Career Development and Lifelong Learning Managing
Question 1
Career Development and lifelong learning Managing ourselves is very vital in this world of multi-tasking which pushes juggled tasks to be done by every individual. Managing yourself means to lean the skill to work with others in the most effective and profitable way. It takes a huge sum of self-monitoring and constant improvement cycle to be profitable and to grow self-leadership. I am constant in my learning to equip myself with new skills to manage myself and others. I feel that to start managing ourselves it is essential to be stress-free and should know how to handle stress in work. I have successfully handled my stress through my leanings. I continuously tracked my work and kept a journal to know which task does stress me out most. I found out that the task whose deadlines are too short to be maintained, stress me out most. So now I limit my deadlines to 70 per cent of the original deadline and this helps me work stress-free throughout my work. I have learned the skills to establish boundaries, to relax and developed a healthy lifestyle which now makes me effectively feel free from stress. Stress-free mind tends to help in maintaining positive thinking towards the objectives. The most effective technique which I found to be positive minded in my work is through being focused in present. Overthinking about the possible future problems tends to ruin the present.
Therefore to be positive I always focus on the present, start my day with positive affirmation and try to find humor in a bad situation.
I strongly believe that to be successful in life every individual should decide his goal for the future and he should manage his actions in such a way that they contribute towards the fulfillment of objectives. For me, goal setting is a very powerful process of imaging your ideal future and to get motivated to turn that imagination into reality. I always set a goal according to SMART (Landers et al. 2017). It states that goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Every goal and objectives which I have set for myself have been set in accordance with SMART. I first listed what I wanted to accomplish in the short, medium and long term. I always consider my skills and analyze whether they justify my goals or not. I give importance to personal skill analysis and for this, I always prefer to use SWOT analysis (Bull et al. 2016).
SWOT analysis used SWOT Analysis for my skill analysis and it is as follow Strengths
I am very creative in my work
I have very communications with my clients and team
I impress clients with a new perspective of my organizations brand
I am committed to the achievement of my organizations goals
Weaknesses
I feel to do all task as soon as possible and due to this sometimes quality of my work do compromise
Sometimes I feel pressure due to too many tasks to be completed
My fear of public speaking takes my passion from my presentation
Opportunities
Some other organizations have been treating their small clients poorly
I have to attend many meetings in the near future and this could larger my knowledge and network
My boss is soon retiring and this could is a great opportunity for me to excel in organization
Threats
One of my colleagues is a stronger public speaker than me and he could challenge me
The organization has been cutting off its staff and this could impact me also
Due to a large number of tasks to be done my creativity decreases
Due to the economic slowdown, the industry has a very slow growth rate
Personal Development Plan (PDP)A good PDP provides focus and helps to map out the path for individuals version of success (Stewart 2016). It allows making the correct decision and helps to get back on track when things go wrong. I have my personal PDP and it has been such constructed that it ultimately meet my final goals in my career. I always follow advance learning techniques for growth. I prefer to do speed reading, listen to audio books and watch educational videos in fast forward mode. This helps me to speed up my process of leaning. Effective and efficient information accumulation is the first step to advance learning techniques.
The second important step in the process is the comprehension of knowledge and storing it in an organized way (Gholipour 2016). I always take short notes and do mind mapping for future use. Memory integration is the third process of the advance learning techniques and this is done for recalling it as when I need it. I do creative planning of the information to lock information in my mind so that I could creatively design the solutions which I need. I always learn from experts and only trust to authentic information from authentic sources. Earlier I was not as stress-free as I am now. This is due to the classes which I attended to learn to maintain a work-life balance in the last 12 months.
I have planned to attend classes on public speaking to improve that skill of mine. I will also conduct some seminar by myself with my colleges to improve public speaking of everyone in the team in the next 12 months. I have been doing my SWOT Analysis from last 6 months and always update it within 3 months to make necessary changes in my Personal Development Plan. With time I have developed new skills so I need to include them in my strengths and also new opportunities threats evolve with changing market. I expect to improve in the next 12 months and will evolve as a better version of myself. I strongly believe that PDP is a tool which should be used by every individual for proper goal setting and for making strategies for achieving them.
Significance of strategies for skill development and lifelong learning for career developmentIt is very essential that skill development is promoted in the work culture of the organization. It is worthwhile to remember that growth in career happens due to two factors and these factors are experience and skill development (Jackson 2015). Experience is a purely time-based phenomenon and it grows with time only but skill development is unlike experience. Skill development could be done through active participation in the process of learning. To excel in career and to emerge as an expert in the field, skill up gradation is must. With skill development, one can open new paths to develop in his career. For example, if communication skills of any individual are improved then he moves a step toward the upper post of the organization then another development in analytical and research skills move him one more step forward. In this way development in skill sets opens new dimensions in the career of every individual. It is important to remember that this new technological world is more connected than ever in history. Thats why it becomes vital for every individual to improve his interpersonal skills to excel in a career. Skills like teamwork, leadership, negotiation, customer service and networking are termed as interpersonal skills (DuBrin and Geerinck 2015).
These interpersonal skills not only help to develop individual knowledge but they contribute to the career development of the team as well. Interpersonal skills are very important to keep the employees connected in the workplace. This leads to an increase in employee motivation in the organization. Lifelong learning has a compound effect on the skills of individuals. Lifelong learners are motivated to learn because they want to and it is deliberate and voluntary action of them. It helps to enhance the understanding of this world around us. It provides better opportunities in life to grow and have quality in life. It is important to remember that the needs of the industry changes continuously and therefore experts have to be continuous learners. Maintenance learning refers to keeping up to current knowledge in the field. Lifelong learners never fall behind the others due to their passion to learn new things and evolve with time (Horrigan 2016). Another benefit of this is that it makes the person open minded because many a time new knowledge contradicts what we already believe or know.
Skill development in employees keeps them highly motivated and career development plans have a tremendous effect on their motivation (Carver 2015). Employee retention could be achieved by motivating them through open communications, employee reward programs, performance-based bonus, recreation facilities and gifts on some occasions. The proper career development plan for employees to develop a sense of loyalty who are willing to invest in themselves. Same is applied when any organization hires new employees career development plan attracts the skilled candidates. The idea of the career ladder is the ingredient in the company culture and it pulls the individuals who want to explore different career paths. It gives them the path to move upward in the organization or in sideways to explore their interests. Companies should focus on the productivity of the employee, not on the working hours of them.
Any individual who worked in an organization for quite a long time feels comfortable with his group and expect to grow further with other members of the group. The career development plan for employees should be such designed that it should encourage the growth of the individual as well as the growth of the whole team. Special team growth plans should be in included in the career development plan to improve coordination between the group members (Santos 2015). Every time when any team member leaves the organization, it becomes very difficult to replace his place in the team. It greatly affects the efficiency of the whole group and the new individual also finds it hard to establish communication and coordination with the team.
Career progression is most important for an employee in the long term. This is the responsibility of the individual as well as organization to structure a career development plan in such a way that it promotes progression for employee (Dik 2015). At the personal level, the responsibilities of the employee are to
Set goals and create a plan to achieve them in the best possible way. This process helps to create gain momentum in the process of learning. The individuals who are most successful in their career proactively determine that what they want from their profession.
Develop a timeline to meet the objectives and always follow them to grow in career. This will help to create milestones in the career.
Utilize the companys resources to grow in career. Many organizations have formal programs to help employees develop their career. In co-operate world, it is appreciable to use the knowledge and experience of bosses and mentors to excel in the career.
With the individual effort of the employee it is also the responsibility of the organization to provide career opportunities to its employees and for this organization needs to do
Regular sessions for career enlightenment of the employees. This helps employees to evaluate that in what direction they are heading in their career.
Create a vision board for employees. Olympic athletes use visualization techniques to visualize their success and to get motivated. The organization should install a vision board in common rooms to keep employees motivated.
Career coach should be hired for employees. These are experts in helping people to achieve their goals which are in reach of their skill set.
From the above discussion, it is very clear that it is vital to strategies the Career Development Plan. It gives a clear path and required analysis to develop skills to achieve those goals. Skill development and lifelong learning go hand by hand with career development. To support employee motivation, employee retention and progression it is important that integrated personal development planning is done. The cost to the company for appointing a new employee is high and it also consumes time thats why organizations should provide a path to their employees to grow in their professional and personal life. It will ultimately benefit the organization to retain the employees which would be more skilled and loyal towards the organization. Personal Development Plan and Career Development Plan are two tools which if used effectively then they lead to successful professional life.
Question 2
Development of high-performance people by using effective performance managementIn the current scenario, companies are using effective performance management to make the organization successful. Performance management is a process of refining the performance by creating individuals targets which are associated with organizational goals. The performance management includes planning of performance to accomplish targets, reviewing and measuring progress and developing skills of people (Noe et al. 2017). Implementation of the performance management cycle in the organization develops the high-performance people. The performance management cycle consists the four major parts that are Plan, Act, track, review. The planning stage should include the SMART objective of the organization and personal development plan.
The personal development planning considers the attitude and skills of the employee which need to improve in order to accomplish their goals. It also supports the Companys value (Benson 2016). The act and track are the most important stage of performance management cycle. These are stages where performance is produced and the result is achieved. Individuals need to be encouraged to plan work in time to fulfil their targets. And the manager needs to check employees work timely. The organization put a lot of stress on the review stage because performance valuation is needed for a rewarding. The factors of the performance management cycle are essential but it is not necessary that it will lead to effective performing organization.
There are factors which play a significant role to develop high-performing people by using effective performance management. The management should ensure that performance cycle is a constant process, not a yearly process. They should confirm that performance assessment and reviews should be significant. The management can use the performance management software that helps to develop high-performance people and provide reflectiveness on performance management action. The effective performance can be produced with the willingness and abilities of the companys manager (Shin and Konrad 2017). The effective management performance process includes the setting of prospect, monitoring performance, increasing the ability to perform, reviewing the performance and rewarding the excellent performance. The manager decides the performance expectation and target for the individual. They also involve the employee in the planning that helps them to understand the organizational goals and what they need to achieve. Manager involves the factors and level to measure performance of individual work. The factors and standards should be quantifiable, equitable and achievable. The performance plan of employees must be flexible so they are able to adjust with the changing objectives.
The organization need to monitor the assignment and project of an employee in order to develop high-performance people. Monitoring should be done continuously for determining the performance and also give feedback to employees of their progress (Katzenbach and Smith 2015). The organization need to determine the progressing needs of employees for achieving the goals. The progressing need means developing the ability to achieve targets through training, refining the work procedure. The organization need to provide training and encourage good enactment. They can develop skills related to work and support their employee in fluctuating environment. With the help of planning and monitoring, the employees are able to determine the developing needs. The manager needs to summarize the employees work. The manager compares and evaluates all set of employee performance. They can provide a rating to employees on the basis of the companys appraisal program. The rating based on work performance of employees during appraisal period. The manager should know the use of rewards in the organization. Rewarding include recognition of employees, acknowledging employees contribution of their work in an organization. The reward and rating are the two major factors that attract employees and develop high-performance people (Arnaboldi, Lapsley and Steccolini 2015). Working of all five factors will help each other to accomplish effective performance management and it leads to developing the high-performance people.
Implementing the performance improvement plan in an organization will create high-performance employees. Few organizations have started to modify their performance management method to complete the present work environment. The modified performance management of organization gives informal feedback set clear expectations and work collaboratively. Few high profile companies like Adobe and Microsoft have modified their effective performance management process. The organizations effective performance management is making a decision on payment and promotion. They are able to determine poor performance and holding them responsible. With effective performance management improve and raise the employee. It develops communication between the manager and employees. Performance management supports the individual and teamwork to accomplish the organizational goal. The important purpose of effective performance management is to support company productivity by allowing workers to perform effectively. It supports the employees to determine and avoid the obstacles in the performance. It also helps the employees by providing guidelines to observe the behaviour and outcome and change accordingly to increase productivity. The role of informal feed is important to create high-performance employee or team.
The informal feedback takes place between the manager and employees. The feedback focuses on the requirement of the task and work process. The regular feedback focus on the employees attitude towards the work. The informal feedback practice is rare in the organization which could decrease the nervousness among the employees and boost the high-level performance (Ali and Hanum 2016). Moreover, to gain high-performance people the work culture needs to focus on other aspects of performance management. The motivation comes from clear communication as it improves individual performance. The work culture needs to provide transparency in management. Through transparency, employees get to know how they are going evaluate on their performance. The effective performance of an individual is developed with the relation of employees and managers. The higher management shows the level of confidence in the workers capability will help to meet the target. The high performance of people directly links with effective performance management. Developing alternative practices and process will encourage performance. It has been clear that high performance is articulated from regular feedback, auditing the task and clearing the set objective and expectation. High performance is the mixture of factors which give the desired outcome (Giannopoulos 2015). Effective performance management involves a systematic method to control the performance of the team and the individual. Effective performance management provides benefit to employees as well as the organization.
Report on High-Performance strategiesIntroductionIn the present situation team for a better result is using high performing strategies. I observed that strategies are used to create a high performing individual and team. As a high performing individual, I learn to commit to the work in order to achieve my personal goals within the team. Within the team, I am able to estimate the other team member performance (Pisano 2015). This report will determine the usage of high performing strategies to meet personal development needs.
High-Performance strategiesBeing part of the team I have learned various elements of high-performance strategies which are mentioned below
Track and limit the time on spending on a task As a team member, I need to understand how much time I am spending on the task. To enhance the performance in the team I have to track my time on various tasks. I can use the rescue time to know the spending time on the regular task like email, social media etc.
Take regular breaks for excellent work, I learn to take planned breaks. It really helps me to enhance my concentration and work quality. By taking shorts breaks in the task help me to keep a standard level of performance (Viana, Nbrega and Souza 2018).If I dont take breaks in the task decrease the work performance.
Set DeadlineI realized to take a self-imposed deadline which is helpful to make a focus on the goals. As part of a team in the open-ended task, I generally give a deadline to myself. By taking self-imposed deadline I very much focused on a task and also productive with the work.
Minimize the interpretationBeing part of team member I concentrate to avoid interpretation. The minimization of interpretation will increase performance. The reducing interpretation can be setting working hours, working from deadline projects.
Use two-minute ruleEnhancing the work performance I use to minute rule. I take time before starting the task. Firstly I distribute the task in small pieces that help me to achieve the targets. Implementing these strategies is beneficial for high performance.
Avoid MeetingsAs a part of the team, I observed that the meetings take lots of time and reduce productivity. For better performance, I avoid unproductive meetings. The goals and agenda of the task can be sent through email.
Abandon MultitaskingMultitasking is a major talent but sometimes it reduces work productivity. I learn to avoid doing various tasks at the same time (Pak and Kim 2018). It enhances my productivity and increases time effectiveness.
Promote transparency in the team
I realized that to develop the high performance of a team, it needs to promote transparency among the individuals. Firstly the goal transparency is important, so every team members are able to understand what actually they want to achieve.
Not be reactive
First I plan the task than accomplish it. I have set my time to respond to emails or phone call. I effectively use the time with the planned work. I always start the work with a plan and stick to it to make my performance high.
Break the delusion of perfectionI realized that nothing is perfect. So wasting time on perfection I learn to keep a focus on my task and bring out the best from my capability. Its good to complete the work and move on for performing high.
Act on improvementBeing part of a team I received some feedbacks so it is important to work on that feedback. I take corrective action plan on feedback which helps me to boost my work performance. It improves my work strategies and increases the motivation towards work.
I realized that high-performance individual can be recognized by their work. I work according to my interest. I learned to deliver the assignment or projects in time with difficult financing arrangements and challenges. Working in a team I also motivation to other team members to bring out high performance. The active communication and engagement are used to control high energy level about the task and it helps them to perform effectively. I keep myself focused on the task when I am working with the individual. To achieve certain goals focus should be maintained by clarifying the objectives. I observe that working in a team or with individual offer structure and benefit to deliver high performance without disturbing the other team member or individual.I clearly understand that to achieve high performance as an individual first I need to know the requirement of a task and the basic criteria of high performance.
The motivated work environment helps to understand the task and contribute to high performance. For serving high performance I need to seek new opportunities and situations for learning (Jannesson, Nilsson and Rapp 2016). For gaining constantly high performance I review my work. After reviewing the work I correct the things which are lacking by learning new tools. Being an individual I join the team for learning benefits and becoming more valuable to generate high performance within a team. The learning opportunities lead to high performance.
ConclusionAt last, I conclude that high-performance strategies allow me to work effectively as an individual or as a team member. There are several strategies which help to give better performance. To improve performance need to work on high performing strategies. The high performing strategies works with the clarification of goal and work in set deadlines. This strategy has increased my work efficiency and productivity. I learned to develop my ability and skills to achieve high performance. I also realized a few drawbacks which need to improve for next time. Like seriously work on the criticism and suggestions which is given by team member. Also, clarify the exact problem to the individual or team member so it will reduce the nasty and stressful environment.
References
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