Personal Development Planning

Personal Development Plan refers to activities that improve self-knowledge and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations. The concept is not limited to self-development but includes formal and informal activities for developing others as well. Finally as personal development takes place in the context of institutions, it refers to the methods, programs, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support human development at the individual level in organizations. A personal development plan is a meticulously designed program which uses psychological tools such as the Personal Effectiveness Scale and created in order to create an understanding between a reviewer and an employee of an organization on important areas of development keeping in mind the ways in which these needs would be supported. Personal Development Plans are usually developed in companies and it acknowledges the plan discussed between the employer and employee.

Personal development plans are a well-established feature of performance management. Fletcher (1995) said that ‘appraisal has a valuable function in developing people and that this is where its motivational value lies.’ The research of Tamkin et al. (1995, p.5) shows that personal development plans are most commonly focused on job or career development or a mix of both. They state that ‘personal development plans which focus solely on skill development for the current job will not be welcome by Institute for Employment Studies 29 many employees. Those which take a broader view of the individual and their future may be more effective for encouraging flexibility and have a higher impact on employees’.

The use of personal development planning and the need to revisit performance management systems was highlighted by comments made by First Direct, which stated that personal development planning ‘details the skills required for different roles based on core competencies. It’s an in-house system so it needs constant refreshing, and we need to make sure that that is up to date and reflecting skills required in the business now and in the next five years’ (Armstrong & Baron, 2005, p.97).

Wilson et al (2000) recognizes that the individual is the ‘most knowledgeable person about the work performance and should be the most important source of information about their achievements and areas for development (Murphy and Cleveland, 1995). Wilson et al. (2000) research provides recommendations for conducting appraisals including Training and development discussions should be held separately from assessment, promotion or pay discussions.

• Advance warning of an appraisal should be given to staff to allow sufficient time for preparation by both appraiser and appraise.
• The appraisal report should be completed as soon as possible following the discussion.
• Development plans should be flexible to allow for changing roles.
• Organization and department business plans should be consulted when identifying training and development needs and plans should be reviewed regularly.
• Appraisal checklists should be provided and followed by appraiser and appraise to ensure no areas of the appraisal are neglected.
• Training should be provided to the appraisers and appraises in the purpose and process of the appraisal and to ensure the value of the process is adequately communicated within the organization.

References 

• Tamkin P, Barber L, Hirsh W (1995), Personal Development Plans: Case Studies of Practice, IES Report 280, Institute for Employment Studies
• Armstrong M, Baron A (2005), Managing Performance, London CIPD
• Murphy K R, Cleveland J N (1995), Understanding Performance Appraisal, Thousand Oaks: Sage