Personal and Professional Development - Example

REFLECTION IN PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Name University Course Tutor Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Thoughts before the Course 4 Behaviours that have evolved 8 Perception of Others 10 Relationship to a relevant Theory 11 Conclusion 12 Appendices 13 References 14 Reflection in personal& professional development Introduction Since I started my course in management, my experience has been quite exciting characterized by significant personal and professional changes. The management profession has gone through an evolutionary process to a point of attracting significant attention from scholars and other key players in the field. Ideally, members of the public, government officials, and business leaders now hold the perception that management is an essential profession in business having been fundamental to the success of many organizations (Fairclough & Hardy, 1997). Employees ought to make full application of management skills in order to overcome the immense deal of challenges associated with the work place. It can be argued that the current state of the management profession faces an immense deal of regulation besides al other demands traditionally presented to employees and managers by the workplace. The last two decades have seen an upward trend of maturity in the profession of management. Alongside this maturity is a shift in people’s perception of the function of HR and how people view the roles of HR. There is every indication that things are moving in the right direction as long as the field of management is concerned. There has been a shift from the use of “Personnel” to the use of “Human Resources” with the current talk being that of “Human Capital” (Gosling, 2000). Recently, several researchers have exhibited a growing interest in the purpose and aims of HED practice and theory. It is worth noting that, these researchers are characteristic of theoretical and practical roots in other fields thus the capability of challenging traditional notions of the practice of HRD especially that which has performance metaphor as a characteristic (Harrison, 2000). Thoughts before the Course Before enrolling for the course, I had every expectation that management is an immensely powerful course with respect to its effect on students, alongside individuals who have already started their work career. My choice for this course had a primary motif of landing on a profession that is central to every workplace. Ideally, human resource management can be termed as an emerging profession which is of much essence in the workplace, especially with reference to contemporary workplaces (Harrison, 1992). I also had the notion that the development of a profession in human resource management is of much essence to individuals hoping to display competence in their work. This implies that, after exploring the benefits of management professionalism on work performance, I was moved to develop a profession in this filed (Lord, 2003). I had the belief that I will have an easy time interacting and cooperating with other employees as a result of the possession of knowledge and skills in management. If I were in the position of a colleague, a friend, or any other person I would still have made the same choice for a course. This is because I understood the essence of a professional course in the development of human source which to be changed in order to enhance efficiency in the workplace (Mabey, 2003). In many contemporary countries the human resource development practice is rooted in standardized services and practices with competencies being the major driving forces; ideally, the definition of these competencies is subject to professional bodies with an immense deal of focusing on consistency and predictability (Miller and Parlett, 1973). Staff members in several organizations are required to learn the development models that have a lasting impact and that are mostly used. An outstanding example of these models is the Tuckman’s Theory. This puts emphasis on the reason as to why I would still choose a course in management since it offers an individual with the right opportunity to learn the relevant development models (Ottman, 1982). Indeed, lack of adequate training in human resource management has led to increased cases of insufficient strategies that exhibit an immense deal of weakness in relation to the development of organizations. It has been found that such strategies are incapable of establishing outstanding relations between business performance and the development of people’s management (Perriton & Reynolds, 2004). Ideally, I still believe that there were limited alternatives as much the choice for this course is limited. The profession of management is on the right course and it is less likely that individuals pursuing this course will turn away. However, such alternatives as entrepreneurship would have been explored on grounds the challenges that face human resource management (Reynolds, 1987). In contemporary business settings, a significant number of organizations have reported major challenges associated with the management of their human resources. In some cases coordination between employees of different categories has not been possible while in other cases, organizations have not been able to come up with sufficient strategies capable of making adequate utilization of their employees. The most reliable way via which employees can overcome the challenges of HR is the development of profession in management. I have held the belief that the possession of good understanding for business is the principal challenge facing human resource; this is inclusive of understanding of business strategy, customer expectations, alongside the financial determinants of business success. HR departments in several organizations have also been faced by the challenge of internal marketing of the organization (this implies marketing the organization to current employees) and external marketing of the organization (this implies marketing the organization to prospective employees) (Rose, 1989). This challenge can, however, be alleviated by the presence of significant number of HR professionals in organization. Consequently, with respect to my case, such alternatives (for a course in management) as entrepreneurship definitely received minimum consideration as a result of challenges that normally exist in organizations’ human resource departments. Prior to a course in management I have had both hopes and fears regarding my professional department. These are associated to both the process of learning and future employment (Russ-Eft and Hatcher, 2003). Firstly, I had the hope that everything would be well in the course of taking the management course in college-that is, the academic part of it. Notably, academic life is not always smooth with various courses exhibiting various challenges ranging from course work to personal issues (Thomas &Linstead, 2002). In addition, students learning in institutions that are far away from their homes may find an immense deal of challenges as a result of cross-cultural and language barriers. It is, therefore, every student’s hope that such challenges will be minimal in the course of his/studies in order to be able to achieve high grades (Turnbull, 1999). Indeed, the achievement of high grades is the primary goal for all students irrespective of their courses. This explains why, before starting a course in management, I had the hope finding minimum challenges in the course of learning thus the capability of achieving excellent results, at the end. I also had the hope of developing the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies that are critical in management profession (Wain, 1999). I personally understood that not all employees are always in possession with the ideal knowledge, skills, and competencies associated with the profession of human resource management. This call for an extra input in order to develop such skills, with the extra mile in this case being a course in management as it leads to the development of a profession in HR management. Different people in the HR department exhibit varying performances as a result of the professionalism in management. It is worth noting that, business leaders who lack skills and knowledge in HR management have ended up being less ineffective than their counterparts who exhibit professionalism in HR management. I thus had the expectation that, upon the completion of a course in management, I would in future excel in strategy development leading to organizational success. It is everyone’s dream to make significant contributions to which ever organizations they working with; this has the implication that I had prospects of leading a reputable organization to success, in years to come (Wajcman & Martin, 2002). I also had the expectation that, upon the completion of my course I would become a member of a HR management professional association. Scholars and other players have taken note of a number of Human Resources Professionals Associations in different parts of the world. Notably, people who have become part of these organizations, have on an annual basis, observed the value of their membership via a number of ways. For instance, it has been found out that these organizations offer people with best chance for life-long learning which is, indeed, a critical aspect for anyone who want to remain relevant in their professions. Members of HR associations get the opportunity of staying on top of the most outstanding practice, learning from their peers, alongside networking. In addition, via the membership of associations, professionals are able to develop a sense of unity and the notion that there are other people who face same challenges. In doing so, professionals have the opportunity of learning either from the successes or the failures of other people (Watson, 1994). Besides the immense deal of hopes, I also had fears as I made the choice of furthering my studies in the field of management. Scholars have found that almost all students in any learning institution are always afraid with the workload faced in the timespan of study. Well, I had same fears being uncertain of the complexity of the coursework and the effort needed for one to record outstanding fears. In many areas of study, the world has witnessed cases in which students, who have previously done well in their academic life, ending up as failures. I am no exception implying that I too had same fears. I addition, I had the fears that the course might be intensive in terms of course work thus time consuming. There are cases in which courses (even those termed to be least complex) turn out to have high workloads thus being time consuming. It has been found out that students prefer courses that have light workloads since they had up consuming less time on average. I also had the fear of going through the course but failing to achieve my future goals related with the profession in management. This is not something strange but, indeed, several individuals have come forward to submit that they never ended up in their dream careers despite having pursued the relevant courses, and indeed scoring high grades. This has become a significant problem in various parts of the globe as contemporary economies record abnormally high rates of unemployment (M.R. Willmott, 2003). Behaviours that have evolved My personal reflection reveals that the time I have already spent taking this course has been quite exciting. This is because I have undergone significant personal and professional transformation besides observing significant differences between the actual experience and my expectations, before starting the course. For instance, I think that I have undergone a significant transformation of my personal efforts and professionalism when it comes to assignments. This is because, in my previous level of education, I used to find some difficulties in doing large assignments and thought that this would persist. However, my passion for the current course in management, alongside my ambitions, has completely changes my attitude (M.R. Willmott, 2003). I know have no problems in doing large assignments and I, indeed, always expect to score high from such assignments. This has the implication that the time that I have been around taking the current course has greatly made me positive of doing assignments irrespective of their size. This is a substantial illustration of my passion for management alongside my eagerness to record outstanding performances throughout the course. I also think that I have changed significantly as much grades and feedbacks from assignments are concerned. Outstanding results and positive feedbacks are definitely received with joy and an immense deal of enthusiasm. However, there other events when the grades scored from assignments may not be that impressive. With respect to such cases, I have learnt to take the feedback positively and move on. Indeed, via such cases I have learnt to convert my weaknesses to strengths thus the capability of doing well in subsequent assignments. I think my time allocation issue has gone significant transformation as well. I am now more comfortable with time use, indeed, exhibiting the capability to make right time allocations for various activities. This has the implication that time I have already spent taking the course in management has transformed me to a time conscious individuals. It is worth noting that time management is a core component of the field of management, indeed, being of much essence to human resource management. As I started the course I had significant skills in organizing thoughts, analyzing, synthesizing, and critically appraising situations. In the course of study, I have been subjected to a more involving environment implying that my skills in the fore-mentioned areas have been enhanced. I was also skills when it comes to making use of several techniques in approach and provision of solutions to various problems. This is known to be an extremely essential skill in the field of human resource management (M.R. Willmott, 2003). It is worth noting that this is a field that will mostly be hit by an array of problems especially because of the presence of people with different levels of professional qualifications and people from diversified cultural backgrounds. I also exhibited significant skills when it comes to the interpretation and analysis of qualitative data. This skill has as well been enhanced by the more involving environment I have been subjected to by the course in management. Perception of Others I think the course in management has had significant impact on other people’s perception of me. For instance, people believe that I can now communicate more effectively than the way I could before starting the course. In the course of study, it has been brought to our attention that there is an essence in effective communication between our roles and the creation of new values. The improved ability to communicate can also be attributed by the increased dependence on technology; it is believed that the use of modern technology will make HR more effective as a result of enhanced communication and high compatibility among individuals. In the university, I have encountered both positive and negative issues. For instance, I have had the great opportunity to interact and share ideas with people from other cultures and people in possession of various skills (M.R. Willmott, 2003). Consequently, I must say that it has been such a knowledgeable experience. I also think that the university has done commendable work as it has been providing students with the best possible as it concerns the field of human resource management. The only notable negative issues I have come along in the university is the presence of heavy workloads, at times, though this is not present in the management field but also in other fields of study. Relationship to a relevant Theory I think that Tuckman’s theory has been quite relevant to the far I have gone with the course in management. This theory was developed by Bruce Tuckman who provided the audience with five stages related to group development. It is worth noting that, human resource is all about a group thus illustrating the relevance of Tuckman’s Theory to the development of profession in management (Maslow, 1943). The first phase, according to Tuckman, is the formation stage-in this stage, an individual forms personal relations characterized by an immense deal of dependence. In most cases, members of a group show reliance on safe behaviour alongside having a leader who has the responsibility of guiding and directing the rest. In the context of my course, we have been taught on the essence of becoming oriented to one another and to tasks. This has been crucial in developing personal relations with colleagues. The second stage entails storming and is characteristic of conflict and competition in the personal-relations dimension. In the course of study so far, it has emerged that conflict is inevitable when it comes to organizing group members for various tasks (Maslow, 1943). Competition has also been evident all along. The third stage of Tuckman’s model is norming which is characteristic cohesive interpersonal relations. In our context, this stage has been illustrated by the acknowledgment of every member’s contribution in the group especially regarding the provision of solutions to issues affecting us. As it is a feature with human resource, there has been significant flow of data between group members, with students sharing ideas and feelings, alongside soliciting and providing each other with feedbacks. The fourth stage is the performing stage in which individuals operate independently as a total unit or in subgroups. In this case, each member is found to have a role that has the capability of changing with any change arising on individual or group needs. The fifth stage of Tuckman’s model is the adjourning stage in which task behaviours are terminated, alongside conclusion of relationships. In our case, this stage will be witnessed at the end of the course (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2005). We are expected to end most of the relationships considering that various individuals will end up at different organizations. Conclusion It is evident from this analysis that the development of a profession is a process which can impact a person and his/her career quite significantly. This draws an immense deal of illustration from the various changes that have occurred on my personal life and professional life since I started a course in management. I view human resource management quite differently having had quite a different experience from my expectations before the start of the course. It is, however, clear that the development of a career in management is associated with significant advantage to the performance of employees at the work place. Appendices Five stages of Tuckman Theory References Fairclough, N. and Hardy, G 1997. ‘Management learning as discourse’, in J. Burgoyne and M. Reynolds (eds) Management Learning: Integrating Perspectives In Theory and Practice. London: Sage. Gosling, D 2000. ‘Using Habermas to evaluate two approaches to negotiated assessment’. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 25 (3), pp.293–304. 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