Contents

 

 

 

Managing Professional Development

 

Rationale

Professional Development often refers to skills required for maintaining a specific career path or to general skills offered through continuing education, including the more general skills area of personal development. It can be seen as training to keep current with changing technology and practices in a profession or in the concept of lifelong learning. Developing and implementing a program of professional development is often a function of the human resources or organization development department of a large corporation or institution.

 

In a very broad sense professional development may include formal types of vocational education, typically post-secondary or polytechnical training leading to qualification or a credential required to get or retain employment. Informal or individualized programs of professional development may also include the concept of personal coaching.

Professional development on the job may develop or enhance process skills, sometimes referred to as leadership skills, as well as task skills. Some examples for process skills are 'effectiveness skills', 'team functioning skills', and 'systems thinking skills'. Some examples of task skills are computer software applications, customer service skills and safety training.

Examples of skills relevant to a current occupation are leadership training for managers and training for specific techniques or equipment for educators, technicians, metal workers, medical practitioners and engineers. For some occupations there is a provision for accreditation tied to "continuing professional education" and proving competence regulated by a professional body.

See also

• Apprenticeship
• Career
• Continuing Professional Development
• Competency
  • Competency evaluation
• Initial Professional Development
• Induction training
• Licensure
• Mentor
• Organizational Dissent
• Profession
• Training and Development
• Vocational education

 

External Links

• The UK Initial Professional Development (IPD) Forum
• Professional Attire Information for The Man and Woman
  

 

This unit is designed to enable learners to assess and develop a range of professional and personal skills in order to promote future personal and career development. The unit also aims to develop learners’ abilities to organise, manage and practise a range of approaches to improve their performance as self-organised learners, in preparation for work or further career development. The unit emphasis is on the needs of the individual but within the context of how the development of self-management corresponds with effective team management in meeting objectives.

 

Summary of learning outcomes

To achieve this unit a learner must:

1 Undertake responsibility for own personal and career development
2 Evaluate progress and achievement of personal development and learning targets
3 Develop a range of interpersonal and transferable business skills
4 Demonstrate self-managed learning in a professional context.

 

 

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Teaching and Learning Resources

• Learning Environment
• Learning Contents
• Teaching Strategies

Click on the boxes below

 

Personal and career development

Tutorials

• Balanced Scorecard
• Skills Audit
  • Skills Audit Survey
• Leadership and Interpersonal Skills

 

Readings

 

Self appraisal

is an important part of the Performance appraisal process where the you give your views and points regarding your own performance. Usually this is done with the help of a self appraisal form where you rate yourself on various parameters, tell about your training needs, if any, talk about your accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, problems faced etc.

 

Be honest

Always be truthful and honest while telling your accomplishments or failures. Don’t exaggerate your strengths and don’t hide your weaknesses. Don’t make personal judgments for anybody.

 

Do the preparation

It’s always better to prepare yourself before the meeting. Get all the lists in place, prepare all the evidences and references.

 

Be objective

Objectivity is important in self – appraisal. Don’t exaggerate or downplay your achievements or failures. Be specific and concise in your statements and if possible support them with examples or references or evidences with dates. For example: "I responded to all queries within 48 hours" is better than just saying "My customer service was good."

 

Positive attitude

Have a positive attitude towards the whole appraisal process. Be co-operative. Don’t hesitate from taking the responsibility of your failures as well as the achievements. Demonstrate enthusiasm to improve in future and take all his suggestions calmly. Don’t complain or demonstrate a negative attitude.

Cover all the aspects

Apart from your strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments and failures, express the opportunities you would like have for your development and improvement. Suggest ways to overcome the problems faced. Assess your capabilities, behaviours and skills and competence.

 

Seek future responsibilities
According to the assessment of the KSA’s according to your job description, plan the short term and long term for the next year. Try to look for tasks beyond your current job responsibilities. This will help in personal development as well as contributing to the organizational productivity.

Self appraisal should ideally include the accomplishments, the goals achieved, the failures, and the personal growth (i.e. new skills acquired, preparation for the future etc.), the obstacles faced during the period, the efforts for removing them, the suggestions, and the areas of training and development felt by the employee.

 

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a performance management tool for measuring whether the smaller-scale operational activities of a company are aligned with its larger-scale objectives in terms of vision and strategy.

 

By focusing not only on financial outcomes but also on the operational, marketing and developmental inputs to these, the Balanced Scorecard helps provide a more comprehensive view of a business, which in turn helps organizations act in their best long-term interests. This tool is also being used to address business response to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Organizations were encouraged to measure, in addition to financial outputs, those factors which influenced the financial outputs. For example, process performance, market share / penetration, long term learning and skills development, and so on. The underlying rationale is that organizations cannot directly influence financial outcomes, as these are "lag" measures, and that the use of financial measures alone to inform the strategic control of the firm is unwise.

 

Organizations should instead also measure those areas where direct management intervention is possible. In so doing, the early versions of the Balanced Scorecard helped organizations achieve a degree of "balance" in selection of performance measures. In practice, early Scorecards achieved this balance by encouraging managers to select measures from three additional categories or perspectives: "Customer," "Internal Business Processes" and "Learning and Growth."

• History
• Use
  • Original methodology
  • Improved methodology
  • Popularity
  • Variants, alternatives and criticisms
• The four perspectives
• Key performance indicators
  • Financial
  • Internal business processes
  • Learning and growth
  • Software tools

 

See also

• References
• Sources

 

Interpersonal Skills Assertiveness Skills Business and Professional Communication Dealing with Aggression Listening Skills Coaching Skills Stress Management Confidentiality Group Working Interpersonal Communication Skills Negotiation Problem Solving Decision Making Reflection & Clarification Active Listening

 

Getting That Job

Tutorials

• Job applications: Recruitment cycle

 

Readings

• Getting That Job
• Applications, CVs and interviews

 

Portfolio building: develop and maintain your personal portfolio

• Build Skills Employers Value
  • Key Skills
    • Application of Number
    • Communication
    • Improving Own Learning and Performance
    • Information and Communication Technology
    • Problem Solving
      • Problem Soving Techniques
    • Working with others
  • Conflict Management
  • Public Speaking
  • Logic
  • Critical Reasoning
  • Critical Thinking
  • Qualifications
  • Higher Education
• Resources
  • Key Skills

   

   

Evaluate progress

Readings

 

How do I Evaluate Progress Toward Strategic Outcomes?   Companies typically regularly assess specific customer needs, problems and opportunities to achieve their strategic goals. By prioritizing work, you can allocate resources, time and money to development projects appropriately. By reducing product defects, eliminating waste and focusing on customer satisfaction, you can achieve the desired results. Evaluating progress toward achieving these strategic outcomes involves monitoring and analyzing operational metrics.

Chart progress toward strategic outcomes to improve your business.

 

Evaluate progress: against original aims, objectives, targets, responding to feedback, resetting aims, objectives and targets

 

 

Interpersonal and transferable business skills

Tutorials

 

Readings

 

 

Interpersonal skills are sometimes also referred to as people skills or communication skills.^[1] Interpersonal skills involve using skills such as active listening^[2], tone of voice, delegation, and leadership. It is how well you communicate with someone and how well you behave or carry yourself.

Interpersonal skills refer to mental and communicative algorithms applied during social communications and interaction to reach certain effects or results. The term "interpersonal skills" is used often in business contexts to refer to the measure of a person's ability to operate within business organizations through social communication and interactions. Interpersonal skills are how people relate to one another.

As an illustration, it is generally understood that communicating respect for other people or professionals within will enable one to reduce conflict and increase participation or assistance in obtaining information or completing tasks. For instance, to interrupt someone who is currently preoccupied with the task of obtaining information needed immediately, it is recommended that a professional use a deferential approach with language such as, "Excuse me, are you busy? I have an urgent matter to discuss with you if you have the time at the moment." This allows the receiving professional to make their own judgment regarding the importance of their current task versus entering into a discussion with their colleague. While it is generally understood that interrupting someone with an "urgent" request will often take priority, allowing the receiver of the message to judge independently the request and agree to further interaction will likely result in a higher quality interaction. Following these kinds of heuristics to achieve better professional results generally results in a professional being ranked as one with 'good interpersonal skills.' Often these evaluations occur in formal and informal settings.

Having positive interpersonal skills increases the productivity in the organization since the number of conflicts is reduced. In informal situations, it allows communication to be easy and comfortable. People with good interpersonal skills can generally control the feelings that emerge in difficult situations and respond appropriately, instead of being overwhelmed by emotion.Confidence of the behavior is also play important role in decison to take risk.

 

References

• ^ http://www.volstudy.ac.uk/Interpersonal_Skills.html

• ^ "The Three Different Levels of Listening". Retrieved June 30, 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

Problem solving: problem analysis, brainstorming, mind mapping, generating solutions, choosing a solution, creative thinking

Verbal communication: effective listening, respect of others’ opinions, interviewing techniques, negotiation, persuasion, presentation skills, assertiveness

Time management: prioritising workloads, setting work objectives, using time effectively, making and keeping appointments, working steadily rather then erratically, time for learning, estimating task time (partitionable tasks, non-partitionable tasks)

 

 

Self-managed learning

Readings

• Centre for Self Managed Learning

   

 

Targets: aims and requirements, preferences, personal orientation achievement goals, identification of what has to be learnt, dates for achievement

Learning styles: activist, pragmatist, theorist, reflector, Kolb’s learning cycle

Effective learning: skills of personal assessment, planning, organisation and evaluation

Online research methods: use of the internet, use of bulletin boards, newsgroups

Assessment of learning: improved ability range with personal learning, evidence of improved levels of skill, learning achievements and disappointments.

 

 

Activities

Resume Writing

Your will be evaluated on the basis of following parameters:

• Appearance and Style: Does your resume have visual appeal?
• Completeness: Is your resume complete and has appropriate length?
• Content/Layout: Has all the relevant information been included?
• Focus: Is it clear what your career objective is?
• Perspective: Does your resume have the power to be noticed?
• Accomplishments: Are accomplishments consistent with objective and matches job requirements?
• Professionalism/Integrity: Participants have to provide authentic information?

 

 

Recommended Texts

 

Personal and Professional Development 1 Communication and Study Skills D. A. Hughes Sep 2006, Paperback, 616 pages ISBN13: 9781846583605 ISBN10: 1846583608 Check the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.

 

 

Resources

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education links, Information about education based careers and courses.

Local resources
Resources relating to your university or the local area.

Job vacancies
Places to look for current and upcoming vacancies.

Employability websites
Sites which cover many facets such as job-hunting and interview skills.

Graduate employers
Examples of companies and organisations which employ graduates.

Volunteering opportunities
Websites with information about volunteering.

Psychometric tests
Practice tests from the test publishers.

General links
Links which don't fit into the other categories

 

External links - general

 

 

 

 

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