Personal and Professional Development Plan: National Trust Case Study

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PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
1

Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 APPROACHES TO SELF-MANAGED LEARNING................................................................4
1.2 PROPOSE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE LIFELONG LEARNING IN PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL CONTEXTS................................................................................................... 5
1.3 BENEFITS OF SELF-MANAGED LEARNING TO INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATION..........6
LO2........................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 EVALUATE OWN CURRENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES AGAINST PROFESSIONAL
STANDARDS AND BUSINESS OBJECTIVES.............................................................................7
2.2 IDENTIFY OWN DEVELOPMENT NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS TO MEET THEM..............8
2.3 IDENTIFY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET PRESENT AND FUTURE NEEDS.....9
2.4 DEVISE A PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN ON NEEDS IDENTIFIED
........................................................................................................................................... 10
LO3......................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1 PROCESS AND ACTIVITIES NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN...........12
3.2 DOCUMENT PLANNED DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES......................................................13
3.3 REFLECT OWN LEARNING AGAINST ORIGINAL OBJECTIVES SET IN THE DEVELOPMENT
PLAN................................................................................................................................... 14
3.4 UPDATE THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN ON THE BASIS OF EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK...16
LO4......................................................................................................................................... 18
4.1 SELECT SOLUTIONS TO WORK-BASED PROBLEMS........................................................18
4.2 COMMUNICATE VARIETY OF STYLES AND APPROPRIATE MANNERS AT VARIOUS
LEVELS................................................................................................................................ 19
4.3 EVALUATE AND USE EFFECTIVE TIME-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.............................20
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 21
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REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 22
INTRODUCTION
The overall development of an individual depends on their personal and professional
development that enables learning and helps them with growth in their career. Personal
development determines an increase in knowledge, skills, talent and potential of an
individual and professional development focuses on enhancing skills and potential needed
for the job and plays a significant role in career development. The National Trust is a
charitable organization that takes care of forests, beaches, gardens, houses, villages,
reserves, islands, farmlands, woods, historic houses, mills, etc. by protecting them and
welcoming millions of visitors every year and provides them with best services an
unforgettable experience. The development of personal and professional skills of n
individual helps in the expansion of the business while achieving its objectives. This
assignment will help the learner in developing their skills and knowledge by preparing,
implementing and evaluating personal development plan.
3

LO 1
Being appointed as a membership and Visitor welcome manager of the National Trust, a
portfolio is prepared in the form of the summary sheet to be used in a meeting to discuss
the approaches to self-managed learning with their benefits and encourage lifelong learning
for the personal and professional development of an individual (Bennett, 2017).
1.1 APPROACHES TO SELF-MANAGED LEARNING
Self-managed learning can be described as a process in which an individual manages their
own learning without any external support. The individual takes a decision regarding
building own skills and abilities by preparing a development plan and formulating effective
strategies for the development of personal and professional skills (Bennett, 2017). There are
various approaches to self-managed learning that are:
LEARNING THROUGH RESEARCH: In this approach, an individual can learn by conducting
various kinds of research on the topics that are of their interest to have in-depth knowledge
about that topic and gain knowledge of how and why a particular thing occurs. This helps in
creating awareness among the researcher about the subject and enhances their learning
(Bennett, 2017).
COACHING OR MENTORING: This approach helps the learner in gaining knowledge and skills
from a teacher who is experienced in a particular subject and can provide great knowledge
and guidance about the topic. This learning approach is helpful as the learner can clear their
doubts by asking questions to the teacher and thus, enhancing their knowledge (Sithole et
al. 2017).
CONFERENCE AND SEMINARS: The seminar is conducted by a person who is specialized in a
particular subject and therefore, shares the knowledge and information about the topic
with the listeners and the listeners jot down the information that helps in increasing their
learning (Sithole et al. 2017).
INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: Internet is a great medium to gain knowledge about any
topic and also skills such as cooking, dancing, driving, designing, etc. can be learned with the
help of the internet (Sithole et al. 2017).
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1.2 PROPOSE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE LIFELONG LEARNING IN PERSONAL
AND PROFESSIONAL CONTEXTS
Lifelong learning can be explained as enhancing knowledge and skills for the entire life. The
managers of The National Trust encourages the staff to implement lifelong learning in them
in order to enhance their skills and abilities that help in offering best services to the visitors
and improving the quality of the service (Osborne, 2018). The ways to encourage lifelong
learning in an individual include:
CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The learning and experience of the
employees must be recorded by the managers at the National Trust in order to undertake
the SWOT analysis of the personnel and provide them feedback of their performance that
helps in improving their skills and abilities (Osborne, 2018).
APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING: In this type of training, employees enhance their skills and
knowledge by working under professionals and get proper guidance from their supervisors
and experts that help in learning new skills and gaining more knowledge that is important
for the employee (Osborne, 2018).
SELF-MANAGED LEARNING APPROACH: The employees at the National Trust are motivated
to develop their skills and knowledge on their own using different methods such as Kolb’s
learning cycle, VARK learning cycle, Honey and Mumford learning cycle, etc. that help in self-
evaluation and improvement of personal and professional skills (Sithole et al. 2017).
SIGNIFICANCE OF LEARNING GOALS: The importance of learning must be explained to the
employees by the managers at the National Trust that helps in creating an effective learning
culture within the organization and employees feel necessary to achieve the objectives of
learning and focusing on future development (Osborne, 2018).
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1.3 BENEFITS OF SELF-MANAGED LEARNING TO INDIVIDUALS AND
ORGANIZATION
Self-managed learning plays an important role in improving the skills and performance of an
individual as well as the organization and helps in achieving the desired goals effectively.
BENEFITS TO THE INDIVIDUAL:
 Self-managed learning helps in reducing the weaknesses and increasing the
strengths by grabbing learning opportunities in the business that leads to enhancing
the job satisfaction of the employees (Rana et al. 2016).
 This process helps in increasing self-awareness and self-confidence of an individual
that is used in acquiring new skills and abilities that enables personal and
professional development in an individual.
 Self-managed learning is helpful in improving communication and decision-making
skills of the employees and they can take their learning decisions on their own which
helps in improvement in their performance (Rana et al. 2016).
 The employees predetermined targets that need to be achieved by them on their
own that increases their ability to accomplish their task and attain the desired
objectives effectively and efficiently.
BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION:
 The organization achieves a skilled workforce that helps in enhancing the brand
image of the organization.
 The skilled and knowledgeable employees provide the best services to the visitors
that help in increasing the satisfaction of the visitors for the National Trust (Gupta et
al. 2017).
 The increase in the personal and professional development of the employees
reduces the need of supervision from the managers and more tasks can be
delegated to the employees that help in reducing the burden from the managers and
they can focus on other important issues of the organization.
 The skilled employees help in providing better and innovative ideas that help in
improving the services provided by the National Trust (Gupta et al. 2017).
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LO2
2.1 EVALUATE OWN CURRENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES AGAINST
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
I have analysed and evaluated my skills and abilities for being a membership and Visitor
welcome manager at the National Trust in order to compare them with the professional
standards and the objectives of the organization in the following manner:
PERSONAL SKILLS PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS OBJECTIVES OF THE
NATIONAL TRUST
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: I
am good at both oral and
written communication with
others. I try to focus on my
listening skills as it is a very
necessary part of
communication skills.
One must be excellent in
verbal and written
communication in general
and at the workplace to
explain people clearly what
they wish to say.
The managers and
employees must have good
communication skills to
manage good and effective
conversations with visitors.
PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS: I
take time in solving the
problems and providing fair
and effective solutions to the
staff and customers.
The personnel must have
great knowledge and skills to
provide quick and effective
solutions to the problems
without any confusion.
The managers at the
National Trust must be quick
in solving the problems faced
by the staff and the visitors
to enhance the efficiency of
operations in the business.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS: I have
good qualities of being a
leader and I take the
responsibility of motivating
and supporting the staff to
accomplish organizational
goals.
The leaders must be
competent, inspiring, and
supportive and they must
maintain a positive and long-
lasting relationship with the
workforce and provide them
with a good working
environment to increase
their motivation and
productivity.
The manager at the National
Trust must possess excellent
leadership skills and act as a
role model for the
employees to improve the
productivity of the
employees and increase the
profitability of the
organisation.
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2.2 IDENTIFY OWN DEVELOPMENT NEEDS AND REQUIREMENTS TO MEET
THEM
These skills need to be improved to enhance personal and professional development that is
helpful in career development.
SKILLS TO BE IMPROVED METHODS OF IMPROVEMENT
PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS The problem-solving skills can be improved
by practising it with the help of case studies,
enhancing learning an thinking abilities,
analysing the problem effectively before
providing solutions, seeking guidance and
advice from the superiors and understanding
their methods of solving problems.
DECISION-MAKING SKILLS To improve the decision-making skills, one
must take new challenges, analyse the
situation by understanding the pros and
cons of every idea, think out of the box and
understand the situation from different
perspectives to find the best solutions.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS For being a good leader, the leader must
motivate the employees by using various
theories of motivation and encourage the
participation of the employees in the
decision-making and inspire them to
perform their tasks effectively as it helps in
boosting the morale of the employees and
improving their productivity.
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2.3 IDENTIFY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET PRESENT AND
FUTURE NEEDS
The development of the employees is very necessary to be undertaken to fulfil the desired
objectives of the National Trust and increasing the efficiency of the organization. The
managers at the National Trust help the employees in the development of their skills by
providing them adequate training to meet their current and future needs of development
(Hecklau et al. 2016).
The National Trust aims at providing best volunteering services to the visitors for which it
focuses on the learning and development of its workforce by providing opportunities for
training and development that helps in developing the present and future requirements of
the personnel. To become an efficient Membership and Visitor Welcome manager, I need to
work on my communication, problem-solving and leadership skills and have to become a
good mentor for the employees as well as the visitors to assure best services are provided at
the National Trust (Hecklau et al. 2016).
There are various opportunities available for me at the National Trust to be an efficient
manager as the organization provides personal career development programme by taking
‘Grow Your Own Career’ approach, on-the-job training one-to-one support, ‘future engage
and deliver’ programme for enhancing leadership skills, etc. that would help me in the
development and growth of my career and professional skills as a membership and visitor
welcome manager (Hecklau et al. 2016).
The decision-making and problem-solving activities are to be undertaken by the manager
and also the opportunity to interact with the visitors to provide them excellent services that
will help to improve my skills and abilities that will help me in fulfilling my present and
future development needs (Hecklau et al. 2016).
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2.4 DEVISE A PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN ON
NEEDS IDENTIFIED
A personal and professional development plan can be prepared with the help of
development needs identified in the above task that will help in improving my skills and
achieving the desired objectives.
SKILLS TO
BE
IMPROVED
CURRENT
SITUATION
DESIRED
GOALS
OPPORTUNI
TIES FOR
DEVELOPM
ENT
STRATEGIES
TO BE
ADOPTED
TIME
NEEDED
EVALUATION
AND CONTROL
Problem-
solving
skills
I take much
time in solving
the problem
and I get stuck
and confused
when the
issues are
complicated.
I need to
become
quick and
fair with
the
judgement
s and be
able to
resolve all
kinds of
complicate
d and
difficult
issues at
the
workplace.
The
excellent
problem-
solving skills
would help
in
increasing
the
satisfaction
of the
employees
and visitors
that would
improve the
performanc
e of the
organization
.
I need to
analyse the
problem
effectively
and study it
from all the
perspectives
before
offering any
solution.
1 month The
effectiveness of
the solutions
provided by me
must be
evaluated by
the senior
manager to
monitor my
skills and
abilities.
Decision-
making
skills
I am a good
decision maker
but I am
doubtful about
my decisions
and I need
support and
opinion of
others while
making
decisions
which result in
delayed
decisions.
I need to
become
efficient in
taking
quick and
effective
decisions
that help in
achieving
the
objectives
of the
organizatio
n.
It would
help in
improving
the
performanc
e and
productivity
of the staff
and the
organization
and
achieving
desired
goals
efficiently.
I can use my
past
experiences
and also take
measures to
improve my
thinking
abilities that
help in
effective
decision-
making.
15 days The results
would help in
assessing the
effectiveness of
the decisions
taken.
Leadership I have average I wish to This would I would use 2 months Feedback must
10

skills leadership
skills as I try to
do access work
on my own
instead of
delegating
responsibilities
to the team.
become an
inspiration
for my
team and
have
excellent
leadership
qualities
that help in
improving
the
performan
ce of my
team.
help in
enhancing
the
productivity
of my team
that would
result in
increasing
the
efficiency of
all the
members of
the team
including
me.
different
motivation
and
leadership
theories such
as Maslow's
Hierarchy,
Herzberg's
Two Factor
model, the
democratic
approach of
leadership in
the
organization
to achieve
success.
be provided to
all the team
members to
evaluate the
effectiveness of
their
performance
and take
corrective
measures for
improvement.
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LO3
3.1 PROCESS AND ACTIVITIES NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT THE DEVELOPMENT
PLAN
To improve the necessary skills mentioned in the above task, certain steps need to be taken
to improve my learning and development skills and abilities by effective implementation of
the development plan (Sangster, 2017).
ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: The problem-solving, leadership and decision-making skills
need to be improved to enhance the effectiveness and productivity in the organization. This
can be done by undertaking certain activities that include planning, observation and
supervision and evaluation and control (Sangster, 2017).
ACTION PLAN: The first step needed in the development plan is to plan the activities that
need to be conducted in the business by analysing the need for the development of the
skills, setting targets, formulating strategies and taking control actions (Glatthorn et al.
2018).
BUDGET: The managers must prepare a budget to manage the effective allocation of funds
needed in the implementation of the activities included in the development plan (Sangster,
2017).
TIME MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION: all the activities to be undertaken must be
planned by defining the time and then steps must be taken for implementation.
EVALUATION AND CONTROL: The activities must be recorded by undertaking close
supervision and observation and feedback must be provided to take necessary actions for
improvement that result in growth (Sangster, 2017).
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