EMSK5012 Employability Skills: Self-Assessment and Sector Analysis

This report provides a self-assessment using Gallup Clifton Strength Finder and Johari Window theories to identify key strengths and understand personal and interpersonal awareness. It analyzes Barclays PLC and Reliance Bank, aligning personal values and ethics with company culture. The report reflects on networking events, emphasizing commercial awareness and the importance of social networks in gaining practical industry knowledge. The student aims to leverage identified strengths and networking skills to achieve career aspirations in the financial sector, focusing on ethical business practices and contributing to positive corporate culture changes. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide array of study tools and solved assignments for students.

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Course Work 1 (CW1)
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KNOW YOURSELF
Key strengths identification using Gallup Clifton Strength Finder and Johari Window
Theories
Introduction
I am pursuing a business course mainly dealing with financial aspects including
budgeting, auditing and financial planning. My career aspirations are one day heading a financial
department and ultimately heading a financial institution. It is my hope and expectation that I
will one day be the founder of highly successful multinational business in the future. The
Business courses I am taking afford me the competence to run a business department, an
organization, and also start and run a business from scratch. The Knowledge gained during my
studies will stand me in good stead at the job market, and I hoping to leverage the theoretical
knowledge to provide solutions to practical business situations.
After taking the Gallup’s Clifton Strength Finder survey, the five top themes that I
closely associate with are Harmony, Individualization, Deliberative, Consistency, and Relator.
These themes not only indicate my strengths, but they also mirror my passion in life. Studying
the contents of each of the themes, I have come to realize that I possess many strengths which I
took for granted.
Gallup Clifton strength Finder Johari Window theory have deals with themes concerning
people’s strengths when relating to others whether during normal socialization with people or
dealing with colleagues at the workplace (Rath 2017). In Clifton’s Strengths Finder, my top five
themes relate well with how I operate and will support me in my endeavors to achieve my
aspirations. When relating with others, I do not like conflicts and I do everything in power to
find solutions to conflicts. Conflicts precipitate instability in relations and at the workplace. I

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find myself regularly engaging in seeking ways of promoting stability in my daily relations and
at the workplace. I do not necessarily try to avoid conflicts, but rather, I endeavor to find
solutions and areas of agreements and not dwelling on the areas of disagreements. All these traits
fall squarely within the theme of harmony. In associating with people I tend to focus on each
person’s strengths and talent to figure out where the person can fit and be most productive
Johari Window theories deal with issues of personal and interpersonal awareness within a
group. Johari window theories consist in studying and application of knowledge on how an
individual relates with other members of a team, or how a team associates with other teams in an
organization (Stoakes & Stoakes 2014). For new teams, the members know very little about each
individual meaning that the open area is relatively small compared to other quadrants such as
blind area, hidden area and unknown areas. As a team gets established, each member knows a lot
more about other members and they too learn a lot about him or her. At the same time, the
people learn about the organization and their relationship with each other regarding their roles
and responsibilities, feelings, emotions and other personal traits thus increasing the open area
and reducing the blind area quadrant (West 2010).
Applying elements of these theories to Achieve Career Aspirations
Getting ahead in any endeavor involves interacting with people, and the extent of success
depends on how well is able to associate with business colleagues and partners. If I have to make
headway in my career, I have to leverage the strengths identified at using the Gallup Clifton
Strength Finder while interacting with colleagues, especially when working in teams. The Johari
model and related theories including emotional intelligence and Tuckman’s Forming, Storming
Norming Performing team development model (Hall 2015), will facilitate my learning processes

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especially regarding knowing myself and others in the team, as well as learning how to
effectively associate with them to accomplish various goals.
Clifton’s Gallup Strength finder helps a person identify the general themes underlying an
individual’s strengths and talents. Out of the 34 identified themes in the Gallup, the top five
relates most closely to a person’s strengths and talents and can be utilized as the basis for action
to produce desired results.
KNOW YOUR SECTOR
Companies Analysis
i) Barclays PLC
Barclays PLC is a multinational financial services and investment bank with its headquarters
in London. The company’s core businesses include corporate banking investment management,
personal banking and wealth management. The company started its operations in 1690, and has
over the years expanded to have footprints across the globe either through branches or
subsidiaries. The bank has experienced its fair share of controversies ranging from supporting
repressive regimes like apartheid to accusations of money laundering.
The scandal that eroded the trust of the customers on the bank most was on the issue of
manipulation of interbanking rates, LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) and EURIBOR
(Euro Interbank Offered Rate). The bank was accused of manipulating the settings of those
ratings to either make a profit or to give the impression that its financial situation was more
stable than the reality (Chon & Noonan 2015). In the wake of the Libor scandal, the company
moved fast to reform its corporate culture and return the bank into the ethical company it was
before the unethical behavior that eroded the trust of the customers and other stakeholders. The
reforms started at the top through the replacement of the CEO with an ethics conscious one in the

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name of Antony Jenkins. He instituted corporate culture reforms and revamped the code of
ethics. Unfortunately, the reforms led to a fall in the profitability of the business and he was
replaced by Staley, in the hope that the later can balance the bank’s corporate responsibility with
its profit motive (Bray 2015). In 2013, the company introduced company values and purpose in a
bid to provide a standardized set of behavior for all employees. (Arnold 2015). The purpose
statement indicates that the company is intent on ensuring that the employees achieve their
highest potential in an ethical manner (Becoming the ‘Go-To’ bank 2013). The stated company
values include:
 Integrity- acting in an open ethical manner
 Respect- valuing clients and their contributions to the company
 Stewardship- endeavoring to ensure there things are better compared to how they found
them
 Excellence – Ensuring the best outcome through proper utilization of available resources
 Service- Customer centric (Becoming the ‘Go-To’ bank 2013).
ii) Reliance Bank
Reliance Bank is the financial arm of the Salvation Army and it started its operations in
1890. The bank managed to effectively weather the 2008/2009 financial crises due its ethical
banking practices including not engaging in selling of insurance payment protections and
engaging in Libor scandal (“Home Loan With No-Fuss” 2018). It is one of the few banks in the
UK that has never been penalized by the regulator or reported to the ombudsman by customers
for unethical practices (Collinson & Jones 2013).
Reliance Bank engages in low-risk trading practices minimizing its exposure financial
risks that have driven investment banks into bankruptcy. Also, its ethical business model ensures

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that it has adequate financial safety cushions such as proper internal capital ratios ensuring that it
weathers shocks to the financial system. Reliance Bank caps the bonus payout for the directors at
10% of basic pay which goes a long way in discouraging the reckless behaviors current in
directors of big banks who are focused on earning huge virtually immoral bonuses.
Alignment of personal and company’s values and ethics
Due to my personality and the top five themes I have identified, I am more likely to
gravitate towards reliance bank than Barclays bank. However, I would still seek opportunities at
the Barclays bank with a view to helping support the corporate culture change that has been
instituted in the company by the new leadership.
Barclays bank has had it fair share of ups and downs in terms of its ethics and values and
the current reforms in the purpose and values of the company aligns well with my Gallup Clifton
Strength Finder themes. The purpose statement of the bank dealing with ensuring that the
employees ethically attain their highest potential aligns well with the theme of individualization,
relator and consistency. The values espoused by current management including integrity, respect,
stewardship, excellence, and service auger well with all my top five themes of Harmony,
Individualization, Deliberative, Consistency and Relator.
Reliance bank on the other hand has been a bank engaging in ethical business practices
since its inception, and its values and ethics align well with my themes and strengths. The
company’s value for the employees and clients’ welfare relate well with both the executing and
relationship building themes that I have identified. Also, the company ensures that 70 percent of
its profits is distributed to the churches to support the evangelism work including providing aid
to the needy in the society, values which relate well with my relationship building themes such
as Harmony and Relator.

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KNOW YOURSELF
Networking and Commercial Awareness
Commercial awareness is having an insight on the business including how it makes
money, the competitors and the opportunities available to the business to remain competitive.
Networking events enable the graduating student to get in touch with leaders in the industry to
learn firsthand useful and insider information on the workings of a business and its environment
(Cummings 2009). Social network theory deals with the importance of networking in a person’s
social life and in business (Reese 2016). Without a social network, the person will have
theoretical information from reading various sources, but will lack practical knowledge about the
specifics of the company or the wider industry (Daly 2010).
Reflection on the Networking Events
In attending the GSM London networking event, I was interested in learning more about
the challenges of student employability, but more importantly, I was interested in learning about
the specifics of the industry from leaders working in it. Before attending a networking event, one
needs to have specific skills to gain the most out of it. To get an insight on the skills one needs to
gain a lot during networking events, one needs to look at the strengths and talents that he or she
possesses (Misner & Hilliard 2017). On my part, I engaged very well with the participants and
especially the industry leaders invited using the themes identified in using Gallup Clifton
Strength Finder especially the relator and individualism. My main strengths include my ability to
see people as individuals with unique qualities and information that I can learn. By focusing on
the person I am able connect with him or her at a deeper level and thus benefits from the
knowledge and experiences the individual possesses.

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References
‘Becoming the ‘Go-To’ bank’ 2013, Barclays, viewed 16 November 2018,
<https://www.home .barclays /content/dam/barclayspublic/docs/Microsites/Transform/barclays-
strategic-review-executive-summary.pdf>
“Home Loan With No-Fuss” 2018, Reliance Bank, Viewed at https://www.reliancebank.com.au/
Arnold, M 2015, ‘Barclays fires Jenkins after clash with head of investment bank on its
future, Financial Times, viewed 16 November 2018, https://global-factiva-
com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au /redir/default.aspx?
P=sa&NS=18&AID=9MAC001300&an=FTFT000020150709eb790002h&cat=a&ep=ASI
Bray, C 2015, ‘Antony Jenkins ousted as Barclays Chief Executive’, The New York Times,
viewed 16 November 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/business/dealbook/antony-
jenkins-to-step-down-as-barclays-chief-executive.html
Chon, G, & Noonan, L 2015, ‘Six banks fined $5.6bn over rigging of foreign exchange
markets’, Financial Times, viewed 13 January 2015, <https://global-factiva-
com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au /redir/default.aspx?
P=sa&NS=18&AID=9MAC001300&an=FTCOM00020150520eb5k004s9&cat=a&ep=ASI>
Collinson, P., & Jones, R, 2013, The ethical bank that offers salvation? [Online], Available at
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/oct/26/ethical-bank-reliance-coop-salvation-army
Cummings, J. (2009). Turbocharged networking for $100K+ jobs: 5 steps to job-search success.
Cupertino, CA, HappyAbout.info. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=318305.
Daly, A. J. (2010). Social network theory and educational change. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard
Education Press.

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Hall, T. B. (2015). Examining the Relationship Between Group Cohesion and Group
Performance in Tuckman's (1965) Group Life Cycle Model on an Individual-Level Basis.
Dissertation Abstracts International. 77-02.
Misner, I. R., & Hilliard, B., 2017, Networking like a pro: turning contacts into connections.
Irvine, California: Entrepreneur Press, http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?
p=5182810.
Rath, T. (2017). StrengthsFinder 2.0. New York, NY Gallup Press
Reese, S 2016, Advances in social networking research, Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science
Publishers http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1292512.
Stoakes, C., & Stoakes, C., 2014, Commercial awareness 2015/16, Wendover: Christopher
Stoakes.
West, W, 2010, Applying the Johari window to qualitative therapy research
interviews. JOURNAL OF CRITICAL PSYCHOLOGY COUNSELLING AND
PSYCHOTHERAPY. 10, 221-227.

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Appendix
1. Confirmation of Attendance
2. Gallup Clifton Strength Finder Certificate
Gallup cert.pdf