Employability Development: Individual Development Program - Essay Example

Jaber Hassan Alammari Nationality: Saudi birth: 30/04/1987 Education: Business and management Level 2, expecting graduate in 2012 Individual Development Program Goals- Short term To improve my employability in the corporate sector on completion of graduate degree in Business and Management in 2012. Completing my education successfully through proper study and conducting my regular assignments with due responsibilities and diligence. Also lading the foundation for higher and in-depth studies on my present subject, business and management. Enhancing knowledge of my present course such that I am able to apply the skills in the corporate environment where I will work in future. Gaining more responsibilities in the work assignments that I am provided in class which includes both individual assignments and team work. In case of the individual assignments I must ensure that I do them with responsibility, sincerity and rationale such that I can take accountability of my work. Managing tasks as per instructions and within stringent deadlines with the long term aim of managing work activities under tough and rough conditions in the corporate environment. Rectification of mistakes and learning from them successfully and avoiding them in future are some of my other short term career goals (Department of Defence, 2002, p.8). Goals- Long term To hone up my available knowledge and skills for successfully becoming a Human Resource Manager in a company in the corporate world. Making a lasting and positive impact on the organization where I would be working in future through my expertise and knowledge. I also look forward to developing myself as a manager/leader in the field of human resource management through training provided by organizations and experience gained through my endeavours. I see myself in a management role in which I lead my team towards innovation and growth. I would like to employ new and innovative skills apart from the regular and conventional work activities and try to attain results through innovative and inventive ways. Areas to develop I have fair leadership attributes which need to be further developed for emerging as a successful business leader leading a large team in the organization. My leadership abilities also get reflected through my interaction with colleagues where I have always encouraged them to employ their best abilities in the organization. Also my ability to get my colleagues involvement and participation in the decision making of a firm reflect my approach towards being a fair and able leader. I also need to enhance my decision making skills such that my subordinates, peers and superiors can rely on my decisions. This is also important during critical conditions in the organization during which conditions critical thinking and decision making is of prime importance. I need to improve on my motivating skills through encouraging my subordinates to deliver the best of their abilities in the organization. As a management leader one of the critical responsibilities would be to constantly encourage and motivate my subordinates and colleagues to undertake work activities successful even though the conditions of work might not be favourable for them. Thus it is important that I inculcate my motivational capabilities and nurture them successfully such that I can develop a team which is extremely encouraged and motivated to perform according to desired levels of performance from the organization (Business Link, 2005, p.2). I need to hone on my analyzing skills. Analytical skill is one important requirement which is highly preferred by employers when they recruit management graduates. Thus it is important that I enhance and improve on my analytical skills to increase my employability in the job market. Understanding business conditions and requirements, changing business environments and accordingly changes in the work procedures and processes in organizations is essential for any employee irrespective of the domain he is recruited for. Thus improving my analytical skills account for one of the basic criteria for making myself employable in the job market (Business Link, 2005, p.2). Overall Strategies for attainment of goals and objectives The first step towards developing my skills for attaining my personal goals and objectives would be reflect on my strengths and weaknesses which includes assessing my values and principles, things that I look forward to, understand my individual purpose in life, things I want to achieve or accomplish, characteristics I need to inculcate to achieve the same, assessing my drawbacks and implementing ways to remove them or overcoming them (University of Minnesota, 2005, p.8). Enhancing and improving on my leadership skills could be attained by taking up leadership responsibilities among my present peers and colleagues. Thus, for example, when undertaking group assignments provided in class, I must take up the responsibility of being the leader and mentor in the group, allocating job roles and responsibilities to individual members, collaborating work activities, coordinating with them, guiding them and ensuring that the task is accomplished within stipulated time and meets the required standards (University of Minnesota, 2005, p.8). The long term goal of becoming a Human Resource Manager in an organization could be attained by enhancing my domain knowledge in the field of human resource management, such as recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation and benefit management, motivation and leadership etc. A thorough knowledge of the field of human resource management would be most crucial for developing my skills as a human resource manager. I need to improve my communication skills through enhancing communication with my present peers in the University. My experience in Saudi Arabia has been very effective in honing my interactive skills where I had to lead important meetings with senior industrial personnel, arrange dinner for them and constantly keep interacting with them to ensure that they were satisfied with our services and doing business with us. Updating my presently knowledge and know-how about the surrounding business environment and industries can be enhanced by extensive reading of news articles, journals, news channels etc. Timeline and Steps for accomplishment of goals Month 1 Reflecting on present characteristics and findings Conducting SWOT analysis of my individual characteristics Capturing key areas of shortcomings which need to be removed or overcome Setting professional goals which need to the accomplished through the individual development plan Month 2 Discussing development plans with superiors and mentors Apart from self analysis, external analysis is also important or attaining others views about my key capabilities and skills, shortcomings, unique aspects, competitive advantage etc. Attaining feedback from university guides, mentors, teachers on my skills and capabilities Month 3- Month 5 Undertaking training programs Undertaking on-the-job training in organizations as a trainee for attaining an industrial experience and gaining know-how of the business environment. On the job training is also requires for attaining domain specific skills in the field of human resource management Month 6 Conducting evaluation program for assessing my progress towards my career path in terms of accomplishment of necessary skills, aptitudes and attitudes too Measure gaps between the present standards and desired standards in the career path through the implementation of the training programs, self development programs and mentoring by seniors in the industry (Missouri Professional Development Guidelines for student success, 2006, p.131) Month 7 Bridging gaps between the present and the desired levels of success through re-training on the necessary loopholes and drawbacks to remove them Available resources One important resource includes the present university infrastructure which provides me with all the necessary requirements for sharpening my managerial skills, such as computers, books, articles, journals etc. These are primarily crucial for developing the domain knowledge of the subject in which I seek to excel in future. Training programs conducted in workshops on regular intervals on the key areas of development of candidates account for another important resource which would be useful for me. Workshops are conducted based on individual assessment needs and catering to the individual requirements of candidates in the university. My peers, superiors, seniors, teachers account for important resources in my present development program. Their valuable information and assessments, feedback and reviews are essential for evaluating ‘myself’ and improving my present capabilities which would help me achieve my desired goals and objectives through the development program. Outcomes The first outcome which I seek to ensure is that I gain extensive domain knowledge in the field of human resource management such that I may be able to apply them in real life and organizational context in near future. I wish to develop competency in such aspects as leadership and motivational skills, team management skills and an effective communicator in business. My decision making skills, analytical skills, mentoring skills and problem solving skills are also some of the areas I would like to improve in significantly. These are some of the key requisites for becoming a successful Human Resource Manager in future. I seek to attain continuous improvement in my knowledge and abilities and desire to get to a higher performance level in terms of my present knowhow and characteristics such that I can assure that all my loopholes and drawbacks are overcome at the end of 7 months. Reference Business Link. (2005). My Personal Development Plan. [Pdf]. Available at: http://online.businesslink.gov.uk/Horizontal_Services_files/PDPSample.pdf. [Accessed on March 05, 2012]. Department of Defence. (2002). The Individual Development Plan. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.usuhs.mil/chr/idp.pdf. [Accessed on March 05, 2012]. Missouri Professional Development Guidelines for student success. (2006). Sample Individual Professional Development Plans and Logs. [Pdf]. Available at: http://dese.mo.gov/divteachqual/leadership/pd_guidelines/appendE.pdf. [Accessed on March 05, 2012]. University of Minnesota. (2005). The Individual Development Plan for Graduate Students at the University of Minnesota. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.grad.umn.edu/career/IDPgrad.pdf. [Accessed on March 05, 2012]. Bibliography Rothwell, W. J. (2010). Effective succession planning: ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Read More