Introduction

This reflective report will discuss personal effectiveness based on literature review of previous
studies. Moreover, a detailed personal action plan will also be mentioned that incorporates the
use of tools and models. By employing established reflective models, this report will dissect my
current competencies, identify areas necessitating development, and devise a strategic Personal
Development Plan (PDP) employing SMART objectives. There are five main part in this report
including: Introduction; literature review on personal audit & effectiveness, Reflections on my
personal development & Effectiveness; Action plan for personal development and Conclusion.
The decision to undertake this report stems from a recognition of the importance of personal
effectiveness in today’s context with action plan for future career – human resource manager.
II. Literature review
1. Literature review on personal effectiveness
According to the research conducted by Bakhshanded (2023), the concept of personal
effectiveness involves various aspects of an individual's abilities and behaviors. Specifically, it
refers to the capacity of an individual to possess self-confidence, competence, and take control of
their own actions and the environment in which they operate. Aiswarya (et al., 2021) further
highlighted the significance of personal effectiveness by emphasizing its potential to positively
influence others in a dynamic and energetic manner. This influence can be achieved through
effective communication that enables the clear and convincing transmission of thoughts and
facts. To facilitate such positive influence, individuals need to develop and utilize interpersonal
skills, which allow for the efficient organization and prioritization of resources. By doing so,
individuals can enhance working relationships and minimize stress levels. Building upon these
ideas, Wambui (2009) proposed a comprehensive definition of personal effectiveness, which
encompasses a distinct set of behavioral competencies, qualities, skills, and attributes. These
competencies are closely associated with effective management behavior and are embedded
within all work-related activities. They encompass the key behaviors that are essential for a
competent manager to perform their duties successfully. Similarly, Satpathy et al. (2013)
explored the concept of personal effectiveness by highlighting its relevance in the workplace.
They defined personal effectiveness as the ability of executives to effectively utilize their
potential and enhance their personality traits. As a result, individuals can become valuable assets
and be appreciated within their professional environment. In summary, personal effectiveness
revolves around individuals' awareness of their impact on the world around them. It necessitates
taking proactive steps to improve their effectiveness and achieve success in their endeavors.
2. How to build personal effectiveness
Based on the literature review mentioned above, we can see many benefits of building personal
effectiveness. This includes improved productivity, greater focus, enhanced goal achievement,
better decision-making, increased confidence, stronger relationships, reduced stress, adaptability,
leadership skills, work-life balance, creativity, and personal fulfillment. There are some methods
has been applied to build personal effectiveness.
‘’The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is a self-help and personal development book written
by Stephen R. Covey. First published in 1989, the book has become a classic in the field of
personal effectiveness and leadership. Covey's book presents a holistic approach to personal and
professional effectiveness, emphasizing principles and character development. The book is
divided into seven habits.
Be Proactive
Take control of your actions and choices, focusing on what you can control and influence rather
than reacting to external events.
Begin with the End in Mind
Have a clear vision of your goals and values, and set specific long-term objectives before starting
any task or project.
Put First Things First
Prioritize tasks based on importance, managing your time effectively and avoiding distractions.
Think Win-Win
Seek mutually beneficial solutions in interactions with others, emphasizing collaboration over
competition.
Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Listen empathically to others before expressing your own viewpoint, improving communication
and problem-solving.
Synergize
Combine the strengths and perspectives of individuals through teamwork to create solutions
greater than the sum of their parts.
Sharpen the Saw
Take care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being for long-term
effectiveness through activities like exercise, meditation, learning, and self-reflection.
According to Duhigg. C (2014) "The Power of Habit" explores the science of habit formation
and offers a framework for understanding and changing habits. This may help individuals
become more effective in shaping behaviors and achieving their goals. There are three-part
framework in this book: The habit loop; The golden rule of habit change; The belief system
Another model in the process of build a personal effectiveness is ‘’Atomic Habits” written by
James Clear (2018). The book is based on the idea that small, incremental changes in our habits
which lead to significant improvements in our lives over time. There are several key points
presented: The Four Laws of Behavior Change; The Three-Step Loop; Making the craving
attractive; Making the response easy; Removing friction and Reinforcement.
3. Self - apply
In this part, the report will apply theories and frameworks from ‘’ The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People’’ to reflect and evaluate myself. There are three self-mystery habits and four
interdependence habits. By linking to personal brand and uniquess from previous report, I can
show an overview about myself, know my strengths to utilize or skills that need to improve in
the future.
Be proactive
In this semester, I struggled in doing first assignment of Developing Employability Skills
subject. Instead of blaming the difficulty of this course, I decided to be proactive that I needed
the guidance from Ms.Dung in terms of structure, content of the assignment. I was also join in a
study group with some of my friends last year to ask detailed information and allocate extra
study time for this subject.
Begin with end in mind
My career goal is to become a HR manager in a multinational corporation. I started to study
Business Administration in University of Bedfordshire providing various courses espescially
they offered relevant courses in human resources like Managing people. Addtionally, when I was
a senior student, I had chance to be an intern in Gia Khoa Joint Stock Company that helped gain
pratical experience. Not only that, I studied online courses related to my career choice from
Coursera to provide better knowledge and deep understanding.
Put first things first
Know prioritize my tasks based on importance and set out goals clearly with time management
effectively. I often use planner or digital tool like reminder on Iphone to track assignments or due
date.
Think win-win
In a group project of Business subject, I noticed my teammate struggling with their part ( Do
Process-Log template). Instead of ignoring it or taking over their work, I offered to help them
understand the concept better. In this way, the project benefits from quality work by adding more
appendices and save time for all members.
Synergize
In group project, I often actively listen to my teammate’s viewpoint about problem in specific
case study. I can ask follow-up questions to clarify their points before preseting my arguements.
It not only help me to have deep understanding but also show respectful and productive debate in
group.
Sharpen the shaw
This componet is crucial for myself in developing better version in the future. I maintain a
balanced style to support it by do regular exercise with proper nutrition in daily meal, set aside
time each weekend to hang out with my best friends. Addtionally, I often watch TedTalk on
Youtube to provide academic information in different fields or read a book in the morning for
mental relaxion purposes before start new day.
4. Skill relevant to my career choice
Based on tests to learn more about myself such as: 16Personalities, Wingfinder and Belbrin Test,
and linking it to my personal brand, I hope to become an HR manager in the future.
Stewart. G and Brown. K (2019) showed three main groups of competencies a human resource
manager needs, including:
Organization knowledge
They defined Human resource specialists must demonstrate knowledge of the organization’s core
business processes to gain the respect of other organization members.
Business knowledge competencies
In particular, to become HR manager, specialists need deep understanding in business related to
financial management, customer be customer relations, competitor analysis, globalization,
production capability, and information systems. Knowledge of these aspects of the business is
particularly important for the strategic partner role, which requires human resource specialists to
integrate their actions with the actions of other organizational leaders.
Human resource practice competencies
In this field, the competencies related to knowledge, skill and ability required for recruiting,
hiring, training, and compensating employee. For example, they need to know how to divide
work duties for employees, creating reporting relationships, and motivating jobs effectively.
Effective human resource specialists also need to be skilled communicators who can work with
managers to send clear messages related to both business processes and personnel decisions.
Competency in human resource practices is especially important for carrying out the roles of
functional expert, employee advocate, and human capital developer.
II.Reflection on my personal development & effectiveness
In this part, I will discuss about reflections and audit activities to develop ideas for personal
action planning by using reflective models. For further analysis in terms of identifying gap, I
choose SWOT analysis to have deep understanding in my current strengths and weakness with
necessary skills for future career.
Gibb’s reflective model
Description
Currently, I am sophomore at Foreign Trade University. In the final assignment of Business
practice explored, I choosed GK Construction Joint Stock Company as the requirement to gain
pratical experience in human resource management during Covid-19. At that time, I was tasked
with assigning in human resource department. Updating work-from-home guidelines, developing
safety protocols for essential staff, and managing employee transition to remote work were part
of my responsibilities during the pandemic. I collaborated with department heads to assess
staffing needs and adjust recruitment strategies. I organized virtual training sessions for
employees to adapt to new software tools and remote working practices. I managed a
communication channel for employees to voice COVID-19 concerns, ensuring they were
addressed in company policies. My work was mostly remote with occasional office visits,
following strict safety measures.
Feelings
Initally, I was excited about the internship as I could gain pratical knowledge in this field and
enhance my social skills through communicate with teammates in GK company. However, I was
quickly overwhelmed due to health risks in Covid-19 would affect my learning experience.
Moreover, I often felt isolated when working remotely (Through Teams or Zoom Application).
The lack of direct, in-person guidance and the challenging in building team-connection with
colleagues. As a result, collecting more specific information about the company is also difficult
when I can only get public data and cannot work directly.
Evaluation
There are both positive and negavtive sides when I was an intern. On the positive side, I learned
to use various digital tools for project management and communication. However, the lack of
reality interaction made it difficult for me to build relationships with colleagues as mentioned
above and understand practical aspects in HR construction company . Additionally, managing
people through online applications would affect work productivity in employees leading to the
company's operating results not being as expected.
Analysis
I observed the rapid deployment of digital tools and platforms to facilitate remote work.
However, some employees struggled with this sudden change due to a lack of technical skills or
inadequate home office setups. However, the lack of prior training or preparation for such a
transition led to uneven adoption rates among employees. This situation highlights the need for
ongoing digital literacy training as part of regular HR practices. Future HR strategies should
include continuous training and preparedness for digital transitions, not just as a crisis response
but as an integral part of workplace flexibility.
Conclusion
This experience taught me the significance adaptability and clear communication in HR
management, especially during a crisis. I also enhanced my effective commnuication skills
which is very important for my future career path.
Action plan
In the future, I plan to incorporate these lessons into my academic studies (Business) and future
career aspirations in human resource management. Additionally, I will seek out opportunities for
internships or projects that allow me to gain more hands-on experience in HR department in
specific company.
SWOT analysis

MBTI personality test

The personality test from MBTI test describes me as a charismatic and straightforward
individual, valued for their honesty and humor. I am a strategic, excelling in problem-solving
with a logical and critical approach to decision-making. Addtionally, I also values stability and
holds high moral standards, actively participating in community and civic duties. While admired
for their reliability and initiative, my journey includes developing greater emotional intelligence
and adaptability. That why I am often being a leader in team-work problems with support in both
physicial and emotional activities when members need. As a result, I will suitable for jobs related
to leadership and management roles; finance and accounting or public administration.
Personal Feedback
I used personal feedback to collect data from my colleagues and members at the workplace or in
teamwork at the university. There were eight results with different results about my strengths and
weaknesses that I should focus on and improve in my future career path. According to the
feedback, I am good at problem-solving, organization skills and analytical ability. Moreover, I
also get high scores in communication skills and can prioritize tasks and delegate them when
appropriate, making me suitable for the manager role. On the other hand, I need to have a more
profound understanding of Business Studies, especially in Human Resource Management and
enhance my time-management skills.
My gap analysis
Through this reflection part, by conducting models and analysis about my strengths and
weaknesses, here is my gap analysis that I need to improve. Firstly, I need to bridge the gap
between my current limited experience in management and the required proficiency through
internships, projects and learning. I must also develop strategies to handle high-volume
workloads efficiently and improve my time management skills. I am continuously updating
myself with the latest technologies and tools, such as remote-working or meeting apps, to adapt
to the requirements. By addressing these gaps, I can better align my skills and experiences with
the demands and opportunities of a career in human resource management.
3. Personal development plan
3.1 My SMART goal
3.2 My short-term plan
3.3 My mid-term plan
3.4 My long-term plan
Conclusion
This report has provided more information about personal effectiveness with a literature review
from previous studies and how to build them through models such as 7 Habits or Atomic Habits.
Additionally, I can also apply the model for myself to better understand the strengths and
weaknesses that need to be improved in the future with evidence from online personal tests.
Building a personal development plan using SMART and action plans will help me gradually
achieve specific goals and eventually become an HR manager.

Reference list

1. Aiswarya, P., Thomas, S. and Faheema, T. (2021) ‘International Journal of Research in

Engineering, Science and Management’, A Study on Personal Effectiveness
AmongCollege Students, 4(1).
2. Bakhshandeh, B., Rothwell, W. and Imroz, S. (2023) ‘Personal effectiveness’, in
Transformational coaching for effective leadership: Implementing sustainable change
through shifting paradigms. Productivity Press.

3. Covey, S.R. (2020) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 30th anniversary
edition.Edited by S. Covey and J. Collins. New York: Simon & Schuster.
4. Duhigg, C. (2014) The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and business. New
York: Paperbacks.
5. James, .C (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break
bad ones. New York: Penguin Random House.
6. Sapathy, S. and Sahoo, R. (2019) ‘International Journal of Exclusive Management
Research’, Personal Effectiveness Study on effectiveness of Executives in work
experience in both Government and Private Insurance Corporation, Odisha, 3(3).
7. Stewart, G and Brown, K. (2019) Human resource management. Linking strategy to
Practice. 4th edn. John Wiley & Sons
8. Wambui, L. (2009) Personal effectiveness and executive stress. Available at:
https://ir.nust.na/bitstream/10628/199/1/Wambui.%20Personal%20effectiveness%20an
%20executive%20stress.pdf (Accessed: 26 November 2023).