Personal and Professional Development

TASK 1

A. Evaluation of approaches to SML and ways to encourage personal and professional life

Self managed learning process is an effective way to undertake the knowledge of different things with the help of theories and models. In the diversified working environment, it is necessary to adopt various learning strategies and models (Beausaert, 2013). It consists of defining clear objectives, orientation of personal goals, self initiation process, deciding dates of achievements and critically analysis of self-learning. While working in Sainsbury, I am required to develop several skills to sustain in the same organisation. As I am an associate marketing manager in Sainsbury and I need to develop professionalism in myself and acquire knowledge. With the help of VAK and Honey and Mumford's learning cycle as well as Kolb's learning cycle the understanding of own skills and knowledge can be acquired.

Model 1: Honey and Mumford's learning cycle and learning styles

Kolb's model comprises of four stages which need to be followed in a sequential manner by linking it with my experiences, actions and plans (Introduction to learning styles. 2016).

Model 2: Kolb's experimental learning cycle

B. Evaluation of benefits of self-managed learning in an organisation

Self-managed learning is beneficial for both individual and organisation, the evaluation of learning process is stated below:

• Being an associate marketing manager, I got to learn many things with personal and professional context. I got opportunity to enhance my communication skills, presentation skills, interpersonal skills and technical skills.
• I am now able to identify my weaknesses and strengths according to my job position in Sainsbury.
• With the implication of SML, I am confident with my colleagues around me and developing good rapport with them.
• In today's professional life, managing communication and presentation skills has become crucial for survival and due to this I utilize ample of opportunities
• Sainsbury is also making many efforts for its employees in encouraging and motivating them. The company is providing training and development sessions so that workers can acquire confidence and competitive advantage.
• There will be direct increment in profitability and growth of the company if its employees undergone with their self-learning practices.
• Sainsbury will be then able to solve challenges and issues which arise in the competitive global marketplaces. Moreover, turnover rate will also get reduced. Customers will also get high satisfaction level with the customer services.

TASK 2

A. Personal skills and competencies with the identification of development of skills

Personal and Professional Development plan assist me to know my capabilities and weaknesses and along with learning practices and activities to overcome those weaknesses. In Sainsbury, I would be able to get ample of opportunities which will enhance my personality. With the help of SWOT analysis, I would be able to know about skills which need to be more furnished in an effective manner.

STRENGHTHS

• Self-learner
• Dedicated and punctual
• Quick learner
• Efficient in leadership skills

WEAKNESSES

• Lacking ability to easily get engage with customers
• Lacking presentation skills
• Communication skill required to improved

OPPORTUNITIES

• I can improve my communication skills with the help of online learning, study materials, tutorials and many more alternatives.
• I can acquire opportunity to learn from my flaws.

THREATS

• Due to financial instability, I am not able to acquire more opportunities
• Increasing demand of knowledge of different languages.

B. Personal and professional development plan with specific objectives

To meet the present and future needs, I need to utilize available resource and opportunities in an effective manner (Personal development review. 2013). To bring improvements in marketing and technical skills, I need to attend tutorial classes and workshops of latest technologies. Moreover, it is also required to improve time and work management skills, so that I can further get opportunities to grow in Sainsbury. I can take assistance from my mentor, team leader or senior authority about current market trend and competitive environment. In addition to this, I also need to develop current knowledge of customer choice and preferences and study the ratio of their buying behaviour, which can be done by improving knowledge.

Action Planning

I hereby declare that, there are lots of things which need to be undertaken within a span of time. In order to develop and grow my career, I can utilize many opportunities with my handwork and dedication during the course of employment in Sainsbury.

ACTION PLAN

TASK 3

A. Implementation of PPD plan and undertaking of development activities

An effective PPD plan can be easily implemented including activities and practices, which will assist me to develop my personality (Pedler, 2011). I need to plan and develop all attributes and skills which are required fro the posy of associate marketing manager. Sainsbury provide ample of growth opportunities, which can be acquired to achieve success. My PPD plan comprises of several development activities which are stated below:

Duration of learning process: To learn core concepts of marketing and getting concrete experiences, I will be required time span of one year. While developing concrete marketing skills, I would be required 6 months of time period (O’Grady, 2013).

Evaluation of current skills and knowledge: Presently, I need improvements in my time management skills, interpersonal skills, presentation skills and communications skills. With the proper implementation of strategies, I can get opportunities to bring improvements.

Opportunities to adopt new strategies and tactics: In the wake of development plan, I need to implement various strategies in accordance to my shortcomings and requirement of the company (Nutley, 2008). Moreover, to bring betterments in my set of skills, I need to take assistance from my mentor, tutor, team leader or my colleague.

Learning through research and resources: Nowadays, there are various learning resources available, like online learning, study materials, live classes, mock test. Along with this, I can also research about new trends and techniques of marketing and advertising evolved in the competitive scenario.

However, it is also required to document the planned structure in a systematic manner by following all process and activities of learning. There are various practices, which need to involved in the documentation.

B. Critical examination of process by reflection on the outcome and updated PPD plan

Critical evaluation of PPD plan is very necessary, as I would be able to know, where I need to make further improvements (Moon, 2013). By critically analysing the learning activities and practices, I need to check myself. From the developed PPD plan, I got to know about my strengths and weaknesses and also get opportunities to bring improvements. I have developed various skills which are necessary for the post of associate marketing manager in Sainsbury. I got to know, that I am lacking in decision making skills along with interpersonal skills, which need more improvements. (Jung, 2014) Furthermore, I also got to know that I have improved my time management skills to some extent. I have also improved communication skills, but need more improvements. In addition to this, I also got many opportunities in the workplace after making changes in myself. I have used many latest techniques and tools to bring improvements and test my knowledge. I read books, online articles, learnt analytical and logical reasoning abilities, to develop competitive advantage in myself. Now, I am also able to share my thoughts and views with my colleagues and supervisors, became confident enough and can easily deal with issues and challenges arises in the development and growth plan.

Hence, it is required to update the developed plan and make significant changes in accordance to the needs and requirements of the company. My goals and objectives will be changed in the updated PPD plan (Intrator and Kunzman, 2007). Moreover, I have recognised the fields, where there is need for improvements for future growth and developments. The updated plan of myself is given below, which are comprises of skills that need to improve:

Interpersonal skills: I need to develop interpersonal skills in an effective manner, so that can easily deal with changing behaviour of customers and clients in the competitive global marketplace. It is very necessary to develop interpersonal skills to survive in the current competitive world. Thus, this skill must be developed, so that competitive advantage can be gained (Grissom, Loeb and Mitani, 2015).

Time management skills: I nee d to learn to manage my work and time within the time span of 6 months. With the help of many effective tools and tactics, I can enhance this skill. I can make schedule of my daily routine and working activities along with the dates. Moreover, I can also take the assistance and guidance from my mentor to increase the speed of work and enhance efficiency.

Communication skills: There should excellent communication skills within the workplace, so that I can develop good rapport with business partners, also provide good presentations and win their hearts. Moreover, to grow and prosper in the competitive marketplace, it become necessary to have fluent in English and other professional languages.

TASK 4

A. Investigation of work-based problems within an organisation

There are many work-based which is incurred in the Sainsbury during my course of employment. I have faced many issues and problems in communication process as I did not have fluency in English and other professional languages (Rarelin, 2008). Moreover, I also face problems while giving presentations, lectures and speech in the workplace because of which my morale went down (Siebert and Costley, 2013). In addition this, I also lost many opportunities in the organisation. Also, due to lack of interpersonal skills, I suffered a lot. Initially, it took time to settle in the workplace and become comfortable. Moreover, it also took time to understand the rules and regulations of the company. Thus, all issues get solved as time passes. However, there are some aforesaid skills which need to get improved to sustain in the competitive world. Moreover, some additional skills also need to develop in myself to out-stand from the crowd in the company.

Different level of management have different communication styles. It is necessary to develop the techniques and ways of communication to deal with all level of hierarchy of management in the Sainsbury.

Operational level: There should be open communication system exist at this level; as labours, workers, office men and other staff-members would find it easy to share and exchange their thoughts and views.

Middle level: Open discussions, debates and group discussions would help the employees to share their grievances or any other issues (Tileston, 2010). Employee feel motivated, as they are involved in the decision making process. Moreover, they are also considered as important part of a team.

Strategic level: Top management and high authority are there at this level. Some informations are kept confidential, while some are passed through managers or team leaders (Zambo and Zambo, 2008). Moreover, with the help of conferences, seminars and meetings, they can deal and discuss about issues.

B. Evaluation of application of time management approaches

Time management skills should be possessed by each and every employee of a corporate body, as this skill help to manage the daily routine and working activities. I need to develop these skill in an effective manner with the help of various tools and techniques. There are many common strategies, which can be adopted for development of time and work management skills, some of theses are mentioned below:

Setting an alarm: It is most popular technique which can be used in an effective manner. As I can set alarm and do my tasks accordingly, as a result of which I would be able to know how much improvement need to make (HOW TO CREATE THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE THAT STUDENTS CRAVE. 2016).

Defining priorities: It is busy world and it has become necessary to left something undone and prioritize our activities according to its significance. I need to balance my working and daily routine activities, then only I can manage my whole day.

Planning techniques: There are many planning techniques, like to-do lists, checklists and electronic calendars, with the help of which I can develop time management skills (Keller-Dupree and et.al., 2014).

Minimising time wastage factors: Nowadays, there are many time wastage factors, like use of social networking sites, mobile apps, chatting with friends, online shopping and etc. are factors that distract the mind. Thus, it is required to avoid those for proper management of work and time in personal and professional life.

Conclusions

Evidently, it can be stated from the above study that how important it is to form personal and professional plan wit the assessment of own set of skills and knowledge. There are various tools and techniques evolved, with the assistance of which I can bring improvement in my self. Moreover, it can also be concluded that by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of myself, I successfully able to threw light upon my loopholes and utilize the set of opportunities in the competitive marketplace. Along with this, there are various methodologies and theories, which are implemented in this unit, like Kolb's learning cycle. Lastly, I would like to recommend that, every individual should access its set of skills and qualities and regularly make modifications in accordance to the changing business environment, so that sustainability can be attained and bright future will be achieved in an effective manner.

References

• Beausaert, S., 2013. Effect of using a personal development plan on learning and development. Journal of Workplace Learning.
• Cooke, N., 2012. Professional development 2.0 for librarians: developing an online personal learning network (PLN). Library Hi Tech News.
• Davies, A., 2006. Management development through self managed learning: the case of West Sussex County Council. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal.
• Griffith, D. A. and Hoppner, J. J., 2013. Global marketing managers: Improving global marketing strategy through soft skill development. International Marketing Review.
• Grissom, J. A., Loeb, S. and Mitani, H., 2015. Principal time management skills: Explaining patterns in principals’ time use, job stress, and perceived effectiveness.
• Intrator, S. M. and Kunzman, R., 2007. The person in the profession: Renewing teacher vitality through professional development. In The educational forum.
• Jung, C. G., 2014. The development of personality. Routledge.
• Kukulska-Hulme, A. and Pettit, J., 2008. Semi-formal learning communities for professional development in mobile learning.
• Moon, A. J., 2013. Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice. Routledge.
• Nutley, T., 2008. The Little Book of Personal Development. 2nd ed. Lulu.
• O’Grady, A., 2013. Lifelong Learning. Routledge.
• Pedler, M., 2011. Action learning in practice. Gower Publishing, Ltd.
• Rarelin, A. J., 2008. Work-Based Learning: Bridging Knowledge and Action in the Workplace. 2nd ed.

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