Introduction
Definitively, personal development involves all activities that improve awareness and identity of the individual. In this regard, personal development encompasses the improvement of an individual’s talents, dreams and aspirations. Centrally, personal development results in the facilitation of human capital appreciation which then enhances employability of such a person. However, personal development is not only limited to the development of the individual since it extends from self-help to assisting others in their own development. Hence, personal development extends from the individual to the development of staff at the workplace. Just as one learns a language through teachings and practice, personal development is a skill that can be learned and practiced to perfection. For this reason personal development can be said to influence the individual as well as the environment in which learning takes place, hence, influencing and developing others as well.
This paper explores the advantages of personal development at the workplace. In particular, the discussion gives consideration to research and production. It details literature that presents various benefits of personal development at the workplace.
Benefits of Personal Development on Total Exploration & Production
Kates, Parris and Leiserowitz (2005, p. 8), ask a basic question ‘what is sustainable development?’ In their response to this inquiry, they note that it is the capacity of humanity to transform or bring about change for the better without compromising the ability for future generations to do the same. In this respect, personal development encompasses the improvement of one’s skills while at the same time ensuring that future skill development is not compromised. The same, therefore, requires that one is self-aware of themselves. Hence, the first advantage of personal development is that one can identify their individual strengths and weaknesses. One can then utilize the same in enhancing their production and research skills to develop desired outcomes at the workplace. Moreover, personal development allows the individual to participate in the process of change. As a result, he or she can monitor their progress and improvements. A good example is action research where the survey develops the researcher’s skills during exploration.
Further, personal development ensures that the individual introspects to gauge his or her development through evaluation of achievements and failures. Consequently, the process of refection helps in the identification of weaknesses. Hence, assist in the development of skills to improve on such weaknesses. According to Qayyum and Sukirno (2012, p. 1), personal development is a means to individual motivation that is readily accessible by any member of the organization. Hence anyone can make a self-initiative to improving their skills and achieve better individual performance, hence, improve research and production outcomes at the workplace. Essentially, the reflective function allows one to introspect and develop an understanding of individual behavior in relation to his or her environment. Through self-understanding one is able to accurately read and understand other’s reactions. Similarly, one is in a position to comprehend the environment that he or she operates in to effectively target desired outcomes. Introspection fundamentally relates to the development of self-understanding that can be effective in refining practice on a consistent and continuous basis. This implies that one continuously makes small improvements moving along.
The second advantage of personal development at the workplace in the production chain entails the development of understanding the supply chain. To this end, personal development is an initiative in the evaluation of the activities that comprise the supply chain. A knowledgeable individual can effectively handle challenges regarding cost saving by understanding the supply chain management protocols . Resultantly, the cost of production can be minimized by designing a supply chain considering either permanent or contracted employees as an apt option to minimize production costs. According to Ooi (2009, p. 633), an understanding of the market conditions helps in total quality management (TQM) operations. In this regard, the business is in a position to effectively utilize resources at its disposal for the maximum benefit in terms of the output realized.
Thirdly, as earlier mentioned in the introduction, personal development encompasses the development of individual skills which in turn spreads to the development of the skills of others at the workplace. According to Parajanen (2012, p. 109), individual creativity sustains the drive for collective creativity. Tuang (2011, p. 285), contends that personal development is an essential attribute of participation that can be likened to the classroom environment. In this regard, the development of the individual can enhance that of others through active participation. In a study conducted by Burgoyne, Hirsh and Williams (2004, p. 25) it was found that leadership management is an essential part of development of staff skills. Hence, personal development to enhance leadership skills has the influence of improving performance results. Matarasso (1997, pp. 14-22), presents various advantages of personal development on the development of other staff members at the workplace. Such include increasing staff confidence, enriching social lives, finding a collective voice, and skill building among staff. Essentially, personal development enhances general development of skills in the organization, hence, improving production and exploration outcomes. Similar sentiments by Hemeed and Waheed (2011, p. 224), also point to the fact that individual development takes part in the organization at all levels of the hierarchy in the organization. Eventually, the pool of effort from personal development results in the holistic development of the organization which translates to the general better performance of the firm.
Personal development can also improve skills in research in regards to the development of knowledge, better understanding and interpretation of market conditions. For instance, development of skills in market research can be useful in the enhancement of the art of relationship building between the customer and the business. Therefore, effective personal development can encompass improvement in communication skills and customer service approaches to enhance a good relationship between a businessman and the client. Hana (2013, p. 82) attributes the development of such knowledge to achieving competitive advantage. In this regard, the individual is capable of staying ahead of the competition by understanding the dynamics in the market. Further, the understanding of the challenges facing the improvement of the performance of the business remains critical. Thus, personal development leads to a holistic approach in the ironing out of hurdles that can present undesired performance results. Moreover, hurdles can effectively be avoided.
In essence, the literature reviewed herein present several advantages related to personal or individual development. Centrally, the evaluation finds that self-efficacy is the foundation on which one can develop their individual talents. Hence, self-efficacy develops the drive for one to improve their knowledge skills and expertise which ultimately extends to developing skills in others or fellows at the workplace.
Therefore, self-efficacy is a well-orchestrated and activated process that inevitably results in motivation or drive for the individual to achieve better results in regards to improvement of outcomes. Similarly, the review also notes that knowledge management is an essential part of personal development which leads to the improvement of performance. To this end, individual introspection to gauge the inert strengths and weaknesses can prove effective in developing strategies for mitigation.
Cost saving is another benefit of personal development, the literatures reviewed reveal that through personal development of skills and knowledge individuals can better manage businesses. Hence, through total quality management personal development makes sure that resources are utilized in the best means possible to keep costs low and profit margins high. The review also finds it advantageous that personal development can be extended to personal development programs (PDPs) or initiatives where leadership training can take effect. PDP is regarded as an effective approach to addressing staff development concerns and ensuring improved performance of the business. Other than cost saving, skills improvement and staff development, the review also finds that personal development presents sustainability. In this respect, an individual undergoing personal development finds himself constantly evaluating his progress.
As such, it becomes evident that as one evaluates progress they eventually note weaknesses and strengths. Hence, to ensure sustainability such individuals focus on strengths while making appropriate adjustments to improve on weaknesses. Ultimately, this process results in the improvement of outcomes realized from the personal development initiatives. Finally, the review has also found that personal development presents advantages when it comes to the development of knowledge pertaining to comprehension of market conditions. Furthermore, personal development of skills and knowledge in the market helps in the development of understanding between business partners. Likewise, the development of an understanding of market dynamics also ensures the nurturing of good customer relations.
Conclusion
The paper has analyzed a number of benefits that can be attributed to exploration and production as a direct consequence of personal development initiatives. Initially, the paper delved into the definition of what personal development is detailing that it encompasses various elements of individual improvement. Subsequently, the discussion introduced several advantages that relate to personal development which present beneficial implications to production and research at the workplace. Foremost, the advantage of skill, knowledge and expertise development was presented. The review finds that this leads to the improvement of the performance of the individual by allowing for identification of strengths and weaknesses. Hence, through the correction of such the individual can eventually improve self-performance. Other benefits discussed encompass the development of staff skills through collective improvement of skills knowledge and expertise at the workplace which in turn translates to improved organizational performance generally. Similarly, development of knowledge is another advantage presented which ensures savings on production costs as well as ensuring that the business understands the market. As such, personal development equips individual members of the organization with adequate marketing skills necessary for the effective operation of the business for example good customer relations. Primarily, the paper is a detailed analysis of the advantages or benefits of personal development on research and production in the organizational setting.
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