LESSON 4: Fostering Professional Growth and Development

Site: TESDA Online Program Printed by: Ruby Exconde

Course: Introduction to Caregiving Date: Thursday, 30 June 2022, 10:30 AM
Book: LESSON 4: Fostering Professional Growth and Development
 Table of contents

Introduction

TOPIC 1: Solving and Addressing General Work Problems

TOPIC 2: Developing Career and Life Decisions

Managing Emotions at Work
Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Developing and Maintaining Positive Attitude at Work
Boosting Self-Confidence
Self-Regulation Theory
Empathy Mapping

TOPIC 3: Contributing to Workplace Innovation

TOPIC 4: Presenting Relevant Information

References
 Introduction

In the workplace, it is not enough for us to perform our tasks as they are. We are challenged to practice critical thinking, come up with innovative
solutions, and solve problems that will benefit the productivity of our workplace and contribute to our professional growth and development.
With this, many more opportunities become more available to us to help build a better life for our loved ones and us.

In this lesson, we will discuss solving and addressing general work problems, developing career and life decisions, contributing to workplace
innovation, and presenting relevant information.
 TOPIC 1: Solving and Addressing General Work Problems

It is typical for a workplace to have different kinds of people with different personalities, perspectives, and attitudes. It is also common for these
differences to be the cause of workplace issues. If not addressed and resolved, these issues may lead to stress and tension for the employees
involved, and situations of bullying, harassment, or discrimination, which could, in turn, affect their performance, productivity, and work output. 

The following are common workplace problems experienced by employees, as identified by Good Therapy:

Interpersonal conflict
Communication problems
Gossip
Bullying
Harassment
Discrimination
Low motivation and job satisfaction
Performance issues
Poor job fit

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 TOPIC 2: Developing Career and Life Decisions

SELF-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Self-management skills help people take control of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Having these skills allows them to set goals
independently and work toward achieving them. 

The following are examples of self-management skills:

Organization - being organized helps in planning, prioritizing, and carrying out important activities, which enables you to manage your
essential workplace responsibilities
Goal Setting - being able to clearly and definitely know what you want to achieve helps in prioritizing and coming up with an action plan that
lets you reach your goals
Time Management - having strong time management skills enables you to work on tasks with no distractions, defined priorities and clear
focus, which helps set and meet deadlines and become highly productive.
Self-motivation - completing tasks while encouraged by your desire to succeed and not by external factors allows you to be more
productive and progressive with your projects and activities in the workplace.
Stress Management - managing stress can be done through different activities such as maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly,
meditation and journaling. It is important to have this skill so that you can remain calm and manage your emotions in times of stress, and
keep steady progress at work.
Accountability - being able to maintain responsibility for your actions and thoughts helps in evaluating work and determining the best way
to move forward.

The following are ways in improving self-management skills:



 Managing Emotions at Work

Here are some tips on how to manage emotions at work:

 Gibbs Reflective Cycle

The Gibbs Reflective Cycle, created by American sociologist and psychologist Graham Gibbs in 1988, set up a systematic way of thinking
about what people experienced during a specific event.

Click the + to know more!

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 Developing and Maintaining Positive Attitude at Work

Your career and life at work are influenced by your attitude. It is important to have a positive attitude in the work to have the following benefits:

Foster a positive workplace environment

Limit stress
Increase levels of productivity
Give more energy
Improve relationship with clients and workmates
Demonstrate capacity as a leader
Develop decision-making skills
Inspire others


 Boosting Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is your belief in how good you are at something, or how likely you are going to accomplish a task. However, it does not actually
measure your skill. 

Here are some ways to improve your self-confidence:

 Self-Regulation Theory

The self-regulation theory (SRT) details the components and processes in deciding on your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. The SRT
posits that the following factors determine our behavior:

Personal standards of good behavior

Our drive to meet those standards
Our level of awareness of our actions and situation
Range of our willpower to avoid temptations and choose the best path

Four Components of SRT according to Roy Baumeister

1. Standards - of desirable behavior;

2. Motivation - to meet standards;
3. Monitoring - of situations and thoughts that precede breaking standards;
4. Willpower - allowing one’s internal strength to control urges.

These four components are interconnected to help establish our self-regulatory activity.
 Empathy Mapping

An empathy map is a tool used to help you better understand your clients and their needs. It has four (4) quadrants that signify key traits that
clients demonstrated during the observation or research stage, such as what they said, did, thought, and felt. The following are steps in
empathy mapping:

Step 1: Fill up the empathy map

Create 4 quadrants on a board or paper

Look back on your notes, videos, and other recordings of the research or observation, and take note of the following:

What the client said - include significant quotes and keywords

What the client did - describe, illustrate, or take pictures of actions or behaviors

What the client thought of - this must be based on careful observation and analysis about the client’s thoughts, motivations, goals, needs,
desires, and beliefs

How the client felt - this must also be carefully tackled. This can be gauged through subtle cues like body language, choice of words and
tone of voice.

Step 2: Synthesize the needs

 Make a synthesis of your client’s needs using the empathy map as your reference to help you determine your design challenge.

Remember that the needs must be verbs or action words, which signify activities and desires.

Determine your client’s needs using your observed traits, more specifically the contradiction between two traits. This refers to the disconnect
between what the client says and what the client does.

You may use Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to help you understand and define your client’s underlying needs. Refer to this hierarchy
also to determine which need must be prioritized:

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Write down the identified needs of the client.

Step 3: Synthesize your insights

Insight refers to your own realizations that can help solve the design challenge.

Combine the insights that you had, especially the ones about the contradictions between two of the client’s attributes.

Write down your insights.

 TOPIC 3: Contributing to Workplace Innovation

Employees who continuously seek ways to improve themselves and enjoy contributing to the innovation effort regardless of their roles are
needed by organizations to be more efficient and productive. It is helpful for employees to be curious about work practices’ productiveness and
effectiveness, instead of just following them as they are. Innovativeness is a trait that is very essential to the employees of an organization.

Innovation is important because it can lead businesses to new and better products and services, and thus can help them achieve commercial
success. With innovation, businesses are able to respond faster and better to changing environments, grasp opportunities and develop
necessary partnerships to generate and act on ideas.

Both clients and employees also benefit from innovation. For the clients, innovation can provide them with improved products and efficiencies
and better prices. The benefit of innovation for the staff is the fostering of a better and more productive workplace and thus making them more
involved and happier at work.

Innovation in an Organization Leads to:

Competitive advantage in capabilities that gives your organization an edge over other competitors and provide better products and services
to clients
Maximized return of investment (ROI) since innovation has a direct impact on performance and profitability
Increased productivity and improved efficiency
Development of a positive company culture 

Encouraging Continuous Improvement in the Workplace

7 Habits by Stephen Covey (R)

These habits are a set of guidelines in living a full, purposeful and good life. Practicing these contribute to improving the workplace and working
well with others.


According to Covey, our self is divided into four parts that need to be fed and developed:

1. The spiritual self

2. The mental self
3. The physical self
4. The social/emotional self
TOPIC 4: Presenting Relevant Information
 References

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C. E. (2021, Nov 25). What is Self-Regulation? (+95 Skills and Strategies).
Positive Psychology.
https://positivepsychology.com/self-regulation/
2. Armstrong,
A. (n.d.). Workplace Issues. Good Therapy. https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/workplace-issues
3. Arora, S.K.
(2021, Nov 9). What is Data Analysis? Definition & Example.
Hackr.io. https://hackr.io/blog/what-is-data-analysis-methods-
techniques-tools
4. Cullen, E.
(2018, Apr 20). How to promote continuous improvement in the workplace.
Mentimeter. https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/great-
leadership/how-to-promotes-continuous-improvement-in-the-workplace
5. Dam, R.F.
& Siang, T.Y. (2021). Empathy Map – Why and How to Use It.
Interaction Design. https://www.interaction-
design.org/literature/article/empathy-map-why-and-how-to-use-it
6. Indeed
Editorial Team. (2021, Dec 9). Self-Management Skills: Definition and
Examples. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-
advice/career-development/self-management-skills
7. Indeed Editorial
Team. (2021, Feb 17). 10 Ways To Have a More Positive Attitude at Work.
Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-
advice/career-development/positive-attitude-at-work
8. Kylliäinen,
J. (2019, Apr 26). The Importance of Innovation – What Does it Mean for Businesses
and our Society?. VIIMA.
https://www.viima.com/blog/importance-of-innovation
9. Mulder, P.
(2018). Gibbs Reflective Cycle by Graham Gibbs. Tools Hero. https://www.toolshero.com/management/gibbs-reflective-cycle-
graham-gibbs/
10. Post, J.
(2021, Dec 11). How to Develop a Positive Attitude in the Workplace.
Business News Daily.
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6912-develop-positive-mindset.html
11. Problem
Solving Information and Tips. (n.d.). The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved May 5, 2021, from
https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/problem-solving
12. Schmitz, T.
(2016, Aug 5). Gathering Information. Conover Company. https://www.conovercompany.com/gathering-information/
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Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. (2021, May 12). BusinessBalls. Retrieved May
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https://www.businessballs.com/self-management/the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people/