Question

Be able to prepay professional development plan:

- Produce a professional development plan.

- Review progress of a professional development plan.

Answer 1

Ans. A professional development plan documents the goals, required skill and competency development, and objectives a staff member will need to accomplish in order to support continuous improvement and career development. A professional development plan is created by the manager working closely with the staff member to identify the necessary skills and resources to support the staff member's career goals and the organization's business needs.

Professional development for staff members begins when a new member joins your team. In addition, all staff members should have a "living" professional development plan in place. Planning should not take place only after an staff member is identified as needing improvement. Professional development plans should be reviewed on an on-going basis throughout the year, with at least one interim review discussion between the staff member and supervisor prior to the end of the yearly performance review period.

Step One: Request a self-assessment from the staff member :- Have the staff member complete a self-assessment of their interests, skills, values, and personality. Use the sample performance planning and self-assessment forms listed to the right to assist in the process. When evaluating the staff member's responses, keep these questions in mind:

What skills, career opportunities, technologies interest the individual?

Do those skills/interests/goals support the organization's needs and goals?

Step Two: - Develop your assessment of the individual's skill level

Based on the staff member's self-assessment, their work record, and your own observations, determine the staff member's skill level in the following categories:

Technical skills: skills needed to get the job done.

Social skills: how do they work with others?

Aptitudes: natural talents; special abilities for doing, or learning to do, certain kinds of things.

Attitude: outlook, feelings, mind-set, way of thinking, and point of view.

Step Three : - Assess the department and organization's needs:

In order for professional development to be successful, the staff member's needs and interests must be applied to address organizational objectives. The staff member's career path must align with the organization's workforce needs. In creating a professional development plan, consider the following goals:

Big Duke" goals

Departmental goals

Team goals

Individual goals

Step Four : - Explore development opportunities with the staff member:

Explore the professional development opportunities available at Duke with your staff member. examples:

Professional Development Academy - The Professional Development Academy is a center dedicated to providing professional development training programs and resources for staff that supports identified staffing needs across Duke. The Academy offers long-term training programs with a tailored curriculum designed to develop skills and capabilities needed to fill identified job opportunities across Duke.

New Projects & Responsibilities - Explore what new projects and responsibilities the staff member can assist with in their own department. Staff members can use such opportunities to develop new skills such as web design, business writing, and project management.

Workshops & Seminars - Learning & Organizational Development offers a variety of workshops and seminars that help an staff member develop their work and computer technology skills

Educational Opportunities - There are a variety of educational opportunities available at Duke and in the Durham area. For a list of available resources, please refer to Training.

Volunteer Opportunities - Volunteer opportunities can present a unique way for an staff member to develop certain professional skills. Search the Duke Today web site for a list of volunteer opportunities at Duke (look under the "Volunteer Opportunities" tab).

Mentorship - Interested staff can be paired with mentors for a variety of activities including information interviews, shadowing, tutorials, etc. For more mentoring resources, please visit the Mentoring @ Duke web site. The Professional Development Academy can also provide assistance with determining professional goals before you seek a mentoring relationship.

Step Five : - Record and analyze the staff member's progress

Collect feedback from the staff member about their development progress to assist in identifying what the staff member is doing well, build on their skills, correct any problems that may arise, and help them develop new abilities that will improve personal performance as well as organizational outcomes.

Use a Performance Log for tracking, recording and providing feedback from the staff member. Record dates, events, expectations, and the impact of action steps on their development. Make sure to record:

Observations of enhanced skills or knowledge and how they were applied.

Progress towards goals and objectives.

Observations where skills / knowledge could .

Ans. 2. Review progress a professional development plan :- But even that is not the end of the process , necaise it is important to review and evaluate your development.

This reflective process has two main purposes:

1. To check that you have actually followed your development plan; and

2. To ensure that your planned development has helped you towards your goals.

You may also find that your goals are no longer valid, and you want to update them.

A regular review process can therefore lead to you revising both your goals, and your planned development activities, to ensure that they take you where you want to go.

Evaluating Your Personal Development

It is worth taking time to review your activities against your plans on a regular basis, probably every quarter or so. Less often, and you may find that you are not placing a high enough priority on your development activities, and letting progress slip. More often, and you are likely to find that you have not made enough progress, or that you are tempted to put the review off, because the last one was so recent.

Set aside time for your review :- It is no good trying to reflect meaningfully in just five minutes. Make sure you are in no rush, and also that your environment is conducive to quiet reflection.

Find your original plan, with your goals and planned activities. You need to know what you said you were going to do.

For each planned activity, assess how far what you have done by way of activity was in line with your plan.

You need to be honest with yourself:

How much did you do?

Was it as much as you were expecting to achieve?

Did you do something different, but more effective?

Consider how successful you feel your development has been in getting you to your goals.

Have you made progress towards your goals?

Have you identified more activities that will need doing that might slow down your progress?

Are your goals (and their timing) still realistic?

Decide what you need to do next.

Is it more of the same, or something different?

Do you need to take more time, or find some external support, perhaps?

Revise your plan to set out your new activities.

It is helpful to document your thinking during the review process. This means you can look back next time and remember why you changed your goals or activities

Reviewing Your Goals :- Every year or so, it is also likely to be helpful to review your personal development goals. As with the review of your planned activity, it is important to set time aside for this process. Again, it is also helpful to document it, because this forces you to articulate your reasoning.

Moving Towards Reflective Practice :-

In time, regular review and reflection on what you have achieved should become a habit.

The process of reviewing your plans and goals on a regular basis is a step in that direction. It ensures that you set aside time for reflection, and hopefully, that you start to document your thinking and progress on personal development.

Remember, though, that there is no rush. There is a reason why personal development is sometimes called ‘lifelong learning.