BSBWOR501 Manage personal work priorities and professional development

• Subject Code : BSBWOR501
• Subject Name : Professional Development Skills

Assessment Task I: Written Questions

Q1: Self-appraisal is the type of assessment that an individual conducts on his or her own without relying on the feedback from anyone else. It is a self-reflection that a person performs to evaluate the performance. It can help in performance improvement as it enables an employee to objectively assess and know the strengths and weak areas to improve appropriately. 

Q2: Peer appraisal is the approach in which one relies on the feedback from colleagues to ascertain the levels of performance. The benefit of this strategy is that it uses outside observers to give an honest view on the strengths and weaknesses hence giving recommendations for performance improvement. 

Q3: Planning of work can be beneficial in many ways. First, it ensures that there is a proper utilization of time resources. Two, it can help in minimizing the costs of production by ensuring that there are no increased expenses due to unnecessary delays. Three, it guarantees quality performance since every activity is conducted as planned so as to meet the standards.

Q4: All goals should be SMART. SMART is an abbreviation for: Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.  

Q5: Pareto principle is a concept that stats that 80% of the happenings are only linked to 20% of the causes. In terms of time management, Pareto principle can be used to imply that only 20% of time is valuable and can yield 80% of the productivity. It means that most of the time is not accounted for or wasted. 

Q6: Stress is a mental condition that has some signs including: restlessness, chest pain, increased heart rate, headache, and loss of sexual desire. 

Q7: Work-life balance simply refers to the management and proper utilization of time that one spends in the workplace and at home. There should be a balance in time because it is worth to have a healthy stay both at home and in the workplace. At work, only job takes place. At home, one needs to enjoy the company of family, relax, workout, and sleep. 

Q8: There are many strategies that can help in managing stress. These include creating time for hobbies, having enough time for resting, spending enough quality time with family and loved ones, engaging in physical exercises, and becoming humorous or happy. 

Q9: Technology is a noble innovation, but it can be harmful on one’s work-life balance. Technology addiction can create a work-life imbalance because one can end up spending too much time using technology. this is what happens with modern technologies like smartphones, computers, and tablets in which people use internet to access social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, just to mention, but a few.  

Q10: To ensure that the employees enjoy a healthy work-life balance, the organizations should employ some strategies. These include creating time for recreation in the course of work, availing recreational facilities (gyms and football, tennis, golf courts); organizing for sporting competitions amongst the employees and managers; and giving leaf and weekend-off to employees to stay with family members at home.  

Q11: To develop new work skills, one can adopt the following five strategies: 1) training, 2) consultation, 3) imitation, 4) attending seminars, workshops, and conferences, 5) creatively coming up with new ideas and trying them out.   

Q12: Time management is key in the workplace. To do so, one needs to take a number of measures. Most importantly, one should have a schedule of activities and adhere to it at all costs. The person should not condone interruptions and avoid anything to do with procrastinations. Two, one can employ the use of modern technologies such as special time management software and mobile applications (Apps). 

Q13: Personal development planning refers to the setting of individual goals that one pans to achieve in the future in relation to career and professional accomplishments. No one wants to remain or stagnate at one level for life because everyone is interested in growth. 

Q14: The major components of personal development plan are self-assessment, self-discovery, continuous development, self-actualization, and economic growth. 

Q15: Behavioral assessment is the evaluation of the conducts of the employees. In a workplace, all employees are expected to behave in a certain manner in line with the organizational culture. 

Q16: Behavioral assessment and appraisal is an important approach that should be used in the workplace. It can play a significant role in determining to behaviors of individual workers. It also ascertains if the employees adhere to the organizational culture by behaving in an acceptable or unacceptable manner. This can end up improving communication and conflict-resolution efforts within the workplace.

Q17: There are different learning styles that can be adopted in an organization. These include kinesthetic, reading/writing, auditory, and visual. Knowledge on these styles is required because it helps in creating flexible and accommodative teaching program for everyone within the workplace. 

Assessment Task II: Plan Personal Work Goals Project

Personal Work Goals Report

In this section, I would lie to give brief, but exhaustive report on my personal work goals plan. I chose to write a report on Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (DPE). DPE is a company whose headquarters are in Hamilton. It is a multinational that has established itself as the largest pizza producer and supplier in the whole country. Currently, it has a total workforce of 26,000 employees who are distributed in its 700 chain stores within the major cities and towns across the country. I chose this company because it appeals to be most. I like the commitments of the company towards the supply of high-quality products to its clients as well as the way it treats its workers. For it to attract and retain such a huge workforce, the company has been employing the use of the best human resource management strategies. Its goal is to be the best employer in the nation. 

I would like to join this company and serve as a Human Resources Manager (HRM) at its Hamilton headquarters. I prefer this position to any other because it will give me an opportunity to serve other employees and become one of their dependable leaders. According to the official information from the company, HRM is a vital position that it cannot do without. The job descriptions of the HRM include the hiring of the new workers; training of new employees; designing job specifications; employee performance appraisals; monitoring the performance of employees; safeguarding the welfare of the workers; managing the employee motivation, promotion, remuneration, incentives, and pension programs. These activities are important because they play a major role in the management of workers within the company. If done well, the management an get to attract and retain a large pool of the most qualified, experienced, and talented personnel in the company.

My goal, therefore, is to achieve the following: one, I would like to be an effective communicator who listen and establish a healthy interpersonal relationship with others. Two, I plan to be a team player who is ready to collaborate with everyone within the organization. Three, I plan to be a good negotiator who can also be useful in striking deals, advocating for employees, and resolving any conflicts. Four, I plan to improve on my leadership skills by becoming more democratic and participatory in approach. Five, I plan to be a good decision-maker and problem-solver. These goals are suitable for me because they will strengthen my leadership capabilities. I plan to accomplish all these goals within the next one year.  This means that by the end of the year, I will be more competent than I have ever been.

Email to the Assessor

From:

To: 

Subject: Personal Work Goals Report

I am writing to you this email to give you a comprehensive report on my personal work goals. I would like to begin by informing you that I chose to write a report on Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (DPE). DPE is a company whose headquarters are in Hamilton. It is a multinational that has established itself as the largest pizza producer and supplier in the whole country. Currently, it has a total workforce of 26,000 employees who are distributed in its 700 chain stores within the major cities and towns across the country. I chose this company because it appeals to be most. I like the commitments of the company towards the supply of high-quality products to its clients as well as the way it treats its workers. For it to attract and retain such a huge workforce, the company has been employing the use of the best human resource management strategies. Its goal is to be the best employer in the nation. 

At the same time, it is my pleasure to inform you that would like to join this company in the capacity of a Human Resources Manager (HRM). I have settled on Hamilton because it is the company’s main headquarters which serves as its nerve center. I like this position since it will give me an opportunity to serve other employees and become one of their dependable leaders. According to the official information from the company, HRM is a vital position that it cannot do without. The job descriptions of the HRM include the hiring of the new workers; training of new employees; designing job specifications; employee performance appraisals; monitoring the performance of employees; safeguarding the welfare of the workers; managing the employee motivation, promotion, remuneration, incentives, and pension programs. These activities are important because they play a major role in the management of workers within the company. If done well, the management an get to attract and retain a large pool of the most qualified, experienced, and talented personnel in the company.

In order for me to successfully-serve and grow in this position, I have to come up with some career goals. My goal, therefore, is to achieve the following: one, I would like to be an effective communicator who listen and establish a healthy interpersonal relationship with others. Two, I plan to be a team player who is ready to collaborate with everyone within the organization. Three, I plan to be a good negotiator who can also be useful in striking deals, advocating for employees, and resolving any conflicts. Four, I plan to improve on my leadership skills by becoming more democratic and participatory in approach. Five, I plan to be a good decision-maker and problem-solver. These goals are suitable for me because they will strengthen my leadership capabilities. I plan to accomplish all these goals within the next one year.  I strongly believe that I will achieve all these goals within a span of 12 months because they are smart-specific, measurable, realistic, and time-bound. 

Assessment Task III: Plan Work Priorities Project

Q1: Technology has become the order of the day. Today, the managers can rely on technology to execute nearly everything. One area in which technology can be applied in the workplace is the prioritization of work. In order to manage work prioritizations, the managers can use the following three innovative technologies:

Time Doctor: This is a new technology that the managers can use to manage the work of each of the employees within the organization. It can be used remotely since it can be linked to other mobile applications like JIRA and Asana. The device can enable the manager to automatically-manage time and get to know about the activities of each of the workers. It tracks activities and determine if they are performed as scheduled in order of preference.

Timely: This technology uses a sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help in the automation of time management. Through this, the manager can get to plan for each activity, prioritize them, and track if they are executed as anticipated. The automation process makes it easy for the manager to ensure that each activity is performed at the right time without any unnecessary delays. The other benefit of this technology is that it can enable the manager to choose activities ad allocate them to each of the workers without having to burden them. Each activity is planned well and given enough time. Thus, it ensures that there is efficiency and high-productivity.

DeskTime: This is a technology that enables the managers to manage time and plan for all the activities that are supposed to be conducted at any given time. Apart from helping in the prioritization of activities, the technology can help in the automation of the follow-up process to determine if the workers are discharging their duties as scheduled. Through instantaneous time tracking, the manager can get enough space to coordinate all the workers to ensure that each activity is completed as per the schedule without any unnecessary delays that might inconvenience the organization.   

Q2: Impacts of Workplace Stress and Mitigation Strategies 

An ideal workplace should be stress-free. However, it is always challenging to achieve this since workplace is a challenging environment that might expose workers to lots of stress. Nonetheless, workplace stress can be disastrous because it can bring negative impacts to the individual employees, management, and the organization at large. 

The first negative effect of workplace stress is that it demoralizes the workers and hinders them from enjoying their work. a demoralized worker cannot perform well as per the expectations of the management. For example, an overworked employee can feel stressed and loose morale. To address this challenge, the management should motivate the workers by offering the necessary support and ensuring that the workplace environment is supportive and accommodative.  

The second negative effect of stress is that it can increase the chances errors in the course of duty. Errors are likely to occur because a stressed worker cannot concentrate on the job. There is lack of concentration because stress distracts the worker from discharging his or her duties well. However, to address this issue, the management should intervene by offering emotional and technical support to the worker. This can be done by giving counseling services and if possible granting the worker a short break to re-energize. 

The third negative impact of workplace stress is that it can increase the chances of absenteeism. A stressed worker can choose to keep-off workplace because it is not favorable for them. Absenteeism is bad because it creates gap in the organization. it can interfere with the overall performance of the organization. Therefore, in order to address this problem, the management should offer a moral support to the worker, give a timely relief, and replace the services until they regain. 

The fourth negative effect of workplace stress is that it can lead to a high rate of employee turn-over. The rate of turn-over can be quite high because stressed workers are likely to quit he organization in order to search for greener pastures elsewhere. The problem can be resolved by motivating the employees and providing them a favorable environment in which they work for the longest time possible. The management should come up with strategies to retain its workers. 

The fifth negative impact of workplace stress is that it can make the company to incur losses. The losses occur because of different reasons. One, there can be a decline in the quality of productivity. Two, there can be high costs of operations due to the continuous recruitment, and training of new workers in order to replace those who resign. However, t address all these problems, the organization should strengthen and empower the Human Resources Department to enable it discharge its duties well, manage, and motivate the workers well.  

Q3: Work Priorities Planning Report

Personally, I believe in planning. Whenever I engage in any activity, I have to spare my time to come up with an appropriate plan. In case there are many activities to undertake, I have to come up with a priority plan. In this section, I would like to give a comprehensive report on the work priorities plan I have drafted to guide me. Here it is:

Q4: Weekly Schedule 

In ths organization, we are acustoed to a well-outlined schedule. Every week, there are activities that we undertake. Some are constant, but others keep on changing from time to time. The folowing is an illustration of the schedule of all the activities that I will undertake during the coming week:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Q5: Email to Assessor

From: 

To:

Subject: Plan Work Priorities Project

I would like to write to you this email to inform you that I have provided you with a comprehensive list of all the activities for the work priorities project. Kindly, go through all of them and feel free to get in touch with me in case you need any clarifications. Otherwise, I am waiting for your honest feedback on my efforts. Thank you. 

Assessment Task IV: Professional Development Presentation

Q1: Self-Assessment Report

Self-assessment is an important activity that should be conducted by all the professionals. An objective and rigorous self-assessment process can enable an individual to know the strengths and weaknesses. As a strong believer of self-assessment, I had to spare my time in line with the BSB61015 - Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management, to assess myself. To do so, I chose two core units: BSBDIV601 - Develop and implement diversity policy and BSBCUE607 - Manage customer engagement centre staffing. From the first unit, I established that I have strong diversity skills. I found out that I am a flexible professional who can work with people from diverse backgrounds because I understand, respect, and appreciate diverse cultures. From the second unit, I discovered that I possess good marketing, research, and customer care. These are competencies that I should nurture because they will make me to be a competent professional. 

Q2: Professional Competence Research

Professional development is something that everyone desires. It is desirable because no one wants to stagnate at one particular point throughout the career life. In order to study about professional development, I had to engage in a professional competence research by interviewing two experts. I took my time to engage my fellow student and a member of my family both of whom have been serving as managers in their respective organizations. During the interview, I asked a series of questions revolving on different concepts including professional development. I learnt that my interviewees believe in professional development. Hence, they have, on different occasions, participated in continuous training programs and attended refresher courses. At the same time, they have been attending conferences and workshops. Finally, these people have decided to go back to school to enroll for master’s degree programs. They recommend that all the other workers should emulate them so as to increase their chances of career progression.

Q3: Career Review

Career Aspirations

• I aspire to be a Human Resources Manager (HRM)

• The career appeals to me

• HRM is my dream because it will enable me to serve all workers within the organization

Possible Career Options

• Upon a successful completion of my course, I might end up as a:

  • Human Resources Officer

  • Human Resources Manager

  • Public Relations Officer

  • HRM consultant 

Q4: Networking Review

In Australia, managers have an opportunity of creating a strong network through which they can interact with their colleagues, investors, and employers. These networks can be professional associations, clubs, and organizations. Some of the most common networking groups are:

1. The Institute of Managers and Leaders

To be a member of this association, one should pay an application fee of $90 and an annual fee of $300. Its contact details are: +61 1300 661 061 membership@managersandleaders.com.au

2. Professional Managers Australia

The annual membership fee ranges from $222 to $760 depending on the member’s salaries. Its contact addresses are:  +61 3 9695 8902 and info@ProfessionalsAustralia.org.au

Q5: Professional Development Plan

I do not want to stagnate where I currently am for life. Rather, I want to prosper. The following is a comprehensive tabular illustration of my professional development plan:

Q6, 7: PowerPoint Presentation and Feedback

Q8: Evaluation of the Presentation

From my own assessment, I did a commendable job. I strongly believe that I succeeded in designing and giving a perfect presentation. My PowerPoint presentation was clear, precise, and organized. Its layout was also appealing because it was aesthetic. In terms of content, I must say that it was relevant, insightful, educative, and informative. It contained useful information. The presentation was also perfectly done because I made a proper use of verbal and non-verbal communication cues. My voice projection, audibility, articulation rates, and tonal variations were perfectly in order. It made everyone in the audience to understand my points without any hindrances. 

Q9: Update Professional Development Plan

Following the feedback I got, I will have to update my professional development plan by making some changes. After making all the considerations, I have decided to update the plan as outlined herein: