Personal development

Personal development

Personal development

Personal development is actually a tool for developing individuals’ competencies. Individuals see their growth and development in the growth and development of their professional and general competencies .  Some of them are always looking for their growth and development, and experience has shown that they are usually more successful than others in achieving their goals; while another group, in special circumstances or under the influence of a specific factor, moves in this direction .  Receiving performance feedback from the direct supervisor about performance weaknesses, being in a team with a competitive atmosphere and competing with dynamic colleagues, and legal and organizational requirements such as obtaining a low score in performance evaluation, are considered to be among these factors. The greater the frequency and intensity of these factors, the greater the likelihood of individuals’ development .  It should be noted that moving and being on the path of development does not necessarily lead to the development of individuals, and some conditions act as obstacles to individuals. These obstacles may be internal, such as conditions in which the individual is not satisfied with his job; is pessimistic and does not have a high work conscience; or they may be external, such as conditions in which the individual’s supervisor does not cooperate with him in matters such as necessary coordination and allocating special time for training. In the absence of obstacles in the path of development of the individual’s competencies, his movement on the path of development will continue, but success in achieving development depends on the use of an appropriate strategy in this regard. The use of a personal development plan is considered an effective and efficient strategy. Of course, the personal characteristics of the individuals, the support of the supervisor, and the financial status of the organization have an impact on whether or not to implement an individual development plan .

In this plan, which is developed and implemented through mutual cooperation between the individual and the organization, first the competencies that need to be developed, including knowledge, skills, expertise, abilities, and the like, are identified based on criteria such as employee interests, individual functional needs, organizational strategic goals, and the like. Then, with the individual’s participation and considering priorities, goal setting is done, and finally, the necessary measures for development are determined, along with the organization’s time frame and responsibility in this regard. Accuracy and precision in identifying the competencies that need to be developed; realistic and effective goal setting, as well as designing a detailed and explicit action plan, increase the likelihood of success in realizing the development of the individual’s competencies .

•  The most important consequences of implementing an individual development plan and developing individual competencies are the improvement of individual and organizational performance. In this way, as the individual’s performance errors decrease, his speed and accuracy increase, and job behaviors beneficial to the organization develop. These changes may occur in the short term, while in the long term, organizational performance improves and the effects of developing individual competencies are evident in organizational performance and characteristics. On the other hand, by implementing an individual development plan to develop individual competencies, both his resume improves and job opportunities appropriate to him increase, and the individual’s ability to be promoted to higher positions and job positions increases. Of course, the consequences of designing and implementing an individual development plan are not always desirable. The individual nature of the development process means that the components of an individual development plan will also vary depending on the characteristics of individuals. Although the existence of such differences seems completely necessary and rational, it may not be perceived fairly by members of a team or unit and lead to conflicts that are rooted in considering development unfair .  Some of the effects and results of an individual development plan include:
•  Building self-esteem
• Self-sufficiency
• Growing self-awareness
• Increased self-confidence
• Increasing one’s self-awareness
• Revealing potentials
• Learning new skills
• Lifestyle improvement
• Time management
• Increase income and wealth
• Improving the individual’s social status
• Fulfillment of wishes
• Satisfaction with life
• Finding identity
• Improving emotional intelligence and social relationships with people

An individual development plan can be considered an assessment tool used by employees and has four main characteristics   :

1. It reviews employees’ past knowledge, skills, and abilities and identifies their learning needs based on future goals .
2. Employees participate in developing an individual development plan, and each individual plan is developed with the cooperation of the individual and in consultation with their supervisor .
3. It facilitates organized communication between employees and managers and supervisors, thus providing the opportunity to receive more performance feedback .
4. It provides the necessary information for decision-making in various fields; from deciding on the appropriate method for training to deciding on employee promotion .  In terms of the quality and content of the individual development plan, Kirkpatrick (2006) believes that every individual development plan must be practical and usable; have a time limit and be completely specific and explicit.

Training and development models and methods

There are various models and methods in determining the educational and developmental needs of employees; however, the strategic personal development plan, due to its simultaneous attention to the personal needs and aspirations of individuals and organizational goals, is one of the most beneficial and effective methods in creating motivation and attracting employee participation and increasing the effectiveness of training. The personal development plan, as an applied tool, causes the growth and improvement of the knowledge and skills of employees through the active participation of supervisors and managers, the most important feature of which is the two-way interaction of employees and supervisors. In this way, supervisors communicate with employees to agree on development goals and needs and get to know their interests. Personal development planning is part of the planning cycle of the entire industry and companies. As we know, the strategic plan of the organization focuses on long-term goals, and the action plan in line with the strategic plan of the organization ensures the achievement of strategic goals. Managers and supervisors are responsible for implementing action plans. Therefore, the work must be in line with the priorities specified by the supervisors to carry out the action plan, and supervisors must be sure that employees have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to achieve the set goals. In this regard, designing and implementing an individual development plan and assessing the skills of employees plays an important role in implementing action plans and ultimately achieving the strategic goals of the organization.

The importance of personal development programs is so great that in a large-scale study conducted in England in 2005, 94 percent of employees stated that they should have a greater role and contribution to their own training and development, and 17 percent of them said that in 2005, they themselves were the initiators, identifiers, and proposers of training and development programs for themselves. The same study revealed that most employees who themselves identified and identified training needs and proposed training for themselves had university degrees and worked at management levels.

The purpose of the Individual Development Strategic Plan     (IDSP)

 Most employees want to grow in their current positions and positions and advance to newer and better positions. The goal of a strategic personal development plan is to develop competencies in the individual that will transform him from his current self to his desired future self. In order to do this effectively, a realistic plan of actions and activities is needed. An  IDSP  can be a suitable tool to help plan a career path, guide, develop and evaluate progress against career goals and objectives. Among the most important goals of a strategic personal development plan for employees are the following :

1. Identifying employees’ development needs by comparing their skills and abilities with their ideal job prospects.
2. Identifying development opportunities and choosing the best option for each individual.
3. Implementing a personal and professional development system for each employee

Benefits of an Individual Development Strategic Plan (IDSP)

 This program helps employees to :

 •  Perform their duties based on established job standards .

 •  Improve their performance .

 •  Set acceptable goals for yourself .

 •  Identify, evaluate, and review their strengths and weaknesses .

•  Plan and schedule their personal development through short-term, medium-term, and long-term plans .

This program also helps supervisors to :

 •  Support the development and advancement of their employees so that they achieve knowledge, skills, and competencies in line with their performance standards .

 •  Properly document the current development needs of their employees .

 •  Consider organizational needs, changes in the organization’s mission, changes in technology, expected transaction volumes, employee needs, plans, and future needs for specific skills in departments and units .

Stages of implementing the plan “Developing a Strategic Personal Development Plan for Employees”

The steps for implementing this plan are as follows:

1. Survey of employees covered by the plan and their supervisors
2. Holding an orientation-training workshop on the development of a strategic personal development plan
3. Drawing the ideal vision of each individual (determining the desired situation) based on accurate and future-oriented understanding of the industry
4. Assessing and identifying strengths and weaknesses (determining the current situation)
5. Comparison of the current situation and the desired situation (development needs assessment)
6. Determining development goals and opportunities
7. Determining functional priorities and developing a development plan
8. Program execution
9. Re-evaluate and update the program