Personal development planning aims to promote learning and to provide people wit

h the knowledge and portfolio of transferable skills that will help to advance t
heir careers. A personal development plan sets out what people need to learn to
develop their capabilities, improve their performance and further their career.
It provides a self-organization. It serves as a point of reference for monitorin
g and reviewing the implementation of the plan. Personal development planning is
carried out by individuals with guidance, encourage-ment and help from their ma
nagers as necessary. Individuals take responsability for formulating and impleme
nting the plan but they receive support as required from organization and their
managers in doing so.
The planning process
Personal development plans are based on an understanding of what people do, what
they have archieved, what knowledge and skills they have, and what knowledge an
d skills they need. The aims of the planning process are to be specific about wh
at is to achieved and how it is to be achieved, to ensure that the leraning need
s and actions are relevant, to indicate th timescale, to identify responsibility
and, within reason, to ensure that the learning activities will stretch those c
oncerned.
Plans are always related to work and the capacity to carry it out effectively. T
hey are not just about identifying training needs and suitable courses to satisf
y them. Training courses may from part of the development plan, but a minor part
; other learning activities such as those listed below are more important.
Coaching
Adoption a role model (mentor)
observing and analysing what others do (good practice)
extending the role (job enrichment)
project work (special assignments)
involvement in other work areas
involvement in communities of practice (learning from others carrying out simila
r work)
Action learning
e-learning
guised reading
Action plans
The action plan sets out what needs to be done and how it will be done under hea
dings such as: learning needs, outcomes expected, learning objectives to meet th
e needs, responsability for learning-what individuals will do and what support t
he will require from their manager, the HR department or other people, timing when the learning activity is expected to start and be completed.
The plans can be recorded on simple forms with four columns covering: 1 developm
ent objectives and outcome expected, 2 action to be taken and when, 3 support re
quired and 4 evidence required to show that the planned learning activity has be
en undertaken successfully.
Introducing personal development plannin
The introduction of personal development planning should not be undertaken light
ly. It is not just a matter of designing a new back page to the performance revi
ew form and telling people to fill it up. Neither is it sufficient just to issue
guidance notes and expect people to get on whit it.
Manager, team leaders and individuals all need to learn about personal developme
nt planning. The should be involved in deciding how the planning process will wo
rk and what their roles will be. The benefits to them should be understood and a
ccepted. It has to be recognized that everyone will need time and support to adj
ust to a culture in which they have to take much more responsability for their o
wn learning. Importantly, all concerned should be given guidance on how they sho
uld make use of the facilities and opportunities that can be made available to t

hem.