Assignment brief

Unit number and title

BTEC LEVEL 7 Extended Diploma in Strategic Management &

Leadership
Unit 2: Professional Development for Strategic Managers

Start date

5th of Jan 2015

Deadline

31th of Jan 2015

Assessor name

Dr. Ugur Zel

Assignment title

Application of Professional Develop Skills to help organizations realize

their strategic decisions

Qualification

The purpose of this assignment is to ensure that learners have the knowledge and skill of professional
managers so as they would play a pivotal role in impacting the realization of the organizations strategic plan.

Scenario
Your chosen organization has requested you to prepare your development plan, which has high input in its
strategic plan. In your endeavour kindly address all the below listed points.

Task-1
Your chosen organization has a plan to document skills of its employees, to this effect, kindly use appropriate
methods to evaluate personal skills required to achieve strategic goals (A.C 1-1)
Your chosen organization has requested you to use techniques to assess the professional skills required to
support its strategic direction. (A.C 1-2)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Task-2
Since you have a leadership role in the organization, you are requested to carry out a skills audit to evaluate
the strategic skills needed to meet current and future leadership requirements. (A.C 2-1)

Apply appropriate techniques to identify your preferred learning style in order to plan your professional
development. (A.C 2-2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Task-3
Utilizing the skills audit result construct a personal development plan that meets leadership development
requirements. (A.C 3-1)
Use suitable methods to assess the outcomes of a personal development plan against personal work
objectives. (A.C 3-2)
Evaluate the impact of own learning against the achievement of strategic goals.(A.C 3-3)

Assessment:
Assessment for this unit needs to be evidenced through a personal development plan
that is monitored throughout the programme. It is important that learners evaluate
their current skills using a skills audit to identify and inform their preferred learning
style. The personal development plan needs to demonstrate learner ability to reflect
on their learning and development needs, identify target dates for review, and show
how their needs have been met

For AC 1.1 and 1.2, learners need to use appropriate methods to evaluate personal
skills and assess the professional skills needed for effective leadership and
management. To meet the strategic goals and direction of the organisation, learners
need to link their evaluation to leadership requirements for a specific goal.
For AC2.1, learners will need to demonstrate they can conduct a skills audit, to
evaluate current and future leadership requirements. Learners need to benchmark
against suitable criteria such as National Occupational Standards for Management
and Leadership. This can help inform their preferred learning style for AC2.2.
For AC 3.1 and 3.2, learners will construct a personal development plan using the
information from their skills audit. They can use a standard template or construct
their own plan, but it must include SMART objectives and an identification of the
resources needed to achieve the objectives, as well as assessing the outcomes
against personal work objectives. To be of value, the plan needs to be implemented
for at least six months in order for learners to evaluate the impact of their learning
against the achievement of strategic goals for AC3.3.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Guidelines for the Assignment:

Use standard Arial font size 11.

Use 1.5 line spacing.

Have a 2.5 centimeter margin on the left hand side of the page and a 2 centimeter margin on the
right hand side.

Include page numbers.

Headings: use 16 point Arial Bold for first level headings, and 14 point Arial Bold for second level
headings. If a third level heading is required, use 12 point Arial Bold.

Attach a completed Statement and Confirmation of Own Work to the front of the paper copy of
your assignment.

The first page of your assignment should be a title page, which should also state your name, Edexcel
BTEC ID number and the name of the Centre where you are studying.

Include a table of contents.

Start each task on a new page and include the question at the top of the page.

Ensure any diagrams, screen shots, PowerPoint slides, etc fit correctly on the page and are
referenced, for example, Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.

Check spelling, grammar and punctuation.

You should also ensure that you proof read your document, because the above checks do not
always pick up every mistake.

Use accurate Harvard referencing and include a bibliography.

Ensure you are aware of the word limit for the assignment (3000-3500 word limit) and any
regulations that apply if you exceed the word limit.

Include the total word count at the end of the assignment.

Note: All work must be delivered in hard copy and soft copy; all assignments should be
properly referenced.
Indicative resource materials
Textbooks
Allen M and Adair J The Concise Time Management and Personal Development
(Thorogood, 2003) ISBN 1854182234
Gold J, Thorpe R and Mumford A Leadership and Management Development
(CIPD, 2010) ISBN 1843982447
Megginson D and Whitaker V Continuing Professional Development (CIPD, 2007) ISBN 1843981661
Owen J How to Lead, 2nd Edition (Prentice Hall, 2009) ISBN 027372150X
Pedler M, Burgoyne J and Boydell T A Managers Guide to Self Development
(McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006) ISBN 0077114701
Journals
Management Today (Haymarket Business Media)
People Management (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) Professional
Manager (Chartered Management Institute)
Training Journal (www.trainingjournal.com)
Websites
www.businesslink.gov.uk

Interactive tools for creating a personal

development plan through assessment
of management and leadership skills

www.cipd.co.uk

Chartered Institute of Personnel and

Development

www.managementhelp.org

Articles on leadership development

planning and self-assessments for
personal and professional development

www.management-standards.org.uk

Chartered Management Institute

www.mindtools.com

Time-management tools and activity

logs

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Dr. Ugur Zel

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