Personal Development - for whose sake?

The article discusses the concept of personal development in the context of organizational learning. But what does the concept ‘personal development’ really cover? The concept is used in many different areas from the basic training in social work and health care, from business courses and evening classes in psychology and communication, to job training for social security clients. Two main approaches to personal development immediately stand out. The first approach is problem oriented; dealing with the reparation functions and is typical for the public, social sector. Its purpose is to repair the social and mental damage, which a part of the population has incurred in life through different forms of collisions with modern society. From this perspective, personal development seeks to free the individual from various destructive patterns (work-shyness, addictions, lack of social skills etc.), which restrain the individual from taking actively part in productive society. The other main approach is growth oriented, dealing with development functions, and this approach is typical for the public sector of education, basic education as well as supplementary education, and in the private sector's multifarious businesses of education and consulting services. Its purpose is typically to make effective persons even more effective because the goal is to adjust people's values and attitudes to their jobs. For instance, by making them more flexible, co-operative and responsible. Personal development in the context of organizational learning will mainly focus on the growth-oriented approach but might also involve problem-oriented elements.