Personal Professional Development: A Self-Assessment Report

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PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Table of contents
Introduction 3
Task 1 Analysing the learning style and the implications of that style of personal
development 3
1. Examining the learning style 3
2. Learning a new skill through a new electronic devices 4
3. The usefulness of the instructions 5
4. Examining the skills that have been added during the work 5
5. Evaluating development and training needs of the employer 6
Task 2 Analysing competence and skills 6
1. Completing a competency test 6
2. Analysing the existing competence and skills 7
3. Getting necessary information 7
3. Personal development plan 8
4. Comparing the development plan with the employer 9
4. Discussing the skills with the training supervisor and the tutor 10
Task 3 Developing a future development plan and comparing the expectations 10
Task 4 A reflection of the learning 11
Career goals and discuss the difference between my needs and the employer needs 11
Critically assessing the development 12
Conclusion 12
Reference list 13
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Introduction
Personal professional development is an extremely important part of a person's career. In
order to be an efficient employee, it is very important to develop skills on a regular basis.
Therefore, employees look for opportunities to develop as professionals and people. They need
to identify which skills that lack and then I should use effective ways to grow those skills to
make them better employees in the workplace. In the report, personal learning opportunities
needs have been identified. Then the learning journey has planned and managed in the next
stage. Then in the next stage, personal progress has been recorded and finally, learning has been
evaluated on the basis of personal experience.
Task 1 Analysing the learning style and the implications of that
style of personal development
1. Examining the learning style
I started working as a part-time customer care executive in an organisation even though I
am a student at a British University. I believe this experience and learning will help me in the
future to a great extent. I really put an effort to learn and improve my skills daily in the
workplace. It is very important for me to examine the learning style if I want to improve my
learning skills.
In order to know about my learning style, I gave tests on learning styles online. These
tests are really effective in identifying the learning style (Educationplanner.org, 2019). I found
out that I could be considered as both an auditory learner and a visual learner. It is true that I
have a photographic memory, I respond to bright colours well and colours really help me in
remembering certain things. However, I also remember music and sound as well that is the main
reason I have the capability to remember the lyrics of the songs. Therefore, when I listen to the
customers in the workplace, I always remember what their words in the future. Both of these
learning styles are totally different from each other, however, both of these techniques are
considered effective (Simplelifestrategies.com, 2019).
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As an auditory learner, I learn through listening and hearing. When I study and gather
information from the materials I read it aloud. In this way, I remember the words and
information used in those materials. I also use flashcards for learning new words and also read
directions or stories aloud. On the other hand, as a visual learner, I learn through pictures and I
remember things with the help of pictures. I have noticed one thing that I do not like distractions
when I do an important job in the workplace and it is a characteristic of an auditory learner. This
type of learner generally writes key ideas, words or draws some pictures to understand certain
concepts well (Rasheed and Wahid, 2019). I also do it sometimes and it helps me understand
several concepts.
2. Learning a new skill through new electronic devices
I recently bought a new I Pad and I downloaded a new application for improving the
learning skills. I have recently discovered an interesting game that helps the auditory learners to
improve their skills to a great extent. There are 50 levels that the players need to pass to be a
winner and I gave up when I reached the 22nd level (Caicedo et al., 2019). At the very
beginning, the levels were really easy that a child can also play it, however, after the 14th level,
the game became really tough. That is the reason; I could not play the application anymore after
22nd level anymore. Then I started reading the instructions again to understand how I could play
the game to improve my learning skill.
3. The usefulness of the instructions
The instructions were really useful because those instructions helped me understand what
strategies I should use at the higher level. It understood that it was important for the players to
read the instructions completely and it also motivated me to begin my game from 22nd level
again. However, I understood that I needed to use new learning methods to become an efficient
player. Therefore, I started used graphs and table to understand some concepts better. I noticed
that it helped me in playing the game well and it also helped me in improving my learning skills.
Then I started playing the game again and I discovered my learning skill improved greatly.
Therefore, I could reach the 35th level faster and I enhanced my confidence. It is important to
understand that nowadays, I Pad apps and mobile apps play can play very important to the
development of professional skills.
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4. Examining the skills that have been added during the work
Being a part-time employee of the organisation, I realised continuous personal
development played an important role in making employees efficient. I always try to learn from
my co-workers and ask them to guide me when required. During my work as a part-time
employee in the British organisation, I improved my communication skills by taking help from
some of my co-workers. Apart from that, I realised that communication skills got developed
greatly as I worked with the customers on a daily basis. I always listen to their issues and try to
resolve those issues properly. I noticed that my auditory skills had an impact on the development
of communication skills. As I learn through listening to words, it helped me learn and develop
my communication skills quickly. I also learn a lot of new words by communicating with my
customers and therefore, I stock of work improved to a great extent. I believe the auditory
learning style is the most effective way of learning new technologies, methods and legal
requirements.
5. Evaluating development and training needs of the employer
Even though the organisation's business leaders always give emphasis on skills
development for his employees, the employer also should meet certain training and development
needs. Therefore, I and my co-workers suggested some methods of management and leadership
skills (Sousa and Rocha, 2019). A plan should also be developed to identify all the development
issues that the employer faces. If the employee can improve his leadership skills properly, he will
be able to guide this subordinates well. It has been identified that the employer does not have
good decision-making skills and it is really important for an employer to have good decision-
making skills to perform his duties properly.
Task 2 Analysing competence and skills
1. Completing a competency test
I recently attempted a competency test to an idea about my competency. I personally
believe these tests are really helpful in understanding the competencies and in developing
professional skills greatly. Competency is considered as an important term in most organisations.
The report showed how I would like to rate myself on 16 different competencies. It was really
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fun and interesting for me when I attempted this test. Competencies include noticing, deciding,
analysing, creating, planning, taking the appropriate initiative, reacting, persevering,
communicating verbally, communicating nonverbally, networking, monitoring, leading others,
helping others, working under pressure and self-development (123test.com, 2019). When I
analysed the report, I understood I scored high, above average and average in all of the
competencies. In the report, some recommendations are also provided to improve those
competencies. I will always keep all of those suggestions in my mind.
2. Analysing the existing competence and skills
I noticed that I scored high in decision making and in problem-solving skills. I already
knew that I had these skills and I use these skills in the workplace a lot. I also consider myself
paragraph quick learner because I learned a lot of things from my co-workers quickly. As far as
decision-making skill and problem-solving skill is concerned, I attended a course of six months
on these professional skills. Actually, I want to become a manager in the future. It is extremely
important for a manager to have decision-making skills (Weber and Achtenhagen, 2019). That is
the reason; I attended that course and tried to improve my decision-making skills. The course
really helped me to improve my problem-solving and decision-making skills within a short time
period. I also noticed that I scored high in the area of communicating with others. Nowadays,
many people consider me a good communicator in my workplace. However, my communication
skill was not good as well when I started this job. As I needed to communicate with my
customers daily, it helped me to improve my communication skills greatly. My co-workers also
supported me and provided me some valuable advice regarding the development of
communication skills. I have the good listening skill and it really helps me a lot when I perform
my duties in the office. As a customer care executive, I always need to listen to the problems of
the customers attentively and give them solutions. When I listen to their issues attentive, I seem
pleased and I understand their problems well by listening attentively.
3. Getting necessary information
As an employee, it is really important for me to know about certain aspects of the
organisations where I work. Therefore, I talked with my boss about this matter and he told me
that I should attend a few meeting and training sessions. I really wanted to know what the
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business organisation does to protect the health of the customers. I also wanted to know how this
organisation contributes to the development of employees' professional skills. When I attended a
few meetings, I understood very well that the organisation takes the safety of its employees
seriously. The business leaders of this British organisation make sure that the employees go
through check-ups once in a month in the workplace. The organisation appointed some health
care professionals to do the check-ups and prescribes medicines to the employees as per their
requirements. The training sessions are generally conducted in the organisation for those people
who do have technical knowledge. For instance, I attended a training session on the use of
computer-aided design. The training was mainly conducted to make people aware of its
importance, requirement in the workplace and advantage. The training was conducted in the
workplace just before introducing the software in the workplace. This training really helped in
changing the negative mentality and attitude of some people who did not want to accept this new
change.
3. Personal development plan
Skills Techniques of development Time
Technical skills I do not have technical 3 years
knowledge because I am not
an IT professional. The
organisation sometimes
conducts training sessions for
people who do not have
technical knowledge. I will
attend those training sessions
to improve my technical skills.
Problem-solving skill I am good at solving problems 1 year
and in fact, I consider it to be
a strength. However, I want to
strengthen my problem-
solving skill because I always
need to solve the problems of
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my customers daily as a
customer care executive.
Table 1: Personal development plan
(Source: Created by the author)
4. Comparing the development plan with the employer
It is very important to make a comparison between my development plan and the learning
needs of the organisation or the employer. The organisation needs to take a look at the area of
leadership and management and it needs to meet the needs of those areas. The employer also
needs to improve his leadership skills and his skill of organising. When my employer has strong
technological knowledge, I do not have that. Therefore, I can take help from employer to learn
technical knowledge or ask him how to improve my technical skills properly. I identified that
both I and my employer need to have conflict resolution skills (Reachvolunteering.org.uk, 2019).
We can acquire this skill by attending training courses in reputed institutes. Selection of the right
institutes is very important when it comes to the development of professional skills. Conflict
resolution skill can be added to the personal development plan and I can set a time period to
attain this professional skill. I personally think eight months are sufficient to improve this
professional skill. Development of this professional skill will also help in the future to become an
efficient manager.
4. Discussing the skills with the training supervisor and the tutor
Once I complete the personal development plan completely, I should discuss those skills
with the training supervisor and the tutor. They will tell me whether I need to make any changes
in the personal development plan or not. They will also suggest some techniques to improve
those skills and their experience, knowledge will really help me in achieving my goals.
Development of these professional skills also justifies my choice of career because all of the
skills are necessary to become a good manager. As I want to an efficient manager, I must possess
all of these professional skills. As tutors can help me in the process of development, I need to
develop a positive relationship with them. Cordial relationships are really important to get
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support and advice for developing the skills. They may recommend me to talk to others as well,
therefore, it is also very important to create a positive relationship with other people in the
University and the workplace.
Task 3 Developing a future development plan and comparing
the expectations
In order to grow professionally, I will have to create a plan for the development of the
future. The future development plan will be created for meeting the needs of a manager as I want
to become a manager in the future. I will focus on the skills that are really necessarily for
managers.
Professional skills Techniques for developing Time
the skills
Critical thinking skills In the future, I will have to Six months
critically think and analyse
different situations before
taking any decision.
Therefore, I will put an effort
to improve my critical
thinking skill
Conflict resolution skills A manager must have conflict Eight months
solution skill because he
works with people from
different background and
nationalities. When I will
become a manager, I will try
to acquire this skill.
As I compared my expectations with the expectations of my tutor and my employer, I can
say that our expectations match with each other. As I already talked to one of my tutors and my
employer, they also believed that I needed to develop conflict-solution skill and critical thinking
skill to become a good manager.
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Table 1: Professional development plan
(Source: Created by the source)
Task 4 A reflection of the learning
Career goals and discuss the difference between my needs and the
employer needs
The career goal is to become a good manager in a reputed organisation. Therefore, I work
hard to achieve all the professional skills that a manager must have. I also want to be a
supportive and motivating leader so that the employees will comfortable with me. There are
some differences between my needs and the needs of the employer. I need to improve my
conflict solution skills, critical thinking skills, and technical skill. On the other hand, the
employer will have to work on his leadership and management skills (Fleck et al., 2019).
Critically assessing the development
I learned a lot from my boss and my co-workers during my work in the workplace.
Interacting with the customers and solving their problems regularly developed my
communication skills and made me more confident. Dealing with the issues of customers also
helped me develop problem-solving skill greatly.
Conclusion
It has been understood that professional development is extremely important to become
an efficient employee and in meeting career goals. It has been understood how one can identify
his learning style. It has also been understood how to create a personal development plan and
how to improve skills and competence. It can be recommended that the employees need to
observe the activities and behaviour of their bosses in the workplace to learn from their actions
and behaviour. It is considered as an effective way of learning and developing skills by some
people.
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Reference list
123test.com, (2019). Competency Test Available at https://www.123test.com (Accessed
on: 23.05.2019)
Caicedo, S., Lucas Jr, R.E. and Rossi-Hansberg, E., 2019. Learning, career paths, and the
distribution of wages. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 11(1), pp.49-88.
Cipd.co.uk, (2019). The professional body for HR and people development Available at
https://www.cipd.co.uk/ (Accessed on: 23.05.2019)
Educationplanner.org, (2019). What's Your Learning Style? 20 Questions Available at
http://www.educationplanner.org (Accessed on: 23.05.2019)
Fleck, J.A., Threeton, M.D. and Ewing, J.C., 2019. Important Leadership Skills for
Career and Technical Education Administrators. Career and Technical Education
Research, 44(1), pp.40-56.
Rasheed, F. and Wahid, A., 2019. Learning Style Recognition: A Neural Network
Approach. In First International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive
Computing (pp. 301-312). Springer, Singapore.
Reachvolunteering.org.uk, (2019). How to complete a skills audit
https://reachvolunteering.org.uk (Accessed on: 23.05.2019)
Simplelifestrategies.com, (2019). How to Identify your Learning Style in 5 Minutes |
Simple Life Strategy Available at https://simplelifestrategies.com (Accessed on:
23.05.2019)
Sousa, M.J. and Rocha, Á., 2019. Leadership styles and skills developed through game-
based learning. Journal of Business Research, 94, pp.360-366.
Weber, S. and Achtenhagen, F., 2019. Measuring Innovative Thinking and Acting Skills
as Workplace‐Related Professional Competence. The Wiley Handbook of Global
Workplace Learning, pp.119-139.
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