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# What is a Personal Development Plan (PDP)?

The **Personal Development Plan (PDP)**, also called the **Individual Development Plan (PDI)**, is a structured tool that helps people plan, track and achieve goals related to their professional and personal growth.

It works as a guide: it connects a person's competencies, goals and aspirations with the organization's needs and goals.

**In this article:**

- [Goal of the PDP](#3-goal-of-the-pdp)
- [Benefits of a PDP](#3-benefits-of-a-pdp)
- [How does a PDP work?](#3-how-does-a-pdp-work)
- [Practical example of a PDP](#3-practical-example-of-a-pdp)
- [Why is the PDP important?](#3-why-is-the-pdp-important)
- [Where to find the PDP on the platform](#3-where-to-find-the-pdp-on-the-platform)

### Goal of the PDP

The main goal of the PDP is to encourage continuous learning and development of skills and behaviors. This way, it supports the person's growth and the organization's success.

The idea is that the plan is created by the person themselves and discussed with their leadership in 1:1s, the individual conversations between the employee and the leader. In these conversations, the two of them check whether the structure of the plan makes sense in relation to the competencies assessed and the results obtained in the reviews.

### Benefits of a PDP

A PDP brings these benefits:

| Benefit | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Clarity of goals | Helps set clearer, more challenging, more specific and more achievable goals, which makes it easier to plan and carry out actions. |
| Competency development | Supports the improvement of skills and competencies relevant to the current role or to future opportunities. |
| Engagement and motivation | Gives the employee a clear view of how they can grow within the organization. This increases engagement and motivation. |
| Organizational alignment | Ensures that individual goals are aligned with the company's strategies and objectives. |
| Monitoring and feedback | Makes it easier to track progress and provides a basis for regular conversations between employees and leaders. |

### How does a PDP work?

A PDP is usually made up of five elements:

| Element | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| Goal setting | The specific goals the employee wants to achieve in the short, medium or long term. |
| Competency identification | The skills and competencies that need to be developed or improved. |
| Action plan | A set of activities to carry out in order to reach the goals that were set. |
| Completion deadline | A defined period to complete the actions and reach the goals. |
| Monitoring and evaluation | Regular follow-up on progress, to assess what has already been achieved and identify the adjustments needed. It is usually done in the 1:1. |

### Practical example of a PDP

A person wants to improve their interpersonal communication skills to reduce the difficulty they have communicating with the team. The competency they want to develop is communication and relationships.

To do this, they plan three actions:

- Attend a workshop on effective communication by next quarter.
- Schedule weekly meetings to practice feedback with the team.
- Read a book on negotiation techniques and apply what they learn at work.

They give themselves 6 months to complete the plan and review their progress with their leader every month.

### Why is the PDP important?

The PDP is a document that also works as a strategic tool for employees and leaders. It creates a sense of direction and purpose. It also helps people gain efficiency and confidence, and prepare for future challenges.

Whether you are an employee or a leader, investing in PDPs is an important step toward building an organizational culture that values continuous learning and growth.

### Where to find the PDP on the platform

On the platform, the PDP is in the **Development** menu, on the **PDPs** tab, in the **My PDPs** subtab.

In **My PDPs**, in the top right corner, you'll find the **New personal development plan** button. Click it to open a side panel with two fields:

- **Personal development plan title**.
- **Completion deadline**: a date, which you pick on the calendar.

At the bottom of the panel is the **Save PDP** button.