge is generally
gained by undertaking
electronic media such as
computers, mobile phones
etc (Bernstein, 2015).
This is a quite useful
technology which can
easily be used by
employees who cannot
spare time for learning or
work 24*7. It is quite a
time and cost effective
technique.
On the job training On the job training refers to a It is a quick and easy method

process where training or
skill development happens
while a person is
performing a job. In this
generally newly joined
employees are made to
work under supervisors so
that they can learn about
how a task is done.
by which skill
development can take
place. Only limitation
here is if supervising
person is absent then it
hinders training process.

1.2 Trends and development that influence the need for professional development
Blended- Learning:
It is another remarkable trend that provide facility to person to do face to face learning. In
this form of learning program, there is a combine mixture of online learning facility and
traditional teaching styles. With the help of this training method, individual can allow
themselves to ask questions and put their any kind of confusion in the front of trainer. Earlier
company was using traditional method of learning and now they have begun using an innovative
approach. Also they have made a combination of both these methods for developing learning
skills of employees. This will help them to provide new advanced learning method to this
employees.
Mobile Learning:
M-learning is another form of revolution in the world of e-learning. It is the fact that
smartphone have achieved massive advancement in the past few years (Fuentes‐Fuentes, and et.
al., 2017). Mobile provide micro level level to an individual which help them to acquire
knowledge from vast area of information pool. Employee can use live stream videos for example
google primer and learn information quickly. This will provide benefit to take information form
any place and on any time. Smartphone expand a person capacity to maximise their skills and
development through mobile phones, laptops and other computing devices. As technology is
developing with fast phase company was using offline mode of training now it have evolved
their training programme and adopted Mobile learning apps.
Online Training Courses:
Online training courses is also known as distance learning, e-learning and computer
based training. In this form of training, different types of elements are included such as graphics,
video, web links and audio which can accessed through internet. With the help of this training
method an employee can increase their level of professional development ability from distance.
This form of training helps individual in accessing different types of contents whenever and
wherever. An employee can take advantage of these training courses to increase their knowledge
level and maximise their skills (Goffee and Scase, 2015). As in this present scenario, traditional
offline form is not sufficient it is necessary to adopt online training courses as to maximise area
of self and organisation knowledge. So this is the major factor that influence the need of
professional development.
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1.3 Own current and future personal and professional development need relating to the role.
Current personal and professional development need are:-
After my critical evaluation, I was able to analyse that I have certain skills such as self
motivation, soft skills( communication), strategic thinking skills, creative approach etc. After
working in coordination with my team members I analysed that I had well developed
collaborative skills along with effectiveness in time management and hard working nature. My
currently developed skills that are useful for me include confidence, understandability, learning
skills etc (Loebnitz, Schuitema and Grunert, 2015). An effective combination of all these skills
helps me in enhancing my productivity and also achieve organisational objectives. My currently
developed skill is time management.
Time management: Time management is an process that infuses a process of planning as
well as exercising conscious control of time on certain specific activities. It is greatly helpful in
enhancing effectiveness, efficiency as well as productivity in a business concern. By adopting
time management strategies in my working culture I am able to complete all my tasks within a
specified time frame. Also I get chance to explore many other opportunities which may enhance
my growth. By infusing time effective strategies my employees tend to be motivated and
satisfied. Also they complete each task assigned to them with greater efficiency.
Future personal and professional development need are:-
As per future requirements, after examination of skills I found out that I need to improve
some skills and abilities which will further help me in achieving my goals and objectives within
a specified time frame. As per evaluation, I found out that while I will be working alone I need to
enhance my patience quotient and also start focussing towards business operations so that I can
easily adapt to any sort of changes that might occur. Also I need to enhance my coordination and
problem solving issues of myself as well as my managers.
Collaborative working skills: Collaboration or coordination is greatly needed by me in
future. It is an important factor that enables working jointly with other subordinates and team
members. When I will develop this skill I will be able to achieve effectiveness in my work and
also motivate my subordinates to improve their efficiency levels as well. By adopting
collaborative working approach a healthy work environment will be built in my organisation.
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TASK 2
2.1 Evaluate the benefits of personal and professional development
Personal development benefits an individual to expand their area of knowledge and
effectiveness. Personal development is first step towards the personal fulfilment and are the key
component of excellent lifestyle. Mentioned below there are some benefits of personal
development to employee, team and organisation:
Employee: Personal and professional development programs help an employee to
acquire new knowledge and skills and enhance their existing one. This will aid them to identify
their weaknesses and improve them simultaneously (Negotiation Strategy, 2019). This will aid
them increase their performance in a workplace.
Benefits of Personal development: By personal development employees will be able to enhance
their present skills and area of expertise.
Benefits of Professional development: Performance of employees will get enhanced when
employees will go through professional development sessions thereby leading to higher growth
and efficiency.
Team: Personal and professional development help a team to learn new and innovate
things. With the help of this program team members can increase their skill set and learn
utilization of new and advanced technology and apply their knowledge in team to make whole
team better (McKeever, 2016). Professional development broadened perspectives of team
individuals which they can share with rest of the team members. This results in bringing new
energy in team and achieve their targets with next advanced level.
Benefits of Personal development: By adopting personal development team members will be
able to enhance their area of expertise and skill set as well.
Benefits of Professional development: Professional development is an important aspect which
broadens aspects or perspectives of team members so that they can further bring new innovations
in their business.
Organisation: Personal and professional development programmes benefits an
organisation to provide job satisfaction to their employees as when a worker become more
confident and effective then they feel more satisfied towards their goals. Organisation by provide
numerous training and development opportunities can make their company more appealing and
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increase collective knowledge of their employees which will benefit them to retain their
employees and build sense of enthusiasm in organisation (Oinas, 2017).
Benefits of professional development: By undertaking professional development sessions
employees will be able to raise their job satisfaction and motivation level while working in an
organisation. It also helps in employee retention.
Benefits of personal development: Personal development is a quite essential development
techniques that focusses on overall skill development of individuals. This is an important way it
makes individuals confident and optimistic.
2.2Explain the basis on which types of development actions are selected.
There are a number of factors which can be used by a business concern for developing
and enhancing action plan which further helps in developing both professional as well as
personal skills and attributes. These skills are basic necessities of both employees as well as
employers. Main important ways that are used by ZARA are stated as under:
Training and development sessions- Managers of ZARA use this approach for
enhancing skills and traits of employees so that they can function with greater efficiency.
Superiors use this approach so that employees can be trained as per requirements. This can be
practised by a number of ways such as specialised training programmes, online training courses
etc.
Mentoring- Mentoring is a process where employees who have been newly hired work
under their seniors so as to develop their skills and learn how a task is accomplished. By this
approach, less skilled employees are able to focus on their personal as well as professional
growth. ZARA uses this approach so that expertise level of employees gets enhanced.
Apprenticeship- Apprenticeship is a form of training in which employees are sent to
other locations for enhancing their skills. In context of ZARA managers use this approach so that
employees can work on dummy machinery and learn to operate them in an effective way.
Managers of ZARA use training and development methods so that they can enhance
skills of employees and make them more effective. Training and development both in a
combination promote growth of employees and make them more technically skilled.
2.3 Current and future skills, knowledge and experience needs using skills gap
Skills, knowledge and experience helps an individual to maximise their area of
proficiencies which will benefit them to have more opportunities (Rice, 2015). For evaluating or
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examining skill gap, I have further conducted my own gap analysis which will further help me in
working effectively and eradicating or reducing chances of errors.
Skills Required Already having Gap
Adaptability Skills 10 5 5
Problems Solving
Skills
10 4 6
Future Forecasting
Skills
10 5 5
Time Management 10 6 4
Collaborative working 10 7 3
As per above stated skill gap table, I have found that I will need to improve my
adaptability skills so that I can easily accept any changes that may occur in future. As per data, I
will need to improve my adaptability skills by 5% so that I can further achieve effectiveness in it.
Second important skill that needs to be enhanced by me is problem solving which needs to be
improved by 6%. Other than these skills I will further have to develop my forecasting skills so
that any issues that may occur in future can be resolved easily. After my current and future skill
analysis I also came to know that my time management skills need to be enhanced by 4%
whereas my future skill of collaborative working has to be developed at least 3%.
2.4 Agree a personal and professional development plan that is consistent with business needs
and personal objectives.
Personal and Professional Development Plan
Serial
no.
Learning
objective
Current
proficiency
Target
proficiency
Development opportunities Time scale
1 Adaptability
Skills
5 10 I will need to develop my
adaptability skills so that I
can easily face if there are
any unnoticeable changes in
1 month
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business.
2 Problems
Solving Skills
4 10 I will have to further enhance
my problem solving skills so
that I can meet any critical
situations. Also it will help
me in maintaining
effectiveness in business
operations.
2 Months
3 Future
Forecasting
Skills
5 10 Future forecasting is an
important aspect that helps in
assessing future opportunities
available in competitive
market.
45 Days
After framing a professional and personal development plan, I have also set SMART objective
for my overall skill enhancement.
My SMART objective is to : To improve my problem solving skills by 6% in 2 months.
2.5 Execute the plan within the agreed budget and timescale.
Executing a personal and professional development plan needs quite a lot of funds . In
context of ZARA budget for PDP has been stated as under:
Analysing the issue: The first step in forming a plan is evaluating scale of the issue.
Once the issue and its depth has been assessed it becomes easy to frame other steps. Issue in
personal and professional development plan was that my skills were not as developed as they had
to be.
Examining resources: After analysing the issue, next step is to examine various
resources that can be used for solving those issues. In present context a number of resources can
be used such as training sessions, seminars, development programmes etc.
Evaluating alternative resources: Once the resources or ways in which skill
development can be practised is assessed next important step is to evaluate or choose between
various alternatives and select one suitable out of them.
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Choosing best alternative: In this part of plan, one out of many solutions is chosen which
is best suitable as per requirement of the issue. For example in this plan best chosen alternative is
training seminars by which skill development can be practised.
Estimated Budget: For developing skills, I have chosen training seminar mode. Cost that
will be required in this is estimated to be around 40 K.
Time scale: Time scale refers to time that is required for developing a certain skill. For
example, time required by employees for developing their skills is around 2 months.
2.6 Take advantage of development opportunities made available by professional networks or
professional bodies.
Professional network is a combination of services whose main aim is to focus on
interacting and developing an effective relationship with competitors and other customers so as
to build and develop effective business premises. Professional network is an important process
which is mainly used by an individual so that they can maintain contacts with each other and use
them in future for professional purposes (Skärvad and Bruzelius, 2017). Services of professional
network can either be conducted online and offline yet their aim remains the same i.e. promotion
of business ventures and resolving issues as well. Professional network is mainly used by ZARA
so that a number of activities can be accomplished successfully. It helps in recruiting employees ,
take professional advice, identify career and career advancement choices etc. There are a number
of networking sites and applications which are used by ZARA such as MeetMe, Shapr,
Namerick etc. Along with this it help in creating personal opportunities, help in identifying and
adopt best practice or ideas, help in designing strategies for adopting new business trends.
TASK 3
3.1 Explain how to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART)
objectives
SMART objectives is a significant tool that is used by business concerns so that they can
set standards as well as effective objectives for performing business operations. It is an effective
approach that helps in enhancing profitability as well as productivity of a business concern.
SMART is a combination of various factors namely Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant
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and Time bound (Wang and et. al., 2016). In context of ZARA, its objective is to expand
business operations and also adopt a multilevel task culture in their business operations. Hence
for achieving these objectives managers of ZARA have planned that they wish to enhance skills
off both employees as well as employers. Some certain examples of skills that are needed to be
improved are adaptability, problem solving, future forecasting etc. These skills will help
managers and employees so that they can adapt any sort of changes that may occur while
expansion. Also strategies that are SMART need to developed by them. In context of ZARA
SMART objective set is
Improving my problem solving skills by 6% in 2 months.
This objective satisfies SMART category as it is
Specific: focussing on one issue ( problem solving)
Measurable: 6%
Attainable: whether it can be achieved or not ( It can be practically achieved by infusing training
programmes)
Realistic : It is no imaginary issue or target hence it can be easily achieved.
Time: 2 months
3.2 Obtain feedback on performance from a range of valid sources
Improving or enhancing skills of an individual is an important aspect which helps
individuals in their overall personality development. Also they need to undertake feedback
sessions in which feedbacks about important activities are undertaken by managers of ZARA so
that they get an exact idea as to whether implemented idea is as per set standards or not. Hence
it is an important part of skill enhancement which employees of ZARA can practice either by
attending training sessions or by personal practices as well. Also they have decided about using
feedbacks from subordinates and peers as a measure of evaluation. For this a number of methods
such as surveys, questionnaires, feedback boxes etc can be used (Bell, Bryman and Harley,
2018). Also a self assessment test can be conducted by employees for analysing if skills are
developed or not.
Questionnaire
Q.1 Is there any specific area which needs to be modified.
 Marketing
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