Personal and Professional Development Report - Level 5, Jan 2016

This report delves into the realm of personal and professional development, focusing on how individuals can enhance their knowledge, skills, and overall living standards. The report begins by examining the concept of self-managed learning, exploring various approaches such as seminars, social media, and the internet, and evaluating their benefits to both individuals and organizations. It then explores strategies for encouraging lifelong learning in both personal and professional contexts. The report also analyzes work-based problems, such as employee satisfaction, bullying, and discrimination, and proposes solutions. Furthermore, it discusses different learning styles and effective time management strategies. The report includes a self-assessment of the author's skills and competencies, identifying areas for development and outlining the activities required to meet those needs. Finally, the report explores the concept of interpersonal and transferable skills.

Personal and Professional
Development

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Self managed learning and its approaches............................................................................1
1.2 Ways in which lifelong acquisition can be encouraged in personal and professional
context.........................................................................................................................................2
1.3 Pros of self managed learning to individual and organisation..............................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
3.1 Practices and procedure required to implement development plan......................................3
3.2 Document and undertake development practices..................................................................3
3.3 Examine own learning against original objectives and aims in improvement plan..............4
3.4 Modify improvement plan on the basis of feedback and evaluation ...................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Work based hindrances and their solutions...........................................................................5
4.2 Styles and appropriate manners of communication at different level...................................5
4.3 Most effective time management strategies for work place..................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
With the help of personal and professional development, people can enhance knowledge
and improve their living standard. It is a great way through which one can build his/her strengths
and confidence. There are various techniques by which individuals can develop his/her personal
and professional skills such as conferences, meetings and seminars. In simple words, it can be
defined as a process in which people get new knowledge and experience from particular firm,
institution and other resources. Person with high skills and abilities can accomplish his/her
personal as well as professional objectives (Hopkinson, 2014). In modern world, all organisation
want highly skilled staff members and so, it has become the foremost need of every individual to
enhance his/her abilities and competencies. This project report is based on Marks and Spencer
which is a most popular retailer brand. In this report, concept of self-managed learning has been
evaluated. Also, own current skills and competencies have been determined to identify the
development needs. At last, acquired interpersonal and transferable skills have been
demonstrated.
TASK 1
1.1 Self-managed learning and its approaches
Self-managed learning plays an important role in individual's life. People can enhance
their self-acquisition by various methods such as meetings, conferences, seminars and so on.
With the help of this, individual can improve his position at the workplace. There are many
approaches of self-managed learning which are as follows:
 Seminars: It is an event where many people come together and share their knowledge
and performance. It is a great method of enhancing learning as through this, individuals
can get knowledge and facts by others. So, it can be said that by attending different
seminars, people can learn new things and gain high knowledge. (Moon, 2013).
 Social media: By connecting with social sites, people can make network with number of
individuals. With the help of this, persons can interact with a lot of people.
 Internet: In the modern world, internet is becoming the most effective method to
enhance self-managed learning. People can take the help of internet to learn something
new.
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Hence, these are some of the most important approaches through which people can
improve their self-managed learning. This type of acquisition can help people in accomplishing
their personal as well as professional goals and objectives.
1.2 Ways in which lifelong acquisition can be encouraged in personal and professional context
To accomplish personal and professional objective, it is very much important for
individuals to have lifelong learning. This can help people in solving work related problems.
There are various ways in which lifelong acquisition can be encouraged. These are given as
below:
Self-directed learning: In this, individual learns new things by his own direction. As per
this technique, people who chooses this method are accountable for their own losses and profits.
The most effective aspect about this method is that individuals can start their learning at any
place and time. In this, he does not need to take the help of others.
Further education: By pursuing further education, people can also encourage their
lifelong learning. Through this method, individuals can keep engaged in the learning process
which will help them in their personal and professional development (Avalos, 2011). Mostly,
firms recruit that employee who has high qualification. It can be done only by pursuing further
education.
Moreover, with the help of above mentioned points, people can encourage their lifelong
learning. This type of acquisition helps individuals in solving personal and professional
problems. Through self-managed acquisition, people can improve and develop their personality
for lifelong.
1.3 Pros of self-managed learning to individuals and organisation
Self-managed learning plays a significant role in personal as well as in professional life.
By getting more knowledge, people can improve their performance at workplace and also, they
can solve their personal life issues. There are various benefits of self-managed learning to the
individual and organisation. These are as follows:
Benefits to individuals:
 With the help of self-learning, people can improve their skills/abilities and they can also
contribute more in achieving organisational objectives.Self-managed learning helps
individuals in facing work related problems.
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 In organisation, people are divided into groups. When they work in teams, they come to
know about various new concepts which they have not learned yet (Mwalongo, 2011).
Benefits to organisation:Self-managed learning can help employees in increasing the efficiency
and effectiveness of organisation. If company will have highly skilled people then it can accomplish the desired results in
an effective and systematic manner.
Furthermore, these are some benefits of self-managed learning to the individuals and
organisation. By evaluating above mentioned points, it can be said that own acquisition can
improve and develop the performance in personal and professional life.
4.1 Work based problems and their solutions
As Marks and Spencer is on of the leading retailer brand which deals in clothing and food
items. This company has a very large size as it have strength of approx 78,000 workers. In resent
time, this company is facing work related problem which is employee satisfaction. Most of its
labours are not satisfied with their remuneration. Due to this problem workers leaving this
organisation. To get rid of this problem enterprise can provide good reward system to its
employees so that they can be satisfied.
Apart from this, there are also some work related problems and their solutions which are
following as under:
 Bullying and harassment: In present time, most organisation are suffering form these
problems. This type of problem arise when, employers harass and bull their subordinates.
To get rid of this problem organisation can make various rules and regulation which can
ban harassment and bullying for ever.
 Discrimination: This is a problem in which workers are discriminated, on the basis of
their caste, sex, nationality and so on. This can result in lower results of organisation. To
remove this hindrance, legal authorities has made various polices which protect workers
from discrimination (Floyd, 2012).
 Performance appraisal: In organisation, mangers did not appraise their employees
partially. It is biggest problem of work place. To get rid of this problem, company can
choose 360 degree appraisal in which employee appraised by all people but
confidentially.
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Hence, these are some most common problem along with their solution. Through these
solutions people can increase efficiency and effectiveness of organisation.
4.2 learning styles
To acquire new knowledge individual can use different styles of learning. With the help
of learning styles, organisation can resolve its communication related problems. Some most
important and popular acquisition styles are following as under:
Visual: It is that learning style in which picture, images and graphical presentation are used to
acquire knowledge. This type of learning is very effective because in this learner get the
knowledge immediately.
Aural: As per this learning style people learn new things by listening them. In simple words, in
this style individual use sound and music to acquire new knowledge.
Verbal: This is also known as Linguistic style. In this, people use both writing and speech. In
simple words, in this individual gain new knowledge verbally or orally (Forte and Flores, 2014).
Physical: In Kinaesthetic style people use movement of body parts to get knowledge. In this,
senses of touch is highly required.
Logical: According to this method of, people use various reasoning and logic system to gain new
knowledge.
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Illustration 1: Learning styles.2017

Social: In this people enhance their knowledge by involving in various social groups. Through
this, individual can improve their communication as well. This can help them in their personal
and professional life.
Solitary: Some reserved kind of people choose this learning style, as in this individual prefer to
work alone or use self study.
4.3 Effective time management strategies
For better growth of company, it is necessary that organisational tasks will complete
within given time frame. So, it can be said that time management is the most important function
which helps in the success of business. It also motivates employees to be punctual. There are
various time administration techniques through which company can accomplish its goals and
objectives within stipulated time frame. These are as follows:
 Start day with clear cut goals: If company will make a schedule of its daily activities
and practices then it can manage its time and work on the future activities and practices
(King, 2014). By starting day with clear cut goals, managers can evaluate that all tasks
are operating properly and within given time period.
 Have a dynamic task list: By making a clear list of current and future goals, company
can distribute appropriate time for the completion of each and every task. List of
activities helps managers in determining that how many practices has been completed and
how many are remain to be done.
 Give importance to high value activities: It is very much important for company to
prioritise the organisational goals and objectives. Organisation should give importance to
those goals which are highly required, after achieving them company should give
importance to other ones.
 Minimise interruption: Less interruption in business activities and practices can save
time of company. Delay in organisational tasks can result in low profitability and
productivity. So, it is very much important for the manager to minimise delay in
organisational functions.
 Minimise multi-tasking: Employees get confused when they are assigned with many
tasks. So, to remove confusion, managers should not assign many tasks to one employee
as this can consume more time (Carreira and Kagan, 2011).
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Hence, these are some of the most effective strategies through which organisational
activities and practices can be timely managed.
TASK 2
2.1 Own current skills and competencies to achieve personal and professional objectives
With the help of self evaluation, people can enhance their skills and abilities. Effective
self-evaluation can help in operating organisational activities in a proper manner. With the help
of below mentioned table I can evaluate my skills and abilities.
Professional skills Rating (1-5)
Communication skills: It is the foremost skill
which is highly required at work place.
Through this people can interact with each
other. It also helps in transferring information
at all levels of organisation. As I am a very
interactive person so I have good
communication skills.
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Leadership skills: It is that skill which helps in
leading others. To encourage my employees I
need this skill.
4
Technological skills: Due to technology
advancement organisational process has
became very easy. But main problem with this
is that person should have accurate knowledge
about usage of machineries.
3
Team working skills: To accomplish
organisational goals and objectives it is very
much important to have skills of team work.
Without this skill, people can not work within
group which can result in deficiency in
organisational performance. I have good team
4
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working skills.
Hence, these are my own skills which I have evaluated to achieve personal and
professional objectives. Apart from this, to find a job in big organisation I need to present my
own CV in which I can showcase my competencies.
Name:
Address:
Phone number:
Email:
Carrie objective: To build professional career in highly reputed firm, where I can showcase my
skills and abilities.
Academic qualifications:
Masters in Human resource
Graduation
Experience:
Fresher
Personal skills:
Ability to work under group
Self-motivation
Leadership skills
Declaration:
Hereby, I declare that above mentioned information is true.
2.2 Own development needs and practices to meet personal and professional objectives
To determine my own development needs and activities I can take help of SWOT
analysis, in which I can identify my various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
These components are following as under:
Strengths: The biggest strong point of mine is that I enhance my knowledge from macro
environment which shows that I an eager to learn new things. Also, I kind of interactive person
so I get friendly with strangers too. Through this, I can perform very well within group. Along
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with this, I have great leadership skills from my birth which shows that I can be a powerful team
leader.
Weaknesses: The biggest weak point of mine is that I have less technological skills which are
highly required to get success in work place. For better technological skills I need to learn about
machineries and their functions.
Opportunities: By getting higher qualification I can improve my knowledge and also can make
good position in work place. Through interacting with more people I can develop my team work
skills.
Threats: For further education and other requirements I need sufficient capital. I do not have
that much money to improve my above mentioned skills, which is biggest threat for me.
2.3 Improvement opportunities to meet current and future requirements
With the help of development Opportunities people can improve their personal and
professional life. Through this individual can identify their current as well as future needs. Great
career opportunity can change ones life forever. It is responsibility of people to grab best
possibilities. For personal and professional development, individual needs to find improvement
opportunities which can help him in his work place. By evaluating current skills and abilities it
can be determine that what are the future requirements.
With the help of development opportunities, one can enhance his current skills and also
can identify his future needs. These opportunities help in gaining more knowledge and
experience. People can fulfil their current and future needs by attending various seminars,
meeting and conferences. In this individual can understand the ways of interacting with others.
By attending seminars and conferences, people can improve their communication as well as
interpersonal skills. So these are most effective opportunities for personal and professional
development. It also can help in meeting current needs of individual.
2.4 Personal and professional improvement plan
Target How targets can be
achieved
Supportive materials Time for completion
of target
Communication
skills
To perform very well
in organisation, it is
very much important
To improve my
communication skills I
can interact with more
For this I need at least
2 to 3 months.
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to have good
communication skills.
By enhancing this skill
I can accomplish my
future needs. Also, can
have good position in
organisation.
people. Which will
help me in increasing
my communication
skills.
Leadership skills To lead people I need
some leadership skills.
I can get this type of
skill by reading books
of leadership.
To enhance my
leadership skills I need
to read various books
on leaders and
leadership.
To increase my
leadership skills I need
3 to 4 months.
Technological skills In modern world, all
company use technical
factors so that they can
operate their operation
in effective and
systematic manner. It
is very much
important for people to
have technical
knowledge so that they
can operate various
machineries.
To get technical
knowledge I can take
practical classes.
For this I need 2 to 3
months.
TASK 3
3.1 Practices and procedure required to implement development plan
After making personal and professional development plan it is very much important to
implement that plan in reality. For implementing development plan individual can use various
process and procedures. With the help of effective and systematic procedure improvement
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program can lead to higher success. With the help of following steps individual can implement
his own development plan and these are following as under:
1. By interacting with other people people can improve their communication skills. This
can help in personal and professional development (Mwalongo, 2011). It also helps in
removing hesitation while interacting with others.
2. By reading most popular books on leadership. People can improve their leadership
skills which can help them in improving their personal as well as professional life.
3. For better performance in organisation, people should have knowledge of technology. To
enhance technical skills people can join classes where they can improve and develop
technology skills.
3.2 Document and undertake development practices
After implementing development plan it is very much important to take required actions
so that desired results can be achieved. Taking required actions is not enough, for better results
they should be document in a appropriate way. With the help of documentation, people can
understand which development activities have been done and how many are renaming to be
done. The main task of every organisation is to achieve its objectives. These goals can be
attained by taking corrective actions (Maskit, 2011).
After determining all required activities and practices it is very much essential to
document them. In that document information of total meetings, number of people gathered in
that meeting and what was the outcome of that meeting should be mentioned. It is highly
important to share the above mentioned information with all members of company. With the help
of recorded notes and document organisation can make their future plans and decisions. So it
can be said than document plays an important role in development plan.
In order to undertake and document development activities various points are required
which are following as under:
 Capture all informations, gather initial thoughts and include them in the document
(Desimone, 2011).
 Meeting notes and decisions needs to be included in the document.
 Try to find out flaws by reviewing the drafted documents.
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