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Personal and Professional development 2
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GREENWICH @ Pearson
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In this chapter, you will learn about: - Evaluate own current skills and competencies against professional standards and organizational objectives - Identify own development needs and the activities required to meet them - Identify development opportunities to meet current and future defined needs - Devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs LEARNING OUTCOMES Explanation Competence - Competence can be defined as the ability to perform activities to the standards required in employment, using an appropriate mix of knowledge, skill and attitude - Competencies are the critical skills, knowledge and attitude that a jobholder must have to perform effectively. - Before starting to work with competences, you need to define 4 things: 1. What your role encompasses 2. The knowledge, skills and attitude that make up that competence 3. At what level you need to be competent 4. What you could do to prove that competence 1. Skills and competencies 5 Skills matrix - The skills matrix is a simple visual tool to aid in the management, control and monitoring of skill levels. - The first step is to establish standards. - Skill matrices can be as simple as two levels (empty square or circle, full square or circle) and as complex as having seven sections to the pie of a circle. 1. Skills and competencies 6 Gap analysis - A gap analysis is basically the process of matching and comparing the knowledge and skills that you currently have against those that you need for your future role and career and identifying where there are gaps. - This matching process can help you to focus better on the skill areas which you need to develop Skills and competencies 7 Leadership competencies • Competency is being described here as something, either natural or learned, which is practiced and used effectively to achieve a desired goals. • The following is the top 7 groups of key working competencies - Influence others - Foster accountability - Build positive working relationships - Coach for improvement/results - Communicate effectively - Work effectively - Build a high performing team Skills and competencies 10 Developing skills for life Learning itself is a life skill - Learning to learn enables you to keep on learning far beyond and particular study text, training event. It is a framework for on-going self-development Learning is a constant, cyclical process Effective learning is a cyclical process of experimentation and adjustment. Skills and competencies 11 A focus on behavior While the learning objective of content-oriented learning is knowledge or understanding, the learning objective of skill development is application: intentional behavior and behavioral change Making notes - Get into habit of making notes – verbal or visual, paper or electronic – during or shortly after any meeting or discussion you are involved - The notes will provide the raw material for reflection and self- evaluation. If you rely solely on your memory, you will probably have insufficiently detailed data to go on Collecting and filing data - Building the habit of putting notes somewhere you’ll find or on your laptop Skills and competencies 12 Developing self-awareness In order to become more self-aware, you might: - Acquire knowledge about human beings and their behavior in general - Gather the opinions of trusted individuals who know you well - Compare yourself to role models in your life - Take tests - Analyze incidents at work and outside work. Self-knowledge and self-appraisal 15 Self-appraisal: strengths and weaknesses analysis • In order to construct your own SWOT analysis, you need to examine your current situation. - Strengths need to be maintained or built upon - Weaknesses need to be remedied, changed or stopped - Opportunities need to be prioritized, captured, built on and optimized - Threats need to be countered or minimised and managed Consider the overall picture of where you think you are now, and where you want to be. Self-knowledge and self-appraisal 16 The important of transferable skills • Employers look for the kinds of skills that can be acquired through all sorts of activities and adapted in different contexts. • Transferable skills are non-job specific skills that you have acquired during any activity or life experiences. • Transferable skills fall into 3 groups: working with people, working with things, and working with data/information - Working with people: sell, train, advise, and negotiate - Working with things: repair, open machinery, sketch, survey or troubleshoot - Working with data/information: budgeting, researching and analysing Personal skills audit 17 Skills audit • A skills audit is a review of your existing skills against the skills you need now and in the future. • A skills audit is a five stage process - Stage 1: Existing skills and knowledge identification - Stage 2: Future skills and knowledge identification - Stage 3: Rating your ability - Stage 4: Review your ability ratings - Stage 5: Your future development Personal skills audit 20 Career and personal development • PDP is not an end itself, it is a cyclical process. This mean that you can start your development at any point in the cycle. • PDP is about lifelong or continuous learning in the workplace • The objectives of PDP should be SMARTER, means: Specific – Measurable – Agreed – Realistic – Time-bounded – Evaluated – Reviewed Preparation of a development plan 21 4.2. Current performance The ultimate goal of your plan is to analyze and develop the following: - Where you are now - Where you want to be - How you are going to get there Analyzing your current strengths Outline your current success under the following headings: - My personal achievements - My work achievements - My qualifications - Training courses attended - My financial status 4. Preparation of a development plan 22 4.5. Review dates - On average, the PDP should be reviewed quarterly, though more frequent reviews might be needed in the early stages to ensure it gets off the ground. - Key points: 4. Preparation of a development plan 25 Record plans Monitor progress Seek support, feedback and encouragement Make your development a priority Be prepared to redraw plans Anticipate and be prepared for problems Make it enjoyable Keep your development plan stretching and achievable – not too big 4.6. Achievement dates - Achievement may be measured in two ways: the first is by completing the task in the time allowed and the second is completing the task to your stated satisfaction. - Objectives need clear indications of success if they are to retain their motivating power - Unforeseen obstacles can bring a plan to a complete stop. However, with some forethought, many obstacles can be anticipated and contingency plans can be put into place to reach the objective by a different route 4. Preparation of a development plan 26 4.7. Development activities - Once you have decided in which area you want to develop you can use certain criteria to help you decide the best development activity for you - Some criteria you would wish to use: prior knowledge, career relevance, how appropriate, support required, pace, transfer, group, feedback, costs, payoff, timescale …. - Selecting the development activities that work for you - Formal training/development - Recreational 4. Preparation of a development plan 27 5.2. Defining realistic time scales It is unrealistic: - To attempt massive behavioral changes in a short time frame - To attempt to work on too many areas of change at a time There is nothing wrong with planning for gradual, incremental changes or improvements over time 5. Action planning 30 5.3. Identifying ways to monitor and review progress The control process may involve regular monitoring of your activity and/or periodic review of your results - What progress markers are built into your objectives, which you can check for in your performance ? - What types of information will you use for monitoring? - What other people might you involve in the monitoring and review process? - How often will you review/sample your activity and its results? 5. Action planning 31 6.1. What is a “PDJ”? A PDJ is a structured approach to recording your experience, providing you with data which will enable you: - To bring your experience into your conscious awareness, opening up the possibility of different and more intentional behaviors - To reflect on and analyze your behaviors and their outcomes, enabling you to learn consciously and intentionally from your experience, maximising your learning opportunities - To monitor and track your development Recording your external and internal observations of events and interactions on a regular basis captures your experience while it is fresh in your mind. 6. A personal development journal (PDJ) 32 7.2. What should go in a portfolio? - Curriculum Vitae (CV) - Testimonials - Emails or letters from the public - Witness statements 7. A personal portfolio 35 7.3. Organizing your portfolio Your material need to be organized, so that you can: - Find and access items of information when you want them - Understand the information readily Your portfolio is your personal record which should portray your achievements, qualities, competencies and abilities 7. A personal portfolio 36 8.1. Understanding your learning style There are many ways to categorize learning styles, but the simplest of them places learner into one or more of three categories: - Visual - Auditory - Tactile Once you have acquired the information, you then process it mentally, as you think about it and memorise it. You will have a natural preference for how you: - Grasp information - Oder information - Engage with information 8. Learning styles and strategies 37 10.2. Personal development plan PDP is a continuous cycle of: - Self-assessment and evaluation - Identification of needs and goals - Planning a course of action to meet these needs and goals - Carrying out your action plan and recording your achievements - Reflecting on the outcomes and evaluating your progress, which should then reveal new needs and goals 10. Evaluation of progress 40 10.2. Personal development plan 10. Evaluation of progress 41 Reflecting Doing PlanningReviewing PDP 10.3. Reflective log • It is recommended that you carry our this reflective evaluation both during and at the end of any task or learning you might undertake • A reflective log is like a personal diary or record in which we note not just what we have done or accomplished, and what we have learned, but also reflect on our feelings. • By looking back on our experiences, we can reassess our goals. 10. Evaluation of progress 42