Personal development planning allows managers to take responsibility for improving their skills and knowledge to ensure maximum professional effectiveness. My personal development plan (PDP) helped me establish short and long-term objectives and select appropriate development opportunities to achieve them. An effective PDP is âa means of focusing on continuous feedback and developmentâ (Greenan, 2016, p. 322), which means that it requires various resources. My goal of completing a management course and getting a promotion depends on financial resources. In order to have access to education and course materials, I need to have enough money to afford a degree. Since I want to get a promotion, my resources include specific training (a management course) and mentorship. Superior managers can help me obtain the necessary knowledge and practical skills through a series of meetings and performance reviews. My family is another important resource, which could give me an opportunity to maintain a work-life balance and get the necessary emotional support. The most crucial resource, however, is time because the process of continuous development is energy-consuming. The right allocation of all the resources would allow me to reach the objectives by following a PDP.
In order to obtain and manage the resources, there has to be a competent business case. It is âan important document in helping leadership and management understand the business value of an investment or business opportunityâ (Baker et al., 2016, para. 6). A good business case should justify the allocation of funds and other resources. It usually includes the projectâs rationale, solutions, and cost-benefit analysis. The PDP can help me get a promotion by improving my qualifications. The solutions are getting an appropriate degree and obtaining insightful knowledge of my companyâs operations. The cost of education and the amount of time allocated to achieving these goals are proportional to the potential professional and personal benefits of being a senior manager. Such benefits include career growth, financial gains, and an opportunity to manage my own time and spend more of it with my family.
In order to support all the strategic objectives, I have set for myself, I need to assess the ways to achieve the resources needed to follow the PDP. In order to allocate more time for coursework and assignments, I have to utilize time management skills. I could also inform my supervisors of the extra time I would need to complete some tasks. In this case, there have to be efficient communication channels to ensure open discussions between line managers and me. In addition, communication strategies are crucial in getting feedback from my mentors, including staff meetings and performance reviews. Social media and online messengers would be a great communication tool to ensure time- and cost-efficiency, which is extremely important in a business case.
Personal development is a series of continuous exercises, which is why a PDP requires various processes for its successful implementation. Firstly, an individual need to examine their knowledge, skills, career path, and aspirations (Greenan, 2016). After self-assessment, a person has to develop short, middle and long-term goals. Milestones need to be formulated to help the person assess their achievements. Setting objectives is also an important process of successfully implementing a PDP. They should include information about necessary resources, success measurements, and target dates (Greenan, 2016). A business case has to describe all the appropriate ways to ensure the achievement of the resources. The process of PDP implementation depends on observation, problem-solving, and stress management. The most important process of PDP execution is evaluation and review (Lejeune, Beausaert and Raemdonck, 2018). While self-reflection and experimentation are essential to the process, external mentorship and feedback are vital to the implementation of an effective PDP plan. This can help individuals introduce new or eliminate old objectives as well as manage their time and resources in a more efficient manner. All in all, PDP implementation consists of an initial assessment, goal-setting, resource-planning, observation, and evaluation.
The PDP will have a positive impact on the achievement of organizational objectives, which include employee efficiency and business profitability. One of my personal goals is supporting other departments and obtaining crucial knowledge of the companyâs structure and operations. Since the PDP can help me in this process, the company will benefit a lot from the successful implementation of my individual plan. Studies demonstrate that personal development initiatives affect a companyâs growth, competitive advantage, and employee satisfaction (Greenan, 2016; Lejeune, Beausaert and Raemdonck, 2018). Peter Greenan (2016, p. 325) argues that such results are possible because âpeople who set specific, difficult goals outperform those who do not set goals or set vague goalsâ. Therefore, the PDP implementation can help organizations achieve their strategic business objectives and ensure higher employee engagement, which leads to better performance. Lejeune, Beausaert, and Raemdonck (2018, p. 21) suggest that âinformal learning, in particular, should be fostered to maximize workplace learning effectivenessâ. It is apparent that the PDP execution has an opportunity to benefit my company by increasing my efficiency and job performance.
As for my personal objectives, the personal development plan can have a positive impact on my professional life. The successful application of this plan implies that I will meet the qualifications required to be promoted to senior manager. Such a position will allow me to move forward on my career path and challenge myself even more. In turn, this will give me an opportunity to positively influence my companyâs performance on the market.
The PDP needs further review based on the assessment of resources, benefits, and processes. First of all, the plan has to include finances and family as important resources. The inclusion of money can help me achieve the right proportion between costs and potential benefits. Family is essential in providing mental support and motivation. I can also add the introduction of PDP concepts to my team to the list of objectives. Personal development initiatives will increase performance and efficiency. As a manager, it is crucial to be innovative and experiment with new concepts. Working with mentors (line managers, supervisors, etc.) and getting feedback are both vital to ensure further updates and new development changes.
Reference List
Baker, E. L. et al. (2016) âBuilding the business case for public health information systems, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 22(6), pp. 603â606. Web.
Greenan, P. (2016) âPersonal development plans: insights from a case-based approachâ, Journal of Workplace Learning, 28(5), pp. 322â334. Web.
Lejeune, C., Beausaert, S. and Raemdonck, I. (2018) âThe impact on employeesâ job performance of exercising self-directed learning within personal development plan practiceâ, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp. 1â27. Web.