Excellent Tips to Craft A Perfect Personal Development Plan

Do you sometimes wish you were in a different spot regarding your professional development or even other areas of your life? I believe everyone can relate to this. But not everyone, does something about it. In this article I’ll introduce you to an exercise that will help you to do something about it! I’m talking about making your own personal development plan. Companies use this tool to stimulate their employees’ learning with the goal of improving performance.

The Right Mindset for Personal Development

Perhaps you have the concept that personal development is something your organization is responsible for. Thankfully there are many great companies that pay lots of attention to employee learning and development, but at the end of the day this is something that falls on your shoulders. No one will care as much about your personal development as you yourself. So, the first key here is to realize that you yourself bear the greatest responsibility for growing, as no one can do it for you.

By believing that you’re able to reach your goals (self-efficacy) and are in control of how things turn out in your life (locus of control), you’re more likely to succeed. Of course, things happen in life that we can’t control.

However, I’m referring to the fundamental belief that you by your actions and intentional behaviours can reach your goals. This reflects a realistic perception of what you can and cannot control. Research generally shows that those with more self-efficacy and locus of control beliefs perform better at work than those with lower levels.

What is a Personal Development Plan?

A personal development plan is a tool used to create a structured approach towards personal growth and development. This framework helps you to gain clarity about where you want to be and decide what concrete steps are needed to get there.

When creating a personal development plan, you reflect on your own learning, performance, and achievement. You consider your strengths and weaknesses; identify areas you need to improve in and commit to a course of action.

Why Are Personal Development Plans Effective?

One study showed that when employees perceive the personal development plan as a tool for learning and development, they are more likely to undertake learning activities and perform better. However, if the personal development plan is presented as a means for promotion and selection, employees are less likely to respond.

Another study analysed longitudinal data from 3,661 employees working in 16 countries. Results showed that when self-directed learning is fostered within the context of personal development planning, employees perform better.

This means that taking charge of your own learning will help you to perform better at work. If you are hands on to determine what your areas of growth are and actively consider what you need to do to reach your goals, you’re more likely to advance.

Last year I talked with my boss about personal development. I told her that I feel like I haven’t acquired new skills in a while and that I’ve pretty much been doing the same thing for a few years now. I presented her a concrete plan about the areas in which I would like to improve.

As a result of this dialogue, I ended up doing a digital marketing course that was paid for by the company. I acquired new skills that have helped me in my job and side hustle. This is just a small example, but I want to show you that being proactive can go a long way!

Crafting a Perfect Personal Development Plan

To state it simply, a personal development plan answers three main questions:

• Where am I now?

• Where do I want to be?

• How do I get there?

First consider what areas you would like to grow in. For the sake of this exercise, let’s just focus on one area or goal. Many times, less is more! Also, this template can be adjusted to better fit your individual needs.

Please fill in the area you would like to grow in:

Where am I now?

By determining where you’re at now, you establish the base from which you want to improve. This of course also gives you a reference point when evaluating how you’ve progressed.

To help you figure out your status quo, answer the following questions:

1. What is my current situation?
2. What am I good at?
3. What do I need to work on?
4. What competencies do I still need to develop?
5. What qualifications and experience do I already have? / What have I already done?

You can also ask others to help you with this. Getting feedback from your manager, colleagues or others who know you well can be extremely insightful.

Fill in: Where am I now?

Where do I want to be?

This is an exciting question but may be difficult to answer. Use the following questions to explore this topic further.

1. What do I want to accomplish?
2. What do I like doing?
3. What energizes me?
4. What do I enjoy learning?
5. What method of learning would suit me best?
6. How much time can I allocate to work on this goal?
7. What things could help me?
8. What things could hinder me?
9. How will pursuing this goal effect other areas of my life?
10. Are there conflicting commitments?
11. How will I measure my success?
12. Are there any major life changes on the horizon?

After reflecting on some of these questions, you can get a better sense of where you want to be, what you really value and what is realistic.

I encourage you to think big, but it is prudent to consider your environment as this plays a big role in how you can approach goal achievement. Those who consider potential obstacles are better equipped to reach their goals.

When you’re in a stressful situation it’s sometimes difficult to come up with a good solution. However, if you have already considered how you would respond to certain obstacles in advance, you will have an easier time responding effectively should a similar situation arise.

Fill in: Where do I want to be:

How do I get there?

You now have identified the learning gap or discrepancy between where you are and where you would like to be. The next step is to determine what you need to do to reach your goals. See this article for more insights on how to effectively set and reach goals.

Here are some of the main points:

• Set specific goals
• Work with deadlines to know when you would like to reach your goals
• Make sure the goal is measurable – it should be clear to you when you have succeeded
• It’s important that the goals energize and motivate you – set goals that you care about
• Revisit these goals regularly so that you can promptly make any needed adjustments
• Set ambitious goals that cause you to grow and develop. Even if you meet 60% to 70% of such goals it is still a success
• Let others know about your goals. This will invite help from others who would like to support you in your endeavors

Short, Medium and Long-Term Objectives

I also suggest dividing your goals into short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives. It is most effective if these subgoals build on each other. This means that the short-term goals should help you achieve your medium-term goals, which in turn propel you towards reaching your long-term goals.

Short-Term Goal(s)
What I will do?
How others will support me?
Deadline?

Mid-Term Goal(s)
What I will do?
How others will support me?
Deadline?

Long-Term Goal(s)
What I will do?
How others will support me?
Deadline?

In general, the personal development plan is something that is fluid, so you should review it regularly. After some time, you can evaluate if the goals are still relevant or if timelines need to be adjusted. That’s ok. The main thing is to keep working regularly on your development. Stay consistent.

Summary

Crafting a personal development plan is a great way to foster your growth and development. First, you need to believe that you can reach your goals and control how things turn out in your life. With the right mindset, a personal development plan can be extremely effective.

At its core this tool helps you to answer three main questions:

• Where am I now?
• Where do I want to be?
• How do I get there?

You now have a gameplan that you can stick to. It’s ok to adjust as necessary, but the main thing is to stay consistent and keep progressing.

By taking your development into you own hands and working actively on achieving short-term, mid-term and long-term goals, you are more likely to grow and perform even better at work.

I wish you much success in growing and thriving at work! If you would like some professional support in this area, feel free to visit the services area of my website.

Resources

Beausaert, S. A., Segers, M. S., & Gijselaers, W. H. (2011). Using a personal development plan for different purposes: Its influence on undertaking learning activities and job performance. Vocations and Learning, 4(3), 231-252.

Lejeune, C., Beausaert, S., & Raemdonck, I. (2021). The impact on employees’ job performance of exercising self-directed learning within personal development plan practice. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(5), 1086-1112.