What is a PDP?

The CAMS Personal Development Plan (PDP) works like a roadmap. With
support from the line supervisor, the team leader and the CAMS project team,
graduates can plan the route that will lead to them achieving competency in
their target position. An agreed PDP can be modified to take account of new
opportunities that arise unexpectedly. But like selecting a map for any journey
– it is more effective if you plan the route before you start!

What makes a good PDP?

A good personal development plan sets out
 what ‘real work’ the graduate will be doing and roughly when.
 who will be involved in giving the graduate coaching and feedback.
 what training will be needed by when.
 when the graduate is likely to be ready for assessment.

It can also be used to keep track of progress. Every PDP should be linked to the
CAMS Development Framework (DFW) that has been specially written to define
competency in each discipline.

Why does a graduate need a PDP?

The PDP is evidence that a graduate is developing an understanding – right from the
start – of what he or she needs to know and be able to do in order to become
competent in the target position. Working out the route in advance means that
graduates can start doing real work in a planned and safe way right from the start.
Absences from the workplace for training or assessment are planned and not a last-
minute surprise. Having a PDP and sticking to the plan will help graduates establish a
good reputation within the company early in their career.

How does a graduate’s PDP help the rest of the team?

Having an agreed PDP means that Managers, Team Leaders and Supervisors can
plan ahead. They can check that the graduate is developing in line with the agreed
KPIs on which the team’s performance will be assessed each year. Monitoring the
graduate’s progress against the PDP can help them ensure that the graduate is on
track, gaining the right kind of work experience and being given coaching at the right
time.

How do you prepare a PDP?

A range of information is needed to produce a ‘good’ PDP. Graduates need to be
familiar with the PDP process and pull all the necessary documentation together
ahead of having a detailed PDP planning session with their supervisor.
 1. Study the job description for the target position. It will give you a feel for
what you will need to be able to do competently.
 2. Study the Development Framework (DFW) and Guidelines Logbook so that
you understand how they work and what they mean.
 3. Look carefully at the DFW and compare it with the job description. Make
sure that nothing in the job description is missing from the framework. The DFWs
are very comprehensive but may not include absolutely everything. If you think
something important is not there, discuss this with your supervisor.
 4. Identify tasks you can do that will be part of the real work of the team and
give you a chance to learn on the job. Work out how much coaching you will need
– from whom and by when – so that you can deliver a strong performance. Your
supervisor will guide you through this process.
 5. Start thinking about whether you need to do some courses. If so, you will
need to agree which ones are suitable and when will be the right time to do them.
 6. You want to be recognised as competent,
right? So how soon should you be assessed to
prove that you are on track? Work out a rough
schedule showing when
you think you are going to
be ready for assessment.
 7. Agree your plan with
your supervisor and team
leader. Submit it to the
CAMS team and send in a
monthly update on how
you’re doing against the
plan. Ideally, a
training
Making training course
relevant to real work should relate
Get the timing right: Ideally, to something
you would only go on a you are
course when you can return doing at work
to work and apply what you already.
have learned in your day-to-
day job. That way you build your skills and really learn. Agree when is best time to do
a course so that it is most relevant to your job.

Get the content right: Will the course help you to build your skills? Will it move you
from where you are now to where you want to be? Is it pitched just right, or is it too
advanced? Or even worse, is it too basic? Don’t just collect courses for your
personnel records. If it’s not going to fill a gap in your competency – why do it?
Get to do real work: Don’t attend courses at the expense of doing real work:
remember that people really learn when they have an opportunity to use the
knowledge they have gained and turn that knowledge into skills. One of the best
things you can do is ask for feedback from people who are better at doing your job
than you are so that you can learn from their experience.

What is Real Work?

Real work is a job or task that the team needs to do to meet its performance
objectives. Another person in the team would have to do it if the graduate did not– so
it’s a ‘real’ part of the day-to-day life and performance of the team.

Sometimes supervisors may be reluctant to give graduates real work to do. Maybe
they don’t feel they have time for detailed coaching because of day-to-day pressures
of work. Including a plan for real work in the PDP can help to overcome this problem.
It can help everybody involved know what is expected of them by when

Real work is:

 An essential part of what the team does to meet its performance objectives.
 A job or task that another member of the team would have to do if the
graduate did not do it.
 SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timeframed).
Real work is not:
 Just observing others.
 Just reading or looking at the internet.
 Just doing a project that’s not contributing to the team’s KPIs.
Going off on training courses for most of the time.

Who is accountable for what?

Within the CAMS structure a number of people are involved in helping

individual graduates to become competent in the target post. The

primary responsibilities of the key players are as follows:

Who What

Team leader  Responsible for meeting the KPI.

(target  Accountable for the content and quality of the PDP.
position)
Line  Responsible for preparing the PDP.
supervisor  Ensuring the PDP turns into reality.
Graduate  Responsible for monitoring own progress against the PDP.
 Keeping the PDP up to date.
 Documenting progress monthly.
 An active graduate will put in effort to help the supervisor
prepare and implement the PDP.
HR/Cams  Providing advice on how to get the best out of CAMS.
team  Accountable for reporting on the graduates’ progress and
the quality of the PDP to ADNOC.

Where to find help?

MDPS team