Personal Development Plan

Personal Development Plan

In my current job assignment, I serve as an Intern for an Instructional Design Specialist program. This two-year program focuses training individuals on various aspects of teaching, evaluating, and designing curriculum for military learners.  Each Intern is given an Individual Development Plan (IDP) as a guide for tracking scheduled training.   According to Noe, there are four approaches used to develop employees:  formal education, assessment, job experience, and interpersonal relationships.  While some of these approaches have been incorporated in my professional development, others have not.  My assessment of my current professional development (along with recommended changes if needed) is as follows:

            Formal education. Per my IDP, I’m required to complete 24 post-baccalaureate semester hours in addition to an extensive list of formal military courses and in house development programs.  This is an excellent tool to encourage employee retention and potential.  As a result of the extensive training, I’m afforded the opportunity to acquire many marketable skills that positions me to be eligible for employment in numerous organizational departments.   I recommend no changes to formal education. 

          Assessment.  Assessment involves collecting information and providing feedback to employees about their behavior, communication style, values, or skills (Noe, 2010).  While my IDP has projected dates and timelines for my scheduled training, I receive little to no feedback on my progress or milestones achieved.  Furthermore, I do not receive periodic assessments or evaluations.  Along with assessment information, employees need suggestions for correcting skill weaknesses and using skills already learned (Noe, 2010).    In order to make assessments more effective, I recommend more oversight and supervision of individuals participating in the intern program.  I also recommend the enforcement of quarterly assessments to ensure track my progress.

         Job experiences.  Job experiences refer to relationships, problems, demands, tasks, or other features that employees face in their jobs (Noe, 2010).  My IDP requires me to rotate to various departments for on-the-job training.  This is an excellent strategy for improving my functional and operational knowledge of each department.  Additionally, it affords me valuable networking time in order to position myself for upcoming vacancies or positions.  I recommend no changes to job experiences.

         Interpersonal Relationships.  Mentoring and coaching are two types of interpersonal relationships used to develop employees.  Mentors are experienced, productive senior employees who help develop a less experience employee.  A coach is a peer or manager who works with employees to motivate them, help them develop skills, and provide reinforcement and feedback (Noe, 2010). I currently have no assigned coach or mentor.  Because interns frequently travel independently of each other, we don’t see each other on a regular basis.  This, combined with a lack of general supervision and communication, makes the intern experience seem like a disjointed process.  As a result, a lot of double work happens.  Nothing is more de-motivating than having to repeat the same task twice due to lack of information.  My recommendation is to incorporate a mentoring program in which former interns mentor are paired with new interns.  I also recommend mandatory supervisory meetings at least once or twice monthly.  The meetings would provide an opportunity for the supervisor to properly communicate with and also coach interns. 

In closing, I’d like to add that the intern program has provided an awesome opportunity for me to improve my professional and personal resume.  It is designed and structured to make each individual’s experience enriching and valuable.  If my recommendations are incorporated, I’m confident that future interns will have a more positive experience.  Thanks for reading.

Noe, R. A. (2010). Employee Training and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.