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.

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.