It is time to take a TRIPLE III TIME professional development survey for yourself and those that work with you.

QUESTION #1:  How many professional development events do you and/or your workers participate in each year?

QUESTION #2:  Do you assume personal and co-worker progress happens based on regular work experience, tradition, interorganizational interactions… other?

QUESTION #3:  Do you/your organization make a conscious effort to fiscally invest in employee professional development…regularly or just because “it’s that time again”?

With much of my recent consulting work centered on helping everyone PRIORITIZE…I overlooked that Assumed Professional Development is an unfortunate organizational weakness.

What am I trying to say?

Today I believe everyone in every job and career planning area suffers due to Assumed Professional Development.  Workers just like facilities need to be attended to… upgraded… modernized and shown appreciation for what they mean to an organization.  Even high school and college students need to experience and feel a different form of professional development.  The world of education has changed dramatically in the past few years…and wouldn’t it be cool to host a unique “Student-isms For Today & Tomorrow” workshop…maybe twice a year!  A special session that would offer students self-improvement recommendations, ideas and insight on how to be a better student in the “school-place” everyday…EVERYDAY!  Has anyone considered this challenge…yet?

Bottomline:  Believing Assumed Professional Development happens “naturally”, is only a hope.  Planned Professional Development is a strategic, strong form of preventative maintenance and structured growth in the workplace and perhaps for our students too.  Think about it and let me know your reactions.