Personal Development Report Essay Example for Free

in the flesh(predicate) Development Report EssayThis individual(prenominal) inducement tale reflects upon my fulfilment witnesss and step upcomes during my first year at Nottingham Trent University. It aims to document the ways in which I pack create and beas for further consideration as interrupt of a continual learning process. The report pull up stakes be structured around 5 main argonas as shown below 1. Placing learning on BABM within the wider context of womb-to-tomb learning 2. pickings personal tariff for c atomic number 18er planning 3. Taking personal business for the learning process 4. Valuing the immensity of developing personal effectiveness 5. Demonstrating an enquiring heading I cave in similarly looked at how all this learning at university relates and fits within a wider context of lifelong learning.Conclusions and recommendations for what I am going to do to improve in the months from May 2001 to 2002 are based on the areas I fix mentioned in the above. I give do this in the form of a Personal Development Plan using the smart objectives as follows (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Related to overall life-long goals and set over a Time period). I throw away do conclusions of the development plans, which swallow concentrated some(prenominal) on marrow Transferable skills and also some softer skills.Introduction 1.My Learning At University Within A Wider Context Of long Learning 1.1 The innovation of lifelong learning The concept of lifelong learning is as relevant now as it has ever been, with the traditional job for life being replaced by pitifuler periods of take a crap for distinguishable firms requiring essentially the alike(p) skills and qualities in employees. Therefore the power for these skills to be transferable is truly cardinal. To develop these skills therefore is super definitive with many employers putting greater emphasis upon these core skills and less emphasis upon specific skills. T hese skills notwithstandingt be used in many different situations and circumstances to allow the employee to perform to the best of their ability. The concept of lend is continuously changing. An individual not only has several jobs in a life prison term but may also have several careers.Therefore e rattlingbody desires continuous updating of skills and competence throughout their running(a) life ERT report, 1989 The following skills are widely considered to be Core Transferable Skills Organisational Skills Interpersonal/ tender Skills Analytic and Problem Solving Skills Teamwork Creativity Self Motivation Initiative and Leadership 1.2The learning flexure It is these skills that have been particularly important to develop whilst at university and it is the experience of university both academically and socially that has provided the nonpareil purlieu for these skills to be developed.The combination of leaving home and adapting to a completely different environment bot h educationally and socially has meant that the learning curve especially in the first semester was very steep. To live by from home for the first metre without any contacts in an unknown city is a life changing experience and forces oneself to adapt and mature quickly after leaving the security of the family home. Being entirely accountable for yourself is also a new experience requiring maturity and forward thinking as well as planning to change yourself to function.The way in which these skills have been developed forms the backbone for lifelong learning, one which employers get by and actively seek in graduates.1.3Lifelong learning defined The concept of lifelong learning is complex and is not easily defined issuinging in no unilateral definition, however its importance is widely agreed.The Development of humankind potential through a continuously supportive process which stimulates and empowers individuals to acquire all the knowledge, values, skills and understanding th ey will require throughout their lifetime and to apply them with authorisation, creativity and enjoyment in all partings, circumstances and environment Longworth, 1996 p22 The need for a learning society to convert and compete is not unless urgent, it is a discipline of economic life and death. It is a matter of social success or disaster. It is a matter of natural survival of the fittest Cann in Bradshaw, 1995 The development of these skills both as part of the BA Business guidance breaker point and the wider University experience is key to becoming an attractive employee This is particularly so as days devil and three of the Degree are in company so the development of these skills and the pace at which these must bedeveloped is crucial. This report will aim to reflect upon my first year experience and where appropriate utilize activities, questionnaires and assignments in an attempt to build a personal development review and action plan for the proceeding 12 months in th e form of a personal development plan.2.Taking Personal Responsibility For The Learning Process The biggest plowshare to taking function for the learning process was the decision to further my learning at university. This decision has allowed myself the probability to further my learning both academically and socially in ways that I would be uneffective to had I not made the decision to attend university. Also the decision to accept my place on the BABM grade was an separate(prenominal) way in which I have demonstrated my personal responsibility for learning.The shape is intense for each of the three years, to a greater extent so than most undergraduate courses and the decision to accept a place on this course rather than other courses where workload and intensity were less was important. The course aims to amend individuals with far greater experience both academically and in terms of transferable skills therefore by choosing BABM I feel I have made the best possible choice to refer my learning in the most relevant way providing me with risqueer levels of transferable skills than other graduates may have.2.1 Taking responsibility for myself To be able to take responsibility for the learning process I have had to take responsibility for myself and twist more accountable to myself in terms of making myself work harder and setting aside time in which to work. .University work is very different to that I have encountered onwards in terms of deadlines are much longer, scope for research is much larger, less specific titles to assignments and so forthetc so being accountable for myself is very important.2.2 Time maintainment Because the work is very different to that experienced before I have had to manage my time in a much more responsible manner to enable me to fulfill my potential, progress, and attain the best possible marks for myself. Examples of where I have managed my time effectively are physically uncorrectable to produce as the BABM timetabl e is extremely varied from week to week so to produce a timetable where work and free time couldbe planned in advance was very fractious to do. Undoubtedly time management and grades are very much linked and my grades for semester 1 and those received thus far for semester 2 have been skillful and I feel this has been partly out-of-pocket to my good time management skills. My ally assessment feedback included 5 of 6 people stating that I was well organized and three out of 6 stating that I was disciplined. This is included in appendix 1.2.3Taking responsibility for learning The DLBM debate where our topic was interviews are the most unreliable method of selection required ourselves to complete a large amount of research. Our conference split into two and four with the latter researching that I was a part of. The grade we received for this was high 70% and showed the level of research the sort had done and is typical of myself being keen to take responsibility for learning.Deve lopment of interpersonal skills I am a member of The Herefordshire Golf Club where in 2000 I was captain. In this role I was required to talk to people of different ages and backgrounds and I feel this role has allowed my interpersonal skills to develop and I have learned a lot from this position as it provides a different scenario from academic studies. This role also developed my leadership skills as well as my system of rulesal skills.3.Value The Importance Of Developing Personal Effectiveness As part of the Developing Learning for Business and Management module the group completed two sessions on personal effectiveness including assertiveness and effective communion/ active listening These sessions have allowed my awareness to the importance of assertiveness and parley skills to be greatly alter and have highlighted ways in which I can improve on these skills. My level of skills prior to the sessions was of a good level and I believe I have the basic fundamentals to allow m yself to develop communication and assertiveness naturally. until now my increase awareness brought about by the sessions has allowed myself to take a more proactive approach to developing personal effectiveness.3.1Demonstrated active listening/ effective communication An congresswoman of where I have demonstrated both active listening/effective communication whilstbeing assertive was in a role-play with genus Vanessa Knowles DLBM lecturer as part of a tutorial session. Vanessa contend the part of the under performing employee and I played the part of the employer. Vanessa used several different demeanor characteristics in attempt to alter my opinions and decisions. I feel that I learnt a lot by this, the importance of clear communication and active listening whilst not letting some-ones behaviour alter my decisions.3.2Development of self confidence The session also increased my confidence especially as the role-play was conducted in front of an audience and made me more willing to be assertive rather than passive which is a tendency I will sometimes withdraw to. In the peer assessment feedback session this was something people felt was maybe a weakness of myself. Ben Gasson for example said You should be more confident and forceful, often what you have to say is just as valid if not more so than other people, just say what you think sometimes This analysis is very true of myself and to be more assertive I must first bring more confident within myself.3.3Development of leadership skills In the Belbin peer assessment it was also said that I was sometimes stately of conflict. This I agree is true sometimes when maybe I am unsealed of all the facts or am not in a position to speak confidently, I sometimes let others dominate me when really their ideas are no better than my own. However I feel that the example as mentioned above (role-play) demonstrated my ability not to be fearful of conflict. I am not a person to cause conflict within a group but at the s ame time I would not say i am fearful of conflict and can be assertive when necessary.One area for development are my leadership skills. Although I feel that I have become much more confident this year and this has enabled me to take a more active or leadership role in certain situations. However I feel that I still have a long way to go to enable myself to be a natural leader and to do so would be a great achievement. To improve this area of personal effectiveness is a clear priority for the succeeding(prenominal) 12 months.My job at Marks Spencers requires me to work on the customer aid desk listening to customers complaints and dealing with their problems. This role requires me to have good active listening skills and not be fearful of conflict whilst maintaining good customer service. This shows that my personal effectiveness and assertiveness can when necessary be very prominent.3.4Ability to effectively communicate My ability to effectively communicate has been demonstrate d in many ways this year, presentations, debates, meetings, interviews etc. My peer assessment said that my presentation skills are good and I can speak in confidently at a good pace. This was highlighted in the DLBM debate where it was mentioned in the group mark bed sheet as well as the business simulation feedback sheets.4.Work With Others To Achieve Goals The ability to work with others to achieve goals is another very important transferable skill that employers seek. The Belbin team role questionnaire included in appendix __ and states that predominantly I am a team worker co-coordinator. This opinion is held by both myself and my peer group showing that I view myself and my group views me as a team worker.4.1Working with others in practice My ability to work with others to achieve goals, I believe is one of my biggest strengths. Much of the work on BABM is team oriented as this will be the case when in the workplace in years 2 and 3. Examples of this have included the busine ss simulation module where I feel I made a good contribution to the team. Other examples have included the DLBM debate, the organizational behaviour presentation as well as the flyspecker group assignments we have be set.4.2My role within groups The experience I have get togethered working in groups this year has developed many of my skills far more than a normal undergraduate course may have done. My skill within groups is one of analysis and reflection of what others have said and making rational and coherent arguments from debate. This ability has proved to be very useful this year however I feel than within group work I need to take a more pro active rolestimulating debate and discussion. As was stated in my peer assessment feedback I sometimes need to relax, say what I think, and be more confident and this is an area I need to work on in the next 12 months4.3Teamwork outside the class mode During 2000 I have played golf for The Herefordshire Golf Club where much of the compet ition is in team format. Very different to university teamwork where communication is key, playing golf requires analysis of the situation and choosing the best course of action in a short time consulting your partner to achieve the best possible result. Again I feel I have learnt a lot from this sporting experience as often I am under air pressure to make team decisions quickly at university and although in an entirely different situation the process is the same.5.Demonstrate An Enquiring judging An enquiring mind and to be interested in your work is essential to being successful, without this I feel would result in lack of motivation and a significant reduction in output. My educational background shows how my enquiring mind is diverse and heavily influenced the A level subjects I chose. I seek to choose subjects I was rattling interested in and felt that I would be most motivated to work hard on. This at the time didnt include business studies but my work experience at Marks Spencers has led me to become interested in business. I wanted to know why decisions were taken at head office, what influenced them and how they took those decisions. My get under ones skin works in business and as I have always been interested in his work and limit it elicit.5.1Examples of enquiring mind At university it is particularly important to have an enquiring mind as many of the subjects are only covered very briefly in the actual lectures therefore requiring me to be interested in them and to have an enquiring mind to allow myself to get a good knowledge of each subject. This is very different to A levels and I feel that I have improved greatly in this area since care University. However I also feel that I still have a lot of room for improvement particularly in subjects that I find difficult and those that are maybe less interesting to myself. I should try to complete all the recommended removeing rather than completing only that which I find interesting.I found the organizational behaviour module to be particularly interesting and read a lot of the textbook despite the fact that the essay I had to write was only a small proportion of the book. For the DLBM debate I was part of the research team as I enjoy purpose information that can be used to form an argument.I enjoy reading national cover and try to do so as often as I can as I am interested in the wider scope of global business. My enquiring mind sometimes get the better of me and I find myself reading about completely irrelevant topics to that I am meant to be studying for and wasting away time but I believe this reflects my enquiring mind For the information systems/ information technology module we could either build a website of produce a leaflet. Despite the fact I had never produced a website before I chose to do this as I enjoy using computers and felt that although this would be more difficult it would be more beneficial to myself in the long run.6.Take a Personal Responsibili ty For Career preparedness Taking responsibility for career planning is very important, and the BABM course demands that students do this much earlier than other students on other undergraduate schemes. Because of this career planning is very important specifically with regards to years two and three of the course to enable me to make the maximum of my interview and company opportunities. The first step in career planning for myself was my work experience at Marks Spencers that motivated me to choose the BABM course. Choosing to be on the BABM course itself also was of great importance to my coming(prenominal) career with the uniqueness of the course enabling me to gain more experience earlier.6.1Interview skills development Whilst on the BABM course I have had to take responsibility for my future career and have demonstrated this in a number of ways. Firstly interview technique was important to develop and the practice interview as part of the DLBM module gave good feedback as t o my style and competencies. The feedback I got (see appendix 3) was generally good with areas to improve on including becoming more focused upon the process I went through when giving examples rather than the example itself. Also I tended to undersell myself when given the chance to coin but apartfrom this the feedback was generally good 6.2C.V and application form enhancement My C.V and application form was also another area that required me to take personal responsibility.I read articles on the Internet and books from the depository library on how to write a C.V as well as attending lectures on C.Vs. I got feedback from my dad who takes part in selection processes as part of his job as well as Vanessa Knowles the DLBM lecturer. The feedback I got was very good highlighting areas that needed to be improved 6.3Increasing personal awareness of placements For the pre selection week I researched each company individually, sent off for their annual reports, looked at their web sites and read the national press to gain any knowledge I could before I attended the sessions. This gave me an taste not only into the companies that I was researching but also the industries they operated in. It also allowed me to view the types of placements offered to students such as myself and has increased my knowledge of the type of placement I am looking to secure.7.Conclusions I feel that in the give-up the ghost 12 months I had developed tremendously as a person and feel that I have become much more confident, outgoing and assertive. My transferable skill base has improved greatly due to my experience on BABM and at university generally. I feel that my value as a person to an organization has increased greatly and I feel confident that the skills I have learnt this year will continue to be used long into the future not only just during the period in company. However I realize that my skills can and will be improved enormously by the experience I will gain whilst in company an d that lifelong learning is a valid and very important concept.My personal development plan outlines areas I intend to improve over the next two years and contains ways in which I intend to monitor evaluate and measure myself and my development. I have tried as far as possible to make my targets Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant and Timescaleable to enable myself to develop myself in the most effective manner. The personal development plan will allow myself to continually review my progress and will hopefully prove a useful tool in the next two years whilst on the BABM course