20 March 2025
Congratulations, you’ve made it to step four of our six-step plan to cultivate a culture of continuous personal development in your firm!
You’re well on your way to creating a thriving, skilled, and motivated team, but before we get carried away, let’s focus on identifying where those skill gaps exist.
Don’t worry – this isn’t about us pointing out flaws or putting anyone down, it’s about uncovering growth opportunities.
By identifying areas where your team excels and where they could use a little extra help, you’ll be armed with the insight needed to create personalised learning plans that truly support everyone’s development.
So, how exactly do we go about finding and filling those gaps?
At The Professional Alternative, we’re all about working closely with you to make sure everything we do aligns with your unique goals.
That’s why we don’t just take a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Instead, we team up with your line managers (who you’ve already selected and trained as per steps two and three) to conduct a Learning Needs Analysis (LNA).
The LNA is how we identify the skills that need sharpening and the strengths that can be leveraged. Your line managers are ideally positioned for this task.
They have a unique insight into their team members, knowing who needs more support, who thrives under pressure, and who’s ready for the next step in their development.
Together, we’ll assess the skills that need attention, which could be technical skills, professional abilities, or even personal attributes that need a bit of fine-tuning.
Once the gaps are identified, it’s time to turn those insights into action. Based on the results of the LNA, we’ll create tailored learning development plans for each team member.
These plans are personalised, goal-oriented, and designed to fill any skill gaps that could hold back individual or team success.
For example, let’s say you have someone in your team with ambitions of climbing the corporate ladder.
We’ll set them on the path to a management position with our Management Essentials Training.
This dynamic course offers a range of learning materials to help your future manager:
These are just a handful of the topics we’ll cover to ensure your aspiring manager feels 100 per cent ready to take the reins.
Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the rest of the team.
We understand that management isn’t the goal for everyone – and that’s perfectly fine too!
If you’ve got team members who could benefit from improving their communication, time management, assertiveness, or even conquering that pesky imposter syndrome, we’ve got you covered.
Our range of targeted learning materials is designed to help with exactly that and is even crafted and vetted by industry professionals.
No matter what skills you think your firm is missing, our expert team have the knowledge and experience to form impactful, personalised plans that will transform your team’s performance.
One of the best things about this approach is that you won’t need to hire more people or bring in outside consultants to cover any skill gaps. This means your firm can keep growing without the extra cost of new hires.
With personalised learning plans in place, your team will have everything they need to deliver great results and really shine in their roles.
However, if you do decide to bring in new team members down the line, don’t worry – we’re more than happy to train them too. It could even be a great way to attract new talent, showing them you’re invested in their growth and development.
Remember, this is just step four of our bigger plan to build a culture of continuous learning.
Stay tuned for step five, where we’ll show you how to roll out these personalised plans across your whole firm.
Want to know more about how we can help you create a personalised learning strategy? Get in touch with our team today or book a free demo!