1. Handout 3: Identify development needs
PowerPoint presentation
Unit 205 (M&L 1): Manage personal performance and development
Handout 3: Identify development needs

2. Continuous Personal Development
Is about
continuously trying to improve both your skills and the way you work
undertaking activities that improve your knowledge about yourself
developing your skills and realising your potential.

3. Benefits to you
the opportunity to improve weaknesses and gain new skills
its motivational effect on you
an increased ability to embrace changes/challenges
possible financial reward/promotion
it increases your employability.

4. Benefits to your organisation
improves employee skill base
continually matches employees’ skills to those required for the job
motivates staff and can therefore increase productivity
may improve staff retention if employees feel they are valued.

5. Identifying own development needs
Ways to identify development needs are:
Self-assessment
SWOT
Training Needs Analysis
Feedback
appraisal – performance review
inviting feedback
360º feedback.

6. What you need to improve.
Self-assessment
What you are good at.
What you need to improve.
What future development would you like to have?
Self-assessment should be undertaken before the annual appraisal/review meeting to allow you to ensure your development needs and concerns are discussed.
What you are good at – what are your strengths and how can you prove this?
What you need to improve –
What areas do you need to develop?
Why do you feel they need to be improved?
How can you improve your performance in that area?
What assistance do you need?
What future development would you like to have?
What experience or skills do you feel you need to have to progress in the future?

7. A SWOT analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Another form of self-assessment is to carry out a SWOT analysis on yourself.
Although principally a business tool this form of self-assessment is a simple method of gathering and analysing facts about yourself.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Consider and list the areas you know you perform well in, while also looking at the areas that still need development.
You may even find that it is more important to further develop a strength than a particular area of weakness.
Opportunities:
possible promotion
possible internal move to gain more experience
new legislation that means you will require further training.
Threats:
possible changes within the company
new processes requiring certain specific skills.

8. Layout
This self-assessment can often identify points for a constructive discussion with your line manager
leads to a realistic and agreeable plan of future development for you to participate in over a period of time.

9. Training Needs Analysis
Training and development must meet both individual needs as well as business needs.
A Training Needs Analysis (TNA) aims to identify the gap between the knowledge, skills and actual performance of the workforce and the knowledge, skills and performance the organisation requires to be most effective.
Whilst training and development of staff is important to all organisations, it is also costly.

10. TNA can be carried out at organisation, team or individual level.
Purpose of TNA
TNA can be carried out at
organisation, team or individual level.
This gap needs to then be filled by identifying the appropriate training and development, taking into account the fact that people learn in different ways and that different methods should be employed.
For example, you could look at the team’s needs by analysing weaknesses and gaps in the knowledge and skills required of the members in order to carry out their tasks, or at your own needs by analysing the skills required to fulfil all of the tasks required by your job role.

11. eg thanks from a manager for a report or work you have completed.
Feedback
Formal:
appraisal
reviews
one-to-one meetings.
Informal:
eg thanks from a manager for a report or work you have completed.
Feedback can be oral or in writing.
Formal feedback:
In writing, offers a permanent record.
Most organisations offer formal feedback in the form of an appraisal.
There will be an established process and documentation.
The time and place to give feedback must be chosen carefully ensuring privacy and comfort.
Informal feedback:
Management may just take a staff member aside and privately, away from others, have a quiet word.
360º feedback is from both colleagues and superiors.

12. Feedback can be positive or negative
Even when the feedback is positive we can still learn, develop and improve.
Negative feedback should not be seen as criticism but as pointing out areas for development.
None of us are perfect and we will all have development needs.
Feedback assists us to develop both personally and in our job role.
Both positive and negative feedback assist us in our development and personal growth.

13. How to make feedback constructive
Description not judgement
Your communication skills are good. 
You really got your point across clearly. 
Observation not implication
Do you always turn up late? 
I saw you were 30 minutes late this morning. 
Behaviour not the person
You’re so tactless! 
Your comment about my work made me feel bad.  13

14. Formal, confidential interview between you and your manager.
Appraisal/review
Allows management the opportunity of reviewing and developing staff within a working situation.
Regular review (usually annual) of an individual’s performance and progress in relation to their job role.
Formal, confidential interview between you and your manager.
Appraisal procedures:
To be effective you both need to prepare.
The person carrying out the appraisal on you will also assess your performance and skills against the requirements of the job and then discuss the outcome of this assessment with you.
It is likely that within your job you will have standards that need to be reached and you will therefore be assessed against these with the manager indicating what you carried out to standard and any areas that could be improved or skills that could be developed.
You will discuss with your manager your strengths, your performance, your worries and your problems and agree the way forward.
You will also discuss and agree the training and development available to meet your needs and the new opportunities that may be available to you.