Portfolio of Work: Skill Audit, Learning Theories and Development Plan

This portfolio presents a comprehensive analysis of a student's skills and competencies, utilizing various analytical tools to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. It includes a detailed skill audit, outlining the skills required for a chosen career path in the transport industry, specifically starting a small transport company. The portfolio also assesses learning and development training methods, evaluating the effectiveness of approaches like induction, on-the-job training (coaching, shadowing, demonstration), and off-the-job training. The student reflects on their experiences before and after starting the course, highlighting the impact of the learning process on their personal and professional development. The document concludes with a personal development plan designed to address identified skill gaps and achieve career goals.

Portfolio of Work

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
1. Audit of own skills and competencies using the analysing tools and identification of the
skills that are required for a career on the choice along with evaluation of own skills in
comparison of skills required for chosen career..........................................................................1
2. Theories to assess learning and development training methods for the new employees who
are due to start the organisation along with evaluation of reasons for selecting the theories......4
3. Reflection on the experience before and after starting the course...........................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Portfolio of work is a detailed document which is required to be completed by individuals
on the basis of their own learning and experience while completing a course or module. With the
help of it, need for improvement could be analysed which can facilitate the accomplishment of
all the long-term goals and objectives (Bachik and Kitzman, 2020). In present report detailed
analysis will be made on audit of own skills and competencies with the help of analysis tools,
evaluation of own skills, assessment of learning and development training methods for the new
employees with theories. Additionally, reflection on the experience before starting and
completing the course is also covered in this report.
MAIN BODY
1. Audit of own skills and competencies using the analysing tools and identification of the skills
that are required for a career on the choice along with evaluation of own skills in
comparison of skills required for chosen career
Skill audit could be defined as the process of analysing own skills so that strong and
weak capabilities could be analysed. With the help of it, it will be very easy for the individuals to
make sure that they are dealing with all the challenges in systematic manner. By using personal
skill audit all the individuals can find opportunity to make changes or improvements in their
qualities for meeting future expectations (Bennett-Levy and Finlay-Jones, 2018). The skill audit
for myself is as follows:
Skills Good Average Bad
Communication ✔
Time management ✔
Market knowledge ✔
Decision making ✔
Problem solving ✔
Strategic thinking ✔
On the basis of above table, it has been analysed that I need to improve time
management, market knowledge, problem solving and strategic thinking skills on the basis of my
skill audit. For this purpose, personal and professional development plan could be used. Detailed
plan is as follows:
1

Skills to be
developed
Measurement of
skill
Approaches to
achieve the skill
Relevancy of
skills
Time duration
to develop the
skill
Time
management
Time
management
skill of mine is
weak because I
am not able to
perform all the
tasks on time and
manage them
systematically.
In order to
achieve this skill
I will be required
to formulate
schedules for all
activities that
will be required
to be performed
in future so that I
can complete
them on time
(Carbonie, Guo
and Cahalane,
2018).
This skill is
relevant because
without it, it will
be very difficult
for me to
perform all the
activities on time
and effectively.
Time duration
which will be
required to
improve this skill
will be around 2
months.
Market
knowledge
My market
knowledge is
very weak and I
need to develop
this skill of mine
so that I can run
my own business
successfully in
future.
For the purpose
of improving
market
knowledge it will
be very
important for me
to research about
key trends in the
market which
will improve my
skills.
The relevancy of
this skills is that
it is required for
carrying out
operations of
business
systematically
and meet
business goals on
the basis of
knowledge of
market.
Improvement of
this skill may
take almost 3 to
4 months.
Problem solving I am not able to
solve the
The approach
which is required
It is very
important skill as
Time required to
improve this skill
2

problems
properly because
of my weak
problem solving
skills. I need to
improve it so that
I can manage my
business
successfully in
future.
to be focused for
improving this
skill is taking
guidance from
the experienced
individuals as
they ca guide me
properly to
improve this
skill.
it is relevant for
responding all
the challenges of
business which
are taking place
because of
external as well
as internal
forces.
is 60 to 90 days.
Strategic
thinking
My ability to
think
strategically is
average and it is
very important
for me to
improve this
quality so that I
can find easy
ways to perform
all the difficult
tasks properly.
It is essential for
me to improve
strategic thinking
skills and for this
purpose I can use
the approach of
thinking deep in
to situations so
that this
capability could
be improved.
The relevancy of
this skill is very
high because
with the help of
it, I can deal with
all the problems
in systematic
manner that are
affecting the
business
negatively
(Chen, Huang
and Hu, 2019)
(Frunză, 2017).
In order to
improve this skill
I need 4 to 5
months.
The career of my choice is being my own boss and for pursuing this career I will be
creating a small transport company. Apart from this, I am required to have different skills for
becoming an entrepreneur. All the capabilities that are required for this career are listed below:
Team work: It is the ability of individuals which is required for performing all the tasks
in systematic manner in groups. This skill is required for an entrepreneur who is willing to
establish own business in future. With the help of this skill, an individual will be able to perform
all the tasks of the organisational systematically (Howard, 2019).
3

Leadership: This skill is also required for the career of entrepreneur because for all the
individuals who are willing to create own organisation in future to make sure that they are able to
lead the business properly. It will also be required by me as it can help me to run my business in
future systematically.
Proper communication: For all the entrepreneurs it is very important to make sure that
they are able to communicate with all the staff members properly. It can help me to interact with
stakeholders like employees and others and meet their expectations.
Strategic thinking: For the career of an entrepreneur it is also one of the mainly required
skill which can help the individuals to think strategically. With the help of this skill I will be able
to run my own business successfully in future (Hsu, Lee and Chen, 2017).
Market knowledge: It could be defined as the capability of an individual to be aware of
market situations which can help to analyse the trends and formulate strategies accordingly. It is
also a required skill for an entrepreneur.
All the above described skills are required to be acquired by the individual who is willing
to adopt the career of an entrepreneur. I am having communication, market knowledge and
strategic thinking skills and I need to develop team work and leadership qualities so that I can
pursue the career of becoming my own boss in future. With the help of these capabilities I will
be able to run my transportation company successfully in upcoming years.
2. Theories to assess learning and development training methods for the new employees who are
due to start the organisation along with evaluation of reasons for selecting the theories
Learning and development for all the individuals is very important because with the help
of them persons can get aware of all the job responsibilities as well as they can also improve the
skills that are required to be developed for the purpose of assuring attainment of all the long-term
goals and objectives. An assistant manager is mainly responsible for assuring that proper training
is provided to the individuals who are joining the organisation (Maharaja, 2018). Some of the
main methods which could be focused for learning and development training of the individuals
are described below:
Induction: It is a type of training which is provided to the new employees of the
enterprise when the join the organisation. Some of the key aspects that are focused in such type
of training includes the tour of the company, information related to health and safety, details
about job role, policies and regulations of the entity, introduction to the colleagues etc. Apart
4

from this, this type of training is also focused with sharing detailed information of holiday and
leave related policies so that the new employee can get aware of all the key aspects. It is very
beneficial for the entity because it facilitates the individuals to settle quickly in the job.
Additionally, by using this approach the assistant manager will also be able to aware all the new
employees about the main personnel of the organisation (Mahlanze and Sibiya, 2017).
On the job training: It is a type of training which is undertaken by the organisations at
workplace. With the help of it, new employees are trained to perform all their jobs systematically
that will be assigned to them. There are various types of on the job trainings which could be
focused by the assistant manager for the purpose of providing training to the new employees.
Discussion of all of them is as follows:
 Coaching: In this type of training method an experience staff member is assign a job to
training the new employee so that the individual can get detailed information of the job.
The experience of support member can help the new worker to learn about the new
organisation and perform the jobs properly. It could also be used by the assistant manager
to training the new staff (Preston and Fraser-Thomas, 2018).
 Shadowing: It is a type of on the job training in which one employee observes another
worker so that the skills that will be required to carry out operations could be analysed. It
could be used by the assistant manager to provide training to the employees. If it will be
used, then it will help the staff members to develop the required skills.
 Demonstration: Under this type of training method the managers make the employee to
watch a task or the process so that the way in which the individual will have to performed
the same. This technique can help the individuals to perform all their jobs systematically
in future.
Off the job training: It is a type of training which is provided to the staff members
outside the organisation so that they can work effectively within the organisation. For the
purpose of providing this type of training different types of training centres are focused by the
businesses (Szifris, 2018). While planning to train the newly joined individuals the assistant
manager can pay attention towards this training method. By using this method, the manger will
be able to make sure that the new employees get proper training in the field where they can learn
the way in which they will be responsible to perform in future.
5

All the above described theories could be focused by the assistant manager who is
responsible to training the new employees who are due to start in the enterprise. With the help of
all of them, it will be very easy for the individuals to get proper trained for the job that they are
going to start in the organisation. Induction, on the job and off the job training are very beneficial
training methods which could be used for the purpose of making sure that all the individuals are
aware of their job responsibilities and they are also having skills for performing the jobs. The
reasons due to which these methods are selected for providing training to the staff members are
listed below:
 These methods are selected because with the help of them it will be very easy for the
manager to make sure that all the new individuals are trained properly.
 Induction, on the job and off the job training methods are selected as all of them facilitate
the skill improvement of the new staff members who have joined or going to join the
enterprise in future.
 With the help of induction an individual can get aware of all the job roles as well as the
main personnel of the enterprise which will facilitate the execution of all the future tasks
in systematic manner.
 Training methods like on and off job training are the main methods of training which can
help the managers to make sure that the skills of all the new employees are developed
systematically.
 The selected training methods are very beneficial for assistant manager because with the
help of them detailed information of job and required skills could be shared with the staff
members who are going to join the organisation (Tattum and Tattum, 2017).
3. Reflection on the experience before and after starting the course
Professional and career development module was very beneficial for me and while
completion of this module I learned different things that enhanced my knowledge of the way in
which all the skills that are required for career could be improved. It is very important for all the
individuals to make sure that they are having different skills that can help them to meet their
future goals and objectives. Before completion of this module I was not aware of my own skills,
capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. Apart from this, I was also not having any knowledge of
the way in which weak skills could be improved and weaknesses could be overcome. When I
was completing the course I get to know that it is very important for all the individuals to have
6

skills according to their career options. If they will not have the suitable skills, then it may result
in unachieved objectives that can create issues for execution of business or attainment of the
career goal.
Before starting the course, I was not aware of the skills that are required by an
entrepreneur. As my chosen career is establishing own business in future so it is very important
for me to make sure that I am having all the skills that are required by an entrepreneur. This
course helped me to pursue my goal which is establishing own transport company in upcoming
years. When I started to study the course then I realised that it is essential for a person to audit all
the skills that can help to meet career goals and objectives. For this purpose, personal skill audit
could be conducted that can help to analyse all the strong and weak skills of individuals. Apart
from this, in order to develop the weak capabilities personal development plan could be used
which can help to improve all the weaknesses and meet the desired goals. On the other hand,
during completion of this course I learned about different types of training methods which could
be used by individuals like assistant managers to train the new employees. Some of the methods
are induction, on and off the job training (Woolnough and Fielden, 2017). All of them can help
the individuals to get aware of all their job roles as well as their responsibilities that are required
to be performed after joining the organisation. In my views it is very important for all the
students to make sure that they are able to improve all their skills as it is required for attainment
of all the long term career related objectives. If they will not be able to develop their skills on the
basis of selected career, then it may leave negative impact upon the attainment of goal. As my
chosen career is becoming my own boss and opening a new transport company so it is very
important for me to develop such skills that are required by an entrepreneur. Some of them are
leadership, teamwork, strategic thinking, problem solving etc. This course was very beneficial
for me because it helped me to analyse all the capabilities that should be developed by me. It
facilitated me to make sure that I am able to meet the desired goals on mine for future. The skill
audit helped me to determine my weak skills and the capabilities that are required to be
developed by me so that I can meet goal of becoming an entrepreneur in future. The experience
before the course was not good because I was not aware of the benefits that it can provide me.
The experience after completing the course I have realised that it was very beneficial for me
because it facilitated me to pay attention towards my skill development and pursue my chosen
career.
7

CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that for all the individuals it is very
important to be focused with improvement of their skills and capabilities so that they can meet
all their future goals. While planning to analyse own skills personal skill audit and personal
development plan could be focused. With the help of them an individual can identify all the
weak and strong skills and requirement of improvements. Apart from this, it is also very
important for all the individuals to make sure that they are able to focus towards different
training related techniques such as induction, on and off job training so that the new employees
within the organisation could be trained.
8

REFRENCES
Books and Journals:
Bachik, A. K. and Kitzman, M. J., 2020. The case for including personal development in
undergraduate psychology curricula. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in
Psychology. 6(2). p.150.
Bennett-Levy, J. and Finlay-Jones, A., 2018. The role of personal practice in therapist skill
development: a model to guide therapists, educators, supervisors and
researchers. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. 47(3). pp.185-205.
Carbonie, A., Guo, Z. and Cahalane, M., 2018. Positive Personal Development through eSports.
In PACIS (p. 125).
Chen, G., Huang, S. and Hu, X., 2019. Backpacker personal development, generalized self-
efficacy, and self-esteem: Testing a structural model. Journal of Travel Research.
58(4). pp.680-694.
Frunză, S., 2017. Ethical leadership, religion and personal development in the context of global
crisis. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies. 16(46). pp.3-16.
Howard, M. C., 2019. Virtual reality interventions for personal development: a meta-analysis of
hardware and software. Human–Computer Interaction. 34(3). pp.205-239.
Hsu, C. Y., Lee, W. H. and Chen, W. Y., 2017. How to catch their attention? Taiwanese
flashpackers inferring their travel motivation from personal development and travel
experience. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. 22(2). pp.117-130.
Maharaja, G., 2018. The Impact of Study Abroad on College Students' Intercultural Competence
and Personal Development. International Research and Review. 7(2). pp.18-41.
Mahlanze, H. T. and Sibiya, M. N., 2017. Perceptions of student nurses on the writing of
reflective journals as a means for personal, professional and clinical learning
development. Health SA Gesondheid. 22(1). pp.79-86.
Preston, C. and Fraser-Thomas, J., 2018. Problematizing the pursuit of personal development and
performance success: An autoethnography of a Canadian elite youth ice hockey
coach. The Sport Psychologist. 32(2). pp.102-113.
Szifris, K., 2018. Philosophy in prisons: An exploration of personal development (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Cambridge).
Tattum, D. and Tattum, E., 2017. Social education and personal development. Routledge.
Woolnough, H. M. and Fielden, S. L., 2017. Mentoring in Nursing and Healthcare: Supporting
career and personal development. John Wiley & Sons.
9