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This
section addresses one of the evaluation criteria listed in the
Agreement between SUNY and
United University Professions, “Continuing
Growth.” Examples of continuing growth include such things as continuing education,
participation in professional organizations, enrollment in training programs,
research, improved job performance, and increased duties and responsibilities.
The supervisor and employee negotiate
the employee’s level of involvement in professional development. Each employee
should have at least one activity listed in his/her performance program. Professional
development may be geared toward improving an area “in need of improvement”
from a previous evaluation or related to an employee’s new responsibilities
or future career goals.
Examples of
activities that contribute to professional growth and development:
Continuing Education
Enrollment in formal degree programs
Pursuing certificates, accreditations
or other credentials through educational programs
Participation
in professional organizations
Attending local, regional, national,
and international meetings, conferences and workshops sponsored by professional
organizations
Presenting papers, workshops at
conferences and workshops
Serving as an officer, board member,
or committee member
Coordinating events sponsored
by the organization
Enrollment
in training programs
Attending workshops and courses
Research
Conducting research
Presenting findings of research
to others
Improved
job performance
Keeping up with technology, systems,
processes
Learning about new developments
in your field
Improving existing skills
Increased
duties and responsibilities
Taking on new challenges in current
position, projects, short-term assignments
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Approaches to professional development:
Skill Based Training
Effective skill-based training allows participants to
learn conceptual information or necessary behaviors, practice learning the new
information or behaviors, and receive feedback on their performance.
Making the most of a training program:
Have a discussion with supervisor regarding reasons for attending, what
you hope to get out of it; Post-conference – debrief the experience. Discuss what you have
learned at the training session and how you might immediately apply it to your
work. Practice skills that you learned.Job Assignments
Learning by doing – by working on real problems and
dilemmas
May be an entirely new job, a responsibility added to
an existing job such as a short-term project
The key element in a developmental assignment is
challenge
Developmental Relationships
Learning
through interaction with others. Three major roles that a person can play include:
- assessment (feedback provider, sounding board, point of comparison, feedback
interpreter)
- challenge (dialogue partner, assignment broker, accountant, role
model)
- support (counselor, cheerleader, reinforcer, cohort).
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Critical
components of an effective professional development plan:
Assessment
There is an established standard of success to describe
what an individual who is successful looks like. There is a means of assessing
where the individual is against this standard and continual assessment of progress
that has been made. What are the standards against which you assess performance
and what measures will you use to assess the individual against these standards?Challenge
It must be something that stretches people, pushes
them out of their comfort zones, and requires them to think and act differently.
Support
We tend to think only of monetary support, but what
are the environmental support mechanisms. Who will provide guidance, feedback,
and assistance as the individual tries out new skills, or takes on responsibilities
that are beyond the scope of their current skill level? Is there a tolerance
for risk taking and some failure?
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Using Success Factors:
There are two success factor
assessment worksheets: managers and professionals.
The behaviors listed under each success factor begin with the most basic and
move toward increasingly more complex behaviors. The target behavior level 
is where high performing managers and professionals at Buffalo State perform most of
the time. Below the target is the
expected behavior(s) 
of all managers and professionals at Buffalo State.The focus of this assessment
is on professional development, not evaluation and it is essential to be as
honest and objective as possible. It
is assumed that everyone can benefit from development at some level. Some employees may need to acquire behaviors or skills to
perform effectively on the job while others may want to refine or improve
already existing skills.
Worksheet
Instructions:
-
Select
the appropriate success factor assessment worksheet to download: manager or
professional. Review the
definition of each success factor and the corresponding behaviors.
Check yes or no for each behavior to indicate whether the
manager/professional exhibits this behavior most of the time.
Any of the behaviors checked “no”; particularly those below the
target level are potential areas for development.
The
Specialty Expertise section is on the professional assessment
only. List the knowledge/skills necessary for the specific job prior to
checking yes or no for the behavior levels.
- Select
1-2 of those that are most critical to the current position or
relate most closely to desired future growth.
-
Develop
a professional development plan using the performance
program form. The
behavior levels may be used as the basis for a goal statement.
Both
the supervisor and employee may complete these steps and use the results
when developing the professional development section of the performance
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