Module
WBL - Managing Own Professional Development
Module description
This module is focused on establishing oneself as a Financial Services 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 title: | WBL - Managing Own Professional Development |
|---|---|
| Module code: | BEF3005DA |
| Module level: | 3 |
| Academic year: | 2019/0 |
| Module lecturers: | |
| Module credit: | 30 |
| ECTS value: | 15 |
| Pre-requisites: | None |
| Co-requisites: | None |
| Duration of module: |
Duration (weeks) - term 1: 11 Duration (weeks) - term 2:11 Duration (weeks) - term 3:11 |
Module aims
This module offers a series of advanced activities aimed at developing the skills and behaviours required for practise 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. Assess a problem from multiple angles to ensure all relevant issues are considered. Respond appropriately to unexpected events. Apply critical thinking to discern between available options.
- 2. Critically 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 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. Keep up to date with sector relevant legal/regulatory changes, and alert others to the implications where necessary.
- 5. Identify and provide flexible and innovative solutions, integrating products and excellent service as appropriate to own role, in order to support client/customers and meet their best interests.
- 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: Demonstrate willingness to adapt own approach to assist organisation and individuals to manage priorities as circumstances change, new tasks need to be done, or when business requirements change.
- 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. Respond well to change.
- 9. Communication: Deal effectively with Client/customers/colleagues at every level of the organisation required by the role. Communicate complex information clearly. Listen actively to understand needs and adapt your style to the recipient.
- 10. Motivation: Stay positive under pressure and show tenacity to follow jobs through to completion. Identify opportunities to drive higher performance and improve service/processes delivered, including sharing, and looking outside of own team for best practice. Deal positively and with determination when setbacks occur, or when managing difficult situations.
- 11. Integrity: Be truthful, sincere and trustworthy in your actions. Show integrity by doing the right thing, demonstrating the organisations Values and always maintain appropriate confidentiality. Follow and promote appropriate organisational procedures and policies.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 76 | 224 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Seminars (Master classes) | 10 | Taking place during scheduled face-to-face masterclasses there will be at least 10 hours of taught input. |
| Online activities and PDP coaching | 66 | Ongoing PDP coaching throughout 33 weeks of the online module. Drawing upon academic guidance, professional development coaching and workplace mentoring. |
| Applied Professional Development | 224 | Guided and independent learning which will be applied to the work context in consultation with a manager from the organisation. It will include a mixture of reading material, self-development exercises, online discussion forums, self-assessments, videos, and 360-degree feedback. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drawing from your learning journal, produce ten 500-word critical reflections which demonstrate the ILOs listed for the module. | Equivalent to 5,000 words. | 1-11 | Academic lead with provide written and verbal feedback. |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Choose one reflective paper to produce a 10-minute video log that captures examples of problem solving. | 20 | 10-minute video plus 500-word written reflection. | 1, 5,6,8,9. | Academic tutor will provide written feedback. |
| 2. Drawing on academic material produce a 2,500 essay on the value of trust in relationships. Illustrate with an example from own practise. | 20 | 2,500 words. | 5,6,11. | |
| 3. Compile a report containing 8 shining examples of critical reflection. Provide an executive summary which establishes which ILOs they map against and how they have informed your professional practise. | 60 | 4,500 words | 2,3 plus chosen reflections. | Academic tutor will provide written feedback |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| As per original | 10-minute video plus 500-word written reflection. | 1-13 | 6 weeks |
| As per original | 2,500 words | 6 weeks | |
| As per original | 4,500 words | 6 weeks |
Re-assessment notes
Defer – as first time
Refer – capped at 40%
Syllabus plan
Through a series of advanced 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