Lack of engagement with the PDP process

Few notes on PDP in my organisation.

We call a Personal Development Plan a Personal Development Review.

The process is broken down into 3 parts;

1. Review against competencies (evidence based)
2. Review against objectives – individual business objectives
3. Personal Development plan – Developmental needs

The definition of a Personal Development Plan is:

“a structured process undertaken by the individual to reflect upon their own learning performance and/or achievement, to support personal, educational and career development” (Higher Education Academy)

This definition suggests it is an individual lead process. Our process in contrast is very much organisation lead. The organisation sets the competency framework and objectives; also personal development is restricted to organisational funding and management support. The portfolio system is designed for assessment and accountability and does not directly promote individual learning.

The Review process within in my organisation is something that should happen to people twice a year. Visibility of this process at an organisation level is limited; we can only report on who has accessed, and entered data to a portfolio/review system. The content of the review is viewable by individuals and their managers.

In addition people moan about the tool, admittedly its not a great tool, its clunky and looks like it was built 10 years ago (it was actually built 10 years ago). I cant see that the tool is really the problem, the tool is just the storage box. I believe its more about attitude and culture.

The benefit in the current process is very limited.

How could it be made better? Make the portfolio more about learning and give more ownership of the process to individuals.


• Allow people time to think and reflect, perhaps a few ½ days a year.
• Create a culture where the review process is rewarded and recognised as a direct way for internal progression.
• For internal recruitment ask for a portfolio submission, or evidence from the system.
• Devolve the training budget to teams, giving them a greater sense of control/ownership.
• Have a more structured link between the personal development plan and the formal training courses offered.
• Promote best practice examples of the review process.
• Bring employee groups together base on profession; create opportunities for networking and collaboration. This will give individuals a stronger sense of identity against other professional colleagues, therefore flush out development needs.

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Higher Education Academy, Personal Development Planning, http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/pdp