HRM6001 The Personal and Professional Development

In order to show my personal and professional development in the last 12 months, it is very important to arrive at SWOT analysis, which is a reflection of my understanding of my strength, weakness, opportunities and threats.

SWOT Analysis

Plans for Goal Setting

My plan for goal setting is based on my aspiration to work in an e-commerce company in the profile of digital marketing manager. I am a big time digital media enthusiast which drives me to work in this area. In order to do so, I have decided to create a plan to achieve my professional goals. The following steps I have considered for creating a plan for Goal setting:

• Analyse the field of Interest.
• Identify the number of companies which are using digital marketing in their operations.
• Based on the above mentioned analysis, create a list of top 10 companies I am interested to work with.
• Identify the job opportunities in the screened companies.
• Identify the gap in the required skill and undergo training program to develop the skills.
• Personal Skill analysis

As mentioned earlier, I am a social and digital media enthusiast; my ardent interest in the field drives me to be a part of the e-commerce organization as they use digital marketing as the core of their business process and operation. Further to it, I am a good listener, which makes me a great asset for doing social listening for the brand. My USP of building relationship with the people can further help me in solving the grievances or concerns of the customers. Based on this, my Personal skill analysis goes on as:

• Great listening skills makes
  
  it easier to focus on social listening, also I can pay more attention to the customer by being a silent listener.
• My ability to understand and comprehend the situation makes me a good relationship builder with the clients.
• My Knack of understanding the concepts of digital marketing opens up dimensions of e-commerce and brands which are focussed towards digital marketing activities.
• Good communication skills help me in solving the grievances of the customers and also give me an edge in Sales.
• I have good understanding of different roles and function played by the managers, and also the hierarchy of different types of organization and a good understanding of business ecosystem, this makes me a well prepared candidate for recruitments.
• Personal development Plan

The personal development plan here is an extension of the result I achieved in the last year. I learnt various skills which would make me an asset to the business organization. The personal development plan here will focus on my plan of action for the next 12 months, so that I can stay steadfast towards achievement of my personal and professional goals.

The above mentioned and created PDP will help me in developing the skills which will make me ready for the job market. Further to it, I would also gain an upper hand over my peer or other people who are trying for the job. Advanced learning method and resources are a big help in developing and shaping up of a human in a quick span of time.

1.2 Produce an illustrated report that recommends how strategies for skills development and lifelong learning may enable career development for you and your team colleagues.

It is no brainer that creating plans and strategies to achieve ones objectives and goals for life are of great help, creating strategies to achieve the goals help an individual to grow and learn (Lussier & Achua, 2015). It is thus advisable to always create strategies as it gives a clear understanding of the path to be traversed in order to achieve the goals and objectives and result in career development of the person in the longer run (Jackson, 2015).

Strategies for Skill development

Skill development is very important in the present day business scenarios as organizations are looking for the talent pool which already has some level of understanding and have certain skills which will be beneficial for the business(Cornier & Hackney, 2015).Moreover, the skill boasts the confidence of the person as he has a leading edge over his competition. Some of the strategies for the skill development which would help in the long time learning enabling career development are:

Skill Gap Analysis

The first and the foremost thing which an individual has to do before identifying the skills required for the career development is, conduct a self-skill gap analysis. A person has to first identify what are the most relevant, technical, professional and personal skills which are highly valued by the employers . This has to be then mapped with the aspiration of an individual who is eying to be a part of an industry. This has to be further broken into the profile a person is aiming at, then identify the required set of skills required to be competent in the job. The difference of the required skills and inherent skills gives the clear description of the skills which have to be developed to stay competent in an industry & job profile. This exercise would give a clear idea to the employee on the lacunae in his personality, which can be further filled with professional training (Cengher et. al., 2016). Some of the skills which stay relevant in all the possible industries are:

• Soft Spoken Skills
• Communication skills
• Group working skills
• Business Tools skills
• Professional writing skills.
• Email etiquettes skills
• Leadership development skills (Lussier & Hendon, 2017).

Thus, the entire team can benefit from this exercise and it will most definitely help the person and the entire team to focus on their career development plan. Thus, skill assessment is one of the most important strategies on the path of long term performance development plan.

Once an employee becomes the part of the organization, the onus is now on both the employee and the employer to ensure that the employee is on a fast track career path. The employer has to ensure that they keep the employee motivated, and focussed on their goals and objectives. In the absence of this plan, the chances of the employee losing the focus are pretty high (Farkas, 2017).

Integrated Personal development Planning

An integrated personal development plan can be understood as a contemporary alternative for traditional training of individual and organizational development. This encompasses modern integrated methods, self-discovery, self -help, motivation and achievement psychology.  This type of development can be seen as an extension of skill training and focusses on the entire personality of the employee, rather than just a couple of skills. The new method helps in the development of the individual, enabling their real personal growth and change for individuals and organization. This integrated personal development plan helps the individual in the following ways:

• Helps in updating the personality, personal identity, attitude, values and beliefs.
• Helps in increasing the congruency and satisfaction for the employees.
• Helps in releasing blocks which have been restricting the realization of personal potential (Stramepel & Lewis, 2016).

This modern integrated personal development plan will help the employee in realizing that he is being valued in the organization, and the employer is focussing on the development of the employee both for their own development and the development of the employee.  This plan also helps in motivating the employee, who at times finds the job routine mundane and have thoughts of quitting their job. This particular exercise will clear the doubt in their heads, and they will be motivated after learning that their employer is concerned about the needs of the employees (Tattum & Tattum, 2017).

For the organization, strategies to create a career development plan in sync with the integrated personal development approach are highly beneficial for the employee and the employer. The employer benefits immensely as they get to retain the employee, keep them motivated and retain them by the way of this planned approach. Similarly, the employees also benefit immensely, as they are getting a clear path to progress towards their goals, the employer and the HR both are concerned with the performance of the employee and a 360 degree approach to help the employee will motivate him and push him towards his personal and organizational objectives (Leigh & Blakely, 2016).

Thus, this can be concluded here by saying that the organizations which are focused on their employees and have employee centric approach grow in their domains. The employees play the leading role here in the development of the organization, which benefit immensely due to the enhanced productivity of the employees. Moreover, the employees get a clear strategy of the path in which they have to move forward to achieve their personal and professional developmental goals. This, entire process is beneficial not just for one employee but the entire team benefits in the process. Hence, personal development plan, professional development plan and the modern day integrated management plan will create a hyperbole of synergies both for the organization and the employees (Bolden, 2016).

Question 2: High Performance individuals and teams

2.1 Create your own blog in order to produce a concise summary to answer the following: how may high performance people be developed by effective performance management?

The fundamental approach of performance management is to promote and improve the employee effectiveness in a business organization, performance management is a continuous process wherein the managers and the employees work side by side to create a plan, review and monitor the work of the employees and his overall contribution towards the goals of the organization (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015). Thus, organization can easily develop high performance employee be using the below mentioned 5 elements:

• Planning and expectation setting.
• Monitoring
• Development & Improvement
• Periodic Rating
• Rewards and compensation(Friedman, 2017)
• Planning and Expectation setting

The first and the foremost step in the Performance management plan to create high performance employee is setting up of clear and concise goals. Hence, the goals for the employees have to be set for the employees, along with the means to evaluate the goals so as to track the progress of the employee. It is extremely important for the organization to create a set of SMART goals. The SMART goals can be understood as Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible goals. Such goals have clear timelines attached with them, which helps the employees and the organization to focus on the timelines and work according to the timelines (Moone & London, 2018).

For instance, I spoke to few of my colleagues in the college, and asked them on their goal setting techniques. They informed me that the professors sit with them and help them in setting up their goals to ace in the university. This exercise has been useful for them, as the students were able to work according to the plan and the professors were able to monitor the progress of the students.

Monitoring

The second step in the performance management plan which has an aim of increasing the effectiveness of the employees in the business organization is to monitor the progress of the employee towards the accomplishment of the said objectives. Employees in the present day organization have to be in line with the tracking of their goals, these goals which are created by the managers along with employees have to be monitored for their progress. Effective monitoring of the employees progress helps in giving them a real time feedback on their progress which in turn helps them in getting a clear picture on their goals accomplishment. Business organization, monitor the goals of the employees by using various business tools, also they can assess and monitor the performance by taking feedback from their immediate managers (Buchanan & McCalman, 2018).

For instance, in the university once the professor has set the goals for the student in sync with the timeline, the next step is to monitor the progress of the students. In order to do so, the professor keeps on giving the students assignment and keeps a tab on their weekly progress with the assignment. The students also receive feedback from the professors on a regular basis, this helps them to make a note of their progress and this exercise benefits them, as they inch closer towards the goals.

Development and Improvement

Once the process of goal setting and monitoring is completed, the next logical step is to push the employees to improve their performance and move on the path of sustained development. Good managers do not stop at just the feedback progress, they push their employees to excel and achieve better performance. They look for ways to further motivate the employees and influence them to reach towards their goals. Good managers go a step ahead and create smaller milestones for the employees, and then track their performance. Managers at times use Maslow theory of Motivation to understand their level of motivation, and then in accordance to their level of needs, they motivate and push them towards enhanced productivity (Chen, Zhu & Zhou, 2015).

After interviewing a couple of good students at university, I realized that professors also pushed the students towards further improvement and development. The professor calls the students, enquires them on their progress, discuss their concerns and query related to their module. On the basis of it, the professor gives them a further improvement and development plan to excel in their studies. The students benefit a lot by this development and improvement plan by the professors and are motivated to excel in their studies.

Periodic Rating

This is another important component which goes behind creating high performance employees; this is done by periodic evaluation of the performance by the management and the HR team in business organization. This step becomes crucial after smaller milestones are set for the employees with the aim of tracking their performance, it becomes extremely important to give them a periodic feedback. This helps them in knowing where they exactly stand in the path of accomplishment of their goals and how far they have to stretch themselves (Argyris, 2017).

In the university the professor does the same, by evaluating the performance of the students by giving them periodic assignment. The professor than ranks their performance through the use of Formative and Summative assessment, based on their performance gives them a feedback. This feedback helps the students to estimate their progress in a particular module with a clear understanding of what has to be done next.

Rewards and Compensation

The last, but one of the most important components of the Performance management plan is rewarding the employees for their performance. The employees who are rewarded for their exemplary work or on completion of their task get motivated and feel valued in the organization (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). This also pushes other average working employees to up their performance and push themselves towards achieving their goals. The reward and compensation can be both monetary and non-monetary, the underlying purpose here is to create an environment where the organisation appreciates and values the employees and reward them on a public platform for their contribution towards the organization (Buckingham & Goodall, 2015).

In the University professor does the same, they give good ratings to the students who have performed exceptionally well. They also guide them for their career development plans which form the pillar of their professional journey. Not only this, the professor also values the students who have shown great improvement in their performance after implementing the performance improvement plan. Such students are appreciated for their performance by way of Email and in the classes.

Thus, it can be seen that Performance management plan is one of best ways to create and manage the high performing employees. It is beneficial both for the organization and the employees and it leads to creation of an environment of win-win which results in the benefit of both the parties.  In order to summarize, the high performing employees can be managed, by providing them with consistent learning and feedback, by creating a culture of sustained growth and creating an environment of overall development for the employees (Keyes, 2016).

2.2 Produce an illustrated report that evaluates how high-performance strategies enable you to work effectively as part of a team.

It is a long lasting tradition that managers want their teams to perform well, in order to do so, they manage their teams in such a manner which brings out the best in them. It is important to create the strategies which help the teams to perform at their optimum best and achieve the goals of the organization. Clearly specifying the goals, creating excitement within the work group and infusing energy in the teams will result in creation of high performance employee and an environment. The employees in turn will appreciate the encouragement and the challenge provided by the management, which would result in their long time association with the organization. It would also result in higher motivation level for the employees (Wheelen et. al., 2017).

It is a big onus on the shoulders of the managers and the management in the first place to create a high performance team, and then to enable them to work with perseverance towards the goals of the organization, then empower them with the intention to retain them, thus extracting the best out of the employees. Managers in order to do this infuse high levels of motivation and reduce the negative or the hygiene factors affecting the productivity of the organization. It is in the best interest of the organization to put a cork on the worst practices and open up the lid of best practices to retain the high performing employees (Bryson, 2017).

Consequences of Goal setting

As mentioned in the earlier section, creating goals is the first stage of the project. Creation of goal helps in defining the path for the employees on which they can move to reach the goals of the organization and their objectives.  The goals serve as a perfect springboard for the employees, which push them to reach their goals and objectives (Quirke, 2017).Weekly and monthly goals help the employees to keep a good track of their career progression, and eventually they achieve them. Hence, the entire process of goal setting is beneficial to both the management and the employees, as the responsibility is shared by both the parties and the benefits are reaped in the similar manner (Levi, 2015).

If I have to reflect creation of goal setting as a stepping stone for my personal development, I am sure that it would create a lot of doubts in my head. Creation of goals will clearly define a path for me to walk on, and walking on the path would give me a taste of success. It would also help in creating a positive image of the organization in my mind, which would further lead to high performance, motivation and retention with the organization.

Building Excitement

It is very important for the team to be passionate about the project they are working on, if the excitement related to the project is sustained in the team, the team works with enhanced productivity and passion to finish the project with high success rate. This type of excitement has to be always up to bottom, the management should be excited about the project, and the same level of excitement has to be transferred to the managers, who then do the same with his team . At the same time, the manager should always try to take the advantage of the build enthusiasm about the project, conducting offline meetings, discussing the project on odd hours etc. will help in keeping the morale of the team high and keep them motivated (Zimmerman, Riasch & Birkinshaw, 2015).

If I have to reflect the same in my personal development, it really does to my morale, when my professors keep a quiz or give an interesting paper. They tend to explain me the rationale behind the assignment or any activity, which pushes me to do the task exceptionally well. The same can be applied to any situation; severe level of optimism and enthusiasm always result is high performing employees and enhanced productivity.

Team Identity

It is extremely important for the managers and the organization to create a team identity for all the teams in the organization. Team identity gives substance, recognition, name and fame to the employees and a sense of loyalty crops in the individual employees. Also, the team leaders and the team members see themselves as innovators, leaders and influencers within the purview of the team management (Grant, 2016). Thus, the employee working under such a team which has a team identity, push themselves organically towards the goals of the team, organization and their personal goals. This also helps the team and the individual employees to work with loyalty, trust and reach the realms of leaders and innovators.

In my university, I take this aspect very seriously and thus pay focus and attention towards the need of the group so that we create a strong group identity. I try to give preference to the needs of the group so that we are able to work effectively with loyalty for each other while working on the assignments and activity.

Roles Assignment

There are no two doubts that Team work is always superior to individual work. Thus, in order to extract good team work from the employees it is very much advised that the team works in cohesion along side by side with each other. One important aspect which goes behind creating a high performing team is, creating roles individually for the entire team. This helps in giving them clear insights on what are the roles and responsibility to an individual, thus they are able to play their roles effectively and lead to the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives (Stephans & Carmeli, 2016).

Similar strategy is employed in the university while we are working on group assignment Each and every individual is given a clear role in the group, and based on the roles they perform their duties. In my personal opinion creation of individual roles helps in improving my performance which further helps me in being steady on my path of personal and professional development.

Thus, it can be easily said that it is extremely important to enable the high performing employees to perform with consistency towards the achievement of their individual as well as the goals of the organization.

References

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