Assessment title- Personal and Professional Development Portfolio

Learning Outcome

LO1 Understand how self-managed learning can enhance lifelong development   

1.1. Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning

1.2. Propose ways in which lifelong learning in personal and professional contexts could be encouraged

1.3. Evaluate the benefits of self-managed learning to the individual and organisation

LO2 Be able to take responsibility for own personal and professional development   

2.1. Evaluate own current skills and competencies against professional standards and organisational objectives

2.2. Identify own development needs and the activities required to meet them

2.3. Identify development opportunities to meet current and future defined needs

2.4. Devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs

LO3 Be able to implement and continually review own personal and professional development plan   

3.1. Discuss the processes and activities required to implement the development plan

3.2. Undertake and document development activities as planned

3.1. Reflect critically on own learning against original aims and objectives set in development plan

3.2. Update the development plan based on feedback and evaluation

LO4 Be able to demonstrate acquired interpersonal and transferable skills   

4.1. Select solutions to work-based problems

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

4.3. Evaluate and use effective time management strategies.

M1 Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions

M2 Select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques

M3 Present and communicate appropriate findings

D1 Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions

D2 Take responsibility for managing and organising activities

D3 Demonstrate convergent / lateral / creative thinking

Purpose of this assignment

Personal and Professional development aims to develop an individual to become an effective and confident employee/manager. In order to accomplish this, the individual must learn to manage their own personal and professional skills in order to achieve his/her personal and career goals.

Scenario

You are a student at David Game College, Higher Education Centre. You wish to develop yourself further in order to progress in your personal life and academic and professional career.

In order to accomplish this you must understand self-managed learning and how to take responsibility for your own personal and professional development. Furthermore, the skills that you will learn, in time, will not only help your self-development, but also will be applicable in your current or future workplace.

Task  1

Develop a Skill audit where you must:

- List at least five examples of types of knowledge/skills which you consider to be important for your current studies and at least five examples of types of knowledge/skills which you consider important for your current/future career.

- For each type of knowledge/skill you have listed, rate your current ability using the five-point rating scale (rating scale can be found at the bottom of the skill audit word document).

Develop a SWOT analysis where you:

- List your strengths and weaknesses in relation to your current skills and any special resources that may or may not be available to you.

- Evaluate opportunities that might arise from your strengths.

- Evaluate possible threats that might arise from your weaknesses.

Create a Reflective Learning Log that includes:

- An identification of own learning styles.

- An evaluation of what approaches to self-managed learning could work for you based on the above

- Your thoughts on how lifelong learning in personal and professional context could be encouraged for you

- An evaluation of the benefits of self-managed learning to the individual (you) and organisation (you are currently working for or are hoping to work for in the future).

Create a Personal Development Plan where you:

- List your short and long-term objectives.

- Provide details of how you will recognise success and measure your improvement

- Include information on the methods you will use to achieve your learning objectives and how you will implement your plan

- Reset the original objectives of your personal development plan after critical reflection of your learning experience (Reflective statement)

Task 2

‘Talk Team UK’ is a London-based telephone banking company. The company has been performing badly for a long period of time. Its profit margin continues to fall and it has a large turnover of staff.

You have been hired for your business expertise. Your task is to identify current problems at the company and propose solutions that will motivate staff to stay at the company and perform their tasks effectively.

The following problems have been identified:

• Most staff are paid £6.50 per hour (minimum wage). Staff are often required to work overtime, but are not paid for this extra work.

There are rumours amongst staff that some employees are on a higher salary than the rest of their team, even though they perform the same tasks as their colleagues and have been at the company for the same length of time

• The company offers very little in the way of training.

• Promotions are rare, with the company generally choosing to hire better-qualified candidates from outside the company for higher-level positions

• The management rarely communicates with employees.  Some employees do not know the names of their colleagues. Staff meetings are held once a year and employees have reported feeling ‘ignored’ and ‘undervalued’ during these meetings.

• Staff find it difficult to meet project deadlines and there is always a delay in handover of deliverables. It was observed that they leave the work too late and there is a final panic towards the end and the last few hectic hours often marred by errors.

Question:

Discuss changes you would make at ‘Talk Team UK’ in order to resolve above work based problems (clearly highlighting the appropriate communication and time management strategies).

Task 3

Create a Current CV and Cover Letter:

-  Submit a current, word-processed CV listing your skills, education and work experience.

-  Your CV must be no longer that two pages in length

-  Your CV must be correctly formatted

- You must also submit a correctly formatted cover letter written in response to an existing job description – please, attach the job description to your task