Portfolio Reflections: Business Development and Employability Skills

This portfolio reflects on a business development module, covering key areas such as meaning of work and global experience, communication in the workplace (including written communication), employability skills and cultural diversity, and technology and professional practice. The reflections discuss the importance of these topics in a professional context, including how globalization influences HRM, the significance of effective communication, the development of employability skills like resume writing, and the impact of technology on business practices. The student analyzes the learnings from each session and discusses how these learnings can be applied in future career development, including adopting standard HR approaches, enhancing written communication skills, and developing skills related to people and technology. The portfolio also emphasizes the importance of diversity in the workplace and the need for continuous learning and skill development to enhance employability. The student references various academic sources to support the reflections and insights.

PORTFOLIO
REFLECTIONS

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Meaning of Work and Global Experience..............................................................................1
Communication in the Workplace..........................................................................................1
Communication (Part 2).........................................................................................................2
Employability Skills and Cultural Diversity..........................................................................2
Employability skills and cultural diversity (Part 2)................................................................2
Employability skills and cultural diversity (Part 3)................................................................3
Technology and Professional Practice....................................................................................3
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................4

MAIN BODY
Meaning of Work and Global Experience
Session 1 saw an appropriate insight over managing work in organisations globally. Due
to immense inclination towards globalisation, different approaches have come into play with
regards to managing the human resources appropriately. Since the scope of such management is
high, it holds significant value (Domac and et. al., 2015). This also facilitated my learning in two
distinct ways. The first aspect is how best to identify and manage workforce requirements. In this
week, several explanations related to HR planning, forecasting and determination of labour
surplus or shortages gave me quite an appropriate insight onto this week's learning. Secondly,
growth international business and its explanation in relation to influencing human resources also
enhanced my learning in managing the workforce. Moreover, some of these learnings could
actually be implemented in the future. For example, certain dynamic approaches in relation to
HRM would be quite effective for me to understand, analyse and practice as part of my duty. In
addition to this, from my experience this week, I would like to change my attitude towards
adopting standard approaches in terms of HR functions, moreover, career development activities
would also be undertaken by me to ensure effectiveness in future.
Communication in the Workplace
In the Session 3, business communication was the centre point of learning. It holds
utmost importance as it has a consistent and daily application academically and professionally. In
addition, to understand the value better, there have been various significant learning which has
been given importance (Chambers and Dimson, 2016). For example, the categories, networks
and use of communication for problem solving had been contributing towards understanding the
importance of communicating in a business context. Another factor on which the learning of this
week was subjected was related to corporate social responsibility. The explanation of the same
using the case study of Apple, Inc., was highly contributing in enhancing the scope of success. In
addition, learnings related to communication skills have also been effective in this week.
Moreover, there are several learning aspects that could be used in the future, for example uses of
Email and professional writing. Moreover, as far as the future is concerned, this week's learning
has been important for inclusion of several changes such as adoption of training programmes for
enhancing my written communication skills.
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Communication (Part 2)
Session 4 emphasised upon written communication. As mentioned above that
improvements are required to be amended while communicating in writing. It holds an
appropriate value due to its academic and professional application. This is because no matter
whether in academic practice or professional one, there is an appropriate and effective
implementation of communication in daily basis. Hence, to better reflect on the value,
explanations such as usage of different types of information had been quite significant in
enhancing the learning experience. Learnings related to implementation of written
communication has been very prominent for the future. Reason for this is because written
communication has a wide scope for success where future career opportunities are concerned,
such as drafting business reports, sending Emails, providing resumes, etc.. Moreover, in order to
better utilise this in future, it is necessary that usage of written communication networks like
Emails, formal letters and so forth (Qvortrup and Keiding, 2015).
Employability Skills and Cultural Diversity
In Session 5, culture and skills in an employee have been focused upon effectively.
Learnings in this week holds value, due its wide scope in relation to enhancing the
employability. In addition to the experience of this weeks, learnings and resources in relation to
qualities within workers and pointers related to customer satisfactions made sense to me as they
are very well effective in fetching me a good job in future. In addition to the future, hidden job
markets are quite salient and positive aspects within this week's learning which is worth using in
the future to ensure better employability and recruitment within future job roles. However, this
would be requiring certain preparation, such as development of skills in relation to people, such
as hard and soft skills. In addition to this, where people are concerned, it would be quite valuable
as well as contributing for me to undertake certain procedures and activities such as training
workshops, seminars and simulation training procedures.
Employability skills and cultural diversity (Part 2)
Resumes were the highlight in Session 6, which is an appropriate employability skill as it
reflects the competencies within an individual. Furthermore, diversity in the workplace was also
included in the learning experience within this session. Due to enhanced value of globalisation,
companies and individuals are required to work with individuals with diverse cultural
backgrounds, which also promotes its value within the learning. Moreover, explanations and
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interpretations associated with diversity in the workplace with examples of several companies
made quite a sense in why learning this aspect is necessary. I personally feel diversity is very
important for individuals to adopt and adapt to within the future, to restore harmony and better
achievement of business objectives. In addition to this, adopting such skill and trait would help
individuals in enhancing their future career prospects all over the world. However, in terms of
preparations, different cultures are required to be appropriately studied and reflected with respect
to enhance the adaptability.
Employability skills and cultural diversity (Part 3)
Session 7 has been very much contributing in relation to enhancing my knowledge and
skills with respect to cover letters and resumes. Importance of both these factors is that it creates
a strong first impression towards employability. In addition to this, both these written
communication tools provide better and effective opportunities in relation to describing my
personality and my skills in a sequential and effective manner.. Explanations related to structures
made quite an effective sense to me as it would be helping me in handling my written
documentations well in the future. In relation to this factor, aspects related to job interviews, as
well as assessment of its tips have been quite effective to be applied within the future. Moreover,
in terms of preparation, more robust and better development in structures must be developed in
relation to utilise the resumes and cover letters appropriately to enhance my future career
prospects.
Technology and Professional Practice
The last session holds an appropriate importance as it is based on how technology has
enhanced business practices with respect to communication and advancements in organisational
operations. Since the future is likely to witness enhanced use of technology, it is very valuable
that learnings of this session is carried appropriately towards the future. Moreover, there are
several new and effective technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Automation, which
would be quite effective in context of enhancing the professional practice. (Shaughnessy, Allen
and Duggan, 2017). In addition to this, explanations related to ethical uses of social media and
different forms in which communication could be established makes a lot of sense in the learning
experience. Moreover, in future, I could also use use principles and strategies for instant
communication through different form of technological media. For this purpose, the preparation
would be including training and educational programmes to ensure effectiveness in the same.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chambers, D., & Dimson, E. (Eds.). (2016). Financial market history: reflections on the past for
investors today. CFA Institute Research Foundation.
Domac, S., & et. al. (2015). Assessing interprofessional competence using a prospective
reflective portfolio. Journal of interprofessional care. 29(3). 179-187.
Joshi, M. K., Gupta, P., & Singh, T. (2015). Portfolio-based learning and assessment. Indian
pediatrics. 52(3). 231-235.
Qvortrup, A., & Keiding, T. B. (2015). Portfolio assessment: Production and reduction of
complexity. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 40(3). 407-419.
Shaughnessy, A. F., Allen, L., & Duggan, A. (2017). Attention without intention: explicit
processing and implicit goal-setting in family medicine residents’ written reflections.
Education for Primary Care. 28(3). 150-156.
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