Setting clear personal development goals is crucial in maintaining forward momentum for your career.

Core-Asset Consulting’s Kamilla Mathias, who specialises in Asset Management, has some advice for employees on how to set effective personal goals to ensure continual progression in the workplace.

1. Recognise your weaknesses

While it can be difficult to admit you’re bad at something, it is important to be honest with yourself. This will help set your goals and how best to tackle those weaknesses.

Weaknesses are areas of improvement and recognising these is crucial for your professional and personal development. Nobody is perfect, there will always be room for improvement.

2. Develop a long-term vision

When goal setting, it is important to have a long-term vision in place for where you would like to be in three or five years’ time.

I would recommend putting some time aside to set these goals and check in on yourself regularly every six and 12 months to ensure you are staying on track.

3. Make space for progress

Striking the right work-life balance is essential for personal growth. Stress can lead to poor self-esteem and leave no room for creativity as you get bogged down in tasks throughout the day. Managing your work load effectively can reduce your stress levels and in turn make room for growth and personal development.

4. Be open to feedback

Being open to constructive criticism from colleagues is important in your developmental journey. Taking into consideration feedback can give you a different perspective on your work habits and allow you to work on the relevant areas that need to be improved.

5. Be realistic

When goal setting, it is important to be realistic and set achievable targets for yourself. While it is good to challenge yourself, setting goals you realistically can’t meet will lead to feelings of disappointment and disheartenment. Setting smaller, more manageable goals in the short term should help feed into bigger, longer-term goals

6. Experience different areas of the business

In larger companies, it is good practice to rotate around different areas in the business to get a comprehensive view of the business and how all components work together. For example, if you work in marketing, it may be beneficial to take a short secondment to client services. Experiencing different sectors can widen your world view and help benefit yourself and your team.

7. Challenge yourself every day

Questioning your day to day can help you progress in your career – be it making a process more efficient, questioning a mistake you have made or introducing a new way of working. Suggesting these ideas can be daunting, however, it shows initiative to your employer and will help yourself and your team improve in the long run.

8. Communicate with your colleagues

Networking and communicating with those out with your organisation or team can be a great way to help shape your personal development. Reaching out to people out with your immediate circle to share knowledge and listen can help you learn new skills and aid your overall growth.

9. Take on additional training that supports your wider goals

Many employees take on additional training while in a role, however, if you can, try and ensure this training aligns with your overall goals. Taking on additional training can be incredibly beneficial for your professional development, but these can be time consuming so it is crucial you select the correct ones that are relevant for your career.

10. Be adaptable

In an age of Zoom, Teams and rapidly advancing technology, adapting to changes in market conditions can help you readily advance in your career. Actively learning about new technology through YouTube and other platforms can help you find more efficient ways of working and will benefit not only yourself but your team too – helping you progress in your role.

11. Don’t be afraid to lead

Even if you are not directly in a leadership role, if you know the solution to a problem, voice it. Likewise, if you see colleagues struggling on an area you feel competent with, it can be good practice to help them improve. This will help you build leadership skills, while flagging to employers that you have strong leadership qualities.

To find out more about Core-Asset, Contact Us or visit: https://core-asset.co.uk/