Employee Professional Development Plan: How to Create One

Key takeaways

A professional development plan (PDP) is a document or visual aid that can help your employees map out career goals. 

• When developing a PDP list, write down all goals on paper, identify strengths and weaknesses, and then create the PDP.

• Additional tips for helping employees achieve their goals include being accountable, focusing on one goal at a time, and practicing positive reinforcement. 

• You can always help an employee adjust their PDP if unexpected opportunities surface.

Discover more about the purpose of a PDP, how to create one, the importance of setting visual goals, and additional tips for pursuing them. Then, discover how Coursera for Business can help your organization implement change management, tools for boosting productivity, and generative AI in the workplace. 

Empower teams with access to world-class content from 350+ top companies and universities

Learn more

What is a professional development plan?

A professional development plan is a structured document that outlines an employee's career goals, skill set, and the specific actions, education, and resources necessary to advance in their profession. PDPs serve as a roadmap for an individual’s professional future and are “living” documents meant to be adjusted as needed. 

Questions to ask before creating a professional development plan

Before you begin developing a PDP with an employee, ask them to take some time to reflect on their current situation and where they hope to be in the future. Encourage them to consider the following questions:

• Where am I professionally right now?

• Where do I want to be?

• What skills and experience do I possess?

• What skills and experience do I want or need?

• What resources can I use to achieve my goals?

• What is a realistic timeline for achievement?

• How much time am I willing to commit to my goals?

• Where can I turn for advice and support?

Read more: 5 In-Demand Jobs Requiring AI Skills

Why is it helpful for an employee to have a professional development plan?

A professional development plan encourages employees to think about what they want and helps them figure out how to get there. Having a PDP and regularly checking it can help your employees focus on their goals, increasing their chances of achieving them.

Additionally, by assisting your employees in creating a PDP and furthering their skill set, your organization can benefit from their growth. For example, if your employees are highly trained, their productivity and efficiency tend to increase, leading to better outcomes for your company. Professional development can also increase employee confidence. This positive attitude can boost employee engagement, especially by encouraging responsibility for their work, successful collaboration with coworkers, and the embrace of leadership positions.

How to create a professional development plan

Walking your employee through steps, such as listing goals and writing down strengths, when creating a PDP can help guide their thinking and ensure accuracy. Everyone is different, so while this plan includes three steps, another employee's plan may include more.

Step one: Think about and list goals. 

The employee can make SMART goals, which follow these guidelines:

• Specific instead of broad

• Meaningful so that their goals align with their core values

• Achievable and realistic

• Relevant to their particular career plan

• Time-bound, so they have a timeframe and a deadline to complete their goals

Step two: Write down strengths and weaknesses.

Honest self-assessment is critical when creating a PDP. Some examples of strengths and weaknesses might include the following:

• Strengths: Good leadership skills, knowledge of accounting, creativity

• Weaknesses: Self-critical, fear of public speaking, procrastination

Step three: Create the professional development plan.

Your employee needs to make their PDP legible and large enough to read. Suggest that they post their plan on a bulletin board, refrigerator, or cupboard, and refer to it regularly.

Learn from the best

Lower training cost with in-demand content and trusted credentials from 350+ top companies and universities.

Learn more

Professional development plan template

Have the employee use a chart or table to structure their professional development plan.  For example, the main goal of seeking a promotion to a leadership position is to break the process into smaller, more achievable goals. The following sample of a professional development plan may provide some insight:

Overall goal and mission statement: I want to earn a promotion. I need to develop a good skill set and be mentally and emotionally prepared to accomplish my overall goal. 

Step 1

Step 2

The importance of visual goal-setting

Having your employee post their professional development plan where they can see it regularly can help ensure they achieve their goals. For extra fun, consider suggesting that the employee supplements their PDP with a vision board, which is often a poster board covered with images representing their vision for their career. Additionally, they can focus the vision board on a single goal or include several goals. Vision boards include collages, digital boards, and bullet journals.

Additional tips for setting and achieving goals

For additional help with goal setting and achievement, consider helping the employee be accountable for their goals and rewarding them with positive reinforcement when they complete them. The following tips can help your employee follow through with their PDP: 

• Help your employee become more accountable for their goals by asking them to share their ambitions with one or two coworkers.

• Have the employee focus on one goal at a time so the process feels manageable.

• Remind them why they set these goals to keep discouragement at bay. 

• Practice positive reinforcement by rewarding them when they achieve a goal. Rewards might include a handwritten letter, a personalized certificate of recognition, positive feedback during a meeting, or a gift card. 

A few final points to remember about professional development planning

Once you've helped your employee create a professional development plan, remind them that it is always possible to adjust it. Their plan is flexible. Even though they’ve created a visual plan, they can always change it. If unexpected opportunities or challenges arise, they can alter their timelines, return to the process, and start again with a new PDP.

Explore our free upskilling resources

With Coursera for Business, your employees will gain access to content from 350+ leading universities and industry partners, where they can build real-world experience with innovative skills, tools, and technologies while earning globally recognized credentials. Our customizable, scalable learning solutions balance workplace and technical skills training in diverse formats, from video clips to Guided Projects and Professional Certificates.

• Explore our Global Skills Report to discover the critical skills you may need in today’s workforce.

• Subscribe to The Learning Curve, our LinkedIn newsletter, to gain information about the importance of AI literacy.

• Read about the Success Stories of working with Coursera.

Train teams across your organization in the skills that matter most in today’s digital economy with Coursera.