All those who work in an organisation understand that they need to rise up vertically to be relevant and get better (in turn, earn more both monetarily as well on respectability). Rising up is like using a wheel to move forward
When man first learnt the need to locomotive, the greatest discovery was the wheel. The wheel enabled man to travel faster and when combined (two wheels), they provided balance and speed. Soon the discovery led to the need for increasing the size to be able to increase the surface area of contact and thereby increase speed and mobility. The wheel is considered as Mankind’s greatest discovery or invention which had led to our growth
Vertical growth in an individual’s lifecycle is similar to that of the wheel. Wheels have spokes which connect the centre to the larger wheel on the outside. Each spoke of the Individual Development Wheel similarly has a role to play and all of them together show the way the wheel is built
Lets say that the length of the spokes are all uniformly 10. This means that the outer wheel connected to the smaller inner wheel by spokes as are uniformly made with a length of 10 units for the spokes. This was the inner wheel is able to drive the axle which drive the vehicle forward. The pressure on the outer wheel is also similarly uniform and therefore it is able to perform without pressure on one or the other when the vehicle gathers momentum.
Imagine each individual needs certain characteristics to perform on the role. Let us mention some of them and mark them on a scale of 10. Technical Knowledge, Communication, Team Work, Punctuality, Accuracy, Speed. Based on some benchmark or standard if an individual as assessed on his abilities, the outcome if such shows:
Technical Knowledge – 6
Communication – 5
Team Work – 7
Punctuality – 4
Accuracy – 8
Speed – 5
Learnability – 8
Empathy – 4
Now imagine if this wheel were to run on the road, how much pressure there would be on the wheel as well as on the vehicle. Now lets simulate an environment where there are multiple people and each having their own wheels, imagine how the speed of the organisation gets affected and how many times we have to stop for repairs or to realign because our wheels are not of uniform dimensions
The easiest way forward for any Individual to start moving up is to start improving on each of the relevant parameters of their work. In this case in point above, by improving on say, communication from level 5 to 6, while marginal improvement requires little effort, but overall has a significant bearing on the way the wheel of the person will roll forward and also have an impact on the many other wheels linked to this one.
Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLD) are a useful way to determine individual’s self assessment and benchmarking to keep constantly improving to reach the next level. We shall use the PLDs to demonstrate steps for self and external assessment based on observations and assignment / task completion