Role of Personal Development in Career Growth

Who do you think is a valuable employee? An individual becomes a burden on his/her organization when he fails to perform additional tasks beyond his/her regular key responsibility areas. Multitalented employees definitely have an edge over those who restrict themselves only to a particular task and fail to contribute in other departments and areas. Organizations tend to retain those who show active interest in attending various training programs, seminars or relevant workshops in order to constantly upgrade their knowledge and acquire additional skills.

Gone are the days when employees could afford to just stick to what they have been doing for ages. In today’s scenario, individuals are expected to actively participate and contribute in other departments as well and also overall productivity of the organization. A front office executive is no longer expected to attend only phone calls throughout the day. He/she needs to constantly upgrade his/her skills and take active interest in other related departments as well such as administration, logistics, office transportation and so on.

As a marketing employee if you call ten clients a day, brief them about your organization’s offerings and feel that your work is over, you are sadly mistaken. You need to find out and implement innovative marketing strategies and techniques to not only sell your organization’s products and services but also attract potential clients. Retaining customers is also one of the most challenging aspects of marketing. Trust me; you need to read a lot, and keep your eyes and ears open to reach to various unique marketing solutions. Constant up gradation of knowledge is the need of the hour.

Personal development plays a crucial role in one’s career growth. An individual who can contribute not only in his area of expertise but other domains as well are bound to get quick promotions and lucrative incentives and rewards. Trust me, personal development is imperative not only for career growth but also for mere survival in the organization. No organization would like to retain an individual who is resistant to changes and fails to perform in unpredictable and unforeseen situations.

Personal development helps you set goals and expectations for yourself. Any individual without a vision in life not only fails to deliver but also gets easily lost in the crowd. It is important to set expectations for yourself. There is a scope of improvement always. Never ever feel that you are the best and you know everything. Believe me, that there are many things under the sky which we still do not know and need to find.

Tom joined Organization A as a management trainee in the marketing department. Within two years he was promoted and was asked to lead a team of five sales representatives. Five years down the line, Tom was heading the entire marketing division of Organization A and had a major say in company’s policies and strategies. A management trainee was made the head of a particular department in just seven years. What do you think could be the reason? Being extremely nice to your Boss does not help always.

It was Tom’s determination to constantly upgrade his knowledge, analyze and find out where all he needs to improve, acquire new skills which eventually helped him not only appear in the good books of the management but also climb the ladder of success within the shortest possible time frame.

Personal development makes you a confident and mature professional, two extremely important qualities for career growth. It helps you smile even in the worst circumstances. Upgrading oneself with time is extremely important as it not only prepares you for the present but also for the future.