Potential Barriers to Professional Development

Potential barriers to professional development could be that individuals may have family commitments to which may affect how an individual manages their time effectively at home, some individuals may lack the mastery of managing their study time as delegating or organising homelife may not be something they are able to do due to limitations of attending to children or other chores. However, it also may be difficult for the company to provide time to an individual during working hours due to constraints of having limited staff on duty to do specific skilled tasks. This can be resolved by having discussions with an individual who you see protentional for development to see what is practical for them and the organisation to enable them their progression.

Additionally, financially individuals may not have the ability to finance themselves in attending training days as a result it may require funding from the organisation to enable them to attend courses. On the other hand, the company maybe limited with budgets, so funding may not be easily available for individuals or there may be a waiting list for courses other than the mandatory training provided. This can be resolved by liaising with individuals and other areas of the company to whom don’t mind sharing a taxi and sharing the fee. Additionally, having the staff member on a waiting list for a course or advising them of an external company to which they could receive qualifications may be an option if the individual feels they can afford to fund their own development.

In collaboration, there may also be issues with attitude to learning some staff may have a negative outlook to learning to which could disinhibit their development for example, if there isn’t enough guidance given by senior staff this may lead to information or ineffective coaching from their peers with in the team who unofficially mis guide the individual or encourage the individual to continue practice the ineffective way like using incorrect manual handling procedures or food handling techniques as examples.

Some staff may struggle with language to which English isn’t their first language this can be a barrier to writing and speaking to which can be a disadvantage to some as they may struggle to understand what is being taught to them or what they should do. However, some companies may be able to provide additional training to those who struggle to read and write or use a computer to which can support them in their roles. This does depend on the company and their budget.

Larger organisations such as the NHS or councils are more like to be able to deliver Individual people learn in different ways some are more visual based learners’ others might be better at reading or they may prefer auditory or kinestic learning or a mix. Identifying early if a staff member has a learning disability can enable the manager to supply proper adaptations to that person to enable them to do their role effectively with the skills taught to them.

For example, somebody with dyslexia may require coloured paper to enable them to read, or somebody with hearing or visual difficulties, or language barriers may require additional support with that from maybe an interpretation or another person in the workforce could maybe offer time to that individual if necessary.

References

1. https://blog.prezi.com/the-four-different-types-of-learners-and-what-they-mean-to-your-presentations-infographic/