WBL - Managing Own Professional Development

Module description

This module is focused on establishing oneself as a Financial Service Professional and provides an important foundation upon which to further develop your career. Drawing upon academic guidance, professional development coaching and workplace mentoring, you have a wealth of inspiration and advice to guide and support your own professional development planning.

Exploring the essential requirements of professional practise, you will consider aspects of trust, client management, strategy, managing own workload, planning and prioritisation, innovation, problem solving and ethical decision making. Based within professional codes of conduct and organisational policies and processes you also have an opportunity to determine your own approach to excellence in your role, identifying and building upon personal values, skills, strengths and experience.

This module is a part of the formal process of portfolio building in which you are required to evidence the knowledge skills and behaviours set out in the level 6, degree apprenticeship standards for the Financial Services Professional. The personal development that you undertake and the activities, assignments and reflections that you produce, all offer material for your final EPA professional portfolio and panel interview.

Full module specification

Module aims

This module offers a series of activities aimed at developing the skills and behaviours required for professional practice in financial services. It seeks to pull together learning from across a variety of sources in support of proactively managing one’s own professional learning and development. The ability to produce a coherent and well-informed career plan against a clear set of industry standards is an important part of doing well in both academic and professional practise. Using skills of self-analysis and critical reflection, finance professionals are required to consider what learning is available to them through both formal study and professional practise in order to shape their development and demonstrate progression.

ILO: Module-specific skills

• 1. Evaluate information quickly and draw accurate conclusions. Use a structured approach to gather the appropriate facts and evidence in order to make decisions effectively. Use critical thinking to discern between available options.
• 2. Reflect upon professional practice to identify, evaluate and modify own behaviours. Recognise where learning originates and translate new knowledge into own PDP. Seek feedback and acts on it to improve own performance. Build your capability through ownership of your own development.
• 3. Compile, manage and edit a portfolio of evidence in support of own progression against the relevant Degree Apprentice learning objectives.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

• 4. Ensure that the relevant policies of the organisation for own area of specialisation are met in order to carry out all required activities using agreed systems and processes.
• 5. Proactively plan and organise own work and time, clearly identifying priorities to meet commitments, KPIs and deadlines.
• 6. Create innovative and enterprising solutions to business needs, whilst understanding relevant boundaries e.g. financial services regulations.

ILO: Personal and key skills

• 7. Professional impact: build ethically sound and trusted relationships with internal and/ or external clients to form the basis of long-term partnerships.
• 8. Adaptability: Adapt positively to changing work priorities and patterns and be flexible to the needs of the organisation. Engage and network proactively with Client/customers and colleagues, including senior management, as required, to deliver business outcomes.
• 9. Communication: Use strong interpersonal skills and communicating well through a range of media, using language that is meaningful to the recipient e.g. written reports, presentations, phone, face to face, email. Communicate complex information clearly. Listen actively to understand needs and adapts your style to the recipient.
• 10. Motivation: Consistently support colleagues and collaborate to achieve results. Aware of own role within team, how their team fits within the business, and how the team’s decisions impact on others. Display energy, determination and enthusiasm in the way you go about your role, dealing positively and with determination when setbacks occur, or when managing difficult situations. Work with clients to identify their relevant financial services requirements.
• 11. Integrity: Be truthful, sincere and trustworthy in own actions. Show integrity by doing the right thing, demonstrating the organisation’s Values, always Maintains appropriate confidentiality. Follow and promote appropriate organisational procedures and policies.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Defer – as first time

Refer – capped at 40%

Syllabus plan

Through a series of online learning activities, applied exercises and reflective assignments finance professionals can expect to explore and the skills of service delivery, strategy and planning, problem solving and decision making, communication and networking, teamwork and collaboration, continuous improvement, developing self and others.  In addition, through portfolio building, they are expected to demonstrate and evidence the behaviours of honesty and integrity, adaptability, resilience and enthusiasm, innovation and creativity and attention to detail.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Recommended text:

Cottrell, S. (2010) Skills for success: personal development and employability. Palgrave Macmillan

Day, T. (2018) Success in Academic Writing. Palgrave Study Skills. Palgrave Macmillan.

Kahneman, D. (2012) Thinking Fast and Slow. Penguin: UK

Miller, D. (2014) Brilliant Personal Effectiveness: What to know and say to make an impact at work. Pearson: UK

Supplementary text:

Cottrell, S (2017) Critical Thinking Skills; Developing Effective Analysis, argument and reflection.

Palgrave Macmillan:

Paul, D., Cadle, J., & Thomas, P (2012) The Human Touch: Personal Skills for Professional Success. BCS: UK

Winstanley, D. (2009) Personal Effectiveness. Excel Books: UK

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Origin date

26/02/2019

Last revision date

15/03/2019