How to effectively Identify your Development Needs
There are many things we want out of life; many, if not all of us want the good life; where everything we will ever need or want will be at our beck and call. Really, this is the reason why we go ahead to study our dream course; pursue a career or create and grow a business. We ought to pay bills and live a good life, a friend once told me.
It has become pertinent that we talk about identifying developmental needs because our world is constantly evolving; and we need to grow with it. The mistakes that were made 10years ago can’t be repeated today. Ten (10) years ago, people could afford to study and go to school with the aim of getting a job immediately after graduation; but not now, going to school, graduating with high grades doesn’t guarantee automatic success.
Today, it has become most crucial that you identify a clear path; set out to pursue excellence and identify your developmental needs.
Identifying your development needs can be challenging. Often, we get confused with the array of courses that we find ourselves looking at what training courses are available and deciding which of those would be most helpful. In fact, the first and most paramount step to take is to identify your developmental needs; it is better to try and identify what the development need is and then to work out ways of meeting that need.
Right now, the goal of every graduate is to get employed or start a sustainable business. However, one thing is certain that the education received in the four walls of our higher institutions make you book smart and not work smart; the practicability of many things we are exposed to in school are minimal. I recently understood the reason for the introduction of entrepreneurship studies in every department in Nigerian institutions; but how far can the knowledge of the different kinds of business, types of business ownership and sometimes the structure of a business proposal take you. You find that what is taught ends at the knowledge level of Blooms learning taxonomy.
Here are three stages to Identify your development needs
Identify the knowledge, skills and attitude required for you to do well
Every role you are to take, whether in an organisation or your own establishment has a job description and a person specification. You realise that the knowledge we seek is for the development of skills and the shaping of our attitudes. For instance, you cannot want to become an effective front desk officer when you always scream at customers.
Hence it is important that you have a clear picture of what role you will be preparing yourself for. Then it will be easy to identify development needs; this involves identifying the skills, knowledge and attitude required in your chosen field or career.
Carry out a personal evaluation on the skills, knowledge and attitude you currently possess
It is advised that you write down the skills you have at the moment; write them down, keep listing them even if you feel the ones coming to mind are just intermediate skills. After listing your skills, categorise them according to your strength.
Compare what the skills you have with the required
After identifying the skills in your skill arsenal; you should compare the skills in your skill-arsenal with the skills required to achieve success in your chosen career. Be specific about what you need and be disciplined to follow through with implementation.
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