Marks & Spencer: Personal and Professional Development Report Analysis

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of personal and professional development, focusing on a skill audit, SWOT analysis, and individual appraisal within the context of Marks & Spencer. The introduction emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and personal development for enhancing talents, quality of life, and career options. The report includes a detailed skill audit assessing various competencies, such as time management, problem-solving, communication, and information literacy. Key interpersonal and transferable skills are identified, and a personal SWOT analysis is conducted to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Furthermore, the report outlines the preparation and implementation of a personal and professional development plan. The reflection section provides insights into the learning process and outcomes. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for continued growth.

Personal and
Professional
Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Skill Audit...................................................................................................................................3
Key Interpersonal and Transferable Skills..................................................................................6
Conduct your Personal SWOT Analysis.....................................................................................9
TASK A-2......................................................................................................................................10
Using appropriate Proforma, carry out your Individual appraisal within your organisation....10
Prepare and implement a Personal and Professional Development Plan..................................12
TASK B.........................................................................................................................................14
Reflection..................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
A life long process is required to make the personal development and it is a never ending
process to be learned. Personal development is covering an activity which improves the
awareness of individuals which helps in enhancing talents, quality of life which is inspiring the
dreams of the individuals and building capital. Having a personal development of the individuals
has a good growth of the individuals which will motivate them for the further objectives and
aims of themselves.
Personal development can be done by the teachers, guide, counselors, mentors, manager
and life coaching. It is very important for the people to have personal development because there
are a lot of tools, techniques, methods, programs and assessment system. This personal
development can also make the health issues improvement, aspirations, social relations or
emotional intelligence, self awareness, self-knowledge, improve the career options as well of the
individuals, etc. This growth is very important in all the individuals and for the growth of the
people and it is very important for the individuals. When there is a personal development the
people get more aware of the needs and wants they want to have and the steps or measures they
should be taking to achieve those are very important.
Marks and Spenser is a British company which is having its headquarters in Westminster,
London. The company is very famous for the clothes they are providing the customers and that is
the advantage of the company. There are a lot of products which the company has extended itself
in which is home products and food products as well. The company has 959 stores across UK
which has 615 stores only selling food products. The company has invested in selling branded
food products like Kellogg's corn flakes and other items which will be liked by the customers.
Report is going to have a detail analysis of the factors of the company from an assistants point of
view and that is very important in any company.
TASK 1
Skill Audit
Quality of work to improve Not confident 100% 100% confident

TIME MANAGEMENT AND SELF
By organizing my work I tend to finish my office work before the deadline.
I know where to get help from when I am going through a trouble in the office.
When there is a lot of pending work I know how to management my time so that
I can complete the entire work on time.
There is a diary I maintain for reminding myself of the lectures, seminars and
other meeting in the work place.
According to my qualifications and education I have made future goals and
targets so that I can complete the task in hand.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND CRITICAL THINKING
When there is a task allotted in the office I can manage to work with a team
without having any fights and disputes.
I choose the best of option from the options I have in front of me when it comes
to problem solving for the best of the company and myself.
There are different solutions for solving a problem in the company of academic
and non-academic related issues and I always think of a different solution so that
the problem can be solved off without having too many issues.
I have an ability to find out the results from the task which is allotted to me.
I have an ability to break down the issues into simpler parts for the betterment of
the company.
I know as to what is expected out of me when given a particular task to
complete and I do what is expected out of me.
VOCAL COMMUNICATION

I appreciate the ideas and thinking of all the team members even if I do not like
the ideas and try to keep the environment positive in the company.

I would be the asset to the company because there are a lot of ideas and options I
come up with when there is a group discussion in the company and that is very
important for my growth and the company. There is supposed to be an
immediate feedback which has to be taken when the work is completed so that I
can evaluate myself.
While giving a presentation in the office there is a confidence I carry out in the
office.
Power of confidence can help to explain new things in the office.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
I use the sign language and proper paragraphs in my assignment so that people
can understand the ideas I want to put out.
There are points which I can pick up from the presentations.
I hardly make any mistakes in the written work I present, punctuation,
grammatical or spelling mistakes.
I also make sure that when I am referring to others I do not have plagiarism in
my work.
Academic style is what I use in my written assignments.
There will be correct use of the format in the letters and documents I would be
using.
I use sources in my arguments so that I am convincing all the members that I am
informed, aware and updated about the topic which are being discussed.
INFORMATION LITERACY: READING
To collect data and information, I refer to books, internet and other sources

I can help the clients take the right step or decision because I have an ability to
understand them.
I can take notes when there is an assignment which is being done in the
company.
There are arguments which I can identify in books by authors and differentiate
them with proper examples and references.
NUMERACY
The tables and graphs which are presented, I can easy understand and analysis
them.
I can help the departments to have funds for their functions and the budgeting
for them.
Key Interpersonal and Transferable Skills
Problem Solving  There should be a use of different ideas
and alternatives for the better
understanding and communication in
the organization (Ramia and et.al.,
2016).
 There participation of all the employees
in the group discussion or project
decisions should be equal.
 There experience and voluntary work
should be used in the work place so that
the individual and the company can
make benefits from that. Marks and
Spencer makes sure that this is
followed.

 To gain experience and information,
everyone must attend events and
activities in the organization.
 Sharing of the work space and living
share is very important in the
organization and Marks and Spencer's
provide the employees with that need
and want.
 The use of ASK workshop which has
been provided to the employees must
be used completely and usefully (Choy
and Chua, 2019).
Self and time management  It is very important for prioritizing the
work and managing the time in the
organization.
 There should be a use of the resources
which have been attended by the
employees of the workshop on self
management and time.
 Feed backs must be worked upon on
the targets which the company has set
with proper time management
(Cappella and Godfrey, 2019).
 There must be study partners or study
groups in the organization so that they
can motivate each other and make the
work happen.
Oral Communication  The listening and communication in the
company has to be worked upon in
Marks and Spencer so that the

organization can run in one direction.
 There should be an active participation
of the employees in the meetings,
seminars, discussions and group
discussions in the organization (Vetere
and Stratton, 2016).
 There must be some kind of experience
in the employees when they are being
hired in Marks and Spencer's.
 A need of making the employee's
participation in workshops for better
communication in the organization
because Marks and Spencer's have
experienced this problem before, and
they do not want to face the same
therefore they are having workshops in
the organization for the betterment of
the employees (Lavery and Coffey,
2016).
Information Literacy  The employees in the company must be
willing to read and study more so that
the company can have well-educated
employees and develop themselves as
people.
 Consulting information is another very
important factor which the employees
must consider in the organization.
 Employees must be motivated to do
their assignments from books and
library and not other resources which is
limited knowledge for the employees

(Mason and Reeves, 2018).
Written Communication  Submission of any assignment must be
checked and errors must be corrected
after taking feed back from people.
 ASK workshop really improves the
people for the betterment of the
company and the writing skills of the
individual.
 Practicing this skills will really help to
improve the skills of the individual and
for Marks and Spencer's (Cashwell,
C.S. and McKibben, 2018).
Numeracy  From the ASK workshop one should
use the resources from there and use
them in math, numeracy and statistics.
 There must be a lot of experience with
the employees who are handling this
situation so that the company will not
make errors in the future.
 Theses are those skills which need to be
practiced every day and for
improvement there must be a
discussion on this for the betterment of
the individual and the company (Hill
and et.al., 2016).
Conduct your Personal SWOT Analysis
Strength
My biggest strength which can help me to succeed in future and have enabled me to
know that where I am best at is the coaching and mentoring. As a manager, I am able to easily

influence my team members towards the right direction and provide them with the correct
guidance. I have the qualities of effective leader and is capable enough to lead my team towards
their completion of their work. Another biggest strength that has assisted me to increase my
productivity and performance is the good communication skills. As the customer service
manager, I am able to effectively communicate with the customers and help them to take the
right decision (Rangkuti, 2015). I can easily convince the customers to purchase products and
services and convert them from customers to consumers.
Weakness
The most important weakness which sometimes prevent me to work efficiently and take
the right decision is lack of well-through technical knowledge. I have less understanding of the
various software and application which are being used at the workplace and is not able to work
properly. Although I have little knowledge of few application like Microsoft word, Excel but
when I am required to work with complex software like CRM then I become somewhat anxious.
Besides this, another weakness which has dominated me is that I am somewhat disorganized as
well as poor in time management (Rangkuti, 2015.). I am not able to prioritize the activities
according to the specified time frame and sometimes finds it difficult to manage the time.
Opportunities
The biggest opportunity which is available to me that ca help me to excel in my work and
future is gaining the in-depth knowledge to software and technology. As nowadays, each and
every job require the technical proficiency thus I can take classes to learn the various system
which will also help me in my next job whenever I switch (Phadermrod, Crowder and Wills,
2019). Another opportunity which will help me to perform my work effectively and will also
assist me in my future career is making schedule and various tactics for improving my poor time
management. I have the chance to set deadline for me which will help me to finish my work
before time. Besides this, I can also take various challenging task and can schedule the tasks
according to its importance and this will assist me to overcome procrastination (Hill, 2016).
Threat
The biggest threat that might hinder my future and can ruin my future is the lack of
technical skills. As I am weak in technology and computer related activities thus this might pose
a roadblock in my career and can prevent me to succeed further. As each and every job and weak
requires technical proficient thus my inability to work on advanced software can affect my

performance (Gürel and Tat, 2017). Another threat which might cause a problem for me is
inability of make reliable decisions. As I am little disorganized and is not able to prioritize the
activities according to their completion time thus this might led me to take wrong decision which
will eventually affect my whole career. Thus, this might be serious threat for me.
TASK A-2
Using appropriate Proforma, carry out your Individual appraisal within your organisation
Skills Grading Status
Communication Skills 3 out of 5 The communication skills have to be improved
upon since I would be becoming an assistant
manager in Marks and Spencer's which would be a
big company (Avidov-Ungar, 2016). If I would
lack in these skills in the employees will not be
able to manage themselves and I would not be
able to complete my tasks on time. Taking
interviews of the employees would also be a
challenge for myself therefore I would have to
work on this skill of mine the most. I would be
creating a bad name for the company in front of
the employees who would be joining the company
and if I will not have a good communication skill
then I would not be able to make the other
employees of the company to maintain the
standards of the company.
Decision Making Skills 5 out of 5 As a human resource assistant manager I would
have to pick people for the employees of the
company and I am very good with the decisions I
would be taking for the company and that will be
very appropriate for Marks and Spencer's. There
are a lot of innovative and creatives ideas I would