Research Article: 2019 Vol: 22 Issue: 3
Tetiana Dobina, Mariupol Institute of Interregional Academy of Personnel Management IAPM
Kateryna Haidukevych, Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts
Svitlana Panchenko, National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts
Iryna Petrova, Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts
Julia Sabadash, Mariupol State University
The article describes the psychological characteristics of the development of professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations. The results of the formative experiment were presented and the components of the professionally significant qualities of future managers were identified that are most sensitive to the effects during the acquisition of professional competence and becoming a professional manager. The development of professionally significant qualities in the process of the formative program was based on the passing by participants of an experimental study of special trainings involving the development of the components of professionally significant qualities of future managers. Conducted three modules of training sessions contributed to the gaining a new communicative experience by the students in the context of future professional activities, which gave them the opportunity to develop skills for effective professional interaction and improve their perception of themselves as the future manager.
Manager, Professional Competence, Quality, Entrepreneurial Model, Motivation, Self-Realization.
M5, Q2
In the conditions of social transformations and educational reforms, the problem of high-quality professional training of mobile and competitive managers, capable to ensure the socio-cultural and economic development of the country, is of particular importance. This requires a change in approaches to the educational process and a shift of focus to the manager’s personality and its professionally significant qualities as key factors for effective management, which leads to an increase in the socio-economic potential of the state.
However, the practice of professional training of future managers shows an insufficient orientation of the educational process on the development of professionally significant qualities of managers, and the list of such qualities does not fully meet modern requirements for a specialist in the managerial sphere.
The concept of professionally significant personal qualities as a characteristics of professional suitability of a person was studied on the territory of science from two positions: the first was aimed at solving the problems of professional selection and professional counseling, prevention and vocational training (Bones, 2018), and the second-at the design and forecasting the success of professional activities (Eberwein & Tholen, 2017). Professionally significant qualities of a person as a subject of action are considered by scientists from the position of professional activity itself and the specifics of its transformational contribution, as well as in accordance with the psycho-physiological and personal characteristics of a person in achieving the expected results (Casidy & Nyadzayo, 2017).
The concept of “professional qualities” is often considered as a manifestation of the mental characteristics of a person, which are necessary for the mastering of special knowledge and skills, as well as for achieving socially recognized effectiveness in professional work (Parsons, 2017). The professional qualities include: intellectual (thinking), moral (behavior), emotional (feeling), volitional (ability to self-regulation), organizational (Tetiana et al., 2018; Drobyazko et al., 2019).
Acquisition of professionally significant qualities by a person covers a different spectrum of a person’s manifestation in the profession, namely: personal and business qualities, acmeological components of professionalism, adequate level of professional requirements, motivational sphere and value orientations aimed at progressive development of a specialist (Ross, 2017; Karpenko et al., 2018). The concept of potential and professional competence widens the understanding of the construct of professionally significant qualities. In particular, the concept of potential goes beyond the limits of correspondence between the qualities of a person and professional requirements, including the ability to foresee and bear responsibility. But the abilities of a person are reflected in the concept of competence, which may concern various spheres of a person’s personal development and spheres of application of its professional activity (Sullivan et al., 2017).
In order to solve the tasks and achieve the goal of the study, a complex of theoretical, empirical and mathematical methods was used: theoretical methods: analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization of theoretical and experimental data, systematization, modeling with the purpose of determination and theoretical substantiation of the content, structure, problems and peculiarities of development of professionally significant qualities of future managers; empirical: questioning, testing, conversations, analysis of management situations, monitoring of the activities of future managers during practical exercises, analysis of curricula in order to ascertain the status and characteristics of the development of professionally significant qualities of future specialists at the present stage of education development; ascertaining and formative experiment.
The training program “Development of professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations” was developed and implemented, which consisted of three modules and was intended for 45 hours, of which 30 hours of in-class work and 15 hours of independent work. The first module “Development of the communicative skills of future specialists” was devoted to the development of communicative skills and was aimed at developing the skills of effective communication, active listening, a clear and concise expression of one’s opinion. The second module “Development of assertiveness in professional interaction” was aimed at developing the assertiveness of future managers of organizations, the ability to assert own rights and communicate own opinions without violating the rights of others, to take responsibility. In the third module “Development of skills for constructive conflict resolution in professional activities,” the central focus was placed on practicing the skills of a constructive solution by future specialists in conflict situations.
The analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation of the development program of professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations was carried out. Thus, the results of the implementation of the program and the assessment of its effectiveness allowed us to identify quantitative and qualitative changes in the levels of development of professionally significant qualities in accordance with certain components (motivational, cognitive, operational, communicative and reflexive) caused by the influence of specially organized training.
In order to determine the effectiveness of analysis of the development levels of professionally significant qualities in the control the implementation of the development program of professionally significant qualities of future managers, we: carried out a comparative and experimental groups; analyzed the levels of development of professionally significant qualities (hereinafter-PSQ) in the control and experimental group by five components.
We conducted and described a comparative analysis of the development of PSQ of future managers of organizations in the experimental and control groups before and after the influence.
As was already mentioned, the students-managers of 3-4 year of study took part in the experiment (61 people). The selection of persons for the experiment was carried out with the prior consent of the respondents. The distribution of the persons under study on the experimental and control group was uniform. Both groups simultaneously passed a preliminary survey.
The implementation of the program for the development of PSQ of future managers in the experimental group was carried out in accordance with the principles, that were provided by certain methods and techniques of training. The formative experiment ended with control testing. In the control group, only assessment of students were performed twice. A comparative analysis of the psychological characteristics of future managers in the experimental group showed that there are statistically significant differences before and after the influence for all components of the PSQ.
The following comparative analysis of the results of the study of the first (before the beginning of the formative experiment) and the second (after the completion of the formative experiment) assessments in the experimental and control groups was aimed at study of the changes in the levels of development of the components of professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations: motivational, cognitive, operational, communicative, reflexive. The summarized results of a comparative analysis of the levels of development of the PSQ components in the experimental group are presented in Table 1.
| Table 1: Comparative Analysis Of The Levels Of Development Of Components Of The Psq Of Future Managers Of Organizations In The Experimental Group At The Beginning And After The Experiment (The Author's Study) | ||||||
| Components | Levels and indicators of development of professionally significant qualities (number of persons under study, in%) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| before the formative experiment | after the formative experiment | |||||
| Low | Average | High | Low | Average | High | |
| Motivational | 22.6 | 35.5 | 419 | 3.2 | 29.0 | 67.7 |
| Cognitive | 22.6 | 48.4 | 29.0 | - | 61.3 | 38.7 |
| Operational | 16.1 | 54.8 | 29.0 | 3.2 | 41.9 | 54.8 |
| Communicative | 22.6 | 48.4 | 29.0 | 3.2 | 45.2 | 51.6 |
| Reflexive | 22.6 | 61.3 | 16.1 | 3.2 | 58.1 | 38.1 |
As we can see from Table 1, there was an increase in high-level indicators in all components of the PSQ of future managers of organizations and a decrease in low and average levels, with the exception of the cognitive component, where, after the experiment, a low level was not detected, and the average level of development of PSQ was 61.3%, whereas before the experiment it was 48.4%.
The experimental group recorded statistically significant differences in the overall development indicator of PSQ of future managers of organizations between the results of the first and the second assessments, which reflect a decrease in the number of future managers with low (21.3%-2.6%) and average (49.7%-47.1%) level.
All the indicators that were laid in the experimental part of the study did not detect statistically significant differences in the control group.
The result obtained seems logical, because in the control group there was no experimental influence. Under such conditions, twice-interviewed student managers provided the most close answers to the questions asked.
The results of our study are confirmed by the following studies. The importance of professionally significant qualities for the successful development and implementation of professional activities is reflected in the fact that they contain all the main characteristics of the personality structure that determine the psychological characteristics of the activity system: motivational, cognitive, psychomotor, emotional and volitional, etc. (Hilorme et al., 2019).
A training program for the development of professionally significant qualities of the organization in the context of professional education, which consists of three modules, was recommended and tested:
1. “Development of the communicative skills of future specialists”, aimed at developing the communicative skills.
2. “Development of assertiveness in professional interaction”, aimed at developing the assertive skills.
3. “Development of skills for constructive conflict resolution in professional activities”, aimed at practicing the skills of constructive interaction with others with a view to the effective solution of conflict situations.
The effectiveness of the author’s program for the development of professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations is confirmed by positive changes in the development levels of all components of the PSQ, an increase in the number of future managers with high and average levels, as well as a decrease in the number with low levels. The results obtained allow us to recommend the implementation of this program in the process of training of future managers of organizations.
In general, it can be concluded that the comparative analysis of the results of the study of the developed program implementation indicates positive changes in the development of professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations of the experimental group, among which, in our opinion, the following should be noted:
Changes in the motivational component suggest that gaining of certain professional competencies by the students positively influence the re-thinking of themselves primarily as a professional. Future managers began to understand more deeply the specifics of the chosen profession, and the connection between the person - the leading activity-the inner meaning became apparent. Under such conditions, the persons under study find new meanings for themselves, begin to perceive themselves as the subject of professional relationships. The orientation towards professional self-realization in the organization(s) is a more sustainable motivational form than external motivational factors-financial reward, control, and the like.
The development of the components of the cognitive component of future specialists contributes to optimistic self-perception in a professional context, actualization of interest in solving life problems. It also developed the ability to analyze, comprehend and be aware of their thinking processes in the context of a relevant and predictable future. After successfully completion of various training tasks aimed at the development of PSQ, future managers began to perceive themselves as potentially the best specialists able to cope with a number of professional tasks.
Changes in the operational component indicate the acquisition of new practical experience during exercises, better understanding of the nature of certain behavioral reactions, the organization of their work and other group members, non-standard solution of professional tasks. The acquisition of new skills on the example of other members of the group is of particular importance, when there is an opportunity to compare their own achievements with partners in performing their tasks.
The training program was aimed at disclosing the communicative potential of an individual (communicative component), removing various barriers through which the persons under study experienced certain limitations when interacting with others, at building effective communication models that can be directly used in professional activities. Search for new strategies of interaction with others, which gave them confidence and faith in their own abilities. Such an approach allowed a positive impact on the development of active strategies for defending one's own positions.
The development of the reflexive component contributed to the actualization of the ability to analyze and reflect others' and own experience, try on certain patterns of behavior, increase the level of responsibility for their actions and processes that they control, readiness to go unknown ways, tolerance to unknown and uncertain situations, as well as solving tasks arising in the work of managers of organizations.
Improving some professional tools in one way or another has a positive effect on the development of other components of the PSQ of future managers.
Thus, we can conclude that the formation of a professional manager should occur at the intersection of two vectors: academic (theoretical and practical skills and abilities) and psychological (development of professionally significant qualities). This principle will make it possible to bring future managers closer to the professional plane as quickly as possible, where not only professional competencies in the form of skills will be properly formed, but also psychological readiness for this work.
The study does not cover all aspects of this problem. A profound experimental analysis of the gender characteristics of the development of the PSQ components is with a spark of potential. The study of managers who are already working is of particular importance. Such studies will allow in longitude to track the dynamics of changes in their professionally significant qualities. It is important to study the personal readiness of university teachers to develop the professionally significant qualities of future managers of organizations.