31. what exactly is development ?

MBA - 1 (B)
Development is a natural process which is essential for every individuals life. Development when talked about an individual is with reference to the situation , position , roll and the organisational context in which the individual is working.To begin the process of development it is important to know that what skills competencies technical know how and behavioural traits are required to perform the given roll development. Needs can be identified by assessment centres using 360 degree feedback mechanism in depth interview simulation exercises and so on.
Development needs are seen in 3 perspective :

(a) Development of an individual will prepare him for higher rolls
(b) Development of an individual to perform his current roll effectively
(c) Development with regard to improving performance

There are mainly 3 ways to implement the development process :

(a) Through assessment centre to prepare an individual to take up higher responsibility
(b) Through annual performance review process
(c) Through help an individual to discharge his duties effectively
(d) Day-to-day input given by the reporting manager in the form of feedback mentoring or counselling sessions to enhance the performance

The area of development are mainly categorised into 3 parts :

(a) Developing the soft skills
(b) Developing the professional skills
(c) Developing the technical competencies

These help in developing an individual his skills , attitude and various competencies to groom him as a better professional.
Development of an individual is done by using various tools such as firo-b (personality test), 16 pf (personality profiling), Thomas profiling , counselling , mentoring and by regular feedback mechanism

These are various organisations which are working only in the field of developing people and helping various organisation to develop there resources. Best known developing organisation in the world are :

(A) HAY (us)
(B) MERCER (Sweden)
(c) MAFOI (us)

Many organisation follow a very systematic method of developing there own resources and they operates on the Pre-defined competency model. They also make skill inventory for each roll within the organisation. They also identify the requisite behavioural traits and leadership style in performing various rolls.

Hence development is a essential and a continuous process which is important not only from the employee prospective but also from organisation prospective. Best performing organisation in the world are those which have setup the development process within their own setup or made development process as an integral part of an organisation.