Personal and Professional Development Plan: A Comprehensive Guide to Growth

Personal and Professional Development 1
“Assignment 1-PPD Plan”
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Table of Contents
Assignment 1-PPD Plan.............................................................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Main body..............................................................................................................................3
Conclusions..........................................................................................................................10
Reference list............................................................................................................................12
Appendix A..............................................................................................................................14
Appendix B..............................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Self assessment and personal reflection play major part in the recent times. This is mainly
because it helps to understand the details of the current strengths and weaknesses. It also
helps to identify the areas of improvement and work towards the same. This report shall
discuss the details of my current strengths and weaknesses with the help of the framework of
PPD. it shall generate insights about the areas of my development, and make specific plans
regarding the same. It shall also discuss theories and models in this regard. The report shall
further prepare a PPD based on my developmental areas. It shall also look into the results of
the VARK questionnaire. It shall overall discuss the current strengths and weaknesses of my
career and thereby look into the possible prospects of my growth.
Main body
Define PPD
The concept of personal and professional development helps to understand the learning and
growth of an individual and retain the same overall. In the recent times, the level of
competition is growing at a rapid pace. This requires individuals to work on improving their
overall skills and competences, and work on increasing the same. PPD process helps to
increase maturity and success of the employable careers of individuals (Mahlanze and Sibiya,
2017). This might be increased by means of acquiring knowledge, training and self-help.
While individuals are able to learn academic lessons in schools, they need to enhance their
employable chances by learning specific skills for their professional development.
In the recent times, hard and soft skills are used as the main classifications of skills
development. Hard skills refer to the basic education and professional skills. Individuals
develop these with the help of their schools, classes and training courses. Soft skills, on the
other hand, refer to skills usually present in the individuals (Gregersen and MacIntyre, 2017).
These usually involve skills such as interpersonal, communication, and confidence. These can
hardly be developed with the help of classes and training. Rather, individuals might be able to
come up with the right set of skills based on their job requirements.
The skills of individuals help them to generate insights with their career using their overall
skills and activities. This might be useful for their growth and development. In the
employment arena, on-the-job and off-the-job trainings take place in this regard. It helps the
individuals to develop their current skills and improve their overall performance quality. It
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also allows them to remain more relevant to the market keeping updates with the technology
growth. This way, they are able to improve their overall careers and generate new skills for
attracting the employers.
PPD Planning Process
 Apply the PPD Process to your own learning and development
As stated earlier, PPD is a tool meant for an organised and systematic approach towards
focusing on attaining goals and to achieve the best possible outcomes from a range of
available resources. The PPD Planning Process consists of seven key steps that are crucial for
ensuring that the entire process is a resounding success (Welp et al., 2018). Presented below
is the PPD Process that has been applied to own development and learning.
 Establishment of the purpose – This is the first step in the PPD Plan wherein the
main purpose for undertaking this planning process is established (Rubens et al.,
2018). The purpose of the PPD Plan is to ensure and manage continued growth and
development in my learning. It is important to continue learning and developing my
knowledge and skills in order to work legally, safely and effectively.
 Identification of development needs – This step in the PPD Process deals with
identifying what are the needs and requirements that would have to be developed in
order to maintain continuous learning and improvement. In my opinion, there is a
need to develop critical skills such as teamwork, time management and organisation
skills, and problem skills. Each of these skills is highly crucial for employers these
days and therefore it is important to develop them within a specific timeframe.
 Development opportunities – This is the step wherein the opportunities for
development are identified. In order to meet the current and future needs of
employers, there is an urgent need to work on skills in both professional and personal
contexts. In order to develop skills such as teamwork, organisation and time
management, I can take up classes and also communicate with my peers and teachers
to guide me. In can also attend seminars and workshops wherein I can learn these
skills. Such opportunities can be very helpful for learning these skills.
Action plan
An action plan would be an essential tool for effectively targeting the areas of development
and ensure a seamless developmental process. As commented by Grit (2019), action plans are
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