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?

© David Clutterbuck, 2014

Our free content is available to everyone. It includes a limited range of Blogs, Videos and Briefing Papers on key topics and the latest trends. If you want to expand your knowledge even further, or support your development or business with up-to-date information and research, sign up for a FREE TRIAL to gain access to the full content of over 500 blogs, briefing papers and videos within our resource library.

Membership with CCMI offer you will access to all the content within this resource of over 200 blogs, video briefings and more.