Learning and Development Plan - Business and Project Management

This Learning and Development Plan, submitted by a student, outlines a comprehensive self-assessment and career development strategy within the context of business and project management. The plan begins with a self-introduction, detailing the student's educational background, certifications, and professional experience, including roles at CBA Company, AUBA, and 7-Eleven. The plan then delves into megatrends and challenges within the project management industry, such as industry size, economic growth, technological advancements like AI and automation, and the rise of remote work and hybrid approaches. The student establishes both short-term and long-term career goals, aligning them with the objectives of potential employers, which include sustainable business development, market share growth, and skilled workforce development. The plan also emphasizes the importance of ethical and professional values, including leadership, autonomy, equality, confidentiality, respect, and responsibility. A key component is a competency assessment, which evaluates the student's leadership and socio-cultural competencies, identifying strengths and areas for improvement using a five-stage model. The student analyzes competencies like change management and conflict management. The plan concludes by emphasizing the need for continuous learning and skill development to adapt to the dynamic nature of the project management industry.

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Learning and Development Plan
Name
(Affiliation Institution)

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Section 1: Self Introduction
My name is xxxx xxxx xxxx. Am currently studying postgraduate masters in business
and project management at xxxxxx University in Australia. I also graduated with a bachelor’s
degree in Business and Project Management from xxxxx University in 2014. I hold various
certificates and acknowledgements from short courses as well as seminars, conferences and other
contributions that I have achieved with various educational and non-educational bodies. The
certificates and acknowledgement include a certificate in computer basis, leadership, community
development as well as entrepreneurship.
My professional career in business and project management field started at CBA
Company in June 2014 where I was attached for 3 months before joining AUBA as an intern in
the Business Administration department. During the short duration spend with these companies, I
gained various soft and hard skills such as communication, data entry, adapting to changing
environment, working in team, management, organization, use of ERP software to handle and
manage various tasks as well as decision making. The combination of skills and experience that I
gained from these companies formed a backbone for my career development as I gained
employability skills and experience that fueled my ability of landing job with my current
employer. Presently, I work as a part-time employee at 7-eleven Company as a customer service
representative.
Section 2: Megatrends and Challenges
My profession is in the project management industry. According to Ika, Diallo &
Thuillier (2010), Project management industry entails reviewing of contracts in an organization,
planning, overseeing all operations and providing assistance for employees in an organization to
reach top productivity levels. Over the last few years, some megatrends and challenges have
been experienced in the business and project management industry. The megatrends and

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challenges have created an opportunity for some employees and at the same time threatened the
careers of others. The significant megatrends in the project management include increased in the
industry size, economic growth after COVID 19 leading to high investment and increased in
technology. According to Lee and Lee (2015 p.431), by 2020, over 70% of companies in the
project management industry will have managed to invest in the industry.
The trend that there will be a growth of the industry after the COVID19 pandemic which
is affecting both local and international markets is a megatrend that is circulating the project
management industry. With an increase in the project management industry’s size due to
economic growth that the world has experienced in the last decade, the rates of investment have
turned to be high. Furthermore, in the future, the project management industry is expected to
expand rapidly with many investors erupting and creating more employment opportunities.
Besides, with the economy of Australia and the world expected to grow, macroeconomics
megatrends like growing income levels, declining in dependency ratios and increased in urban
migration will increase globalization in the business. This will cause a great shift in economic
power forcing major adjustments in strategies adopted by companies operating under the project
management industry.
Access and rapid use of new technologies is also another mage trend surrounding the
project management industry. Increased in Automation and expansion of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) in project management has created significant opportunities and threats in the industry. With
most companies likely to use Artificial intelligence in the near future, the demand for skilled
project managers and business administration has increased as the automation requires
competency to capture insight and make informed decisions. The Project Management Industry
needs to fill 9.7 million of project manager position by 2027 with demand for the industry’s job

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reaching 52.4 million by 2020 (Project Management Institute). Further research conducted by
Project Management Institute (2020 p.4) has shown that 77% percent of high-performing
projects around the world have been completed successfully through the use of software and
other related technologies. The automation of many jobs in the project management area such as
scheduling, project balancing, allocation of resources and budgeting minimized the opportunities
of a number of employees involved in the minor activities.
There is also a trend that the growth of the internet will increase the gig economy and
remote working in the near future. With the remote working, the rate of investment is likely to be
high and there will be minimized costs and availability of a human resource. Besides, there is
also a megatrend that Salaries of managers and employees in the project management industry
are forecasted to increase rapidly in the near future. As of December, the manager's salaries
operating in the project management industry was at $90,000 and the figures are projected to
increase more rapidly in the coming days (Project Management Institute, 2020 p.4)
Inclusion of hybrid project and business management is a megatrend facing project
management industry. According to Chaghooshi, Arab and Dehshiri (2016 p.447) hybrid
approach is a method in which agile world businesses or project management are combined with
those of traditions. With the hybrid approach, the business will be able to make effective
business choices such as making deadlines, budgeting and defining the scope in the future as all
human resource, tasks and activities are brought together.
Failure of big many businesses as well as project locally and around the world has been a
challenge in the project management industry. Besides, with the industry experiencing rapid
growth, the project management market has become flooded with skilled and experienced
employees which have significantly limited career growth of others.

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Section 3: Goals
In the future, I expect the industry to grow more rapidly after the Covid19 pandemic
creating many opportunities for career development. The successful employer and employees in
the rapidly changing industry are the one with high planning skills and actions to achieve long-
term and short term goals. Therefore, the way an employer sets goals in the industry determines
where the company will be in the future due to changing often change in macro and micro
environmental forces as well as intense competition with the market being exposed to new
entrants.
Goals of the employer
The goals of my employer in the industry can be categorized as either short-term or long-
term. Generally, the goals include:
Develop a sustainable business that is adaptable to the rapidly changing market.
Increase markets share in the industry by a particular percentage within a particular time
Generate more revenue for growth and further identify opportunities in the emerging markets
around the world.
To develop a workforce which consists of skilled and experienced employees who are
innovative and creative hence assisting the company to differentiate its process.
My career goals
In my professional development plan, my career goals are classified as both long term
and short- term. The goals include:
My short-term career goals
To look for part-time or internship opportunity to gain insights about the process and
operations that are related to the Project Management Industry. (Breaking into the new
industry)

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Learning new skills that are trending in the project management markets such as digital
marketing, automation technologies as well as graphic designs.
Gaining experience in team building, leadership and management within one year.
To work my areas of weakness as portrayed as in the psychological tests such as Gallup
Strength Finder as well as SWOT analysis.
My long-term career goals
Further my levels of education to PHD level and also enrol in other short courses which are
relevant to my career.
Becoming a manager in one of the greatest company in my country and further utilize the
leadership experience that I have gained in my short term careers to develop a performing
workforce.
Engage in various minor projects to sharpen my hard and soft skills which help to develop
employable skills in any dynamic changing market.
Undertake and lead my team members to succeed in a sustainable project as a corporate
social responsibility in an effort of giving back to the community.
Become a mentor, empower and support many graduates outside there through various
initiatives and programs for them to achieve their goals and objectives
Relationship between my career goals and that of my Employer
The goals of my employer align effectively with mine. The gaining of skills in leadership and
management which is my future goals will help the employer to develop a sustainable business
which is responsive to changes in the market. The skills and experience that I will gain with an
internship as well as part-time jobs will assist in strategizing on the ways of generating more
revenue for my employer as well as increasing market share.

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Section 4: Ethics and professional values
Professional values are levels of actions which are acceptable by professional groups.
Higgins (2011 p.1) also defined professional value as beliefs and values which guides employee
behaviour. The professional values that I will exercise in my career include leadership, autonomy
as well as Equality.
Leadership- Through effective leadership values, I will govern employees effectively with
consideration of the organizational code of ethics in order to develop a conducive working
environment that supports each employee’s goals and targets.
Autonomy- Through the autonomy of professional value in the organization, I will make
sure all employees in an organization are held accountable for their actions and
performances.
Equality- The professional value will entail treating all employees in the organization equal
regardless of their gender, race or religion. Through the equality value, employees will be
significantly motivated and engaged in the business’s operations.
Ethics also referred to as code of conduct or professional values are values that employers
use to ensure employees exercise more behaviours in the organization as a part of their
professional practices (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 2013 p.337). Through the consideration of ethics
in an organization, I will be able to do what is right and in accordance with my professional code
of conduct. The set of values that I will follow in my career include confidentiality, respect as
well as the responsibility.
Confidentiality- the confidentiality ethic will involve safeguarding information of
employees to the authorized personnel in the organization. With leadership professional
value, I will make sure all documents or information from employees and organization

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perspectives including trademarks are well safeguarded from unauthorized personnel
accessing them.
Respect- Through the autonomy of professional value, I will show respect to all the
employees by valuing their opinions, assessing their needs as well as listening to their
feedback. I will also demonstrate honesty, fairness and equality in the organization.
Responsibility – with consideration of Equality professional value, I will ensure the duties
and roles of employees are distributed and handed according to policies and procedures of an
organization.
Section 5: Competency Assessments
Tabular representation of competencies deficiencies (Leadership & Socio-Cultural
competency)
Competency assessment is an essential component as it creates self-awareness on the key
area than an individual performs well and also enlightens about areas that need to be
strengthened. I possess various leadership and social-cultural competencies concerning my
career which includes change management, conflict management, intrapersonal, communication
skills as well as cross-cultural awareness. The competencies can be analyzed using the five
stages of competencies which includes aware, informed, involved, complete and transformative.
Competences Description Discussion and deficient statement
change management competence  After analyzing my competency in change management
competency which involves a degree to which I can identify
needs for change and implement changes with consideration
of Lewin’s model of change management, my competency
is at informed. I have not yet implemented a change in any

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organization although my research and learning from class
and other journal articles have enlightened me about what it
entails in change management. In a scale of 1 to 100 where
one is lack of idea about change management and 100 is an
expert, I can range my competency in change management
at 20%. Currently, I have started engaging myself in simpler
and short-tern projects to improve this competency
Conflict management competency  After analyzing my competency in conflict management
which involves an ability to be an effective problem solver
in an organization, my competency level is at involved.
Previously, I have been involved in some conflict resolution
in school and at home and managed to solve some well but
others had to call for external assistance. With consideration
of my levels of conflict management, I can range my
competency in conflict management at 50% out of 100
indicating that a lot needs to be done in this area. I have
booked an appointment with my mentor and human
resource management to gain skills on how to manage
workforce conflict in the future.
Interpersonal and social-cultural competence  My competency is interpersonal and social-cultural is at a
transformative stage which indicates that am excellent in
creating relationships with others. My personality type is

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extrovert and I usually feel comfortable when am working
with others. Besides, being an effective communicator, I
have used my personality type in the previous projects to
influence my team towards the accomplishment of our
objectives effectively. Out of 100, I can range my
competence in Interpersonal skills at 99%.
Leadership competencies  My Leadership competency is at a complete stage. Being at
a complete stage indicate that I can lead team members
effective towards the achievement of set goals and targets
although I need a little guidance on some aspects. I can
range my leadership competency at 70% out of 100.
Communication  My communication skills are at the transformative stage
indicating that I demonstrate effective communications
capabilities when engaging others. My verbal and non-
verbal communication skills are excellent. I can range my
competency in communication skills at 80%.
Graphical representation of competencies gap (Managerial & Leadership competencies)

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Aware Informed involved compete Transformative
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
competencies Graph
Axis Title
Summary of Competencies improvement/professional development
The analysis from section 5 has significantly shown that there are various areas that I
need to improve for me to strengthen my professionalism and achieve the long term and short
term goals that I have set as seen on section 4. The area of improvement and that need high
concentration include change management and conflict management. I also need a slight
improvement on leadership competence and low focus on the social-cultural awareness,
interpersonal and communication skills as indicated by the 5 stages of competency assessments
as well as psychological tests particularly Gallup Strength Finder. I have plans to improve
change management competency by engaging in the short term and long term projects, engage in
teamwork and going through the entire process of change management with mentors. Am also
planning to improve my Conflict management competency by scheduling for a mentorship
program with human resource management to gain knowledge on how various workforce
conflicts in an organization are handled. I will also engage in conflict management activities. The

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change and conflict management are scope for professional development. Engaging in dynamic
markets and industries with a high rate of integration of process as well as activities will provide
me with adequate opportunities for developing the competencies.

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References
Chaghooshi, A., Arab, A. and Dehshiri, S., 2016. A fuzzy hybrid approach for project manager
selection. Decision Science Letters, 5(3), pp.447-460.
Higgins, C., 2011. The good life of teaching: An ethics of professional practice (Vol. 22). John
Wiley & Sons.
Ika, L. A., Diallo, A., & Thuillier, D., 2010. Project management in the international
development industry. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
Lee, I. and Lee, K., 2015. The Internet of Things (IoT): Applications, investments, and
challenges for enterprises. Business Horizons, 58(4), pp.431-440.
Project Management Institute. , 2019. Job Growth and Talent Gap. Retrieved 12 14, 2016, from
Project Management Institute:
https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/job-growth-report.pdf
Tsalikis, J. and Fritzsche, D.J., 2013. Business ethics: A literature review with a focus on
marketing ethics. In Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics (pp. 337-404).
Springer, Dordrecht.

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