Personal Development Plan

A personal development plan (PDP) is an action plan that focuses on growing an individual. 

It usually includes:

• a statement of one's aspirations or objectives; 
• an assessment of required skills vs current abilities;
• identification of prioritized development opportunities to remedy any mismatch between target and current abilities; and
• Criteria and a timeframe to judge success. 

You can download an example PDP by clicking here. Skill themes should be a blend of soft and technical skills. 

PDPs should be monitored over time and be part of performance appraisal sessions between a manager and team member. These should occur at least every six months and be refreshed periodically.