Personal and Professional Development Plan: National Trust

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PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
NATIONAL TRUST

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 1
TASK-1............................................................................................................................................2
1.1. APPROACHES TO SELF-MANAGED LEARNING.....................................................................2
1.2. HOW LIFELONG PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CAN BE ENCOURAGED IN A
TEAM......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3. BENEFITS OF SELF-MANAGED LEARNING TO EMPLOYEE AND ORGANIZATION..................7
TASK-2............................................................................................................................................8
2.1. EVALUATION OF CURRENT SKILLS AS PER JOB ROLE AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.....8
2.2. ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP SKILLS...........................................................................................9
2.3. OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT.............................................................10
2.4. PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PLAN ON THE BASIS OF SKILL GAP.................................11
TASK-3..........................................................................................................................................13
3.1. PROCESSES AND ACTIVITIES REQUIRE FOR IMPLEMENTING PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN......................................................................................13
3.2. IMPLEMENTATION OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN....................................................................13
3.3. REFLECTION AND ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS BASED ON THE PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN......................................................................................14
3.4. UPDATING PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN...................................15
TASK-4..........................................................................................................................................17

4.1. SOLUTION OF POTENTIAL BULLYING AT NATIONAL TRUST...............................................17
4.2. COMMUNICATION STYLES AND MANNERS.......................................................................18
4.3. TIME-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES....................................................................................20
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 21
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development is very necessary to ensure success in life and it can
only be possible by effective and continuous learning by the person. All the professions require
a frequent update in knowledge and skills along with proficiency in communication and
effective time management to achieve personal and professional excellence (Goetsch and
Davis, 2014). This assignment will help to understand the process of self-development and
learning which can be used by any individual to assess the skill gap based on his job role and to
take actions which can fill the gaps. The assignment will also explain various styles of
communication which can help to effectively communicate at various levels of an organization.
It will also explain some time management techniques which can be adapted to effectively
manage the workload. Successful completion of this assignment will offer all the necessary
professional understanding which can help an individual to thrive in personal and professional
lives.

TASK-1
1.1. APPROACHES TO SELF-MANAGED LEARNING
Learning is a self-driven process, a person who is interested in learning and development of
skills can find many ways to do so. Number of tools and things can be used for assistance in the
process of learning and therefore people choose their approach to learn based on their own
convenience, needs and feasibility (Borko et al., 2010). Some of the popular approaches to
learning are as follows:
Internet:
The Internet has evolved as a great tool for learning; it offers an unlimited collection of
knowledge and resources on the fingertips of people. The Internet had also made it possible to
enrol for distant courses and learn from a far location. All the major organization and
educational institute use the internet to drive versatile and effective learning (Beach, 2012).
Private coaching:
Private coaching and training is also a great option to learn when people recognize the skill they
want to evolve. Private coaching is done at a personal level to seek assistance from well-learned
professionals who are experts with the skill (Cooper and Pickering, 2010).
Conferences:
When different professionals gather at a place to share their understanding of an issue, then a
lot can be learned just by observing the discussion. This conferences help to develop a better
understanding and different viewpoints on an issue thus helping to learn the effects and
dynamics of matters of concerns (Kumagai, 2010).
Reading:

Reading is a great tool to improve the talent base and develop a better and in-depth knowledge
of various topics. Daily reading is always advised since it adds knowledge every day in the
individual. Reading newspaper, magazines, blogs, articles etc. are all great options to start and
enjoy reading since they provide a detailed and researched report of matters of concerns.
Observation:
Observation is a great way to learn, simply observing own shortcomings and habits of idealistic
figures helps to guide the way of development. Observation helps to understand the habits
which are negatively influencing a person and it can also help to realize the habits and activities
which could positively affect a person (Zepeda, 2013).
Seminars:
When professionals choose to speak on a topic then it is a great opportunity to learn from their
experience and viewpoints. Seminars help to create awareness, develop knowledge and gain
information thus making them a great platform for learning (Ruddy et al., 2016).

1.2. HOW LIFELONG PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CAN BE
ENCOURAGED IN A TEAM
Lifelong learning is very crucial for personal and professional success. It can be encouraged in
many different ways and different models can be used for it like:
Self-evaluation:
Self-evaluation is very necessary to understand personal strengths and weaknesses. It helps to
observe the short-comings and improvements required to become a better person and
professional. Self-evaluation can be done with the help of various tools like personal SWOT
analysis and personality matrix etc. (Boud, 2013)
As a manager, I can guide my teammates to use these tools of self-evaluation and suitable
actions for the improvement.
Kolb’s Model:
Kolb's model is a four-step model which can be used for personal and professional
development. This model is driven by experiences and reflecting the learning’s from them. The
four steps of the model are as follows:
Experience:
The first step of Kolb’s model is trying an activity and gaining experience from it (Bergsteiner et
al., 2010).
Reflection:
The second step is reflecting the learning from the experiences and doing an analysis of the
experiences to understand the shortcomings and area of improvements (Baker et al., 2012).

Theorising:
The third step is to theorising better ways to perform the activity. This step helps to develop a
better approach to the activity based on past experience, learning and analysis.
Experimenting:
The fourth step is experimenting with the new approach. Here the new devised plan and
strategy is implemented to get better results (Jarvis, 2012).
Since Kolb's model is a continuous process, therefore, the second step again comes after the
last step and the process continues until the state of excellence is achieved.
Motivation:
Motivation can be defined as stimuli which provoke a person to do something or continue
doing something. Motivating employees can not only help them to perform well but also to get
them to learn and develop. Maslow's need hierarchy theory can be a great tool to motivate
employees and encourage them to lifelong learning.

(Source: Peerally et al., 2017)
As a manager, I can employ this model in my organization and start fulfilling all this five need of
employees to improve their performance. Application of this model starts from bottom to top
in the presented sequential manner.
1.3. BENEFITS OF SELF-MANAGED LEARNING TO EMPLOYEE AND
ORGANIZATION
Learning is a self-driven process and self-managed learning offers many benefits for the
employees as well as for the organization. This is because the employees' and organization's
growth are interlinked with each other and individual development is the primary driver of
organizational growth.
Individual Benefits:
Self-managed learning enhances the individual skills like leadership, communication, etc. which
benefits the employees in their job roles. It also improves the competitiveness of the
employees. Improved competitiveness and enhanced skills lead to an increase in confidence of
employees which helps them in personal and professional development. It also helps
employees to effectively manage tasks and time (Stewart et al., 2011).
Organizational Benefit:
Enhancement of individual’s skills contributes to skill development in the organization which
improves its performance and competitiveness. Self-managed learning also reduces the load to
employee development on the management thus management can invest its energy in other
activities which improve the organization's profits. Learning also helps to improve customer
satisfaction levels in the organization (Abdul-Jalal et al., 2013).

TASK-2
2.1. EVALUATION OF CURRENT SKILLS AS PER JOB ROLE AND PROFESSIONAL
STANDARDS
Skills Current levels Professional standards Job Roles
Time-
management
skills
I am unable to manage my time
properly and get involved in
unproductive activities. I cannot
allocate enough time to all the
works and have to leave some
important tasks unfinished.
Excellent time
management skills to
attain all the designated
work and meet the
deadline of all the assigned
tasks (Kaya et al., 2012).
Manage multiple locations
of National trust and
allocate time to a variety of
activity like team-
management, maintenance
of locations etc.
Organizational
skills
I cannot organize my work
properly. I find it hard to assign
work to effective people. I often
miss things due to unorganized
way to handling things.
Excellent organizational
skills to manage all the
assigned locations and
teams in an organized and
effective manner (De
Meuse, 2011).
Organize personal and team
member’s duties and tasks
to effectively attain all the
work of National trust.
Leadership skills I have decent leadership skills but
sometimes find it hard to work
out things with some
subordinates.
Excellent leadership skills
to lead the assigned team
and ensure good
performance from them
(Puccio et al., 2010).
Lead the team of
employees to manage
different locations of
National trust.
Communication
skills
I have decent communication
skills but sometimes I could not
Excellent communication
skills to effectively
Communicate in written
and oral ways to deal with

understand the intended
meaning. This usually happens
when people use idioms, jargons
metaphors etc. to express
themselves. I am also not aware
of the many different formats of
written communication.
communicate with team
members and visitors. To
communicate messages
that clearly delivers
intended messages (Lolli,
2013).
the grievances of
employees and visitors and
to deliver the intended
messages in a polite and
clear way to employees and
visitors.
Analytical skills My analytical skills are good but I
need to get proficient with some
tools which help in analyzing data
and interpret them in a statistical
way.
Excellent analytical skills to
use statistical tools in the
management of business
(Whimbet et al., 2013).
Analyze the records of
visitors to predict the
approximate number of
visitors during a day to
ensure management
arrangements accordingly.
2.2. ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP SKILLS
All the above-presented skills can be improved by adopting different activities. These activities
are selected based on personal needs and requirements. The activities to develop skills are as
follows:
Time-management skills:
Time can be effectively managed by adopting some practices and honestly performing them
regularly. First is listing the tasks to ensure that nothing gets left out or forgotten. The second
thing is prioritizing the tasks as per their importance and productivity. The third thing is
scheduling and following the plan (Ghiasvand et al., 2017).

Organizational skills:
The organizational skills can be improved by keeping the ledger of all the activities. These tasks
are then can be organized on the basis of urgency and available resources. Organization skills
can also be improved by learning different techniques of work management and with the help
of tools designed to assist in working (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
Leadership skills:
Leadership skills can be improved my learning different styles and approaches to leadership
with the help of reading and applying the styles. It can also be improved by taking part in
different leadership activities or guidance from superiors (Schoemaker et al., 2013).
Communication skills:
Communication skills can be improved with practice and learning of different forms and styles
of communication. One should also acquire knowledge of common jargons, idioms and
metaphor used by people along with reading and using them (Rowland, 2011).
Analytical skills
Analytical skills can be improved by taking the training of using different tools and also from the
guidance of superiors and experts. It is also be improved by practicing on different data sets
(Debortoli et al., 2014).
2.3. OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT
With the help of andpartnership, National Trust initiated a leadership development programme
called ‘Future Engage Deliver Programme’. This programme is designed to ensure the successful
change in National Trust, improving staff survey scores and instilling strong leadership principles
across the broad scale of disciplines and specialist backgrounds (Andpartnership, 2019).
This program is an excellent opportunity for the development at national trust. It will help me
to develop all my skills including leadership skills, management skills; communication skills etc.