Personal Development Plans

[markSaunders]

As part of the Teaching Company Scheme I am employed under I am contractually (UUUruuurgh) obliged to prepare a five year vision of where i want to be heading in terms of career etc.&nbsp;&nbsp;further to this i (had to) prepare a 2 year detail plan of how to set off in that direction.<br><br>i include courses/seminars etc and list out all the resources (time/financial) that would be required to fulfill the plan.<br><br>if this is prepared *with* the company and benefits for both parties demonstrated then you should get the backing of your company to fulfil, at least, the shorter-term plan (which by definition is NOT suboptimal to your longer-term aims).<br><br>every 6 months i review the plan with my supervisor and assess if new things need adding (if so how can i/the company achieve them), remove fulfilled short-term plans etc. i find this method has now helped to give me real focus in everything i do - particularly in choosing new courses/things to learn and what areas to read around etc.<br><br>with so much information out there it helps to be sure that you know what it is you want and more importantly (for me at least) - WHY it is important to ME!<br><br>mark

 

[Karl Blessing]

I belive this depends on your position, I've known some people who feel in their ego you are binded to work, On the other hand they want to make sure they can keep you and if not, well they fire you while they still have the time to do so without wasting extra money on you(very skeptical response I know) but other than wanting to know what you want to do in the future, helps them decide if they want to keep you , also would help them decide where best to place you so that you will use their company as a carreer goal. You have any details on your position and the type of company this is? <p>Karl<br><a href=mailto:kb244@kb244.8m.com>kb244@kb244.8m.com</a><br><a href=

http://kb244.8m.com>

</a><br>Experienced in : C++(both VC++ and Borland),VB1(dos) thru VB6, Delphi 3 pro, HTML, Visual InterDev 6(ASP(WebProgramming/Vbscript)<br>

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=629151

 

[Ghost]

Mark,<br><br>That's excellent and too bad more companies don't &quot;cut and paste&quot; that plan into theirs.<br><br>In terms of what Karl says (no offense Karl) it's a pretty limited and mis-trusting view of the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;You have to assume that the managers above you have your best interest at heart.&nbsp;&nbsp;But than again, if you want to be a jet fighter pilot and are working as a Unix administrator you might not want to share your personal plans.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>Having others help you in your career can only get you there faster.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mark, it sounds like they really want to accelerate the employees where you work and that is exciting to read.&nbsp;&nbsp;Keep it up.<br><br>Thanks for sharing the tip.<br><br>Ghost

 

[markSaunders]

i see the personal development plan is a method of<br>a) ensuring i conserve resources for applications appropriate to whatever i define *I* want to do<br>b) selling to the company why what I want to do can be of benefit to them<br>c) enabling that my actions are always aimed at acheiving my defined aims - both in terms of work (now) and future intentions.<br><br>I think the work place realise that they cannot put blinkers on me and convince me that my only goals in life are those of the company - instead they see an opportunity of getting the employer/employee bond tighter by involving themselves in my longer term plans. they benefit in the short term through higher morale and motivation, the medium term through improved skills (and arguably skills they would not have otherwise been aware of?) and the longer term whereby the employee stays with the company to forward themselves *if* it's the right thing to do (i personally think that there is also a benefit to both parties if they are aware that the employee outlives the company or visa-versa in order that appropriate action can be taken).<br><br>I like to think that being in the workplace is not detrimental to where i want to be in the future - in order to ensure this i consider where i want to be, how will i get there and then how and why the workplace should facilitate that.

 

[Karl Blessing]

there are people who know exactly what they want to do in the future, and there are those who are just hopping along for the ride, and see where it takes them, I have desires of some things I'd like to be in , but i dont have a definite set future, I go with the flow of the technology field I am most interested in. Perhaps it helps them figure out what opportunities to offer you, for example my company(rather small I would say) gives me a company matched IRA, but they also want me to take any certifications I want, which they will pay for. Least those two items benefit me more than it does the company. Of course I know the company wants to see that the employee has a goal, it helps build character to the indivisual, and if there is no future plans, I'm thinking the company may help you decide where you want to be, by offering training, certfications, etc, I think it all depends on your position. <p>Karl<br><a href=mailto:kb244@kb244.8m.com>kb244@kb244.8m.com</a><br><a href=

http://kb244.8m.com>

</a><br>Experienced in : C++(both VC++ and Borland),VB1(dos) thru VB6, Delphi 3 pro, HTML, Visual InterDev 6(ASP(WebProgramming/Vbscript)<br>

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=629151

 

[checkin]

I agree with Mark and I have just agreed with my boss at my appraisal to do a personal development plan.&nbsp;&nbsp;This will give us both a concrete foundation on which to make decision about my future and the future direction of work etc.<br><br>Thanks.<br>Will