A new era in professional development is here. And if you’re keen on developing your career, you’ll want to pay close attention. This blog outlines the importance of creating your very own professional development plan and explains how to execute it to perfection.
Custom fit a plan to your career aspirations
What comes to mind when you think of “professional development”? Perhaps something like:
You’ve heard that professional development is important, but you don’t know why.
It’s something you’ve wanted to explore, but don’t know where to start.
Professional development is a “nice-to-have”, but it is not crucial to the success of an individual or organization.
There’s a lot of ambiguity and misunderstanding around the concept of professional development—so this is a good opportunity to define it more clearly. This new era in professional development is digitally enabled, flexibly delivered, and custom-fit to your career aspirations. Let’s take a closer look at what that all means, and how to execute it like a pro.
What actually is professional development?
So, what is professional development? You may have heard terms like career building, skills training, knowledge development, etcetera. Well, consider professional development a combination of all of these, used to reach specific, clearly defined career goals.
Professional development reaches outside the traditional strategy of career growth and, depending on your industry, builds interpersonal, technical, and emotional skills to help you create the best version of your professional self. Consider it you—but version 2.0!
Through a combination of training, skills building, and skills refining, professional development seeks to push you toward your ideal career. If you’re looking to gain the competitive edge that matters so much in today’s hypercompetitive environment, professional development is a key differentiator.
Why it matters: creating confidence and competence
A new era in professional development is here, and it’s going to make a world of a difference to both individual career paths as well as to organizational success.
If you’re leading a business, a successful professional development strategy is key when it comes to attracting, retaining, and developing talent. With ongoing skill gaps, it’s more important than ever to have professional development initiatives in place—64% of learning and development professionals agree that filling skill gaps is a top priority for them.
According to Harvard Business Review, an effective professional development plan helps to strengthen employee confidence and leads to higher job satisfaction, performance, productivity, and morale. On the technical side of things, it increases expertise, competence, and credibility among your workforce—helping your organization reach next-level performance. 47% of employees say extra training and education helped them advance within their current company, a testament to the impact that professional development has on upward mobility.
Better ways of working, better outcomes
Are you weary over repeatedly hearing that dreaded, growth-stunting phrase, “but that’s how we’ve always done it”? Nothing stifles innovation more than sticking with what’s comfortable rather than going for what’s better. Professional development can drive new ways of thinking and working. Exposure to new ideas, concepts and skills helps spark creativity and energy that may not manifest itself otherwise.
Being in tune with professional development methodology means creating better processes and strategies to produce better outcomes. In today’s digital world, things move forward at lightning-fast speed, making new ways of problem-solving a crucial component to keeping up (and getting ahead).
Five steps to success
A quality professional development plan is more than checking off boxes and completing courses just for the sake of it. Check out these five actionable steps toward creating a successful professional development plan.
- Envision the career you want. The power of visualization is real, and it’s a useful tool as you conceptualize your development plan. Start by visualizing what you want to be and where you want to end up.
- Set realistic, strategic goals. Goals are the anchor of any good professional development plan (hello, SMART goals!). What would you like to achieve on your professional development journey? Which skills do you want (or need) to develop or refine? Then ask: which courses, certifications, or hands-on experience are necessary to achieve those goals? Research is key here—but luckily in this age of information, there’s quick and easy access to answers.
- Seek out mentors and coaches. Talk to the right people, make the right calls, send the right emails. Take advantage of any mentoring or coaching opportunities that present themselves. There’s no better input than receiving it directly from someone who is in your ideal role, skill level, or industry. So chase down those experts, engage in quality conversations, and consider it an exercise in conducting grassroots market research.
- Use metrics to keep things on track. How will you know if your plan is heading in the right direction? Metrics help you assess the effectiveness, without all the guesswork. Determine your metrics and use them to evaluate your plan on a regular basis.
- Get help with your plan.There’s a lot to consider when it comes to creating your own professional development plan – but you don’t have to do it alone! There are multiple online tools and best practice guides that walk you through the process. You can also reach out to an experienced technology partner to help you assess your goals, evaluate training and development opportunities, and put together a custom plan to fit your aspirations
Whichever approach you take, putting aside some time for deep focus and strategic planning can pay off exponentially. Your future self will thank you!
Professional development made simple with HPE Digital Learner
Take the guesswork out of your professional development journey with solutions from HPE Education Services. We are industry experts when it comes to crafting learning opportunities that generate real results. Partner with us to create a professional development program that meets your needs.
HPE Digital Learner fits your busy schedule and learning preferences so you can develop skills and expertise—anytime, anywhere. Take advantage of our 7-day free trial and discover what HPE Digital Learner can do for you.
Kristina Lechuga
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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KristinaLechuga
I am an HPE Education Services Marketing and Social Media Specialist with a love for all things creative. I love marketing especially because I get to combine storytelling with an analytical approach to create exciting content. I'm an avid reader, painter, and music lover.
