This success story and the invaluable insights shared were made possible through the expertise of our esteemed TMS Associate, Dr. Hoh Kim. Explore more about Hoh, including his wide range of services, impressive qualifications, and glowing testimonials by clicking here.

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The Team Management Profile (TMP) is well known for its ability to drive results in leadership and team development. It is also highly regarded as a professional development tool; in particular, its ability to generate meaningful insights creates significant value for young people facing career path decisions despite having relatively little workplace experience.

TMS Accredited facilitator, Dr. Hoh Kim, recently facilitated a career development seminar for a group of South Korean university students. The TMP was used to build a stronger understanding of work preferences within the group and proved to be instrumental in increasing the awareness of career possibilities among the students.

Challenge

Choosing a career can be complex, but in collectivist societies such as South Korea, cultural conventions can make it particularly difficult for individuals to identify suitable options. Expected cultural norms of parental obedience and deference to authority commonly lead young people to comply with the wishes of others when embarking on a professional path.

In the seminar facilitated by Dr. Kim, 20 students at a leading Seoul university completed the TMP with the aim to better understand their own individual attributes and capabilities. As a simple and practical profiling tool, the TMP provided quantifiable data upon which to base discussions around the interests, aspirations and needs of students when identifying potential careers at this pivotal life stage.

Dr. Kim's key objectives were:

• To equip the students with an effective framework for considering their career development.
• To build students’ self-knowledge in terms of work preference, leadership strengths, interpersonal skills and decision-making.
• To support students to identify and articulate their needs and wishes when making career-related decisions, through heightened self-awareness.

Approach

• Students completed the online TMP questionnaire to generate a personalized TMP report showing individual insights relating to work preferences.
• Students used the TMP Personal Discovery Workbook to self-assess and reflect on experiences relevant to their personal goals and work choices.
• Small group discussions were facilitated by Dr. Kim, to achieve a deeper understanding of individual Profile results and their implications.
• Dr. Kim provided the students with a list of careers matching their work preferences.
• All seminar participants completed an end-of-semester survey, providing feedback on the value of seminar insights over the longer term.

Outcome

In this seminar, the TMP provided a learning framework helping students to:

1. Increase their awareness of why they work as they do
2. Recognise areas where changes to behavior would prove beneficial

All participating students reported an increased understanding of their preferences at the end of the program. This allowed them to better align their interests and aptitudes with potential future careers, and also to identify skills gaps where further training may be required.

Some students also reported an increase of self-awareness when reflecting on their experiences and how they had engaged with student organizations in the past. The seminar had encouraged them to adopt different behaviors in team settings, with more positive outcomes.

Another reported benefit was an enhanced awareness of how unconscious adherence to the wishes of others had impacted students’ decision-making processes, particularly in relation to career choices.

A majority stated that they would recommend the seminar to friends experiencing uncertainty around career options.

Personal reflection combined with group discussion was a new and valuable experience for participating students, with many reporting that the subjective experience of the seminar was as important as the objective results. Based on the success of the initiative, Dr. Kim strongly recommends that colleges and universities integrate TMP seminars into their courses to fulfil career development objectives for students. Dr. Kim also recommends corporations use the TMP as a career development tool with their employees.

Testimonials

"I have experienced a number of psychological assessments, however, the TMP was unique as it showed the relationship between my psychological tendencies and work preference."

“The TMP helped me look at my strengths and weaknesses objectively.”

“I experienced difficulty when leading a student organization. However, through the TMP report and debrief I felt I could understand where the difficulties came from. This will help me to better prepare for my future career.”

“I discovered my potential specialties via the TMP.”

“Understanding my work preferences helps me decide which direction I should go in my career. I was considering two opposing career paths, but the TMP has helped me clarify where I should go.”

“I now understand what behaviors I should improve for better interactions within organizations.”