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Creating a powerful Personal Development Plan
Personal Development Plans can often be “something and nothing” – a paper exercise mandated by HR for line managers and direct reports to undertake as an annual ritual. When they are at their best they:
Identify clearly the difference between where you are now and where you want and/or need to be
Link immediate (short-term) objectives and actions with longer-term, wider personal goals
Have both a developmental (learning) perspective and a career management perspective
Link goals explicitly with values
Provide an appropriate level of stretch
Are motivating and create a bias for action
Are shared with your support network
Can be monitored to check that progress is happening and how fast it is happening
Are a “live” document that you refer to at relatively frequent intervals, to benchmark how you are doing
Are flexible enough to allow for new goals and to respond to unexpected opportunities
Try using the grid below as a framework:
Development area
Evidence
How I want to be different in performance in my current role?
What am I going to do to make that happen? By when?
How do I want to be different in career development?
What am I going to do to make that happen? By when?
Skills
Knowledge
Behaviour
Thinking processes
Transition readiness
Some useful questions to ask
Why do I want this?
How does this goal align with my personal values?
How does it align with the values of the organization?
