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
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?
By Professor David Clutterbuck
