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How to Create a Personal Development Plan: 3 Examples

For successful change, it is vital that the client remains engaged, recognizing and identifying with the goals captured inside and outside sessions. A personal development plan (PDP) creates a focus for development while offering a guide for life and future success (Starr, 2021).

This article introduces and explores the value of personal development plans, offering tools, worksheets, and approaches to boost self-reflection and self-improvement.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains

What is personal development 7 theories, coaching in personal development and growth, how to create a personal development plan, 3 examples of personal development plans, defining goals and objectives: 10 tips and tools, fostering personal development skills, 3 inspiring books to read on the topic, resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message, frequently asked questions.

Personal development is a fundamental concept in psychology and encompasses the lifelong process of self-improvement, self-awareness, and personal growth. Crucial to coaching and counseling, it aims to enhance various aspects of clients’ lives, including their emotional wellbeing, relationships, careers, and overall happiness (Cox, 2018; Starr, 2021).

Several psychological models underpin and support transformation. Together, they help us understand personal development in our clients and the mechanisms and approaches available to make positive life changes (Cox, 2018; Passmore, 2021).

The following psychological theories and frameworks underpin and influence the approach a mental health professional adopts.

1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

As a proponent of the humanistic or person-centered approach to helping people, Abraham Maslow (1970) suggested that individuals have a hierarchy of needs. Simply put, they begin with basic physiological and safety needs and progress through psychological and self-fulfillment needs.

Personal development is often found in or recognized by the pursuit of higher-level needs, such as self-esteem and self-actualization (Cox, 2018).

2. Erikson’s psychosocial development

Erik Erikson (1963) mapped out a series of eight psychosocial development stages that individuals go through across their lifespan.

Each one involves challenges and crises that once successfully navigated, contribute to personal growth and identity development.

3. Piaget’s cognitive development

The biologist and epistemologist Jean Piaget (1959) focused on cognitive development in children and how they construct their understanding of the world.

We can draw on insights from Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, including intellectual growth and adaptability, to inform our own and others’ personal development (Illeris, 2018).

4. Bandura’s social cognitive theory

Albert Bandura’s (1977) theory highlights the role of social learning and self-efficacy in personal development. It emphasizes that individuals can learn and grow through observation, imitation, and belief in their ability to effect change.

5. Self-determination theory

Ryan and Deci’s (2018) motivational self-determination theory recognizes the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in personal development.

Their approach suggests that individuals are more likely to experience growth and wellbeing when such basic psychological needs are met.

6. Positive psychology

Positive psychology, developed by Martin Seligman (2011) and others, focuses on strengths, wellbeing, and the pursuit of happiness.

Seligman’s PERMA model offers a framework for personal development that emphasizes identifying and using our strengths while cultivating positive emotions and experiences (Lomas et al., 2014).

7. Cognitive-Behavioral Theory (CBT)

Developed by Aaron Beck (Beck & Haigh, 2014) and Albert Ellis (2000), CBT explores the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

As such, the theory provides practical techniques for personal development, helping individuals identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviors (Beck, 2011).

Theories like the seven mentioned above offer valuable insights into many of the psychological processes underlying personal development. They provide a sound foundation for coaches and counselors to support their clients and help them better understand themselves, their motivations, and the paths they can take to foster positive change in their lives (Cox, 2018).

The client–coach relationship is significant to successful growth and goal achievement.

Typically, the coach will focus on the following (Cox, 2018):

• Actualizing tendency This supports a “universal human motivation resulting in growth, development and autonomy of the individual” (Cox, 2018, p. 53).
• Building a relationship facilitating change Trust clients to find their own way while displaying empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard . The coach’s “outward responses consistently match their inner feelings towards a client,” and they display a warm acceptance that they are being how they need to be (Passmore, 2021, p. 162).
• Adopting a positive psychological stance Recognize that the client has the potential and wish to become fully functioning (Cox, 2018).

Effective coaching for personal growth involves adopting and committing to a series of beliefs that remind the coach that the “coachee is responsible for the results they create” (Starr, 2021, p. 18) and help them recognize when they may be avoiding this idea.

The following principles are, therefore, helpful for coaching personal development and growth (Starr, 2021).

• Stay committed to supporting the client. While initially strong, you may experience factors that reduce your sense of support for the individual’s challenges.
• Coach nonjudgmentally. Our job is not to adopt a stance based on personal beliefs or judgment of others, but to help our clients form connections between behavior and results.
• Maintain integrity, openness, and trust. The client must feel safe in your company and freely able to express themselves.
• Responsibility does not equal blame. Clients who take on blame rather than responsibility will likely feel worse about something without acknowledging their influence on the situation.
• The client can achieve better results. The client is always capable of doing and achieving more, especially in relation to their goals.
• Focus on clients’ thoughts and experiences. Collaborative coaching is about supporting the growth and development of the client, getting them to where they want to go.
• Clients can arrive at perfect solutions. “As a coach, you win when someone else does” (Starr, 2021, p. 34). The solution needs to be the client’s, not yours.
• Coach as an equal partnership. Explore the way forward together collaboratively rather than from a parental or advisory perspective.

Creating a supportive and nonjudgmental environment helps clients explore their thoughts, feelings, and goals, creating an environment for personal development and flourishing (Passmore, 2021).

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A personal development plan is a powerful document “to create mutual clarity of the aims and focus of a coaching assignment” (Starr, 2021, p. 291). While it is valuable during coaching, it can also capture a client’s way forward once sessions have ended.

Crucially, it should have the following characteristics (Starr, 2021):

• Short and succinct
• Providing a quick reference or point of discussion
• Current and fresh, regularly revised and updated

Key elements of a personal development plan include the following (Starr, 2021):

• Area of development This is the general skill or competence to be worked on.
• Development objectives or goals What does the client want to do? Examples might include reducing stress levels, improving diet, or managing work–life balance .
• Behaviors to develop These comprise what the client will probably do more of when meeting their objectives, for example, practicing better coping mechanisms, eating more healthily, and better managing their day.
• Actions to create progress What must the client do to action their objectives? For example, arrange a date to meet with their manager, sign up for a fitness class, or meet with a nutritionist.
• Date to complete or review the objective Capture the dates for completing actions, meeting objectives, and checking progress.

Check out Lindsey Cooper’s excellent video for helpful guidance on action planning within personal development.

We can write and complete personal development plans in many ways. Ultimately, they should meet the needs of the client and leave them with a sense of connection to and ownership of their journey ahead (Starr, 2021).

• Personal Development Plan – Areas of Development In this PDP , we draw on guidance from Starr (2021) to capture development opportunities and the behaviors and actions needed to achieve them.
• Personal Development Plan – Opportunities for Development This template combines short- and long-term goal setting with a self-assessment of strengths, weaknesses, and development opportunities.
• Personal Development Plan – Ideal Self In this PDP template , we focus on our vision of how our ideal self looks and setting goals to get there.

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“The setting of a goal becomes the catalyst that drives the remainder of the coaching conversation.”

Passmore, 2021, p. 80

Defining goals and objectives is crucial to many coaching conversations and is usually seen as essential for personal development.

Check out this video on how you can design your life with your personal goals in mind.

The following coaching templates are helpful, containing a series of questions to complete Whitmore’s (2009) GROW model :

• G stands for Goal : Where do you want to be?
• R stands for Reality : Where are you right now with this goal?
• O stands for Options : What are some options for reaching your goal?
• W stands for Way forward : What is your first step forward?

Goal setting creates both direction and motivation for clients to work toward achieving something and meeting their objectives (Passmore, 2021).

The SMART goal-setting framework is another popular tool inside coaching and elsewhere.

S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable/ or Agreed upon R = Realistic T = Timely – allowing enough time for achievement

The SMART+ Goals Worksheet contains a series of prompts and spaces for answers to define goals and capture the steps toward achieving them.

We can summarize the five principles of goal setting (Passmore, 2021) as follows:

• Goals must be clear and not open to interpretation.
• Goals should be stretching yet achievable.
• Clients must buy in to the goal from the outset.
• Feedback is essential to keep the client on track.
• Goals should be relatively straightforward. We can break down complex ones into manageable subgoals.

The following insightful articles are also helpful for setting and working toward goals.

• What Is Goal Setting and How to Do it Well
• The Science & Psychology of Goal-Setting 101

1. People skills

Improving how we work with others benefits confidence, and with other’s support, we are more likely to achieve our objectives and goals. The following people skills can all be improved upon:

• Developing rapport
• Assertiveness and negotiation
• Giving and receiving constructive criticism

2. Managing tasks and problem-solving

Inevitably, we encounter challenges on our path to development and growth. Managing our activities and time and solving issues as they surface are paramount.

Here are a few guidelines to help you manage:

• Organize time and tasks effectively.
• Learn fundamental problem-solving strategies.
• Select and apply problem-solving strategies to tackle more complex tasks and challenges.
• Develop planning skills, including identifying priorities, setting achievable targets, and finding practical solutions.
• Acquire skills relevant to project management.
• Familiarize yourself with concepts such as performance indicators and benchmarking.
• Conduct self-audits to assess and enhance your personal competitiveness.

3. Cultivate confidence in your creative abilities

Confidence energizes our performance. Knowing we can perform creatively encourages us to develop novel solutions and be motivated to transform.

Consider the following:

• Understand the fundamentals of how the mind works to enhance your thinking skills.
• Explore a variety of activities to sharpen your creative thinking.
• Embrace the belief that creativity is not limited to artists and performers but is crucial for problem-solving and task completion.
• Learn to ignite the spark of creativity that helps generate innovative ideas when needed.
• Apply creative thinking techniques to enhance your problem-solving and task completion abilities.
• Recognize the role of creative thinking in finding the right ideas at the right time.

To aid you in building your confidence, we have a whole category of articles focused on Optimism and Mindset . Be sure to browse it for confidence-building inspiration.

With new techniques and technology, our understanding of the human brain continues to evolve. Identifying the vital elements involved in learning and connecting with others offers deep insights into how we function and develop as social beings. We handpicked a small but unique selection of books we believe you will enjoy.

1. The Coaching Manual: The Definitive Guide to the Process, Principles and Skills of Personal Coaching – Julie Starr

This insightful book explores and explains the coaching journey from start to finish.

Starr’s book offers a range of free resources and gives clear guidance to support new and existing coaches in providing practical help to their clients.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level – Gay Hendricks

Delving into the “zone of genius” and the “zone of excellence,” Hendricks examines personal growth and our path to personal success.

This valuable book explores how we eliminate the barriers to reaching our goals that arise from false beliefs and fears.

3. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brené Brown

Brown, a leading expert on shame, vulnerability, and authenticity, examines how we can engage with the world from a place of worthiness.

Use this book to learn how to build courage and compassion and realize the behaviors, skills, and mindset that lead to personal development.

We have many resources available for fostering personal development and supporting client transformation and growth.

Our free resources include:

• Goal Planning and Achievement Tracker This is a valuable worksheet for capturing and reflecting on weekly goals while tracking emotions that surface.
• Adopt a Growth Mindset Successful change is often accompanied by replacing a fixed mindset with a growth one .
• FIRST Framework Questions Understanding a client’s developmental stage can help offer the most appropriate support for a career change.

More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit© , but they are described briefly below:

• Backward Goal Planning

Setting goals can build confidence and the skills for ongoing personal development.

Backward goal planning helps focus on the end goal, prevent procrastination, and decrease stress by ensuring we have enough time to complete each task.

Try out the following four simple steps:

• Step one – Identify and visualize your end goal.
• Step two – Reflect on and capture the steps required to reach the goal.
• Step three – Focus on each step one by one.
• Step four – Take action and record progress.
• Boosting Motivation by Celebrating Micro Successes

Celebrating the small successes on our journey toward our goals is motivating and confidence building.

Practice the following:

• Step one – Reflect momentarily on the goal you are working toward.
• Step two – Consider each action being taken to reach that goal.
• Step three – Record the completion of each action as a success.
• Step four – Choose how to celebrate each success.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others reach their goals, check out this collection of 17 validated motivation & goal achievement tools for practitioners. Use them to help others turn their dreams into reality by applying the latest science-based behavioral change techniques.

17 Tools To Increase Motivation and Goal Achievement

These 17 Motivation & Goal Achievement Exercises [PDF] contain all you need to help others set meaningful goals, increase self-drive, and experience greater accomplishment and life satisfaction.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Personal development has a rich and long history. It is underpinned by various psychological theories and remains a vital aspect of creating fulfilling lives inside and outside coaching and counseling.

For many of us, self-improvement, self-awareness, and personal growth are vital aspects of who we are. Coaching can provide a vehicle to help clients along their journey, supporting their sense of autonomy and confidence and highlighting their potential (Cox, 2018).

Working with clients, therefore, requires an open, honest, and supportive relationship. The coach or counselor must believe the client can achieve better results and view them nonjudgmentally as equal partners.

Personal development plans become essential to that relationship and the overall coaching process. They capture areas for development, skills and behaviors required, and goals and objectives to work toward.

Use this article to recognize theoretical elements from psychology that underpin the process and use the skills, guidance, and worksheets to support personal development in clients, helping them remove obstacles along the way.

Ultimately, personal development is a lifelong process that boosts wellbeing and flourishing and creates a richer, more engaging environment for the individual and those around them.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

Personal development is vital, as it enables individuals to enhance various aspects of their lives, including emotional wellbeing, relationships, careers, and overall happiness.

It promotes self-awareness, self-improvement, and personal growth, helping individuals reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives (Passmore, 2021; Starr, 2021).

Personal development is the journey we take to improve ourselves through conscious habits and activities and focusing on the goals that are important to us.

Personal development goals are specific objectives individuals set to improve themselves and their lives. Goals can encompass various areas, such as emotional intelligence, skill development, health, and career advancement, providing direction and motivation for personal growth (Cox, 2018; Starr, 2021).

A personal development plan typically comprises defining the area of development, setting development objectives, identifying behaviors to develop, planning actions for progress, and establishing completion dates. These five stages help individuals clarify their goals and track their progress (Starr, 2021).

• Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory . Prentice-Hall.
• Beck, A. T., & Haigh, E. P. (2014). Advances in cognitive therapy and therapy: The generic cognitive model. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology , 10 , 1–24.
• Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond . Guilford Press.
• Cottrell, S. (2015). Skills for success: Personal development and employability . Bloomsbury Academic.
• Cox, E. (2018). The complete handbook of coaching . SAGE.
• Ellis, A. (2000). Can rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) be effectively used with people who have devout beliefs in God and religion? Professional Psychology-Research and Practice , 31 (1), 29–33.
• Erikson, E. H. (1963). Youth: Change and challenge . Basic Books.
• Illeris, K. (2018). An overview of the history of learning theory. European Journal of Education , 53 (1), 86–101.
• Lomas, T., Hefferon, K., & Ivtzan, I. (2014). Applied positive psychology: Integrated positive practice . SAGE.
• Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personalit y (2nd ed.). Harper & Row.
• Passmore, J. (Ed.). (2021). The coaches’ handbook: The complete practitioner guide for professional coaches . Routledge.
• Piaget, J. (1959): The Psychology of intelligence . Routledge.
• Rose, C. (2018). The personal development group: The students’ guide . Routledge.
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2018). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness . Guilford Press.
• Seligman, M. E. (2011). Authentic happiness using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment . Nicholas Brealey.
• Starr, J. (2021). The coaching manual: The definitive guide to the process, principles and skills of personal coaching . Harlow: Pearson Education.
• Whitmore, J. (2009). Coaching for performance . Nicholas Brealey.

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Home Clinician Life Blog Nursing 5 Nursing Professional Development Plan Essentials

5 Nursing Professional Development Plan Essentials

September 3, 2024 — 6 min read

September 14-20 is NPD Week — Nursing Professional Development Week! This special week is all about helping you become the best nurse you can be. It’s a time to recognize your growth and provide you with the resources you need to reach your career goals. For instance, your plan for nursing professional development.

To celebrate, let’s look at the best ways to learn and grow in your nursing career: Starting by creating an effective Nursing Professional Development Plan (NPDP).

What is a Nursing Professional Development Plan?

A Nursing Professional Development Plan (NPDP) is a strategic tool designed to help you advance your career, improve your skills, and expand your professional knowledge. As you know, healthcare is always changing. This plan helps you stay on top of the change and grow with it, all while achieving your specific goals.

What is Included in a Nursing Professional Development Plan?

Your Nursing Professional Development Plan focuses on the actions you’ll take to reach your educational and career goals. It might include:

Clear, specific goals that outline where you want to be in both the short term and long term.

• Example : “Become a Nurse Leader in the next 3 years.”

How are you going to make it happen? Write down each of the steps you’ll take to achieve your goals. For instance:

• Earn a master’s degree in Clinical Nurse Leadership (CNL). 
• Complete the CNL program.
• Pass the CNL certification exam.

Explain why you have the strength to make it happen. What unique traits or qualities do you have that support your goal?

Example : “Natural Leader: I’m always finding myself guiding, motivating, and teaching others.”

Think about nursing skills or areas you want to improve to help make your goals possible.

Example : “Conflict resolution skills, communication skills…”

Opportunities

What opportunities can you look for to gain experience and support your goal?

Example : “Volunteer for leadership roles on committees, look for assignments with increased leadership responsibility, sign up for leadership trainings/webinars…”

Are there any mentors, networks, or educational resources you can use to guide and support your professional development?

Example : “In-house continuing education, leadership webinars through the ANA…”

Remember: Your NPDP isn’t something you make once at the beginning of your nursing career and call it good. It grows with you and your goals. It helps you stay focused, motivated, and proactive in your professional growth, turning your goals from ideas into achievements !

How to Select Your Nursing Professional Development Activities

Start by setting a smart goal.

First, effective Nursing Professional Development Plans are action-oriented. Instead of saying, “I want to become a Team Lead,” specify how you’ll get there with concrete steps: “I want to become a Team Lead by completing X, Y, and Z.”

To guide your plan, start by setting a SMART goal :

• S pecific : Spare no detail! The clearer your goal, the easier it is to achieve.
• M easurable : How will you know when you’ve reached your goal? Determine how you’ll measure progress. For example, if you want to get “better” at a skill, set criteria for how you’ll gauge your improvement.
• A ttainable : Make sure your goal is within your reach. Dream big, but set yourself up for success.
• R elevant : Is your goal relevant to what you want to achieve in your career and life in the long run? Make sure it aligns.
• T ime-Bound: We all procrastinate. Without a deadline, it’s easy to put our goals off. Fight this by giving yourself a realistic deadline for your goal to keep yourself on track.

Talk with a Mentor

Not sure where to start? Talk with a mentor, unit leader, or someone you look up to at your facility. Share your goals and seek their advice on what to include in your Nursing Professional Development Plan.

Use Nursing Professional Development Plan Resources

There are endless resources out there to help you make your goals happen. The Association for Nursing Professional Development is a great place to start. Plus, we’ve compiled a whole list for you here !

5 Ways to Level Up Your Nursing Professional Development Plan

Want to take your Nursing Professional Development Plan to the next level? Here are some must-haves and best practices to help:

Look Into Continuing Education Opportunities

The more you learn, the more you grow. Continuing education (CE) is crucial for your NPDP.

• Check if your facility offers CE courses.
• Attend local or national conferences to expand your knowledge (and your network).
• Explore CE online courses and webinars through the American Nurses Association (ANA) .

Remember: Choose courses or conferences that tie back to your goals. For example, if you want to become a Nurse Leader, look for opportunities focused on leadership and management.

Get a Certification

Become an expert — and make it official! Getting a nursing certification is one of the most effective ways to level up your career and confidence.

Once again, go back to your main goal. What do you want to achieve in the long-term? What type of certification(s) will help get you there?

Explore More Advanced Roles

Plan your next career steps. Where can you grow and go next?

• Can you move into a Nurse Leader or Nurse Manager role?
• Could you become a specialist?
• Could you advance to a more specialized setting ?

Research advanced roles you’re interested in and see what education, experience, and steps are required to get there. Then, you’ll have your next action steps for your nursing professional development plan!

Participate in Committees

See if your facility has any committees you can join or volunteer with. This can help you rub shoulders with important leaders, increase your experience, and open advancement opportunities that support your nursing professional development plan.

Find or Become a Mentor

Lastly, wherever you are in your career, mentorship can help you get a step further.

• If you need a mentor, they can help you reach your goals, dream bigger, and overcome obstacles.
• If you become a mentor, you can help others do the same — all while building your own confidence, experience, and leadership skills.

Growing Your Nursing Career with New Experiences

The ultimate key to nursing professional development is always looking for and staying open to new experiences. Wherever you want to go in your career, CareerStaff can connect you with the right opportunities.

Curious about openings for your dream roles? Quick Apply to work with a dedicated recruiter today, or search hundreds of local, travel, and per diem nursing jobs nationwide now.

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• Employee Development , Leadership Development , Personal Development

20 Employee Development Plan Examples

• September 2, 2024

3 in 4 HR professionals report that it has been very difficult to find qualified individuals with the new skills they need, and overall 50% say they have had difficulty retaining full-time employees in the last 12 months.

With the wave of changes going on, and retention becoming harder than ever, the best course of action you take as leaders is to use internal talent to the best possible extent.

While you’re deftly crafted initiatives that suit different learning styles and employee personas, you need an eclectic and effective mix of employee development plans to tend to the entire workforce. 

This blog will give you 20 Employee development plan ideas that you can implement, to empower your employees, and watch them take ownership of their growth and development in your organization.

Types of Employee Development Plans

Innovative employee development plan examples

1. reverse mentoring programs.

Mentoring teaches leadership skills, instils a sense of sense worth, and is a generous gesture from the mentor. But, it doesn’t always have to be unilateral.

Anyone looking to grow in a leadership role seeks to give back to others but also needs to be willing to take or learn from the right people, even if they’re younger or less experienced in a field than them. That’s exactly what reverse mentoring is. 

The workforce consists of 5 generations of employees now, and there’s a big gap between people and their leaders.

When your employees rise the ranks, they often get so focused on the strategy, and the vision of the organization, that they lose the pulse of the workforce, and what people feel. Reverse mentoring, where a younger employee counsels the emerging leader on matters they want to broaden their knowledge on, is an amazing way to leaders rooted to the core of the company while fueling their growth. 

There are a few important things to take care of, in reverse mentoring programs. Make your match thoughtfully.

Find someone who has a pulse on the key spokespeople in your company, someone who knows you and your teams well.

Ensure the reverse mentor is not a direct report or a part of the leader’s team, so their interactions are candid. 

For example, you can team up an engineering leader with an associate in marketing, or a product expert with someone in customer care, etc.

Beware of role reversion – sometimes the senior employee tends to take over the discussion and give career advice. It’s better to set ground rules to avoid this issue. 

About 63% of organizations plan to support a formal or informal mentoring program in 2024. The right implementation can be tremendously helpful to emerging leaders and shape them well.

2. Cross-functional projects and side ventures

Employees with leadership potential are good performers and also have the skills and the fortitude to learn higher-order work and take on bigger challenges.

They have the capability to learn, be resilient, and ace things that are beyond their scope now. To broaden the candidate’s skills, give them assignments that appeal to their skill set, but in a context that isn’t too familiar to them.

For example, if a marketing associate is showing potential in conflict resolution, give them a project in customer service. Or, if a software developer shows potential in breaking down and leveraging social media trends, give them a chance to do it. 

This is how they form working relationships with people out of their comfort zone, and push themselves to get results for the team.

This is an important skill for a leader, and these cross-functional projects set the perfect stage for it.

3. Employee innovation programs

Sometimes the best, and breakthrough ideas don’t come from leaders or external consultants. The most ingenious ideas sometimes come from grassroots-level employees.

When their suggestions are considered, tested, and validated, they can open up new opportunities or markets for the business.

To bring out the best in your employees, set up a contest, or a program where every department, or every employee (depending on the employee headcount) has to come up with one innovative idea to reduce waste, improve efficiency, or bring down costs, implement it and show how their idea benefits the company. 

The TATA Titan Group does this well. The jewelry division of the Titan group, Titan Tanishq conducts a yearly event to bring out hidden talent in employees through an event called Impact Mela.

It’s an exhibition where employees display an innovative product, or solution they discovered, or invented to simplify their work or any other process in the company. 

It can be as simple as discovering a new methodology to stop water from dripping continuously from the water cooler, thus saving thousands of rupees for the manufacturing plant, or a different, simpler method to clean metal without using power, but giving the same accuracy time and time again. 

In about 49% of organizations, limited advancement opportunities is a high retention challenge in the last 12 months.

This exhibition is an excellent way to bring out employee creativity, and innovation, and fire up their zeal to become a leader.

4. Job rotation within the internal talent marketplace

When an employee works at different levels and capacities within the same workplace, they get to know the workplace dynamics better, help troubleshoot, and master their function thoroughly.

To make this process equitable, use internal talent marketplaces. Studies say only 1 in 4 organizations use an internal talent marketplace . If you have a person taking a sabbatical or need a quick replacement due to any reason, post the job on the marketplace, and have anyone with the required skill set apply for the interview. 

Hiring from within almost always trumps hiring externally.

If you can rotate employees from the same function to take up the vacancy, there’s nothing better than that.

For example, if there’s an immediate opening for a copywriter, and your SEO specialist shows credibility to write well, have them appear for the screening.

Job rotation improves credibility for employees, and helps mobilize internal talent. Opportunities for growth within the workspace represent the single biggest factor in employees’ overall mental wellbeing, surpassing even job security.

5. Experiential learning programs for leadership development

Teamwork, helping tendency, ability to lead, and thinking on one’s feet are all essential characteristics of a leader.

This is best brought out in real-life dangerous situations where the stakes are high. If you want to spot true leaders in your workforce, take them to an experiential training camp, where they indulge in adventurous activities as a team. 

It brings out many hidden traits, that you can fuel later on. It’s also an amazing exercise for those on track to be leaders and gives them a taste of the strengths and weaknesses they need to work on.

Apart from leaders, you can also get a glimpse of individual contributors who, when push comes to shove, will take one for the team.

You’ll also see whom the team naturally trusts and gravitates toward when put in a tough spot. This person is a natural leader and a potential candidate for you to develop.

6. Stretch assignments to test new skill acquisition

Apart from cross-functional projects, and job rotation, if you want an employee to truly go out of their comfort zone, challenge themselves, and do something extraordinary, give them stretch assignments.

Going beyond the job description, for a short period of time, and for an incentive at the end is what stretch assignments are about.

Offering an incentive, in terms of a bonus, a flexible schedule, a promotion in the next review, or putting on track for leadership positions makes the individual deliver to the best of their potential. 

Stretch assignments, for example, can be of different kinds – requiring an employee to do extensive market research, competitive research, product research, leading an R&D initiative for a particular high-value product, and trusting them to come up with a workable prototype.

It can require them to set up and run an international division or branch of a business. It can be asking them to spearhead a digital transformation initiative in the company, or courting and bringing in a high-ticket client (if that isn’t in their JD). 

7. Coaching with external expert coaches

Climbing up the corporate ladder isn’t the same for everyone. Individual contributors who are masters in their line of work often find it incredibly hard to manage people when they get promoted.

They may be unable to confront the people whom they worked side by side with until recently, an inability to set strict boundaries and manage without seeming too bossy. 

These are behaviors that a manager needs to have, regardless of their other skills. If the employee on the leadership track lacks these essential soft skills, they will find it hard to cope.

One of the ways to develop them is to sponsor a coaching program with one of the best coaches in the industry to help them become a well-rounded manager.

8. Lunch and learn sessions

Lunch and Learn sessions are informal training or informational meetings that typically take place during lunch hours at the workplace.

These sessions are designed to provide employees with an opportunity to learn new skills, gain knowledge, or discuss various topics in a relaxed setting while enjoying a meal.

These are held during lunch breaks, often lasting between 30 minutes to an hour. Cover a wide range of subjects, from professional development and industry trends to health and wellness, personal finance, or even hobbies.

Employees are usually invited to attend on a voluntary basis, creating a low-pressure environment. Since they take place during regular work hours and often involve minimal expenses (like providing lunch), they are a cost-effective way for organizations to invest in employee development.

9. Interactive internal knowledge-sharing forums

Progressive companies know succession planning and continuous leadership development are possible only when people in the same or extended teams share their knowledge and experience with each other.

We’re seeing many organizations come up with internal podcasts, knowledge bases, and internal research reports based on each department’s experience with the market that helps each other do their work better. 

These knowledge-sharing systems are super-important to creating a culture of learning and boosting each other – which lies at the crux of leadership development.

Leaders can gather input from across the organization to inform strategic decisions, fostering a sense of ownership and involvement among employees.

10. AR/VR immersive learning

Upskilling and reskilling are top priorities for 53% of organizations worldwide in 2024 and for the next few years. AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) immersive learning technologies offer innovative and effective ways to achieve this goal right.

These technologies create highly engaging, interactive, and realistic learning environments that can significantly improve the learning experience and outcomes for employees. 

They allow employees to actively participate in learning experiences rather than passively consuming information.

This interactivity increases engagement and helps in better retention of knowledge. Employees can practice tasks and scenarios in a safe, controlled virtual environment without the risk of real-world consequences.

This is particularly valuable in high-risk industries like healthcare, manufacturing, or aviation.

Once developed, AR/VR training modules can be scaled across large organizations without the need for additional physical resources or repeated instructor-led sessions. 

11. Workathons or hackathons – contests on completing distinguished projects

When Mark Zuckerberg wanted to recruit the best talent in his founding team to build Facebook from the ground up, he conducted workathons – a fun competition where participants work on a task with a huge goal and a stringent timeframe, with other employees cheering them on.

Whoever completed it first got the spot for an internship on Zuckerberg’s team. These contests bring out the competitive nature among employees and get them to break free of their limits, learn extensively, practice, train, and deliver the best on the day of the event.

You can apply this concept of workathons to any concept, or context and get fruitful results, in terms of engagement, employee delight, and development. 

This makes employees push their limits. Also, seeing other employees win accolades or special incentives is a huge motivation for others to follow suit and take part in such events, thereby driving collective development.

12. New idea incubation programs

Geniuses can come from anywhere, and when they do, you do your best to make use of their ideas. Many organizations encourage the entrepreneurial drive their star employees have.

If an employee has an out-of-the-box idea that is directly relevant or complementary to the business vision, the organization provides mentorship, resources, and anything else required to have the employee develop the idea from scratch and get it to fruition, just like venture capitalists do.

Progressive organizations encourage employees to be entrepreneurs themselves, in their chosen field, and invest in their growth. If the employee runs the new venture well, they may also consider having the venture as a separate entity with the employee running it with a team of their own. 

This kind of reception for employee’s brilliant ideas only breeds more fantastic ideas.

People who previously thought they were of no consequence in the company now start vocalizing their ideas and contributing to the growth of the company. This brings us to our next point.

13. Employee suggestion programs and employee circles

Suggestion programs are a common practice in many companies, but most of them aren’t effective. Manufacturing companies that follow lean practices do it religiously, and it benefits them in improving their throughput process.

There are employee circles (cross-functional teams) that gather together every quarter or half-year, to brainstorm suggestions to make the workplace, or their department function better.

Subsequent to these meetings, they also run an anonymous suggestion scheme, or quarterly surveys to gauge employee pulse. 

Using robust tools like Peoplebox to run successful, thorough, and completely anonymous surveys gets you detailed qualitative and quantitative results, features to slice and dice, and work out all possible data combinations to get the real picture of how engaged people are in your company, and to get their candid suggestions.

These suggestions can be a breakthrough if done right. Employees may be liberated, and empowered to voice out their opinions and concerns and get them heard by the right people, which is core to employee development.

14. Holistic wellbeing programs

Holistic wellbeing programs are comprehensive initiatives designed to address various aspects of employees’ lives, including physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing.

41% of employees experience a lot of stress at work, which ultimately affects how engaged, productive, and happy people are at work.

When you take care of holistic wellbeing programs, sickness/ absence rates decline, staff retention levels, and engagement levels skyrocket, productivity climbs, and leadership behavior increases, you can see better customer satisfaction scores and a wondrous improvement in stock performance.

15. Rotational leadership

By rotating through different leadership roles, employees refine their leadership skills more quickly than they might in a single, static role.

They learn to manage diverse teams, handle different types of challenges, and develop leadership competencies more rapidly.

This program helps identify and nurture high-potential leaders who are capable of taking on significant roles within the organization. This accelerates the development of future leaders and ensures a strong leadership pipeline.

Employees are less likely to leave an organization that invests in their development and provides them with varied career experiences.

Rotational programs help retain top talent by demonstrating a commitment to their long-term career growth.

16. Volunteering projects/social responsibility projects

Invite employees to work together on a social cause, arrange a CSR program, and ask them to contribute and show them how valuable they are to the world.

This is a great way to show they’re not alone, they can make a huge impact in the world, and they are irreplaceable in the community, family, and the world at large. 

Managing multiple deadlines, working on a small budget yet making a profound impact, getting everybody to prioritize social responsibility in their spare time, bringing everyone together, and working towards a higher cause truly bring out one’s leadership qualities and inherent benevolence.

Once successfully implemented, these programs have a chance of being perpetuated by different generations of employees, since they inspire everyone on the team to tap into their potential.

These projects also evoke a sense of purpose in the organization and add new vigor to the working style, thus making employees feel empowered.

17. Self-care boot camps to focus on oneself

Most people with 9-5 jobs don’t stop working (physically or mentally) after their working hours. They don’t dissociate from work and have no time or the emotional bandwidth to think about where they are in life, what path they want to take, and how to get where they want to be.

Giving them a recluse from the cycle, in the form of a self-care boot camp can work wonders. In this program, employees will be taken to a retreat (in most cases) or done online.

A one or two-day program is completely dedicated to expert-guided self-care that takes care of mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing.

This time away from one’s day-to-day work and personal responsibilities gives a well-deserved relief to employees and helps them figure out what they want out of life, and what they need to do. 

Most programs include sessions from external life coaches who help employees plan the next 5-7 years of their lives and also chalk up short-term plans (personal and professional).

These programs are meaningful, evoke a sense of purpose in employees, and remind them of their potential to achieve all their goals.

18. Career pathing programs to ascertain which path to take

66% of HR leaders agree career paths within their organizations are not compelling enough for many employees. Only 1 in 4 employees is confident about their career in their organization.

Career pathing programs are designed to guide employees through the various career options available within an organization, helping them identify and pursue the paths that best align with their interests, strengths, and long-term goals. 

These can be as simple as an employee having a professional development dialogue with a manager, but they are immensely helpful.

Employees may want to explore roles in different departments without necessarily moving up the hierarchy. Lateral moves allow them to broaden their skill sets, gain new experiences, and build a more versatile career.

Traditional upward career paths, where employees move into higher-level positions with increased responsibilities, remain a common aspiration.

Employees often seek clear pathways to leadership or specialized roles within their field.

Certain employees may wish to delve deeper into a specific area of expertise, becoming subject matter experts. Career pathing for specialists focuses on honing technical skills and deepening knowledge in a particular domain.

It’s essential for organizations to communicate these career paths clearly to employees. This can be done through career development portals, workshops, and regular discussions with managers.

Transparency helps employees understand what is required to move into different roles, what opportunities are available to them, and the skill requirements for each such role.

19. Crisis management workshop

Organizations that deal with volatile situations in the economy, market, or community often have an emergency response team – an A-team to take care of everything important in case of any catastrophic emergency – from communication to ensuring safety, to taking of organizational functioning, to transferring funds to people in need, etc.

Similarly, conduct a crisis management workshop and appoint committees with benevolent individuals who will step up and rise to the occasion, should an emergency present itself at work. 

Like other programs discussed above, setting up a crisis management team also taps into people’s inherent potential, leadership skills, and altruistic nature.

Set up a cross-functional A-team after the training, and have them come up with responsibilities they can take up to address the crisis.

20. Focused group discussions to share, vent, and brainstorm as a group

Employees, as a group, or individually may be going through challenges that they might not have the right forum to vent out or seek help for.

They also would want to discuss work issues and get a solution, without being judged by others. 

Listening circles, or focused group discussions once a fortnight, where people come together without any particular agenda, and speak their minds, discuss, brainstorm, and listen to one another if anyone wants to vent and give a safe and supportive space.

Leaders need to make sure that this session isn’t used for work or task delegation amongst employees, and that it remains a space for people to truly connect. 

These spaces for employees to interact candidly make a huge difference, and when they feel truly cared for, supported, and cheered on, they make extra efforts to work for you and take the initiative to make things happen. 

The first step towards implementing the employee development plans we spoke about is to take a pulse check about how your people are feeling at the moment, and then working your way up. 

If you’re looking for an expert-backed performance and engagement management tool to help you get started, contact Peoplebox today.

We’ve been trusted by leading SaaS companies like RazorPay , and Nova Benefits to streamline their HR processes to meet evolving trends, leverage technology to boost your employer brand, skyrocket your employee value proposition, and make the whole process a cakewalk, for an affordable price at lighting speeds. 

Want to create the same for your organization? Sign up for a free product tour and demo today ! 

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