Reflexive Professional Reflection Development
Part A: Introduction and Design of the Research
The primary goal of creating this report is to develop the practice of reflexive practitioner reflection. The need for professional growth is being recognized by several management professionals today, to a substantial degree. Employees who participate in professional development are more likely to remain proficient in their field and succeed in it (Moon, 2013). It ought to be a continuous process that lasts the whole of an individual’s professional life.
By actively seeking professional development, individuals can guarantee that their knowledge and abilities remain up to date and effective. In addition, it helps professionals to be more cognizant of the shifting trends and orientations in their respective industries (Zepeda, 2016). As a result, this study aspires to provide me with an excellent opportunity to further my development as a reflective professional in addition to my role as a scholar-practitioner. Additionally, the work will be centered on the advancement of the research as well as the researcher’s capacity to engage in reflective practice in his or her work. Finally, this paper will discuss the importance of reflective practice in the journey of self-growth in detail.
The Aim of the Research
The primary objective of this study is to raise awareness of one’s own self as an individual in a career. I want to do the study to better understand my current and future professional identities, including my dreams of becoming a marketing manager. The study’s goal is to discover how marketing managers might use improving self-awareness to boost staff output and the department’s overall success in marketing management.
The Context of the Research
This report will focus on marketing management. A more self-aware workforce equals better leaders, more cohesive teams, more pleasant working environments, and higher output. It aids in the growth and development of individuals, enabling them to make the most of their inherent talents while also avoiding the pitfalls that would otherwise befall them. Executives, managers, human resources professionals, and just about everyone else in the organization may benefit from having a good sense of self. Studies suggest that persons who have a more realistic view of their own abilities are more productive at work (Showry & Manasa, 2014).
Not only are employees who lack self-awareness annoying, but they may reduce the odds of performance of a company in half. According to the study, working alongside coworkers who aren’t aware of the repercussions may lead to diminished motivation and greater stress. It is difficult for individuals to be productive when they lack self-awareness, which has a negative impact on the firm’s overall performance. This research examines how a lack of self-awareness in the marketing management department inhibits worker productivity and efficiency and lowers overall effectiveness.
Review of Literature
Self-awareness is the cognitive knowledge and understanding of one’s own personality, emotions, motivations, and aspirations. Self-aware people can objectively evaluate themselves, manage their emotions, align their actions with their ideals, and accurately understand how others view them (Billon, 2017). This is the most crucial attribute when it comes to professional emotional intelligence. People who develop a stronger sense of self in the workforce are good at interacting with their coworkers, immediate supervisor, and superiors, resulting in a more cohesive workplace environment.
Furthermore, Individuals who possess this characteristic are able to see situations objectively and the part they may have had in their genesis. The best leaders are self-aware and conscious of themselves. They communicate candidly, freely recognize their blunders, and are self-assured (Ackerman, 2021). Consciousness is important in all aspects of life because it indicates that individuals have a firm grasp as to who they are and how they fit into the environment in which they live. Self-aware people understand their talents and flaws and how to control them effectively in their places of work.
Marketing management is primarily concerned with developing, organizing, and executing strategies that contribute to the achievement of broader company goals. These corporate objectives may include growing, raising profitability, increasing brand awareness, or exploring markets that have not been previously tapped (Bhardawaj, 2019). As a result, I am certain that growing self-awareness will be a valuable experience in understanding how businesses increase staff performance and productivity during marketing management. According to Furnham (2012), self-awareness enables marketing managers and workers in a company to identify their strengths, limitations, beliefs, and motivations. In marketing management, individuals with a high level of awareness are adept at assessing their own emotions and sentiments and comprehending how they impact others inside the firm.
Marketing managers must be aware of the influence of their actions on the people they serve. Successful marketing managers control their personal behavior and interactions via self-awareness. Ashley and Reiter-Palmon (2012) argue that leaders must acquire self-awareness in order to adjust for their natural inclinations and talents while making workplace decisions. Moreover, marketing managers that are self-aware might have an effect on a firm’s profitability. Organizations that perform well often have more self-aware marketing managers (Peek, 2021). These managers make more informed judgments and are cognizant of their leadership’s influence on the company’s future results. As a future marketing manager, I must play a role in encouraging a workforce to strive toward development and goal achievement. Self-aware leaders understand how to strike a balance between what they desire their team to achieve and their own creative vision for the organization.
Professional Ethics and Values
In marketing, a code of professional conduct governs all members and individuals who work in the field, and that includes marketing managers. Marketing Ethics may be described as the collection of principles and domain of ethical practices that serve as a guiding force for marketing programs and rules. The marketing and management departments must adhere to a strict professional code of ethics while developing different marketing strategies and tactics to sell the company’s commodities to potential customers. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is primarily responsible for enforcing the code of conduct in marketing management. CIM is the world’s biggest marketing network, supporting, representing, and developing marketers, organizations, leaders, and the marketing sector as a whole (CIM, 2021). For professionals in the area of marketing management, some of the most critical professional characteristics or principles are Honesty, Confidentiality, Responsibility, and Integrity.
Honesty
According to the CIM (2021), marketing managers must always behave honestly and truthfully in their professional interactions with consumers and clients (both present and prospective), administrators, and staff. If marketing department professionals are entirely candid about the strengths and weaknesses of their goods, the consumer is more inclined to believe what they say about the product’s qualities. In an age where the bulk of what marketing efforts tout is scrutinized and examined, consumers’ confidence is a precious asset.
Maintain Confidentiality
As per the CIM (2021) code of conduct, marketing department professionals must keep all corporate and business information secret from those entitled to access it, where doing so is prohibited or when upholding secrecy would violate this rule. Confidentiality may be a benefit in marketing since it enables businesses to share information with the world selectively. Occasionally, firms may not want customers to be aware of everything about their commodities’ development.
Integrity
CIM’s code of ethics requires that marketing experts behave with the utmost integrity and carry themselves properly in a manner that gives dignity to themselves, the marketing profession, and CIM. Clients have high regard for organizations with strong brand and marketing integrity. Improved trust results in more revenue.
Responsible professionalism
Professionals in CIM are required to never knowingly encourage or assist another CIM member who is violating the code of practice (CIM, 2021). For example, if a CIM member becomes aware of another person’s violation of the code, the individual has a professional duty to notify CIM through the Complaints process.
The Design, Methodology, and Procedures of the Research
Research Design
A very well-organized and planned research design assists in ensuring that one’s techniques align with the report’s objectives, collect high-quality data and employ the appropriate kind of analysis to address concerns while leveraging verifiable sources. This facilitates the creation of valid and credible conclusions.
The purpose of this study is to determine if improving employee self-awareness enhances worker productivity and the general performance of a firm’s marketing department. The study design will be influenced by autoethnographic techniques and will also serve as a road map for achieving the needed research objectives. The investigator will use auto-ethnography to ensure the study is complete with eliciting emotional recollection, sociological reflection, and psychotherapeutic inquiry. The purpose of autoethnography is to replicate the researcher’s experiences reflexively, with the goal of establishing a connection with the reader that will encourage them to ponder and reflect on their own encounters (Adams & Jones, 2017). Additionally, the use of autoethnographic procedures reassures the investigator that a scenario or occurrence can be understood mainly once it has occurred. As a consequence, researchers are able to reflect on the circumstances that led to their professional behavior.
This research approach is effective because it allows the researchers to engage in sociological reflection, which is critical for the development of consciousness and results in their undertaking of self-awareness evaluations while serving as marketing managers in businesses. A significant benefit of this research design is its capacity to improve the lives of others by causing them to think on and sympathize with the experiences provided. Some individuals could become aware of previously unthought facts as a result of reading a cultural or societal description of an event. This makes autoethnography a worthwhile kind of study.
Methodology
It is essential for an investigator to choose a technique that is compatible with the study concept. Furthermore, the approach should be consistent with the study objectives. This study concentrates on the self-awareness of the marketing managers, which is a very important element in any corporation with a marketing department. Thus, the researcher must choose an effective and appropriate technique for the inquiry. The systematic sociological introspective approach is selected as the best-suited methodology in accordance with these factors. Systematic sociological introspection is defined as the act of feeling about feeling and thinking about thinking in a concentrated manner to evaluate one’s own personal experiences to better understand oneself (Given, 2008).
The reintroduction of introspective as a systematic sociological approach would enable a researcher to analyze emotions as a consequence of both individual meaning processing and collectively shared thought patterns and the relationship between the two. This methodology suits the study because it gives the investigator an opportunity to conduct comprehensive evaluations of their own self-consciousness and that of the participants in the investigation. Besides, choosing this methodology will enable the investigator to explore the valuable information from the self-awareness of the managers, employees, and other stakeholders involved in marketing management, which will be imperative for recommending the most efficient strategies for brand awareness and customer relations profitability, and advertisement.
Research has shown that systematic sociological reflection is the most appropriate technique for conducting research of this kind since the responsibilities and roles in marketing management are always shifting. In addition, marketing management is continually promoting the cultural views of various stakeholders inside the firm via various channels. By employing this approach, the researcher is assured of the reliability with which data about the values and needs of the respondents in the study will be collected and analyzed in order to determine whether or not they are essential in the design and implementation of strategies of marketing management.
Method
The Gibbs Cycle of reflective thinking is among the most successful methods for researching self-awareness to increase employee performance and increase workplace performance. According to Gibbs, focusing on personal learning experiences enables people to improve their performance both in the moment and in the future (Adeani & Syafryadin, 2020). This approach will be crucial in critical reflection in order to acquire an understanding of how events affect a person’s growth in self-awareness. In this regard, the Gibbs Cycle model fits as a technique that is pertinent to the research’s objectives.
Gibbs’s model is succinct and accurate, allowing for the evaluation, description, and assessment of events, assisting the reflective practitioner in making sense of their experiences and examining their profession (Brown, 2022). As a result, it is guaranteed that the Gibbs Cycle study will provide useful information regarding marketing professionals and their experiences, especially with respect to how their approaches affect staff performance and profitability of an organization.
Using the Gibson model, a firm’s marketing managers will be better able to create a business culture and working conditions that boost staff productivity and the overall success of the enterprise. My admittedly limited experience in marketing management has shown me that there are a lot of opportunities to learn through my interactions with the company’s clients, shareholders, and staff.
Critique of the Research Design
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is a conscience and management technique that enables individuals to think logically and methodically about their learning experiences. It motivates individuals to understand occurrences and determine how to improve their performance the next time. The Gibbs Cycle allows the researchers to collect and document important data for the purpose of conducting an effective study of a firm’s customers’ experiences (Brown, 2022). While the Gibbs Cycle is useful in that context, evaluating the behavioral characteristics of study participants is hard since extensive data must be generated. Despite this, the cycle is efficient in assessing the practitioner’s marketing management experiences compared to other departments within the organization. In terms of methodology, employing the Gibbs model allows the investigator to use reflection to assess one’s conscious awareness of personal character and sentiments in the workplace. Additionally, the Gibson Cycle is helpful for evaluating an organization’s culture and structure since it enables the task force to include diverse worker perspectives. As a result of its tolerance of diverse assumptions and features of self-awareness, it is an excellent model for achieving the study objectives. While assessing the design of the research and its ramifications for the collection of data from the self-awareness of the firm’s stakeholders, many significant obstacles may arise.
Because of these difficulties, persons who are affected by the shifting conditions, as well as the prevailing situations, experience a loss in their own self-awareness, as a result, it might be difficult for the investigator to determine the true and current meaning of the participants’ shifting consciousness during the course of the study.
Part B: Use of Digital Storyboard
Creative Writing
Self-awareness plays a critical part in human growth, and I believe that a digital storyboard is the most appropriate and effective open form of expressing this importance. When used in conjunction with other arts-based research methods, digital storytelling has the ability to clarify complicated stories in an engaging way while also increasing participant involvement and deepening the meaning of study results. This research aimed to increase employee self-consciousness, which sought to determine if this increased awareness enhances worker productivity and the effectiveness of a firm’s marketing management department. Before developing and planning marketing management methods that contribute to increased profitability in the workplace, it is critical in the professional area to assess the self-awareness of all parties in a firm. The Gibbs Cycle was seen to be the most effective technique for assessing self-awareness in this research. During my short period as a marketing manager discovered opportunities for both professional and individual development. The results will be examined in further detail below.
Identification of Personal Learning
In November 2021, I joined the company’s marketing department, for which I worked as a marketer. I had previously worked for the same firm in their human resource management department. Still, I was looking for a position and role that would allow me to pursue my aspirations of becoming a marketing manager. My role in the department was to assist the director of marketing management. On a daily basis, I was tasked with ensuring that everything ran properly, from staff to suppliers. I most often had a meeting with distributors in the morning, possibly looking at a market stand that was being developed and ensuring the branding was plausible. I then finished the day by meeting with my colleagues and ensuring that everything was going well and to a high standard of quality.
What I appreciate most about marketing as a profession is the job’s diversity. Dealing with a variety of stakeholders exposes you to a variety of different individuals at various levels. I’ve worked on a variety of fascinating projects throughout the years. Digital marketing was among them. Internet marketing is becoming an increasingly vital element of the profession; as an organization, one must remain updated with technologies. One of the fascinating parts about internet marketing is that the effectiveness of a certain campaign is quantifiable, which means that when everything goes according to plan, it can be extremely fulfilling.
I felt a feeling of responsibility in my position in the department because the employees recognized that I was beginning to develop the professional competence of an individual who does not compromise on quality and demands top-notch planning. This is because the firm’s marketing manager required me to make sure the quality and smooth operation of marketing activities are upheld.
Right from the outset, the responsibilities in my role did not seem overwhelming since I was tasked with informing the firm’s head of marketing about teams that failed to meet the organization’s quality requirements as far as online marketing is concerned. During the first day of performing tasks, the majority of employees provided poorly structured digital marketing reports that lacked quality, and several sought more shifts to improve the quality. I was afraid this might become a tradition. Long later, after formally reporting the tendency to the management, no intervention was undertaken, eliciting a negative attitude of the teams towards me that continued to compromise the quality of the reports.
At one point, while carrying out my daily responsibilities, I opted to advise two groups that were consistently submitting reports that did not fulfill the marketing department’s quality standards. The groups, however, denied the claims, stating that their presentations had high-quality information but were not given enough time to prepare them in the way they desired. As a result, I became alienated from the employee base, as many members of the team believed I lacked the ability to provide counsel about the execution of tasks.
My Professional Growth
On the bright side, I learned a valuable lesson from the incident. Marketing managers should look for opportunities to enhance work processes and be ready to accept criticism to increase workplace efficiency and personal development. The marketing management department, in particular, is responsible for determining why the marketing reports presented by workgroups fall short of expectations and then developing and implementing relevant strategies that legitimately influence employees to perform better in their job tasks.
I’ve realized that I lack the requisite competencies to succeed in the field after my contentious encounters with marketing management teams throughout my brief tenure as a marketing management department employee. This gave me the chance to raise the self-awareness of coworkers in the workplace environment, which led me to see the need for adjustments in my approach to marketing management duties in the future days. Despite my lack of expertise as a marketing management specialist, I was eager to improve the issue by positively influencing the staff groups’ consciousness. Likewise, the marketing management department manager remarked on my department’s skills deficit. On similar grounds, the manager mentored me on how to properly do my job in order to fit into the organization. This mentoring provided me with an exceptional chance to grow personally and professionally as a marketing manager.
Transformation of Professional Knowledge
Regardless of the difficulties I had while serving in the marketing team, I learned some valuable lessons that will aid me in the future. The most critical characteristic I’ve acquired is responsibility. This characteristic is strongly intertwined with task management and problem-solving. Employment is not a comfortable ride; as a result, both little and major blunders are bound to happen. Throughout my time in the marketing department, I’ve learned that one’s organization is a cohesive unit; the more effectively one works, the more effectively the firm performs. In other words, workers should constantly be accountable for their actions in order to accomplish long or short-term objectives. Additionally, I gained valuable marketing skills such as digital marketing, content management, analytics, and mobile marketing.
Throughout my admittedly limited experience doing jobs in the marketing management department, I saw the necessity to modify my personal and professional interactions. After my discovery that the marketing management department is more than the control of marketing aspects and the monitoring of advertising and brand awareness by workers working under the manager’s supervision, I felt compelled to understand their self-consciousness. Because I was interested in enhancing staff self-awareness, I decided to conduct a focus group discussion as part of the learning process. Focus groups are comprised of a demographically varied group of individuals who engage in an open debate to express their opinions on particular subjects. Prior to starting the study, approval and direction from the marketing department manager about the best method for understanding the viewpoint of employees involved were sought.
On a brighter side, my boss proved supportive of my initiative and offered the necessary assistance to see it through. Moreover, I understood that this technique was problematic given that I had questioned the self-awareness of several department employees who questioned my authority to critique their productivity. Regardless, I continued with the research. One difficulty I encountered throughout the study was participants’ reluctance to express their opinions openly. Focus groups usually provide the impression that people are being scrutinized. Individuals with reserved personalities sometimes struggle with openly expressing their opinions. As a result, the information acquired may be of low quality.
Nonetheless, I was thrilled that a big portion of personnel in the marketing department participated despite initial reservations about my abilities. The majority of the assessments were beneficial in determining how the marketing management department may improve workplace conditions to boost worker productivity in the organization. Following a study of the focus group findings, recommendations were made about how the division may affect both productivity and profitability. The marketing manager recognized my efforts in blending into the team. As a result, I believe that this has instilled significant expertise in the field in me that I will pass on to those enthusiastic about marketing management.
References
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