Does Self Development Translate to the Bottom Line?
A great deal has been written about setting New Year’s resolutions or annual goals. But, if you’re like most people, you’ve wondered: “Does setting annual goals produce significant results, or is it an annual exercise in futility?” It is my belief and professional experience that the strongest, most resilient organizations and individuals greatly benefit from the annual setting of specific and measurable goals. I’d like to focus on one aspect of goal setting: developing an annual professional development plan.
Setting annual professional development goals is a process that benefits both the individual and the organization. Having fresh goals each year means you’re committing to learning and achieving new things. And as a continual learner, you set yourself apart from others within your organization and demonstrate your desire for self-improvement so that you can continually tackle bigger assignments. As you perform better and produce greater results, your opportunities and compensation typically will increase. In turn, your organization benefits by growing more leaders who can better serve their clients, customers or stakeholders. In all organizations, but particularly in professional and services organizations, having sharp, skilled team members offers a distinct competitive advantage.
Let me share a few key facts on this subject, courtesy of one of my favorite self-development authors Brian Tracy:
Approximately “3 percent of adults have written goals and plans, and this 3 percent earn more than all of the other 97 percent put together.”
According to the American Society for Training and Development, “the most profitable 20 percent of companies in every industry invest in the training and development of their staff.” I encourage organizations to dedicate this line item in their annual budgeting, but I understand that some companies simply fall short in this regard. Likewise, I encourage individuals “to invest 3 percent of their income back into themselves” on professional development, regardless of whether their organization pays for their development and/or time off. The payoff will be extraordinary … mark my word.
A leader should be personally committed to reading, listening and upgrading her/his knowledge and abilities because the speed of the organization is controlled by the speed of the leader. “The best companies have the best-trained people. The second-best companies have the second-best trained people. And the third-best companies have the least-trained people and are on their way out of business.”
What does an effective annual professional development plan look like?
Consider following these steps in a virtuous cycle to establish and maintain effective professional development plans for your team (and for yourself) …
Begin by clearly articulating your organization’s strategic objectives. Then, determine what abilities your team needs to strengthen to accomplish these objectives. A good professional development plan should connect individuals’ strengths with the organization’s objectives.
During Annual Feedback Meetings between supervisors and team members, discuss each team member’s strengths as well as his or her areas for development. List the individual’s top three strengths and top three areas for development.
Determine which strengths are most valuable to the organization in the coming 1-3 years, as it relates to the achievement of institutional objectives. Focus on developing those areas in the team member. Professional development dollars yield a higher return on investment by building on an individual’s strengths rather than focusing on eliminating their areas for development, yet these should also receive some attention. Determine which areas for development would benefit from training, and allocate a smaller portion of professional development dollars to these areas.
Engage the team member in the identification of skill development and allow him or her to contribute ideas about the specific seminars, courses or other methods to obtain these skills and new knowledge. A team member will be more invested in professional development if they have a role in the process.
Give some thought to professional development in a variety of categories, including development of: technical skills, soft skills (communication, leadership, team building, negotiation, etc.) and technology skills. Be mindful that, as a leader moves up in his or her career, the development of soft skills becomes increasingly important.
Determine if your organization wants to support team members with the pursuit of college degrees, if you want to set up a mentoring program, and/or if you want to conduct some internal training by senior team members to help manage costs and share information among a wider internal group.
Track Annual Professional Development results to see if the investment is producing an actual skill improvement in the recipients, greater results and a satisfactory return on investment.
Ultimately, your greatest resource and largest investment is in your people. As such, there are few things as important as ensuring that your employees are continually growing, learning and able to meet your clients’ ever-changing and expanding needs.
