River Island: Professional Development in Business Administration

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of professional development within the context of business administration, using River Island as a case study. It begins with a comparison of various sources of information on professional development trends and their validity, focusing on e-learning, on-the-job training, and off-the-job training. The report then identifies key trends and developments influencing the need for professional development, such as technological changes, increased competition, and legislative updates. An evaluation of personal and professional development needs is conducted, including a skills gap analysis. The report further explores the benefits of personal and professional development, such as increased employee motivation and retention, and explains the basis on which development actions are selected, including training sessions, mentoring, and apprenticeships. A detailed personal and professional development plan is presented, outlining learning objectives, current proficiency levels, target proficiency levels, development opportunities, and timelines. The report concludes with a discussion of how to set SMART objectives, obtain feedback, review progress, and amend the development plan based on feedback. The report emphasizes the importance of adaptability, problem-solving skills, and future forecasting skills within the context of the business environment.

BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION 2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Compare sources of information on professional development trends and their validity.....3
1.2 Identify trends and developments that influence the need for professional development....5
1.3 Evaluate their own current and future personal and professional development needs
relating to the role, the team and the organisation......................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Evaluate the benefits of personal and professional development.........................................6
2.2 Explain the basis on which types of development actions are selected................................7
2.3 Identify current and future likely skills, knowledge and experience needs using skills gap
analysis........................................................................................................................................8
2.4 Agree a personal and professional development plan that is consistent with business needs
and personal objectives...............................................................................................................8
2.5 Execute the plan within the agreed budget and timescale.....................................................9
2.6 Take advantage of development opportunities made available by professional networks or
professional bodies ...................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Explain how to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART)
objectives...................................................................................................................................10
3.2 Obtain feedback on performance from a range of valid sources........................................11
3.3 Review progress toward personal and professional objectives...........................................11
3.4 Amend the personal and professional development plan in the light of feedback received
from others................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Business administration refers to process in which management of business and operation
are done. It consist of various aspects related to perceiving and directing business operations and
functions. It related to various fields that include accounting, financing,corporate governance,
economics, research and marketing (Storey, 2016). Organization taken for this assignment is
River Island which is dealing in fashion, clothing, textile and retail industry. It is established in
year 1948 by Bernard Lewis and brothers. Its headquartered is in London, England, United
Kingdom and they are known as street fashion brand. They serve their product in almost all
worldwide market such as UK, Ireland, Philippines, Peru, Malta, Chile and many others. This
report mainly highlights the process by which a company can manage person and professional
development, for increasing performance of business.
TASK 1
1.1 Compare sources of information on professional development trends and their validity
Professional development refers to the process by which a person can develop or maintain
its professional credibility (Escobar-Rodrigue and Monge-Lozano, 2012). Their are various
sources by which an individual obtain professional development, some major of them are
explain below-
Sources Development Trends Validity
E-learning It refers to procedure in which
learning, training or
education is done by
source or means of
electronic. It concern with
use of electronic device or
computer.
It is very helpful for those
employees who work full
time, they can conduct
their learning at any time
or any place. It is more
time efficient.
On the job training It reflect to procedure of
learning or enhancing
skills, knowledge and
competencies while
By this source of professional
develop a person can learn
things very quickly and in
effective manner. But in

working within a
workplace. In this process
a person enhance their
ability while working
some work in an
organisation.
this it is mandatory
availability of person at
workplace.

Off the job training It refer to the situation when
employees enhance their
skills and ability through
training which conduct
away from their actual
work place.
Through this source a person
can enhance their skills
from outside experts and
specialist. But it is
expensive method of
development.
In context of River Ireland which is serving variety of clothing products at worldwide level.
They are focus on e-learning for development of professional skills and ability because by it
a person can enhance skills at any time and at any where. Their is no boundation of time and
it is cost effective.
1.2 Identify trends and developments that influence the need for professional development
Their are various trends and factors which affect the need of professional development
(Waldo, 2017). Some major of trends in context of River Ireland which leads to professional
development are explain below:-
Change in technology- If any change occur in technology an organisation has to change all
related factors so that they able to work effectively in respective condition. In respective
company when management adopt any changes they provide training and develop to their
employees. So that they conduct their work in appropriate manner within time period and
reduce wastage.
Change in competition- To gain competitive advance from market place, company will focus
on enhancing of employees skills and ability. So that they able to make unique products
which attract customers at high rate. River Ireland train their employees in effective manner
so that they work effectively and enhance productivity. Which help them in attaining
competitive advancement in appropriate manner.
Chang in legislation- When there is any change occur in legislation of country, company has to
update accordingly (Eichfelder and Schorn, 2012). For implementation respective policies in
effective manner company organize session related to it so that staff able to know about laws
and adopt it appropriately. The employer of River Ireland develop their employees when
they adopt changes related to laws so that they know about their rights.
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1.3 Evaluate their own current and future personal and professional development needs relating
to the role, the team and the organisation
Current personal and professional development need are:-
When I am working individually I realise that I have skills like self motivation skills,
good communication skills, strategic thinking skills, creative, innovative, smart work ability and
many others. When I was working in a team I realise that I have skills like team working skills,
understanding others hard working and work with deadline. Current skills which I have while
working in a organisation are confident, understandable, learning skills and many other. These
all skills and ability help me and organisation in achieving goal and objective in effective and
appropriate manner. This leads to enhance my productivity and increase organisational
profitability.
Future personal and professional development need are:-
I conduct evaluation of myself I analysis that there are some skills and ability which I
need to develop to attain goal in more appropriate manner. Skills which I required when I am
working alone are I need to be patient and focus toward work, I have to enhance my adaptability
skills so that I able adapt things easily and effectively. Their are some skills which are I have to
enhance for working in a team are like problems solving skills so that I able to solve problems of
my teammates. Some skills which I need to enhance for working in an organisation are
forecasting future skills so that I able to understand need and requirement in advance.
TASK 2
2.1 Evaluate the benefits of personal and professional development
In an organisation personal and professional development both are essential for achieving
goal and objective in effective manner (Rice, 2015). Some main benefits of personal and
professional development which River Ireland feel are give below:-
Benefits of personal development:
 Through personal development employees feel motivated because they know what they
want to achieve and they set their plan accordingly. So that they achieve goal in effective
and appropriate manner.
 When a person is self developed then he/ she must have sense of direction through which
they can achieve their personal goal and objective.
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 Personal development help an individual in becoming self aware about its values and
beliefs. Along with this they effectively know what they want to achieve and how they
can achieve it.
Benefits of professional development:
 Through professional development employers able to develop feeling in employees that
they are valuable for organisation and they are interested in keeping them for long term.
Which help employer in retaining employees for along term (Hesselbarth and
Schaltegger, 2014).
 Professional develop help employer to recognize staff in appropriate manner according to
the work and ability of employees.
 When an employer focus on professional develop they able to achieve goal and motivate
staff in effective manner for this they train and develop employees accordingly.
2.2 Explain the basis on which types of development actions are selected
Their are various sources or factor through which a company can develop action plan for
development of professional and personal skills. Which is essential for both employer and
employees to conduct and achieve goal in effective and appropriate manner. Some major
methods which is adopted by River Ireland are explain below:-
Training and development session- The respective company managers use training and
development session for enhancing skills and ability of employees in appropriate manner
(Weske, 2012). In this superior provide training session to employees according to requirement.
This can be done through various ways such as provide training through expert or specialist,
conduct online training course, provide on the job training and many other.
Mentoring- It refers to process in which a experienced individual assist another person
in order to enhancing their particular skills and ability. Through this less experienced person able
to increase its personal and professional growth in appropriate manner. So respective company
also use this method to enhance their employees knowledge and ability in effective manner.
Apprenticeship- River Ireland conduct apprenticeship for their employees in which they
sent their staff another location or office for approx 2 to 3 months for learn new things or
enhance their skills and ability. This help employees to learn new ways of conducting things in
appropriate manner.
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2.3 Identify current and future likely skills, knowledge and experience needs using skills gap
analysis
I conduct gap analysis which I have to improve for conducting my work in more
effectively manner so that I achieve my goal in appropriate manner. Below mentioned table
showcase that which skills I have to enhance and in what ratio:-
Skills Required Already having Gap
Adaptability Skills 10 5 5
Problems Solving
Skills
10 4 6
Future Forecasting
Skills
10 5 5
I need to enhance my adaptability skills so that I can adopt new change or method in
appropriate manner and in quickly way. According to data I need to work on my adaptability
skills more 5 % so achieve required rate. Second skill which I have to work on is problem solve
skills so that I able to understand my teammates problems and solve it properly and effectively. I
need to work on it more 6% so that I touch the requirement point. I also need to enhance my
future forecasting skills so that I able to forecast need, requirement, problems and issues which a
company face in future. By this I able to develop and plan strategies accordingly and I need to
work more 5% on it to achieve target.
2.4 Agree a personal and professional development plan that is consistent with business needs
and personal objectives
Personal and Professional Development Plan
Serial
no.
Learning
objective
Current
proficiency
Target
proficiency
Development opportunities Time scale
1 Adaptability
Skills
5 10 In an organisation employees
must have skill of adaptability
so that they can adapt changes
easily and effectively (Meñez,
45 Days to
50 Days
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2014). It is necessary because
changes are occur in a
company in regular basis.
2 Problems
Solving Skills
4 10 In an organisation various
situation arise when a person
has to solve problems of
others. This particular skills is
needed in many situation such
as when a person working in
a team, at higher position and
many other.
2 Months
3 Future
Forecasting
Skills
5 10 It is necessary in an
organisation through this
manager can forecast future
requirements and issues. Then
develop solution and
strategies accordingly.
40 Days
2.5 Execute the plan within the agreed budget and timescale
For executing above mentioned personal and professional development plan River
Ireland required to develop budget according to timescale. Description of budget is mentioned
below:-
Adaptability Skills- For developing this particular skills a person required approx 45
days to 50 days. Adaptation skills is necessary because in an respective organisation changes will
occur according to change in technology, market demand and many other (Scheer, 2013). So it is
necessary for them to adapt changes in effective manner. This can be develop by start facing and
adapting small changes and then move to adaptation of major changes. For implementing this
respective company need to conduct changes on small scale which required budget of approx 30
K.
Problems Solving Skills- For adapting problem solving skills in appropriate manner an
individual required approx two months. It is necessary for a person to develop this skills so that
9

they can understand and able to solve issues of their teammates and staff. For developing this
skills in their employees respective company organize sessions and activities. Which required
approx 40 K as a budget.
Future Forecasting Skills- For adopting this skills in appropriate manner a person
required approx 40 days. For developing this skills in all staff River Ireland plan to conduct
session in which experienced person describe how to forecast situations of company. This
required budget of approx 30 K.
2.6 Take advantage of development opportunities made available by professional networks or
professional bodies
Professional network refers to the services which focus on interaction and developing
relationship with others in order to develop business. It is mainly used by a person to develop
and maintain contact for professional use (Cooke and Alcadipani, 2015). Professional network
services can be conduct online or offline that support in promoting business and resolving issues.
Professional network or professional bodies help River Ireland in various ways such as by
consulting them respective company able to identify about their careers. Along with this, they
help in recruiting employees, respective company take advice from professional bodies before
beginning any project and so on. Their are various professional networking site or application
which respective company use such as MeetMe, GroupMe, Shapr, Namerick and many others. It
is beneficial for River Ireland in many ways like it help in leading business, help in developing
career or future opportunities. Along with this it help in creating personal opportunities, help in
identifying and adopt best practice or ideas, help in designing strategies for adopting new
business trends.
TASK 3
3.1 Explain how to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART)
objectives
SMART objective refers to procedure through which a company can set appropriate and
effective objective for their business operations which leads to increase in profitability and
market shares (Bell,Bryman and Harley, 2018). SMART refers to different features of objective
such as S means objective must be specific and clear, so that it can be easily understand by
everyone. M refers to measurable which means objectives must be measurable that a person can
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know to measure success. A refers to place or plan which make objective attainable and R refers
to relevancy of objective that it must be worth full. Moreover meaning of T is time bound for
achieving the objective.
Objective of River Ireland is to expand business and adopt multi culture in an
organisation. For this they plan to enhance certain skills of their employers and employees that
are adaptability skills, problems solving skills and future forecasting skills. So that their
employees adopt change which may occur during expatiation of business and able to forecast
need of resources and problems which they may face in future. For this they develop strategies
which is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and achieve within planned time.
3.2 Obtain feedback on performance from a range of valid sources
When a person enhance or improve their skills and ability they conduct feedback session
through which they able to know how effective they enhance their ability (Sujitparapitaya,
Shirani and Roldan, 2012). So when an individual of River Ireland enhance their skills and
ability by attaining sessions and personal practices. They plan to conduct feedback analysis from
other staffs of respective organisation by this they able to know how effectively they enhance
their skills which help company in attaining their goal and objective. For conducting they can
adopt various methods like conduct survey through questionnaire, place feedback boxes in
company, ask for suggestion through email and messaging. Along with this a can conduct self
assessment test to analysis level of skills which they develop.
3.3 Review progress toward personal and professional objectives
For reviewing my personal and professional development I conduct evaluation through
questionnaire which help me in identifying whether I am lacking now and I need to work on.
Below questionnaire is given which I circulates in my team of 10 members for evaluation:-
Statements Agree Disagree Neutral Total
Do you think I am
able to handle
business
problems more
appropriately?
6 3 1 10
Am I able to take 4 5 1 10
11

quick actions for
business
development?
Am I good in
forecasting the
future issues
which might
affect business
adversely?
6 2 2 10
Do you think I
need to develop
my skills for
performing better
in future?
4 4 2 10
From above evaluation I able to know that I had develop my problem solving skills and
future forecasting in effective manner and I need to work more on my adaptability and decision
making skills. My team members tell me that I am not able to take quick decision and there are
some other skills which I required to enhance. Such need are management skills and so on.
As I conduct feedback evaluation analysis in River Ireland, by getting suggestion from
other employees I able to know that I get succeed in enhancing my skills and ability related to
problem solving, future forecasting and adaptability of changes. Which help me in adopting
changes in effective manner, now I am able to solve problems of others and know I can forecast
resources which may required for any projects. Which help me in performing in appropriate
manner which leads to increase my quality of work and profitability of respective organisation.
By developing these skills now I am able to develop professional relation in more appropriate
manner that help me in attaining my goal as well as organizational goal.
3.4 Amend the personal and professional development plan in the light of feedback received
from others
New Personal and Professional Development Plan
Serial Learning Current Target Development opportunities Time scale
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no. objective proficiency proficiency
1 Adaptability
Skills
8 10 I need to enhance more of my
adaptability skills so that I
can take decision quickly
when any change or new
thing adopt by an
organisation.
30 Days
2 Management
Skills
5 10 I need so enhance my
management skills so that I
am able to manage resources,
peoples or team members in
appropriate manner.
2 Months
I develop new personal and professional development plan according to the feedback of my team
members. Through it I able to know that know I am able to adapt changes but I didn't able to take
decision quickly in new situations, so now I have to focus on this issues of mine. I also need to
enhance my management skills so that I can handle my team in effective manner.
CONCLUSION
From above mentioned point and its evaluation it can be conclude that an organisation
conduct various method to develop personal and professional skills. Their are various sources
and method by which a company can develop professional skills in their employees in
appropriate manner. There are also different factors whose changes leads to enhancement in
professional skills. Every staff of an organisation should conduct evaluation of their current skills
ans required so that they work accordingly. For this employees can also develop a personal
development plan through which they able to analysis themselves in appropriate manner. For
personal and professional development a person can design SMART objective which means
specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound objective.
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REFERENCES
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