ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

The key to any successful plan or process is to have a proper plan of action
and control over the activities undertaken by the individual. There are different ways
of achieving good leadership skills, which imbibe different traits like personal
management, professional management, time management and also handling stress
which is called as stress management.

Any development would require to be structured and has to have timelines to

achieve the desired results. Hence, I will elucidate on the timelines and the
processes adopted to achieve personal growth in this regard.

Now we will understand the different parts of an individual development, like

personal, professional, time and stress managements in detail.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

This is one of the key areas which has been dealt by many traditions and
explained in different cultures in various forms. Since, time immemorial this particular
trait has been in use in different forms like in the new age era. These included
different forms of self control like practice of prayer, music, martial arts, singing
which were supposed to calm the mind and create a peaceful and healthy living,
which would in turn effect the achievement of goals in the current scenario.

In this regard we have to understand the theories and the studies conducted
by Douglas McGregor at MIT Sloan School of Management as per him there are two
different prisms from which the management perceives the workforce deployed and
their motivational aspects. They are namely Theory X and Theory Y.

Theory X

In this theory it is proposed that the people in general are distasteful towards
work, not ambitious, do not take responsibility, would require direction at all times to
achieve their goals, they have little creativity to address issues, they get motivated
only when monetary benefits or when their safety is at stake. This kind of people
need close supervision to get the goals done. The effective way to motivate this kind
of personality would be to provide him with proper guidance and effective
supervision would be required. Hence, the supervisor for this kind of personality has
to be clear and the guidance has to be given in a clear and abstract manner to
ensure that the work gets done. This theory X personnel would get motivated by
physiological and safety related issues.

Theory Y

As per this theory it is believed that all employees consider work as a natural
way of life in favourable conditions, employees work towards achievement of
organisational goals, the employees are expected to be creative, people do not
require intricate guidelines as they are considered to be self directive. These kind of
people get motivated, if they are supported and encouraged and are not subject to
excessive supervision.

From the above it would generally be assumed that Theory ‘X’ is ‘bad’ and
Theory ‘Y’ is ‘good’. However, as McGregor points out that these are the two
extremes and most of the population falls somewhere in between this continuum.

In continuation with the principle of personal and professional management

the other important theory that would be required to be assessed would be the
theory proposed by Maslow on the hierarchy of needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

As per Maslow’s theory there are basically five types of needs in humans
namely:-

- Basic Needs
- Safety Needs
- Belonging Needs
- Ego Status Needs
- Self Fulfilment Needs

We will understand these needs in detail now:

Basic Needs : The basic needs include the food, clothing and shelter, these
are generally met with through monetary benefits. This would be in peril only under
extreme conditions like job loss or in other eventualities of similar nature. These
needs could also be classified as physiological needs. These are essential and need
to be taken care by the management to ensure that the morale of the work force is
intact.

Safety Needs : This need is second in the pyramid of hierarchy and the main
considerations or the necessities would be clear and defined job description and
responsibilities, respect to the individual are some of the things that can be
categorised under the safety needs. These needs are also called as security needs.
Management handles this kind of needs by offering fringe benefits and also providing
clear and descriptive job roles and responsibilities.
 Affiliation Needs: This need is above the safety needs and the main reason
for this is that humans by nature need to communicate with others and socialise.
Hence this need is also referred to as social needs. Management would generally
address this need by encouraging team work and organising social groups in the
organisation for different set of people for socialising.

Esteem Needs: This need is the penultimate need as per Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs and this address the issue of humans who work for honour and prestige.
This need is also called referred to as recognition need. Management and the
supervisor need to address this particular trait by offering promotions, grades and
awards to high achievers.

Self Actualisation Needs: This is the ultimate need as per the theory
elucidated by Maslow in this state the employee would have achieved and met all
the other needs and he / she would be looking for further challenges and to prove
themselves as the best in their sphere of work. Management would nurture this kind
of personalities by offering them different roles and giving them individual charge of
departments and provide them with specific training to further grow their skills in their
job sphere to keep them motivated.

From the above it can be seen that every human characteristics would be lying
somewhere in between this needs and the Theory X and Y. It would be beneficial for
any manager to understand the character of the person who is his subordinate and
accordingly provide the appropriate guidance to ensure the success of the individual
as well as the achievement of organisational goals.

PERSONAL AUDIT SKILLS

With regards to personal audit skills it can be illustrated best in a table format.
The table below lists the ways and means of assessing the personal skills:

Skill Trait Action plan for Timelines

development
Communicatio
n
Written – Ability to express ideas
and views in clear written
communication
Verbal – Ability to create positive
and effective communication
networks and peer groups.
Formal – Address a group
gathering in an effective and
concise manner
Non-verbal – This include positive
body language and effective
listening skills development
Team Work Co-operation – The ability to
 effectively work in a multi party
team
Negotiation – The trait to handle
delicate situations and provide
effective solutions for the benefit of
the organisation
Sensitivity – Understanding the
team member’s limitations and
adapting accordingly to achieve the
organisation’s and team’s goals
Leadership – Ability to encourage
other team members and provide
support at times of need
Analytical Skills Calculations – Ability to handle
varied accounting ratios and
understanding the balance sheets
and profit and loss account
statements
Interpretation – Understand the
meaning and relation of the
accounting ratios and interpret the
different jargons of the accounting
domain.
Application – Ability to apply the
understanding of numbers for the
growth of the organisation
Information System Management – Ability to
Technology save relevant information in an
orderly manner for ease of use
Word Processing – Ability to draft
and communicate using computers
and other word processing
equipment
Spreadsheets – Handle different
sets of data and processing the
same with the use of spreadsheets
Databases – Ability to retrieve
information using different query
techniques to interpret the available
data for the benefit of the
organisation
Presentations – Ability to create
and present the processed
information to the top management
and stakeholders in an effective
way
Communication – Ability to use the
available mailing options for speedy
and cost effective transfer of data
and information
 Problem Creativity – Ability to think ‘out of
Solving the box’ and provide innovative
solutions to difficult or new
problems that hinder the business
operations to ensure the growth of
the organisation
Planning – Ability to timeline the
activities and achieve them as per
the deadlines
Research – Ability to carry out root
cause analysis in all challenging
situations to provide effective and
long term solutions
Initiative – Ability to take on new
challenges and take decisions for
the growth of the organisation
Self - Manage the time, continuous
Management learning, stress management

The above details would briefly explain the different ways by which a personal
audit skills can be assessed and all the employees can be checked against this
format to ensure that we have a standardised format and the data so captured can
be used to provide feedback to the individual and the same can be monitored on
continuous basis. This would provide an effective opportunity to the manager to
understand the opportunity areas of his subordinates with this understanding the
manager can effectively plan the future learning of the employee which provides the
required motivation to the employee to deliver and excel in his related field.

Apart from that such a format would also ensure that the employees feel
belonged to the organisation and the management can understand the gaps in the
policies and use the same to plan their future activities.

The above if combined with the personality traits explained above would
provide the manager to assess the traits of the individual employees and plan their
career path and growth in the organisation for the long term which is mutually
beneficial for the employee as well as the employer as a constant employee would
understand the operations of the organisation and would be far more effective than
an employee who joins the organisation.

This kind of 3600 view would ensure that the right people are given the right
jobs and also people who are in need of guidance in the field where they lack the
abilities can be addressed to ensure that the overall workforce which is deployed in
the organisation is effective and creative to deliver the results and achieve the
organisations objectives.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

A personal development plan is something which is in continuation with the

personal audit skills after carrying out the audit the same is then used to analyse and
plan the development of the individual in a systematic manner with appropriate
checkpoints at different intervals to understand the progress made in the learning
and any challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the development of the
individual.

A template of the personal development plan is appended below for having a

better understanding of the concept of personal development plan:

Objectives Goals Action Plan Learning

Written Ability to - Undertake Start the process of
communication communicate in professional communication first with
written format in guidance for better internal customers and
a business business then get feedback on the
environment communication same
Verbal Ability to build - Practice
Communicatio networks and speeches in team
n peer groups meetings and
and socialise informal
gatherings to get
a flavour of the
verbal
communication
procedures