I am undertaking my personal development - Before Appraisal
Preparing for your appraisal:
- Identifying your strengths and gaps
- Identifying and creating goals/objectives
- Thinking about your PDP
- Tools and Resources
Preparing for your appraisal
Your appraisal is more than a meeting for your supervisor or line manager to evaluate your work. It’s an opportunity for you to consider how you feel about your role, if there is an aspect of your job that you enjoy most or you are keen to learn more about a particular area of your work. If you feel you need more training to keep your skills up to date or want to learn something new, then you can use your appraisal to discuss your personal goals and how you can work towards achieving them.
Being prepared is important to make sure you get the most out of your appraisal.
There are a number of resources and tools that can help you to prepare:
Turas Learn – Looking at Turas Learn to see what you have completed over the last year.
Turas Professional Portfolio – If you used Turas Professional Portfolio to record and store reflections or evidence of development you have gathered.
If you are not familiar with or have not use Turas Professional Portfolio, this may be something you could discuss as part of your PDP planning.
NMAHP Development Framework – Look at what is expected of your role at your current level of practice and the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) for each of the pillars of practice.
DNAT Tool - The Development Needs Analysis Tool (DNAT) is designed to help you reflect on your current job role and identify areas where further training could enhance or develop your skills. It utilises the KSB statements from the framework, organised under the pillars of practice.
Framework Reflective Self-assessment Tool -The reflective self-assessment tool is designed to help you evaluate the knowledge, skills, and behaviours (KSBs) outlined in the Framework for your level of practice. It encourages you to reflect on your job role, identify areas for potential growth, and recognise opportunities for further development.
You can access both these tools on the NMAHP Development Framework website. Select your level of practice from the left-hand menu, then self-assessment.
These tools and resources will help you to talk about your achievements and the aspects of your role in which you have excelled. Rather than downplaying your achievements, give credit to your colleagues where it's due, and tell your supervisor or manager about your role in group projects or team successes. It's also important to address anything that you feel could have been better. You can talk about how you have learned from them and explain any systems you have put in place to prevent them from happening again.
Once you have identified your achievements, strengths and opportunities for development, it is important to begin to think about what you would like to do in the coming year and how this might be achieved.
Learning objectives are the targets or goals that you set which will help you improve your knowledge, skills and performance. They can provide direction, focus and motivation for your learning and can help to work towards specific outcomes, for example career progression.
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Using the SMART framework can help structure your objectives:
- S – Specific. Clearly define what you want to achieve
- M – Measurable. Include metrics or indicators to track your progress and evaluate your success.
- A – Achievable. Set realistic goals that are within your reach, considering resources and time constraints.
- R – Relevant. Ensure your objectives align with your overall goals and service priorities.
- T – Timebound. Establish a timeframe or deadline for achieving your objective.
In addition to using the SMART framework, it might be useful to consider:
- Using action orientated verbs – instead of saying “be aware of” use action verbs such as analyse, apply, create, implement.
- Be clear and concise – use simple language and avoid jargon
- Break down large objectives – if you have a big goal, break it down into smaller, more manageable steps/milestones.
- Collaborate – discuss your learning objectives with your line manager or supervisor to ensure alignment and support.
- Regularly assess progress – track progress and make or discuss adjustments as needed.
Discussing your learning objectives during your appraisal conversation will help shape your personal development plan (PDP) for the year and support your continued development.
More information:
Now visit the “during your appraisal” page by clicking the icon on the right.
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