Comprehensive Analysis: Personal and Professional Development at TESCO

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of personal and professional development within the context of TESCO, a major retail company. It begins by comparing various sources of information on professional development trends, including blended learning, mobile learning, and online learning, and identifies key trends such as climate change, emerging technologies, and the explosion of data that influence the need for professional development. The report then assesses the author's current and future development needs, followed by a discussion on the benefits of personal and professional development, types of development actions, and methods for identifying skills, knowledge, and experience. A detailed personal and professional development plan is presented, including learning outcomes, target proficiency levels, development opportunities, and criteria for judging success. The plan's execution, timeline, and budget considerations are outlined, along with the advantages of development opportunities. The report also covers how to set SMART objectives, obtain feedback, review progress, and amend the development plan, concluding with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for continuous improvement.

Manage personal and
professional
development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Compare sources of information on professional development trends.................................2
1.2 Trends which can influence the need of professional development.....................................2
1.3 Own current and future development needs..........................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Benefits of personal and professional development .............................................................4
2.2 Types of development action ...............................................................................................4
2.3 Identify future and current skills, knowledge and experience ............................................4
2.4 Develop a personal and professional development plan ......................................................5
2.5 Execute the plan with agreed timescale and budget .............................................................7
2.6 Advantage of development opportunities.............................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 How to set SMART objectives.............................................................................................8
3.2 Obtain feedback on performance from various sources........................................................8
3.3 Review progress towards personal and professional objectives...........................................9
3.4 Amend personal and professional development plan ...........................................................9
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Personal development refers the improvement of personal skills and potentials to carry
out success both in personal life and in the workplace. An individual can develop his/her
personal skills and potentials throughout the whole life by different ways of learning. On the
other hand, professional development refers developing or improving necessary skills to carry
out particular role effectively at working life (Avalos, 2011). Effective professional development
includes knowledge and understanding area of expertise of an individual. The present assignment
is based on TESCO; it is one of the largest retailing industry over the world.
TASK 1
1.1 Compare sources of information on professional development trends
Blended learning - Blended learning, the combination of face-to-face (FTF) and online
learning, is another trend that is sweeping across universities and businesses alike. The benefits
of mixing online and traditional teaching styles has seen such an increase in popularity that even
universities, who have been slow to drift from tradition, are starting to bend.
Mobile learning - Mobile learning is a novel revolution in the e-learning world. With
massive smartphone advancements over the past few years, it has never been easier for
individuals to get constant access to learning and development material.
Online learning - Online learning provides workers with the flexibility to work on their
development when they have a natural break between projects. Distance learning has seen a big
increase in popularity as technology has evolved and people have become busier.
1.2 Trends which can influence the need of professional development Climate changes - Climate change will have a strong economic impact in the future. The
OECD anticipates that by 2050, more than 40% of the world’s population will live under
severe water stress, resulting in floods or drought that, combined, can put the economic
value of assets at risk at record highs. Becoming efficient with resources is socially
responsible and cost beneficial (Cottrell, 2015). Organizations need to adapt to increasing
regulations controlling energy efficiency, waste, water leakage, urban congestion,
transportation efficiency, land degradation, freight impact, and other factors. Allowing
employees to work virtually also reduces the need for facilities and helps organizations
minimize their carbon footprints.

 Emerging Technologies - One of the many emerging technologies worthy of mention is
robotics. Japan is expecting one in three of its population to be over the age of 65 by
2030, and one in five to be over 75, creating a major requirement for the care of the
elderly. Complexity - Complexity is increasing for both organizations and individuals. At the
organizational level, complexity multiplies with layers upon layers of government
regulations, in multiple countries, combined with requirements from customers with their
own unique specifications. Organizations that can streamline and simplify structures,
processes, systems, and cultures will have the competitive advantage in the future. At the
individual level, the need to master this complexity and balance competing demands is
also on the increase. Stanford researchers identified a number of stressors that affect
overall health and wellness for employees, including long hours, job insecurity, work-
family conflict, and others.
 Explosion of Data - Experts estimate that from 2009 to 2020, data will grow 4300%.
That data will be in the form of content from the past that can be readily structured into a
database, and will also increasingly include unstructured data such as social media sites
like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and so on. A hotel opened in Japan in 2015 with
lifelike robots, called actroids, serving as the check-in staff. Aid assistance in nursing
facilities is on the horizon, meaning many of the entry-level jobs in those areas will
become obsolete.
1.3 Own current and future development needs
Current needs - At the current stage, I can do whatever I want to develop opportunities to
meet current as well as future goals. I observed that I have to develop my skills in some other
sectors such as strategic planning leading people, personal development, participative
management.
Future needs - Opportunities are the chances of developing a person promote in another
level of understanding. Every skill that a person obtained is important to be succeed in life. In
future, I need to renovate my current skills and knowledge and have to develop my level of
thinking regarding personal and professional life.

TASK 2
2.1 Benefits of personal and professional development
 In an era where more and more employers are cutting costs for opportunities like
training, your organization can stand out from the rest by offering and promoting some
professional development options.
 No one likes to feel like they are missing important skills in their job. Providing
professional development training opportunities allows your staff to build confidence in
the work they do (Dabbagh and Kitsantas, 2012).
 Professional development programs are great tools for training future leaders at your
organization. Rather than hiring outside the business, promoting from within is a great
way to show your staff that they can have a long career with your organization.
 Providing periodic professional development can also help your staff gain new skills
and perspectives, which can translate into how they approach their jobs.
2.2 Types of development action
 ORIENTATIONS- Orientation training is vital in ensuring the success of new
employees. Whether the training is conducted through an employee handbook, a lecture,
or a one-on-one meeting with a supervisor, newcomers should receive information on the
company's history and strategic position, the key people in authority at the company.
 LECTURES - A verbal method of presenting information, lectures are particularly
useful in situations when the goal is to impart the same information to a large number of
people at one time.
 CASE STUDY - The case method is a non-directed method of study whereby students
are provided with practical case reports to analyse (Hutchison, 2010). The case report
includes a thorough description of a simulated or real-life situation.
 ROLE PLAYING - In role playing, students assume a role outside of themselves and
play out that role within a group. A facilitator creates a scenario that is to be acted out by
the participants under the guidance of the facilitator.
2.3 Identify future and current skills, knowledge and experience
A ‘Skills Matrix’ is a useful means of identifying the skills, competencies and expertise
required by an individual fulfil its role. It can also be used to identify gaps in skills that may

occur when there is a change in the composition of the board or committee or when there is a
change in strategic direction.
SWOT Analysis - Self monitoring can be done by SWOT Analysis. by this analysis
individuals can identify my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding
professional development. This give them a chance to do self learning process so that they can
work out my weakness and can avoid threats.
2.4 Develop a personal and professional development plan
Learning
outcomes
Curre
nt
profici
ency
Target
proficie
ncy
Development
opportunities
Criteria for judging
success
Time
scale
Team
building skills
8 10 Effective team
building skills
helps me to
manage my team
in a systematic
manner. Through
which I can easily
influence my
subordinates so as
to perform specific
activities. In
addition, team
building skills
accessible in
achieving team
goals and
objectives in a
certain time
period.
By taking feedbacks
and reviews from
higher authorities.
Apart from this, team
performance can also
judge by organising
perform management
session monthly or
quarterly.
1 to 2
months.
Practical and 7 10 Good practical By conducting 2.5

technical
skills
and technical
skills aids in
implementation of
new and
innovative
business
strategies. Apart
from this, due to
technical skills
also promote
effective
completion of
working activities.
It also keeps past
data and records
of employee
performance.
research and
development activities.
Technical skills can be
monitor through
examination of
employees' skills so as
to determine whether
they are using
technical skills while
completing working
activities and
operations.
months
Communicati
on skills
8 10 It can be achieved
by reading
newspapers,
English magazines
and attending
speaking classes.
Personal
communication
with higher
authorities also
helps me to
improve my
communication
skills.
In order to analyse my
communication skills,
my colleagues and
other friends gives me
feedbacks and reviews
on the same. I can also
consult this thing with
my senior managers,
they will provide me
better advices.
1 month

2.5 Execute the plan with agreed timescale and budget
In order to undertake and document development there are some activities to
do. There are no specific activities for specific requirements. to, for a specific
requirements all the activities must be performed. some key points that are required to
prepare document for development given below: -
Gather initial thoughts, capture all information
and include these in the document.
2 weeks
Include meeting notes and decisions in the
document.
1 week
Review the drafted document with other and
try to find out flaws
3 week
2.6 Advantage of development opportunities Boost Engagement and Productivity - Today's employees expect to find meaning and
direction in their day-to-day work - not just jobs and tasks, but meaningful careers and
career goals. Employees who have access to career development processes, resources,
and tools feel much more engaged and supported by the organization. In addition,
employees who drive their own development are far more likely to be motivated and
optimally productive on a consistent basis. Strengthen the Succession Pipeline- The backbone of any effective succession planning
process is a well-prepared talent pipeline that can be drawn from at any time. With an
employee-driven career development initiative in place, your top talent gains the
opportunity to apply for critical roles that may be vacant (Jasper, 2011). Making such
opportunities visible and available for all eligible employees ensures that the most
qualified individuals enter those critical roles.
 Generate Knowledge Transfer and Retention - With the current and impending
retirement of millions of Baby Boomers and an aging workforce, it is crucial for
organizations to retain the wealth of knowledge and experience of seasoned employees.
Career development initiatives aimed at retaining experienced talent provide direct

opportunities for knowledge sharing - enhancing and tapping into knowledge capital
within an organization, and ensuring that such valuable knowledge is not lost.
TASK 3
3.1 How to set SMART objectives
The first step is to use the specific, measurable and time-bounded criteria to write your
objective, and then think through whether the objective is attainable and relevant by asking the
questions suggested above. In doing so, try to use SMART language. SMART objectives are
more than just wishes so try to ensure that you base them on verbs, especially those with a strong
call to action (Manning and Bucher, 2013). If your objective is to improve something, then start
with that. Here are some words which might help you define your objectives with a focus on
action: reduce, improve, increase, eliminate, produce, install, write, develop, complete. For
example:
 Reduce the waiting time at a clinic by 10%, within 2 months;
 Increase the profitability of the business by 5%, by the end of the year;
 Increase the number of improvement ideas implemented by (name of team or area), by
20% in the next three months;
 Shorten the time to market for new products/services, by 20% by the end of the year;
Remember that objectives are a call to action. They should result in a plan which details
what you are going to do, and how you are going to specifically achieve your objective.
3.2 Obtain feedback on performance from various sources
These are main various sources that involves in obtaining feedbacks: - Supervisors, managers and team leaders - Leaders typically are a rich source of
feedback. They are experienced and have specialized knowledge of the tasks their
subordinates are performing. They also have insight into company procedures, policy and
trajectory. Thus, they likely have a comprehensive understanding of the employee’s
performance (McNiff, 2010). Leaders are an integral part of the feedback process and
should receive adequate training to acquire relevant information for the feedback process. Peers - Co-workers performing similar jobs can have a better understanding of their
peer’s performance than supervisors and upper management. They can also provide a
different perspective for the feedback process.

 Subordinates - “Upward feedback” is the method of allowing subordinates to provide
feedback about manager’s style and performance. In a field study of 238 corporate
managers, upward feedback had a positive impact on the performance of low to moderate
performers
3.3 Review progress towards personal and professional objectives
These are the main methods of reviewing towards personal and professional objectives: -
 Keep a calendar where you can check off each day that you complete your daily goal
 Keep doing this every day, and soon you’ll have a chain of days you’ve checked off
 Don’t break the chain
 Schedule a 30-minute meeting with yourself to occur in 1 month, and to recur every
month after that. Make the meeting non-negotiable, and if for some reason it has to be
rescheduled, reschedule it but don’t cancel it.
3.4 Amend personal and professional development plan
In view of the criticism given to my fund preparing, I will keep on using the best of my
capacities to do back errands, and in addition request help and direction when essential from the
fund chairmen and my line supervisor (Rajagopal and et. al., 2011). "Budgetary Procedures" and
"Monetary Regulations" which are both accessible on the staff share. With respect to my
advancement arrange and in light of my survey from my line director, my emergency treatment
preparing is on-going, and I will keep on adhering to the pertinent approaches; "Organization of
Medicine" and "Emergency treatment".
CONCLUSION
Every person needs to develop his/her personal as well as professional skills to be
successful in personal and work life. Various approaches of personal and professional
development plans aids individual to make a better personality and better level of understanding
which will help to adjust workplace swiftly. Further, evaluating personal skills through various
approaches helps individual to identify the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats and can
find out the opportunities or ways of improvement.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Avalos, B., 2011. Teacher professional development in teaching and teacher education over ten
years. Teaching and teacher education. 27(1). pp.10-20.
Cottrell, S., 2015. Skills for success: Personal development and employability. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Dabbagh, N. and Kitsantas, A., 2012. Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-
regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The
Internet and higher education. 15(1). pp.3-8.
Hutchison, E. D., 2010. Dimensions of human behavior: The changing life course. Sage.
Jasper, M., 2011. Professional Development, Reflection and Decision-making for Nurses (Vol.
17). John Wiley & Sons.
Manning, M. L. and Bucher, K. T., 2013. Classroom management: Models, applications, and
cases. Pearson.
McNiff, J., 2010. Action research for professional development: Concise advice for new action
researchers. Dorset: September books.
Rajagopal, K. and et. al., 2011. Understanding personal learning networks: Their structure,
content and the networking skills needed to optimally use them. First Monday. 17(1).
Reeves, D. B., 2012. Transforming professional development into student results. Ascd.