“Evaluate Your Life Day” special
Today is “Evaluate Your Life Day”, so we at Skilo wanted to give you the steps to put yourself on the path to personal development.
Personal Development involves any actions you’re taking to develop your skills and talents. This isn’t solely related to your career, personal development strategies can be related to our personal lives or have a direct positive impact on them.
Unfortunately, the majority of us lose the inquisitivity we had as children. We forget that learning doesn’t – and shouldn’t – ever cease. The world around us isn’t static, so we can’t afford for our knowledge to be static either.
Most companies by now have recognised the importance of human capital, but even if we are part of forward-thinking businesses, we need to take accountability of our development for the sake of our own perception of our self-worth.
In this post, I’m going to outline 3 steps for you to put yourself on the path to personal development: Establish, Time, Recognise.
Establish
Sadly, too often, asking about pursuing personal development opportunities feels like you’re asking permission, as if you’re asking your managers to do you a favour.
In fact, they are doing you a favour, but primarily, you are doing a favour for the organisation as a whole.
Anyone that has read into negotiation skills will know that tip no. 1 is entering knowing what you want. Period. So – consider this carefully, but familiarise yourself with the opportunities and threats the company may be facing internally (team restructuring, or a manager going on maternity leave), and externally (increased competition, change in legislation). Demonstrate how your ask contributes to the business continuity plan, and therefore company survival.
A good manager will be able to hold a structured discussion with you, and be able to make tangible, manageable suggestions for you to pursue – perhaps ones you may not have considered.
Time
Putting a time to a personal development makes it measurable, just like any other well thought out goal. Deadlines are good practice to prevent ourselves from getting distracted, failing to achieve our development, resulting in a loss of confidence.
One of the most effective personal development frameworks we’ve come across is the 30-60-90 plan – simply writing what you will achieve in the next 1-3 months.
Plans on paper like this, that communicate time boundaries, also fight your case to management, proving that you are serious and gives an indication of when they can expect a return on their investment.
Recognise
Very few of us enjoy bragging. But that’s not the point of recognition.
Firstly, it’s so important to recognise your own successes; personal fulfilment is still underrated. Once you give yourself credit, you will go about your days with a pair of fresh eyes, or a spring in your step!
Secondly, the recognition of others. Management will see how effective investing in human capital is, and hopefully will become a cyclical process, having the opportunity to develop each week, month, quarter – or however frequent. Eventually, they will foster a resilient workforce with a competitive edge.
Spread the message to other employees. Many companies have a way of sharing successes, for example, a social collaboration tool. Remember, the wider your audience, the more opportunities can be opened up for you.
About Skilo
Skilo is a talent management platform for HR innovation, adaptable and therefore relevant to any organisation and industry.
Skilo facilitates HR processes such as mapping competency frameworks, manager-employee evaluation and feedback, enforcing skills development schedules and social collaboration.
Start creating a personal development friendly organisation: Find out more here.
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