Grizli777

Career Development Plan

Action Based Learning

Table of ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................1

Change management..................................................................................................................................2

Resistance to Change..................................................................................................................................3

Personal Development Plan........................................................................................................................5

Evaluation of Action Based Learning Experience.........................................................................................6

Introduction of Organization.......................................................................................................................7

Responsibilities in the Organization............................................................................................................8

Review of the Performance.........................................................................................................................9

Setting of Career Direction........................................................................................................................10

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11

Reference List...........................................................................................................................................12

Introduction

The organizations expansion and transformation are now become the method of life. As a part of

an organization it is essential to know many problems that arises ion the organizations and how it

will have an effect on others. As an individual it is the duty of every one to understand the

organizational matters and to adjust our own life with the expansion and modifications of the

organizations. Many changes occurs in the organizations, some of which are, the introduction of

innovative technologies, amalgamations, takeover/merger, hiring and firing of staff at any time,

increased competitiveness etc. These changes effect the individual as well as the groups that are

present in he organization and their performance are also affected by these changes. One has to

adopt these changes very carefully and to act in such a way that he could perform his duties

accurately individually as well as in the groups.

As far as individual is concern is concern there are many challenges of feelings, reflection of

others, planning and management that leads to success. The individual has to focus clearly and

be ready for any kind of change. Individual’s life is in their own hands. People are living in the

time era. Everything that comes our way becomes our history when it passes away. Past, present

and future are these things that every human being has. Every person has its own past, present

and future. Every person feel, act, make decisions, get experience and as the time passes it

becomes person’s history and then he thinks make decisions again. This cycle goes on and on.

Person can’t change its past so it is essential for every human being to focus on their present so

that their future can be secure and safe.

Change managementChange means modifications. The main focus of this study is planned changes. The change can

be intended or entire when it happens rapidly and well managed by the leader. It is the main

quality of a talented leader to identify the need of change quickly and change the things by

managing accurately. The model of change presented by Lewin and the first step according to

this model is unfreezing, change and refreeze: sustain it as a general recipe for development of

organization.” when the technology changes it is necessary for the organizations leaders to define

the roles clearly again to their employees and to train them accordingly with the particular

change. Those organizations who adapt to changes quickly and accurately will reach to the

success quickly. The four important characteristics which are essential for leaders to understand

as mentioned in Lewin’s Model (1959) are appreciate new behavior, focus on people as a basis

for change, realize the need for change and distinguish the survival for existence (William &

Kazanas 2003). Kotter described the table which shows the steps that are parts of change

process.

Resistance to ChangeIndividuals are comfortable when they get what they want. As far as employees are concerns the

employee are satisfied when they know their tasks correctly and when they know their fellow

workers. When some change occurs in the organization they become tensed and dissatisfied.

The change creates the feeling of uncertainty and lack of confidence in them and activates an

unconscious defense mechanism in them. Because of this resistance the large scale projects and

the change process delayed. The concentration of the resistance is different in different

individuals. The factors that affect this resistance include the culture in the organization and

different characteristics of the employees such as their age, gender, experience, character,

personality, etc. Example: it has been observed that the young workers are more comfortable in

accepting changes while the older workers feels discomfort in adapting changes and they like to

do their routine works as they are doing regularly. The main task is to maintain the resistance

level in the change process.

Different persons respond differently to a change, Kubler Ross invented a change curve model

which demonstrates the different levels of human beings while they are reacting to the change

when they get to know that they have a serious disease. This model can easily be utilized in

business concerns and given the information of the individuals regarding the change that occurs.

It also gives the idea that what time is correct to announce the change or passes the information

to employees regarding the change. This can guides for implementing the better behavior when

change occurs. Another Model presented by the Satir (2012) and this model is similar to the

Kubler Ross Model.

The Satir (2012) Model explains that the change occurs from the overseas aspects and the people

adopt it because of the drawbacks in their current system. While facing any change the resistance

of the people creates confusions in the working environment. The next phases are integration and

development of new status quo. The Ross model is similar to this model. According to him the

basis of change is not recognized and the phases differ from annoyance to resistance for adapting

the change. The importance of these Models is significant for leaders to realize the outcomes of

the change. For managing the resistance level the policies are communicate smoothly and with

firm attitude (Lynne & Denise 2013).

Personal Development PlanPersonal Development Planning (PDP) is refer as the prearranged process utilized by an

individual to increase his learning and to boost his performances, principles, attainment

benchmarks to plan for private and professional activities (McKee 2012). The phases of PDP are

very varied that gives a variety of choices to individual in every phase of persona development.

PDP covers all the management functions i.e. planning, organizing. Leading, and controlling.

The feedbacks are also very significant and helpful in every phase of PDP.

In the course of action based learning process of this module, I have selected to start the learning

experience based on working in a low fare domestic airline in UK. During this work experience,

the personal development phases are covered and evaluated simultaneously to prepare a report

on this experience for the assessment in this module of change management. In this process, I not

only have gone through the literature review of change management ion organizations and in

personal life but also have made notes to make a change plan during my work experience.

Laycock & Stephenson (2013) asserted that the behaviour of employees varies with their

specialization field, sector of working, and the culture of organizations. For intance, in airline

industry, multi cultural environment in highly diverse employees and technology intensiveness

affected the ways of operation and working styles as xcompared to other industries and sectors.

Hence, when I joined this small but diverse airlines customer rel;ationship de[partmen as an

internee, my behaviour needed to be adapted as per the need of organization. Y su[ervisor has

expected ro learn the organizations rukes and policies quickly as to satisfy the queries of

customers and handling their complaints need a clear understanding of company policies.

Therefore, I have to fulfill the expectations of my supervisor in efficient manner, though, I have

learnt the main CRM strategies of this company in a shorter duration as compared to my other

senior colleagues due to my expertise in business administration concepts.

I was assigned to work in a small team of four customer relationship officers, mostly comprised

of young and sociable, and warmly welcomed me in their team at the head office of the

company. These colleagues were cooperative and courteous in helping me out and sharing their

knowledge from time to time about different issues related to airline customers. My learning

experience is largely dependent on their mentoring and facilitating the tasks assigned by

supervisor.

Evaluation of Action Based Learning ExperienceGeoff et al (2001) proposed that action based learning is a different experiential learning

as compared to the traditional classroom based learning processes. In the case of my work based

learning experience, a ‘negotiated learning agreement’ facilitated the process of learning from

work in the selected organization. The impact on skill development, knowledge sharing, and

expertise acquirement are considerable in work based learning environment. The major

contribution of this learning experience is towards the classroom learnt theories and concepts

verifications in the areas of organizational behaviour, customer relationship management,

marketing, and management during the tasks performed at the job. The experience was also

comprised on the training and mentoring from my immediate supervisor and internal trainer of

the organization. According to Kizer (2010), the practical skills learned in action based learning

environment play crucial role in career planning and management. Hence, this learning

experience can also be treated as a working experience as it significantly contributed towards the

practical skills development and application of learned concepts.

In my action based learning experience at this airline, based on negotiated learning and change

management and part of the personal development plan (PDP). The evaluation of this experience

is also based on the nature and working structure of the selected organization along with the role

of management. The main contributors in this learning were the organizational culture,

management style; marketing strategies, customers care strategies, and offered services as a low

cost human and goods carrier in Europe

Introduction of OrganizationThe airline which was selected for this action based learning environment is a low cost passenger

and goods carrier in Europe region. The size of the airline is small as compared to the other

regional players but the working environment is quite pleasant and standardized. The services of

the airline ranges from in flight hosting, online reservations, meal free low cost packages, and

vacation trips for individuals, families, and corporate sector. Like other airline businesses,

customer care department is crucial in success of satisfying the regular travelers and attracting

new leisure and business travelers. The main revenue is generated from regular business travelers

and families/tourists in holiday seasons. The secondary airports are also used by this air line to

cut civil aviation costs. Salary structures are quite normal and mostly students and flexible term

workers are working in customer care department which is comprised of desk offices and

regional call centers.

I was placed in the head office of customer care in main branch and corporate clients’ services

were my major domain. My team was responsible for coordinating with the frequent corporate

clients and to generate new clients to increase business. Marketing and sales department also

provides liaison to our department to handle the queries and claims of corporate clients. The

dynamic nature of airline business and cut throat competition in low fare airlines sector due to

the major players like Ryanair and Easy Jet, our airline also strives to acquire trained and less

expensive workforce which can deliver the desired targets. The operations department and

marketing and sales are major functional areas, whereas accounts and finance, management

information systems (MIS), and human resources are some support departments. The chief

executive officer is responsible for a fleet of 25 airplanes and around three thousand employees

in more than twenty regional offices of the company in Europe.

Responsibilities in the OrganizationThe immediate responsibilities after joining in CRM department were data entry and filing

management. The team which was allocated to me is responsible for the corporate sector mall

businesses clients. Therefore, organization and update of regular client companies’ records were

my initial set of responsibilities. The update of clients’’ services is received from call centre

records and customer care representatives of the company. Therefore, I had to work in

coordination with the call centre staff and customer care representatives in the field. Once I had

understood the work and started doing record keeping and data entry tasks, my team leader also

involved me in regular team meetings about the decisions related to the clients’ companies

complaints and offered packages. The information technology role in my responsibilities was

major, therefore, I had to improve my word processing, excel, and access expertise, along with

the command on the formation of power point slides. My team members assigned me the task of

presentations preparations and tracking the website transactions of clients companies. These

records are electronically updated and these tasks enriched and polished my proficiency on

information technology and airline software used in the company.

The customer services tasks include the verification of clients luggage lost claims, flight

cancellation or rescheduling problems, arrangement of suitable flight routes and dealing of group

travel packages. Our airline deals with the air cargo of corporate clients, therefore, most of the

customer services are related with freight handling issues. As per my interest and support of team

members, I had soon leant all the clients dealing procedures and started making coordination in

different concerned departments of the company in the case of any complaint or query handling.

Kiser (2010) asserted that the greater the role and responsibility given to employees shows larger

the trust on the abilities of certain employee and in turn, these responsibilities increase the

learning and skills of the employees in a particular area. In contrast, if my team leader did not

trust my abilities, I was not able to develop the [positive change in my abilities and resist to the

changes implied from the external environment as mentioned in the Ross model earlier in this

paper.

Review of the Performance The performance review on this placement position was periodically and randomly done by

team leaders and department heads along with the self appraisal and peer reviews. The current

issues, technical knowledge, training needs, promotion, and extension of working period depend

on these reviews. In this whole learning experience, I have received positive appraisals from my

supervisors and colleagues as I have adopted the learning attitude and never refused any assigned

duty and task. During this short tenure, I have gained the trust top my team leader in customer

care department and the records and files maintained by me never objected by concerned

officials for any discrepancy. During this period, I have developed many presentations also for

client services marketing and handling of clients’ assigned projects.

The business of the airline in this period also faced recession issues like other airlines; therefore,

strict measures of performance appraisal were adopted as only skilled employees can stay in the

company. Hence all staff in the CRM department also worked extremely carefully to avoid any

job loss or reduction in salaries. The increased number of airlines and decreased leisure travel in

Europe due to economic downturn after year 2008 had affected the airline business the most.

One good opportunity of our airline was its low fare policy and economical packages to survive

in this tough competition. I have also performed strictly according to the instructions of my team

leader and never step outside the boundaries for corporate clients’ problems. Our team took

every measure to keep these corporate clients satisfied and retained them for long term in

economic downturn.

The other challenges faced during my placement were my temporary position and the student

status in the organization. Long term tasks and responsibilities like direct clients; accounts

handling were not assigned to me as my learning negotiated agreement was for specific period of

few months only. Also, I was not entitled to any bonuses or salary increments during this period

due to the nature of this internship experience. Also, my performance was reviewed against the

goals and objectives set for the whole team and my share in achieving these targets during the

period of my working in this airline.

Setting of Career DirectionThe contribution of this action based learning placement in this airline was to facilitate the

setting of this career direction in future profession. Customer relationship management always be

my field of interest in business education, therefore, I have selected this department to asses my

abilities in this area during this learning experience. My career plans also involved working in

airline industry and selection of this small airline was part of my experience of real working in

airline sector. Since, customer care is a vital functional area of airline business; therefore, this

action based learning has facilitated my real learning and skill building in this area. Also, the

inside issues and problems facing by airlines also become clear to me and the selection

procedures and standards are known now. This knowledge will help me to prepare for the

selection on management positions in CRM of any reputed airline after completion of

professional formal education.

The placement experience also added the confidence in my information technology,

management, and communication skills as these skills not only have developed during this

period but also proved to be part of my success. The remarks given by my team leader were also

related to my communication and data management abilities in the department. Also, the skills

like interpersonal communication, change management, and time management are also learnt

during this experience. The contacts of clients organization which were maintained during this

experience will also facilitate my job search after completion of education.

ConclusionAction based learning experiences facilitated the practical learning of students along with the

formal and traditional class room learning. The placements achieved under the ‘Negotiated

learning agreements’ also become the source of key skills development like in my case of

working in a small airline company. The skills of analysis, data management, communication,

negotiation and organization will help in my real professional experiences of future. My

placement in CRM division of this airline has provided me to look closely into the matters facing

buy the company related to its corporate clients and how the company facilitate the customizes

flight solutions for the companies and individuals. Also, the key management issues and

customers complaints handling systems learnt from these experiences will surely qualify me for

the management positions in a reputed airline after completion of formal education. The

development of my key skills in marketing and sales with specialization in CRM will surely get

me real life ideas of airline industry issues. Therefore, action based learning with proper

performance measures and controls can produce career management opportunities for students

during their education period in universities.

Reference List

Cohen, E. G. (1994) Designing Groupwork - Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom.

Second Edition, Teachers College Press.

Evans, N. (2001). The Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Institutions,

Academics, and the Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning. Routledge.

Geoff, A., David, J. B., & Jane, S. (2001). Learnings Contracts. Routledge.

Graves, N. (2013). Learner Managed Learning: Practice, Theory and Policy. Routledge.

Kiser, P. M. (2010). The Human Services Internship: Getting the Most from Your Experience:

Getting the Most from Your Experience. Cengage Learning.

Laycock, M., & Stephenson, J. (2013). Using Learning Contracts in Higher Education.

Routledge.

Lynne, H., & Denise, C. (2013). University Teaching in Focus: A Learning-Centred Approach.

Routledge.

McKee, A. (2012). Management – A Focus on Leaders. (International Edition). Boston:

Pearson.

William, J. R., & Kazanas, H. C. (2003). The Strategic Development of Talent. Human Resource

Development.