BSBWOR501B
QUEENSLAND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ACADEMY
1. Establish personal work goals
2. Set and meet own work priorities
3. Develop and maintain professional
competence

Developing and maintaining professional
competence involves:
 determining development needs, priorities and
plans
 seeking and using feedback to improve
competence
 identifying development opportunities
 participating in networks to enhance knowledge
and skills
 achieving and maintaining a competitive edge.

Staying current involves maintaining up-to-date
skills and knowledge and is a regulatory
requirement in many industries.

In any industry, staying current promotes:
 safety
 productivity
 compliance
 job satisfaction.
3.1 Assess personal knowledge and skills against competency standards to
determine development needs, priorities and plans

Competency standards define the skills and
knowledge required to operate effectively in
employment and how they can be applied.

They outline performance criteria, essential skills
and knowledge required to reach the required
standard and may include:
 enterprise-specific units of competency consistent with
work requirements
 nationally endorsed units of competency consistent with
work requirements.
Information
Why
Example
National training
regulators
Identify competencies,
performance, skills and
knowledge for qualification
criteria
http://training.gov.au/
Regulating bodies
Identify current and future
required competency level,
qualifications and
development standards.
Provide development
opportunities
Industry based
• Australian Prudential
Regulatory Authority (APRA)
• Australian Accounting
Standards Board (AASB)
Industry associations
Identify current required
competencies for
membership. Provide
development opportunities
and future trend information
Industry based
• Fitness Australia
• The Regional Aviation
Association of Australia
(RAAA)
Information
Why
Example
Professional networks
Identify competencies,
performance, skills and
knowledge for specific job
positions across different
organisations
Provide future trend
information
Enquiring about competencies
for the same (or desired)
position in one of your
networks organisation
Job descriptions
Identify current and future
required competency level,
qualifications , duties and
performance KPIS for all
positions in the organisation .
Access a job description of a
position that you would like
and conduct a training needs
analysis to identify
competency gaps

When reviewing performance against relevant
competency standards:
 assess how frequently the competency is required
 assess your current competency
 document examples of your competency
 highlight any areas for development

To determine personal development you
need to:
 list the competencies required of your role
 document evidence of your ability to achieve the
desired standard
 rate your performance against a marking system
 create a development plan

After identifying your development opportunities:
 prioritise the competencies, perhaps according to
frequency of use
 weight the results, perhaps according to your
existing skill level
 create a weighted score to rank the competencies
for development
 identify ways to develop each competency
3.2 Seek feedback from employees, clients and colleagues and use this
feedback to identify and develop ways to improve competence

Seeking feedback is an essential part of:
 training and development
 goal-setting
 team-building
 job performance evaluation.

Used correctly, feedback can help you:
 control and improve behaviour
 enhance performance
 identify personal and professional opportunities

The 360-degree feedback method is a multi-sourced
feedback method.

It includes feedback from:
 colleagues at the same level
 managers and supervisors
 internal customers
 external customers
 team members

The T-Group method of multi-rated feedback is a
team-based method of gathering feedback.

It provides participants with insights about:
 themselves
 how they interact with others
 how to function more effectively in group and
interpersonal situations.

To receive feedback effectively, managers should:
 actively reduce or remove their own biases and
insecurities
 be open and willing to listen to criticism
 identify areas of relevance
 ensure the feedback is unbiased.

Feedback can be interpreted by:
 using quantitative data from ratings
 reviewing qualitative feedback
 identifying themes within the feedback
 identifying difference between different feedback
sources
 using creative analysis tools to identify
development opportunities.
3.3 Identify, evaluate, select and use development opportunities suitable
to personal learning style/s to develop competence

Understanding your personal learning style helps
determine the most appropriate method for improving
competency.

There are many different theories and categorisations
of learning styles.

If the links between your identified learning style,
preferred learning activities and learning opportunities
are matched, you should perform better and the
learning process should be more efficient and effective
Pragmatist
Likes to have a go, tries
things to see if they work
Activist
Concrete
experience
Doing and experiencing
Doing
Planning
Active
experimentation
Reflective
observation
Reviewing
Concluding
Theorist
Wants to understand
underlying reasons,
concepts and relationships
Reflector
Abstract
conceptualism
Observes and reflects
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Learn best when –
 new experiences and challenges from which to learn
 short ‘here and now’ tasks involving competitive
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teamwork and problem-solving
excitement, change and variety
‘high visibility’ tasks such as chairing meetings,
leading discussions and presentations
situations in which new ideas can be developed
without constraints of policy and structure
opportunities for just ‘having a go’

learn best when
 are allowed or encouraged to watch / think / ponder on
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activities
have time to think before acting, to assimilate before
commenting
can carry out careful, detailed research
have time to review their learning
need to produce carefully considered analyses and reports
are helped to exchange views with other people without
danger, by prior agreement, within a structured learning
experience
can reach a decision without pressure and tight deadlines.
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learn best when
 what is being offered is part of a system, model, concept
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or theory
they can explore methodically the associations and
interrelationships between ideas, events and situations
they can question and probe the basic methodology,
assumptions or logic
they are intellectually stretched, e.g. by being asked to
analyse and evaluate, then generalise
they are in structured situations with a clear purpose
they see interesting ideas and concepts, whether or not
they are immediately relevant.
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Learn best when  there is an obvious link between the subject matter and a ‘real
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life’ problem
they are shown techniques for doing things with obvious
practical advantages
they have the chance to try out and practise techniques with
coaching or feedback from a credible expert
they see a model they can emulate, or examples / anecdotes
they are given techniques currently applicable to their own
work
they are given immediate opportunities to implement what
they have learned
they can concentrate on practical issues, such as drawing up
action plans or giving tips to others.
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No - we all exhibit traits from each learning
style, to a greater or lesser degree.

Effective learners make full use of their
natural preferences, while also acquiring
useful features from their less dominant
styles.

We all have incredible potential to acquire
new skills, and to learn in new ways.

You should not feel that you are stuck in a
style of learning. You should feel free to adopt
the learning strategies which are most
appropriate for a particular task, or a
particular stage in the learning process.

Different learning methods include:
 Action learning
 Coaching
 exchange and rotation
 Induction
 Mentoring
 Shadowing
 Structured training programs.
Internal methods / opportunities
action learning
coaching
exchange and rotation
induction
mentoring
shadowing / observation
structured training programs
participation in team projects or
committees
e-learning intranet / internet
problem solving (quality circles)
accessing information – reading/
reports / journals / periodicals / case
studies
Eternal methods / opportunities
formal courses and qualifications
e-learning and online learning
workshops
seminars and conference participation
accessing information – reading/ journals /
periodicals / case studies
3.4 Undertake participation in networks to enhance personal knowledge,
skills and work relationships

Networking involves building professional
relationships to further personal development.

Network strategies refer to the approach an
individual uses to build their networks, and may
include:
 joining professional associations
 participating in conferences
 attending seminars
 individual marketing
 maintaining regular contact with others

Business networks may be established for various
reasons, including:
 professional development
 gaining referral business
 maintaining industry contacts
 creating a database of advisors and experts
 profit opportunities
 personal satisfaction and recognition
 gaining political or information advantage

Professional networks and associations may include:
 advisory committees
 colleagues
 government agencies
 internal/external customers
 lobby groups
 local inter-agency groups
 other organisations
 occupational associations
 project-specific reference groups
 suppliers
 your team
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Get Details about the Networking Event in Advance
Dress Appropriately and Arrive a Few Minutes Early
Bring your Business Cards and Something to Write
With
Have Your Opening Line ready
Just Relax and Aim to Meet About 5 People
Remember You are Also a Resource to Others
Be Pleasant, Relaxed and Polite
Ask Questions that are of Genuine Interest to You
Ask for Their Business Card
Follow Up with Hand Written Notes
Give First
3.5 Identify and develop new skills to achieve and maintain a competitive
edge

Maintaining a personal competitive edge means
maintaining your skills and competencies to help
career progression.

A competitive set may include:
 colleagues and peers
 supervisors and managers
 other organisations within the industry scope
 other organisations within the scope of expertise

Competition between organisational members
should be positive. It can promote sustainable
growth for both individuals and the organisation.

Competition is most effective when:
 individuals compete against their own
performance
 individuals are not competing against a co-worker

Personal development should extend beyond the
current job description.

Strategies to help identify development opportunities
may include:
 brainstorming
 free association
 fishbone analysis
 needs analysis
 heuristics
 value analysis
 attribute listing

Strategies for increasing learning and memory include:
 posing and answering deep-level questions
 testing yourself at regular intervals to recap new concepts
 perform activities that apply the learning either at work or
at home
 review solved problems then apply the techniques to new
problems
 obtain graphics and illustrations for difficult concepts
 connect and integrate abstract and concrete
representations of concepts
 test yourself to identify what you do and don’t know