Unit 13 Personal and Professional Development Assignment SWOT Analysis

Introduction

Personal and professional development refers to the evolution of own skills and capabilities and identification of strategies and activities for improvement to achieve the goals and objectives. The Unit 13 Personal and Professional Development Assignment SWOT Analysis will explain self-managed learning and approaches of lifelong learning to improve the own effectiveness according to organisational goals and objectives. In the next task, the report will conduct the SWOT analysis for identifying the skills that require improvement and develop a personal and professional development plan. It will define activities to undertake the plan and critically analyse the effectiveness of and make changes in the plan to craft improvement in the areas of lacking. At the end, the report will provide the solution for work-based problems at the Hilton hotel and explain the process of communicating the information at different levels.     

 

Task 1

1.1 Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning

Self-directed learning is the process through which an individual enhances knowledge with the help of all the resources available to an individual or group. In the direction of self-directed learning, one becomes independent and acquires knowledge through self-evaluation. By choosing any appropriate strategy, one can easily become a self-directed learner.

 The following are the approaches that an individual can select to become an independent self directed learner:

• Seminar: In the seminars, a group of people share their ideas, thoughts and experiences, which can improve an individual’s knowledge to an extent. Being a manager, I would like to improve my communication skills, leadership qualities, and decision-making ability with the help of seminars (Loucks-Horsley.et.al. 2009).  By understanding others’ experience and knowledge, I can improve my management skills a well. Improvement in my skills will make me more confident and will allow me to grow and prosper in my management skills.

• Reading: An individual can learn all theoretical knowledge by reading books, articles and journals. As a manager, with the help of various theories and ideas, I can improve my leadership qualities, skills like planning, controlling, decision making, etc. For example, there are many types of leadership styles. I can choose any style that suits best to me best or any leadership style to which I can adapt very easily. This is going to help me a lot professionally.

• Observation: The most important quality required for being a self-directed learner is observation. Being a manager, observing carefully and understanding all the things happening around me will improve my ability to focus and will also improve my leadership qualities, decision-making skills, communication skills, and will also boost my confidence (McLoughlin and  Lee, 2010). Observing situations like how people react in difficult times, how they analyse situations and make decisions, what leadership qualities they pursue, etc. All these observations will help me in not only being self directed learner but also a good manager as well.

 

1.2 Ways to encourage lifelong learning

As an assistant manager, I will use the following approaches to encourage learning in personal and professional contexts:

• Self-evaluation: Being an assistant manager, it is important to evaluate my decision-making ability. Any plan or policy that is not framed according to the objectives of organisational goals should be evaluated, and corrective measures should be taken at the right time. All corrective measures can be executed and the final outcome can be achieved according to the organisational goals (McNeil.et.al. 2015). Self-evaluation will help me to identify my decision-making ability, and it will also help to boost my confidence. Whenever the corrective measures are implemented, performance can be improved, and I can also identify the gap between current and desired standards for both my leadership qualities and management qualities.

• Planning: After self-evaluation, planning is important. How the measures will be implemented is decided through planning. Planning is the very first step to achieving desired goals. For example, In the hotel, if I want to explore my business to manage all resources well, there is a need to frame the right policy and plan to achieve the desired outcome (Murdoch, Eaton and Whittle, 2012). Also, the coordination between staff and management is important for the desired outcome. Proper planning and controlling help in improving performance, and the final outcome can be achieved easily.

• Internet: Technology is improving day by day, and the Internet is a great source of knowledge. With the help of the internet, I can read articles related to leadership theories and style, and how to motivate employees so that they can perform their tasks very efficiently and effectively. Also, I can see videos on how to improve my communication skills or how to increase my confidence level, or how should encourage team spirit (Nicholls, 2014). This strategy will help me the most to encourage learning in both personal and also in professional life.

 

1.3 Benefits of Self learning for an Organisation and an Individual

With self learning, both the organisation and the individual will benefit in many ways:

Benefits for employees:

• Promotion: Being an assistant manager, self learning will help me to improve my communication skills, leadership qualities, etc, which will help me to get a new job title. As a manager, I can frame new policies and plans, and can motivate employees to perform their best. Also, it will boost my confidence level. I will make the optimum utilisation of resources available to me, also I will work hard to provide a high level of satisfaction to customers.

• Improvement in skills: As a manager, I will become more responsible. Various leadership qualities that I pursue can be improved. At the personal and professional level also my communication skills can also be improved (Pedler, 2011). The most important skill that every manager must carry is time management; managing time properly and doing less wastage of time will allow me to achieve the desired objective. Also, new ideas and innovations will allow me to prosper in my management skills.

Benefits for the organisation:

• Achievement of goals: Once the goals are set, it becomes easy to achieve the desired goals. With the coordination among the staff members and management, quality service can be provided to customers, which will help to achieve desired goals efficiently and effectively.

• Customer satisfaction: If the demand of customer is fulfilled, the customer becomes satisfied, which is beneficial for the hotel. As a manager, I will provide quality service to the customer, and I will work hard to achieve customer satisfaction to a great extent.

 

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Task 2  

2.1 Evaluation of own skills and competencies against the professional standards and objectives           

As a manager at the Hilton hotel, my responsibility is to manage the human resources to meet the desired functionality and operations in the hotel. I must develop an understanding of the various functioning areas of the organisation so that I can use my skills to achieve organisational as well as personal objectives. To meet my job profile, I need to improve my communication skills, anticipation, and analysis approaches to deal with employees and customers. However, current skills in motivation, planning and implementation are good, but the regular changes in an organisation are leading me to enhance the skills in order to work with new approaches and situations (Bell, 2010). 

In order to meet professional standards associated with a manager's profile, I need to make changes in my personality and communication so that I can effectively motivate the employees and present the business before the customers. It is required for me to analyse the employee’s performance and to maintain the relationship with them. I need to learn how to enhance relationships with employees in a professional manner so that organisational goals can be achieved more efficiently, with the satisfaction of employees. However, the current skills are effective in managing the workload and distribution, but still need some improvement to deliver the work on time (Ahmed.et.al.2011). Also, attention will be given towards the personal objectives like good personality and professional values among employees.

 

2.2 Identification of needs and activities to improve them

To sustain the position of manager, it is necessary to identify the approach towards the own development and growth so that it can also be used for the professional profile in the workplace. Various techniques like self-assessment and SWOT, can be used to enhance my skills. I have identified that in order to enhance my communication skills, I need to gain command over the language and presentation of ideas. I will make use of online video and audio to craft my skills in presentation. For a manager, it is necessary to be excellent in communication and in personality to sustain the position in the workplace and to be effective in the role and responsibility (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). The practices towards the professional standards will help me to establish nice relations with employees.

My practices will also be concentrated on time and planning in projects. Scheduling, prioritisation and distribution of work will be made after the detailed analysis so that projects can be completed within the time and with quality. I will log my previous activities so that future faults can be stopped and the same experience can be used to enhance the progress of a newer task (Simons, 2013). Books and journals will be preferred by me to know more about the management practices.

 

Table 1: SWOT analysis

STRENGTH	WEAKNESS
Good at written languages Responsible for the job profile Good to make use of available resources Quality assessment is excellent Planning skills and attributes are good	Lack of communication practices Lack of Proficiency Lack of understanding of standards Single  lingual
OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
Larger scopes of leadership skills Development of professional behaviour Increase in the confidence levels	Changes in the traditional structure of the organisation Risk with new plans in execution Trust in online sources

 

2.3 Development opportunities to meet future needs

A manager always has an opportunity to enhance the current skill set, along with the development of new qualities in personality. It is essential for a manager to observe the opportunities inside and outside the organisation so that timely actions can be taken to meet the personal objectives (Egan, 2013). As a manager at Hilton Hotel, I have analysed the following future needs and the approaches to meet them:

Table 2: Development opportunities and action for the future (GAP Analysis)

Development opportunities	Current rating	Desired rating	Action for improvement to meet future needs
Leadership	2.5	4	To improve my leadership, I will learn from the theories and activities of great leaders. I will learn how to lead in opposite conditions of business. (McNeil. et.al. 2015).
Time management	2.5	4	I will improve my schedule and planning strategies to enhance productivity at work.
Planning	3.5	5	I will study the previous activities of the management so that the same experience can be used to make the planning stronger for the new task (Lussier, 2011).
Communication	3	4.5	I will encourage myself to participate in various events in the workplace so that my communication skills can be improved. It will be helpful to motivate the employees.

 

2.4 Personal and professional development plan

For the effective management and motivation of employees as a manager in the hotel Hilton, I will follow the following personal and development plan.

Table 3: Personal and professional development plan

Skills	Time Management	Communication	Leadership	Planning	Working	Professional Knowledge	Utilisation of resources
Improvement Required	Manage the time to deliver the task on time	To meet the communication skills which is used for a profession	Employee satisfaction will be considered	Analysis of the need for human power to accomplish the task within time.	Development of collaboration with employees.	Development of collaboration with employees.	Proper distribution of work to the proper skill set
Improvement Activity	Time-based allocation of tasks to manage time.	Live participation and learning from online video and audio sources, along with books & journals	An individual’s capabilities will be observed to carry out the job	A study will be made on prior actions and faults to make better strategies	Teamwork will be created to motivate everyone in the group	Classes will be joined and participation in practice.	Proper analysis of workload and capabilities of the team (McNiff, 2010)
Time Frame	3 Months	2 month	1.5 month	2 months	1.5 Months	2 months	1 Months
Evidence	Organising events and norms to manage time in a competitive manner.	Being enrolled in communication with employees for their queries and interests.	Motivating employees to meet the organisational goals.	Requirements of the task at Hilton are being analysed so that a better plan can be made.	Conducting a meeting to distribute the workload in an acceptable form	Using presentations to enhance professional knowledge.	Making notes on an individual’s capability to ensure the proper use of skills in an organisation (Moon, 2013).

 

3.3 Critical evaluation of learning according to the developed plan

To make improvements in my personal and professional skills, I analysed certain activities and practices so that areas for improvement can be identified. In order to acquire enhancement in skills, I have planned several procedures like training and development, mentoring and meditation. It is necessary for me to evaluate the outcome of all the efforts towards the skills. I have used the feedback from employees and analysed the effect of talents on activities. Feedback stated that my skills in leadership and planning have improved dramatically in comparison to others. In addition to it, I have received good feedback on my communication skills and my presentation. The productivity of the employees is increased as a result of proper utilisation of resources, time division and planning strategies. Also, the employees are satisfied with working strategies and showing interest in the communication with me (Moon, 2013).

Besides all that, skills of professional knowledge and working are enhanced, but they still need some time to mature. I am facing a bit problem in treating employees according to the workload. I think that the historical aspect of management will be helpful for me to establish a link with employees. I am using online books and journals to know the practices in common objectives so that time on decision making and implementation can be saved (Kolb, 2014). However, I have reached the proficient level of qualities for a manager should seek to meet.

 

3.4 Revision in the personal and professional development plan

As I have mentioned, I am having a bit of trouble dealing with employees in certain cases. Also, my decision-making power is not quick and responsive to problems. Thus, I have changed my activity and procedures to meet the remaining needs:

Table 6: Updated development plan

Qualities	Lacking	Action for improvement	Required Time period (Month)
Decision-making power	Not so responsive and quick	Making approaches to learn previous activities and pre-analysis of issues (Zepeda, 2012).	2
Employee relations	formality	Reduce the flexible nature and apply formal behaviour to maintain relations	1
Professional Knowledge	Lack of perfection in subjects	Considering practical experience rather than theoretical	2
Team working	Exact identification of an individual’s interest and skills	Using form fills from the employees’ side to know their skill sets and check on their own side (Hopkins and Putnam, 2013 ).	2

 

 

Task 4

4.1 Solutions to work-based problems

Work-based problems are those problems which cause hindrance to effective working in the workplace. These problems need an effective solution because this will otherwise result in low-quality work. Effective problem solving takes some time and also requires proper attention till it is solved completely (Schein, 2010). The effective solution to work-based problems followed the following process:

• Identifying the problem

• Understanding the interests of everyone

• Listing of solutions to the problem

• Evaluating the problem solution

• Selecting an appropriate solution among all

• Monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the suggested solution

In the Hotel Hilton, communication is noted as one of the major work-based problems. Due to a lack of proper communication, the quality of services provided by the Hilton to its customers is affected. The managers and other employees of the Hilton hotel are facing problems in exchanging the important information and data which are essential to the daily operations of the hotel. The solution to improve the communication processes in the Hilton required the use of emails, messaging apps or sending messages via LinkedIn for quick exchange of information among the employees of Hotel Hilton (Stüber, 2011). Issues related to workplace communication can be solved by understanding and creating effective policies in the hotel, which will address the problems and help in creating an efficient communication network in the Hilton.

 

4.2 Communication in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels

The communication can be done in a variety of styles. Like applying for a suitable job, one can send their application through email. The email can be composed like the following:

To: abc@gmail.com Subject: Job application email Dear Sir/Madam,             Email Message Firstly email should cover the reference of the job applying for and where you found the job posting. Secondly, details about what we have to offer to the employer and why an employer should hire you. I am hereby attaching a copy of my resume with this email. I will eagerly wait for the interview call from you. Thank you Yours’ Sincerely Name Signature

 

The format of the CV attached to the e-mail for the job application is the following:

Name: xyz Address: Flat 9, Bounds Green Court London, N112EX Mob: 99999999 E-Mail: xyz@gmail.com Nationality: Romanian D.O.B: 09.07.1974  PROFILE- Conscientious, hard-working working and trustworthy individual who is eager to work with people. A good overall knowledge of looking for a position with the prospect to continue to learn, develop and progress. I self self-motivated and have good communication skills. I have proven experience succeeding in a variety of professional environments and thrive on challenges. I enjoy working as part of a team and am always willing to extend knowledge on all subjects. WORK HISTORY- Feb 2002 to Aug 2003 – Waitress Avanti- Village Restaurant, London Mar 2005 to Nov 2008 – Waitress Joe’s Cafe, London Apr 2006 to Aug 2008 – Waitress La Pasta Restaurant, London (part-time in the evening) Sep 2008 to Aug 2010 – Waitress San Daniele Del Friuli Restaurant, London (part-time in the evening) Oct 2009 - Present - Dressmaker Steliana Tailoring, London   EDUCATION- Professional School of Tailoring, Bacau, Romania KEY SKILLS- -Experience in Restaurants through employment, -Experience of Design and Tailoring through study, -Accurate, organised and creative, -Strong presentation skills, -Meticulous with an eye for detail. SOFTWARE SYSTEM SKILLS- -Operating Windows, -Internet Knowledge, -Creating Software Abilities LANGUAGE SKILLS- Romanian – native language English: Reading – Excellent Writing – Good Communicating- Good REFERENCES- References available on request. INTERESTS- Reading, theatre, travelling, art exhibitions and music.

On becoming successful in my job application, the following is the job resignation letter to my present employer:

To The Manager Steliana Tailoring, London   Date: 20.09.2016   Dear Manager, I am writing to inform you that I am resigning my position as Dressmaker at Steliana Tailoring, effective October 2009. I am resigning my position for some reasons. Thank you for the opportunity to work at Steliana Tailoring, London.   Sincerely, xyz

 

4.3 Evaluation and use of effective time management strategies

Time management is the ability to use one’s time effectively, especially at work. Time management helps in making effective use of time, as time is always limited. Time can be used effectively by following these steps:

• Effective planning: It includes preparing a To Do List of important activities to be done. High-priority work should come first in the list.

• Setting Goals and Objectives: Setting targets will help prevent losing the goal. The goals and objectives must be realistic and achievable (Thrun and Pratt, 2012).

• Setting deadlines: Deadlines should be set, and try to complete the task ahead of the deadlines. Deadlines would help to complete the tasks on time.

In the Hilton hotel, time management is needed so that proper delivery of services to their customers can be achieved. This would help further in achieving customer satisfaction and a good brand name in the market. The time management skills that can be used in Hilton are as follows:

• Prioritisation: Prioritisation is an effective key to successful time management. The task to be performed in Hilton should be prioritised in accordance with their importance and urgency.  The services which are most important should be delivered first, and later the other.

• Scheduling: Scheduling helps in planning the activities so that the objectives and priorities can be achieved in time. Scheduling will help Hilton in the proper arrangement of the time, which ensures the timely delivery of services to its customers (Van Weele, 2009). Scheduling is done with the purpose of completing the task in the correct time. Scheduling is done by keeping the priorities in mind.

 

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Conclusion

With the help of the above report, it could be concluded that personal and professional development has a significant impact on the effectiveness and growth of individuals. The report has provided information about the approaches of self-managed learning through the internet and attending conferences and seminars for the improvement in managerial skills of the Travelodge manager. In the next part, report has been conducted SWOT analysis to identify the areas of lacking and opportunities and a personal and professional development plan. However, the report has discussed the activities for executing the plan and has significantly analysed the effectiveness of the plan.

 

References

Books and Journals

• Ahmed, K., Miskovic, D., Darzi, A., Athanasiou, T. and Hanna, G.B., 2011. Observational tools for assessment of procedural skills: a systematic review. The American Journal of Surgery, 202(4), pp.469-480.
• Bell, S., 2010. Project-based learning for the 21st century: Skills for the future. The Clearing House, 83(2), pp.39-43.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Robinson, R.E., 2014. Culture, time, and the development of talent. In The Systems Model of Creativity (pp. 27-46). Springer Netherlands.
• Egan, G., 2013. The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping. Cengage Learning.
• Fukuda-Parr, S. and Lopes, C. eds., 2013. Capacity for development: new solutions to old problems. Routledge.
• for organisational excellence.Quality managementGoetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. 
• Hopkins, D. and Putnam, R., 2013. Personal Growth Thru Adventure. Routledge.
• Kolb, D.A., 2014. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. FT Press.
• Loucks-Horsley, S., Stiles, K. E., Mundry, S., Love, N. and Hewson, P. W. 2009. Designing professional development. Corwin Press
• Lussier, R., 2011. Management fundamentals: Concepts, applications, skill development. Cengage Learning.
• McLoughlin, C. and  Lee, M. J. 2010. Personalised and self-regulated learning in the Web 2.0 era: International exemplars of innovative pedagogy using social software. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 26(1).
• McNeil, A. J., Frey, R. and Embrechts, P. 2015. Quantitative Risk Management: Concepts, Techniques and Tools: Concepts, Techniques and Tools. Princeton University Press.