What is a professional development programme?
A professional development programme is where both the employee and their manager take responsibility for ensuring the employee's skills are at an optimum level for them to contribute effectively and have good job satisfaction.
Together, the employee and their manager develop a programme that:
- is a tailor-made training package
- is based on identified training priorities/needs
- shows how the professional development actions will be implemented
- develops/encourages action-reflection skills
- sets out times for reporting on and documenting the progress of the plan (eg, monthly supervisory sessions, worker reviews)
- identifies a sum of money specifically for professional development purposes
- identifies support persons for the implementation of the plan, where appropriate (eg, REA, external supervisor, peer support person).
The employee:
- actively participates in developmental activities
- keeps up to date with information related to the industry and other relevant areas
- positively receives and builds on feedback related to their professional development.
The employee and their manager continue to identify professional development needs and build these into the professional development plan on an ongoing basis.
