pd

A
Report
On
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
In the Partial Fulfillment Of Requirement For
The degree of
MBA
(MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
Session (2013-2014)

Submitted to: Submitted by:
Ms. Avi Anand Naman Sobti
Lecturer MBA(Previous)
MBA Department RollNo.2013003
Univ. Roll no………

Guru Gobind Singh Institute of Technology &
Management Studies
Yamunanagar
(Affilated to Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra)
INDEX
 Personality
 Development
 Personality Development
 Importance Of Personality Development
 Personality Dvelopment tips
 Personality Traits
 Erikson's theory of psychosocial
development
 Personality development in psychology
 Personality development in higher
education
 Personality development in workplace
 Conclusion


Introduction
Personality
The word personality itself stems from the Latin word persona, which
referred to a theatrical mask work by performers in order to either
project different roles or disguise their identities.
A brief definition would be that personality is made up of the
characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make a
person unique. In addition to this, personality arises from within the
individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.
Personality refers to individuals' characteristic patterns of thought,
emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms --
hidden or not -- behind those patterns. This definition means that among
their colleagues in other subfields of psychology, those psychologists
who study personality have a unique mandate: to explain whole persons
Components of Personality
So what exactly makes up a personality? As described in the definitions above, you
would expect that traits and patterns of thought and emotion make up an important
part. Some of the other fundamental characteristics of personality include:
 Consistency - There is generally a recognizable order and regularity to
behaviors. Essentially, people act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety
of situations.


 Psychological and physiological - Personality is a psychological construct, but
research suggests that it is also influenced by biological processes and needs.


 It impacts behaviors and actions - Personality does not just influence how we
move and respond in our environment; it also causes us to act in certain ways.


 Multiple expressions - Personality is displayed in more than just behavior. It
can also be seen in our thoughts, feelings, close relationships and other social
interactions.


Development
Development is the act of improving quality of life and making sure everyone has
the preference in what that life looks like. These choices are widened through the
combined effort of local people, international bodies, governments and a variety of
civil society organisations such as NGOs, community organisations and religious
groups.


Characterstics of Development
1. multidirectional
2. multicontext
3. multicultural
4. multidisciplinary
5. plasticity




Personality development
Personality Development fundamentally means grooming and enhancing ones
inner and outer personal to bring in the positive change for your life. Each and
every individual features a distinct persona that could be polished, refined and
developed. This technique includes improving communication, language speaking
abilities and boosting ones confidence, developing certain hobbies,it is the
development of the organized pattern of behaviors and attitudes that makes a
person distinctive. Personality development occurs by the ongoing interaction
of temperament , character, and environment.
Personality Development is the growth and development of the thinking,
perception, attitude, nature, mood, behavior and activities that differentiate among
people. Personality Development is a tool to bring out one’s abilities and powers
for making himself aware of his inner self and become more confident to face the
outside world. Personality means uniqueness, individuality and appearance of a
person and his/her reflection of thinking, emotions, behavior, communication skills
and corporeal characteristics.

Personality is not inherited rather it is developed. The process starts right
from the student’s childhood. This personality is afterward shaped on the basis
of impact of various positive and negative factors in life. The importance of this
understanding is that, one should always keep on improving his/her personality. In
other words, if it is felt that there are some features in our personality that need to
be worked upon, then it can be done.

The experiences that an individual has during the course of his life contribute
in a large number of ways to the formation and development of his personality.
The interaction between the individual’s heredity and environment gives rise to
what are known as the traits of his personality. Some examples of traits are
cleanliness, honesty, cheerfulness, miserliness, irresponsibility.





Important Points for an Ultimate Personality:

 Appearance.
 Intelligence.
 Smartness.
 Trustworthy, High integrity and Responsibility.
 Knowledge, in depth.
 Management
 Effective Communication & Efficiency.
 Economic independence.
 Morality / Character.
 Being beneficial / advantageous.

Factors for Personality Improvement

 Pleasing Physical Presentation.
 Body Language.
 Communication.
 Maturity in Socio-Cultural Values.
 Beneficial Interactions
 Grasping & Understanding circumstances and environment.
 Intelligence.
 Outwitting Defensive Smartness.
 Concentration and Devotion in duties with (developed) liking/interest.
 Taking care with responsibility as if own.
 Accountable action without attracting negative reaction.
 Will to achieve.
 Convinced stand and inner-strength to withstand.
 Analytical decision of choosing the best suitable of all the available practical
alternatives with maturity and in the interest of purpose.
 Risk taking with accountability for calculations.
 Maturity of values.
 Convincing nature.
 Make them to dance to your tune without their knowledge.
 Speak to them the language they understand.
 Make them to realize your positive abilities without your involvement.
 Be the best for good and worst for the bad in managing.
 Do not react but act sensibly.
 Don’t suppress emotions, but eradicate them with positive thinking.
 Yoga & Meditation.
 Priorities in the order of advantages and time.
 Health Care.
 Voluntary Initiative for learning and helping.
 Financial Management to beget more pleasure and happiness.

IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALITY
DEVELOPMENT
Social Relationships

Human being is a social animal. Acceptance from friends and society are very
important for an individual, unless you are strong enough, not to care about others.
However, at some point or the other, you do feel aloof and ignored. An individual
with attractive personality has charisma, with magnetic power, to draw people
towards him and make them know what he wants. Who doesn't feel great when you
are recognized and accepted by the society? If you are shy and timid that shows
lack of confidence in your personality.

Family Relationship

The home environment is warm and pleasant when a family member has vibrant
and positive personality, full of fun and happiness. It's the pleasure and laughter
that makes the home atmosphere to live on. The way you interact with your partner
or parents or children, speak a lot about your character. A weak relationship shows
lack of confidence and trust. If your family relationship is not strong, that shows in
your other relationships as well.

Professional Relationship

Meeting deadlines, maintaining good relations with your boss, punctuality are
some of the challenges that an individual has to face in the office. It's not the
number of challenges that matters. What matters is how you cope and balance
these challenges to benefit your job. If you get frustrated on simple matters, you
would easily give up. Personality Development plays such a significant role in
organizations today, that you will find Personality Development Training Courses
for all employees, to develop their skills and raise their motivation level. With right
personality and skills, it becomes easier to interact with clients, colleagues and
bosses. And also helps to face the challenge with positive approach.


Approach for Personality Development

First step towards that perfect personality is to be honest to yourself. You need to
analyze yourself and evaluate your existing personality. This will help you
understand your shortcomings. Some important features of personality
development are as follows:

 Cleanliness
 Honesty
 Unselfishness
 Courteous
 Respect
 Good Health
 Kindness
 Confidence
 Open Mindedness















Personality Development Tips
 Smile a lot- Nothing works better than a big smile when it comes to
interacting with people around. Do not forget to flash your trillion dollar
smile quite often. Believe me, it works! As they say ―a smile is a curve that
sets everything straight‖. A smiling face wins even the toughest soul. Wear
your smile while interacting with others. Smile not only helps in enhancing
an individual’s personality but also winning other’s heart.
 Think positive- It is really essential to think positive. Remember there is
light at the end of every dark tunnel. Do not always think negative as it not
only acts as a demotivating factor but also makes an individual dull and
frustrated. Don’t get upset over minor things. Be a little flexible and always
look at the broader perspectives of life.
 Dress Sensibly- Dressing sensibly and smartly go a long way in honing
one’s personality. One needs to dress according to the occasion. How would
a female look if she wears a sari to a discotheque? Obviously ridiculous! No
matter how expensive your sari is, you can’t wear it to a night club or a pub
where everyone is dressed in smart casuals. Price has nothing to do with
smart dressing. An individual who is well dressed is respected and liked
by all. No one would take you seriously if you do not wear suitable clothes
fitting with occasions. Do take care of the fit of the dress as well. An
individual should wear clothes as per his/her body type, height, physique and
so on. Someone who is bulky would not look very impressive in body
hugging clothes. It is not necessary that something which looks good on
your friend would also look good on you. Wear the right make up. You do
not have to apply loud make up to look good and attractive. Even minimal
make up, if applied sensibly can really make you stand apart from the rest.
 Be soft-spoken- Do not always find faults in others. Fighting and
quarrelling lead to no solution. Be polite with others. Be very careful of what
you speak. Avoid being rude and short tempered.
 Leave your ego behind- An individual needs to hide his ego everywhere he
goes. Be it office or workplace you need to leave your ego behind if you
wish to win appreciation from others. An individual who is good from
within is loved by all.
 Avoid Backbiting- Backstabbing and criticizing people are negative
traits which work against an individual’s personality. Learn to appreciate
others. If someone has done some extraordinary task, do not forget to give a
pat on his/her back. Believe me; the other person will speak high of you
even when you are not around. Do not spread unnecessary rumours about
someone. An individual should not try to interfere too much in someone’s
personal life. Dishonesty, cheating, lies tarnish your image and people start
avoiding you in the long run. If your friend is seeing someone, you have
absolutely no rights to make his/her affair national news.
 Help others- Do not always think of harming others. Share whatever you
know. Remember no one can steal your knowledge. Always help others.
 Confidence- Confidence is the key to a positive personality. Exude
confidence and positive aura wherever you go.
 A Patient listener- Be a patient listener. Never interrupt when others are
speaking. Try to imbibe good qualities of others.

Following are five personality traits of an individual:
1. Openness to experience
Individuals with openness to experience are generally very active, have a
tremendous inclination towards creativity and aesthetics and listen to their
heart i.e. follow their inner feelings. Such individuals are generally open to
new learnings, skill sets and experiences. People who score high on
openness are quite broadminded and modern in their outlook as compared to
individuals who score low on the same parameter. Such individuals are
conservative, reluctant to changes and have a traditional approach in life.
2. Conscientiousness
As the name suggests, individuals with a Conscientiousness personality trait
listen to their conscience and act accordingly. Such individuals are
extremely cautious and self disciplined. They never perform any task in
haste but think twice before acting. People with this personality trait are
generally methodical and tend to become perfectionists in the long run.
Personality Traits
Broadly there are five parameters which describe an individual’s personality.
These five dimensions are also called as ―Big Five‖ Factors, and the model is
referred to as Five Factor Model also abbreviated as FFM.
The Five Factor Model was initially proposed by Costa & McCrae in the year 1992
and often describes the relation between an individual’s personality and various
behaviours.
People who score high on conscientiousness are proactive, goal oriented and
self disciplined. They strive hard to accomplish goals and objectives within
the stipulated time frame. Individuals who score less are little laid back and
are not much goal oriented.
3. Extraversion and Introversion
Carl Jung popularized both the terms - ―Extraversion‖ and ―Introversion‖.
a. Extraversion: Extraversion refers to a state where individuals show
more concern towards what is happening outside. Such individuals
love interacting with people around and are generally talkative. They
do not like spending time alone but love being the centre of attraction
of parties and social gatherings. Such individuals love going out,
partying, meeting people and often get bored when they are all by
themselves. They admire the company of others and hate staying
alone.
b. Introversion: Introversion, on the other hand refers to a state when an
individual is concerned only with his own life and nothing else. Such
individuals do not bother about others and are seldom interested in
what is happening around. They prefer staying back at home rather
than going out and spending time with friends. Such individuals speak
less and enjoy their own company. You would never find them in
meetings, clubs, parties or social get-togethers. They generally do not
have many friends and tend to rely on few trusted ones.
4. Agreeableness
Agreeableness is a personality trait which teaches individuals to be adjusting
in almost all situations. Such individuals do not crib and face changes with a
smile. They accommodate themselves to all situations and are friendly and
kind hearted. People who score high on agreeableness are ready to help
others and flash their trillion dollar smile whenever a problem arises.
Individuals who score low on agreeableness on the other hand find
difficulties in adjusting with others and are little unfriendly.
5. Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a trait where individuals are prone to negative thoughts such
as anxiety, anger, envy, guilt and so on. Such individuals are often in a state
of depression and do not how to enjoy life. They always look at the negative
sides of life and find extremely difficult to cope up with stress.
Erikson's theory of psychosocial
development




Hopes
The first stage of Erik Erikson's theory centers around the infant's basic needs
being met by the parents and this interaction leading to trust or mistrust. Trust as
defined by Erikson is "an essential truthfulness of others as well as a fundamental
sense of one's own trustworthiness."
[4]
The infant depends on the parents,
especially the mother, for sustenance and comfort. The child's relative
understanding of world and society come from the parents and their interaction
with the child. If the parents expose the child to warmth, regularity, and
dependable affection, the infant's view of the world will be one of trust. Should the
parents fail to provide a secure environment and to meet the child's basic needs a
sense of mistrust will result.
[5]
Development of mistrust can lead to feelings of
frustration, suspicion, withdrawal, and a lack of confidence.
[4]

According to Erik Erikson, the major developmental task in infancy is to learn
whether or not other people, especially primary caregivers, regularly satisfy basic
needs. If caregivers are consistent sources of food, comfort, and affection, an infant
learns trust- that others are dependable and reliable. If they are neglectful, or
perhaps even abusive, the infant instead learns mistrust- that the world is in an
Will
Existential Question: Is It OK to Be Me?
As the child gains control over eliminative functions and motor abilities,then they
begin to explore their surroundings. The parents still provide a strong base of a
security from which the child can venture out to assert their will. The parents'
patience and encouragement helps foster autonomy in the child. Children at this
age like to explore the world around them and they are constantly learning about
their environment. Caution must be taken at this age while children may explore
things that are dangerous to their health and safety.
At this age children develop their first interests. For example, a child who enjoys
music may like to play with the radio. Children who enjoy the outdoors may be
interested in animals and plants. Highly restrictive parents, however, are more
likely to instill in the child a sense of doubt, and reluctance to attempt new
challenges. As they gain increased muscular coordination and mobility, toddlers
become capable of satisfying some of their own needs. They begin to feed
themselves, wash and dress themselves, and use the bathroom.
Competence
The aim to bring a productive situation to completion gradually supersedes the
whims and wishes of play. The fundamentals of technology are developed. To lose
the hope of such "industrious" association may pull the child back to the more
isolated, less conscious familial rivalry of the Oedipal time.
]

"Children at this age are becoming more aware of themselves as individuals." They
work hard at "being responsible, being good and doing it right." They are now
more reasonable to share and cooperate. Allen and Marotz (2003)
[7]
also list some
perceptual cognitive developmental traits specific for this age group. Children
grasp the concepts of space and time in more logical, practical ways. They gain a
better understanding of cause and effect, and of calendar time. At this stage,
children are eager to learn and accomplish more complex skills: reading, writing,
telling time. They also get to form moral values, recognize cultural and individual
differences and are able to manage most of their personal needs and grooming with
minimal assistance At this stage, children might express their independence by
talking back and being disobedient and rebellious.
Erikson viewed the elementary school years as critical for the development of self-
confidence. Ideally, elementary school provides many opportunities for children to
achieve the recognition of teachers, parents and peers by producing things-
drawing pictures, solving addition problems, writing sentences, and so on. If
children are encouraged to make and do things and are then praised for their
accomplishments, they begin to demonstrate industry by being diligent,
persevering at tasks until completed, and putting work before pleasure. If children
are instead ridiculed or punished for their efforts or if they find they are incapable
of meeting their teachers' and parents' expectations, they develop feelings
of inferiority about their capabilities.
[1]







Fidelity
The adolescent is newly concerned with how they appear to others. Superego
identity is the accrued confidence that the outer sameness and continuity prepared
in the future are matched by the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for
oneself, as evidenced in the promise of a career. The ability to settle on a school or
occupational identity is pleasant. In later stages of Adolescence, the child develops
a sense of sexual identity. As they make the transition from childhood to
adulthood, adolescents ponder the roles they will play in the adult world. Initially,
they are apt to experience some role confusion—mixed ideas and feelings about
the specific ways in which they will fit into society—and may experiment with a
variety of behaviors and activities (e.g. tinkering with cars, baby-sitting for
neighbors, affiliating with certain political or religious groups). Eventually,
Erikson proposed, most adolescents achieve a sense of identity regarding who they
are and where their lives are headed.



Care
Generativity is the concern of guiding the next generation. Socially-valued work
and disciplines are expressions of generativity. Simply having or wanting children
does not in and of itself achieve generativity.
The adult stage of generativity has broad application to family, relationships, work,
and society. ―Generativity, then is primarily the concern in establishing and
guiding the next generation... the concept is meant to include... productivity and
creativity."
[13]

During middle age the primary developmental task is one of contributing to society
and helping to guide future generations. When a person makes a contribution
during this period, perhaps by raising a family or working toward the betterment of
society, a sense of generativity- a sense of productivity and accomplishment-
results. In contrast, a person who is self-centered and unable or unwilling to help
society move forward develops a feeling of stagnation- a dissatisfaction with the
relative lack of productivity.
Central tasks of middle adulthood
 Express love through more than sexual contacts.
 Maintain healthy life patterns.
 Develop a sense of unity with mate.
 Help growing and grown children to be responsible adults.
 Relinquish central role in lives of grown children.
 Accept children's mates and friends.
 Create a comfortable home.
 Be proud of accomplishments of self and mate/spouse.
 Reverse roles with aging parents.
 Achieve mature, civic and social responsibility.
 Adjust to physical changes of middle age.
 Use leisure time creatively.







Wisdom
As we grow older and become senior citizens we tend to slow down our
productivity and explore life as a retired person. It is during this time that we
contemplate our accomplishments and are able to develop integrity if we see
ourselves as leading a successful life. If we see our life as unproductive, or feel
that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and
develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.
The final developmental task is retrospection: people look back on their lives
and accomplishments. They develop feelings of contentment and integrity if
they believe that they have led a happy, productive life. They may instead
develop a sense of despair if they look back on a life of disappointments and
unachieved goals.
This stage can occur out of the sequence when an individual feels they are near
the end of their life







Strong negative aspects to spoil personality:




 Unhygienic
 Hurting attitude.
 Useless approach.
 Non-beneficial communication.
 Untrustworthy, Irresponsible, Lack of integrity.
 Below average performance.
 Powerless egoism.
 Financial indiscipline.
 Mismanagements.
 Uncontrolled burst of negative emotions.






















Personal development in psychology


Psychology became linked to personal development, not with
the psychoanalysis of Freud (1856–1939) but starting
[when?]
with his
contemporaries Alfred Adler (1870–1937) and Carl Jung (1875–1961).
Adler refused to limit psychology to analysis, making the important point that
aspirations look forward and do not limit themselves to unconscious drives or to
childhood experiences.
[12]
He also originated the concepts of lifestyle (1929 — he
defined "lifestyle" as an individual's characteristic approach to life, in facing
problems) and of self image
[citation needed]
, a concept that influenced management
under the heading of work-life balance
[clarification needed]
.
Carl Gustav Jung made contributions to personal development with his concept
of individuation, which he saw as the drive of the individual to achieve the
wholeness and balance of the Self.
[13]

Daniel Levinson (1920–1994) developed Jung’s early concept of "life stages" and
included a sociological perspective. Levinson proposed that personal development
come under the influence — throughout life — of aspirations, which he called "the
Dream":
Whatever the nature of his Dream, a young man has the developmental task of
giving it greater definition and finding ways to live it out. It makes a great
difference in his growth whether his initial life structure is consonant with and
infused by the Dream, or opposed to it. If the Dream remains unconnected to his
life it may simply die, and with it his sense of aliveness and purpose.
[14]

Levinson’s model of seven life-stages has been considerably modified
[by whom?]
due
to sociological changes
[which?]
in the lifecycle.
[15]

Research on success in reaching goals, as undertaken by Albert Bandura (born
1925), suggested that self-efficacy
[16]
best explains why people with the same level
of knowledge and skills get very different results. According to Bandura self-
confidence functions as a powerful predictor of success because:
[17]

1. it makes you expect to succeed
2. it allows you take risks and set challenging goals
3. it helps you keep trying if at first you don’t succeed
4. it helps you control emotions and fears when the going gets rough
In 1998 Martin Seligman won election to a one-year term as President of
the American Psychological Association and proposed a new focus: on healthy
individuals
[citation needed]
rather than on pathology:
We have discovered that there is a set of human strengths that are the most likely
buffers against mental illness: courage, optimism, interpersonal skill, work ethic,
hope, honesty and perseverance. Much of the task of prevention will be to create a
science of human strength whose mission will be to foster these virtues in young
people.
[18]


Personal development in higher education


Personal development has been at the heart of education in the West
[citation needed]
in
the form of the Greek philosophers
[which?]
; and in the East
[citation needed]
with
Confucius. Some people
[which?]
emphasize personal development as a part of higher
education. Wilhelm von Humboldt, who founded the University of Berlin (since
1949: Humboldt University of Berlin) in 1810, made a statement interpretable
[by
whom?]
as referring to personal development: … if there is one thing more than
another which absolutely requires free activity on the part of the individual, it is
precisely education, whose object it is to develop the individual.
[19]

During the 1960s a large increase in the number of students on American
campuses
[20]
led to research on the personal development needs of undergraduate
students. Arthur Chickering defined seven vectors of personal development
[21]
for
young adults during their undergraduate years:
1. developing competence
2. managing emotions
3. achieving autonomy and interdependence
4. developing mature interpersonal relationships
5. establishing identity
6. developing purpose
7. developing integrity
In the UK, personal development took a central place in university policy
[citation
needed]
in 1997 when the Dearing Report
[22]
declared that universities should go
beyond academic teaching to provide students with personal development.
[citation
needed]
In 2001 a Quality Assessment Agency for UK universities produced
guidelines
[23]
for universities to enhance personal development as:
* a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon
their own learning, performance and / or achievement and to plan for their
personal, educational and career development;
* objectives related explicitly to student development; to improve the capacity of
students to understand what and how they are learning, and to review, plan and
take responsibility for their own learning
In the 1990s, business schools began to set up specific personal-development
programs for leadership and career orientation and in 1998 the European
Foundation for Management Development set up the Equis accreditation
system
[24][dead link]
which specified that personal development must form part of the
learning process through internships, working on team projects and going abroad
for work or exchange programs.
[citation needed]

The first personal development certification required for business school
graduation originated in 2002 as a partnership between Metizo,
[25]
a personal-
development consulting firm, and the Euromed Management School
[26]
in
Marseilles: students must not only complete assignments but also demonstrate self-
awareness and achievement of personal-development competencies.
As an academic department personal development has become
[when?]
a specific
discipline, usually associated with business schools.
[27]
As an area of research,
personal development draws on links to other academic disciplines:
 education for questions of learning and assessment
 psychology for motivation and personality
 sociology for identity and social networks
 economics for human capital and economic value
 philosophy for ethics and self-reflection





Personal development in the workplace


Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), proposed a hierarchy of needs with self
actualization at the top, defined as:
[28]

… the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one
is capable of becoming.
Since Maslow himself believed that only a small minority of people self-
actualize — he estimated one percent
[29]
— his hierarchy of needs had the
consequence that organizations came to regard self-actualization or personal
development as occurring at the top of the organizational pyramid, while job
security and good working conditions would fulfill the needs of the mass of
employees.
[citation needed]

As organizations and labor markets became more global, responsibility for
development shifted from the company to the individual.
[clarification needed]
In 1999
management thinker Peter Drucker wrote in the Harvard Business Review:
We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: if you’ve got ambition and smarts,
you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless of where you started
out. But with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today aren’t managing
their employees’ careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief
executive officers. It’s up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change
course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may
span some 50 years.
[30]

Management professors Sumantra Ghoshal of the London Business School and
Christopher Bartlett of the Harvard Business School wrote in 1997 that companies
must manage people individually and establish a new work contract.
[31]
On the one
hand the company must allegedly recognize that personal development creates
economic value: "market performance flows not from the omnipotent wisdom of
top managers but from the initiative, creativity and skills of all employees".
On the other hand, employees should recognize that their work includes personal
development and "... embrace the invigorating force of continuous learning and
personal development".
The 1997 publication of Ghoshal's and Bartlett's Individualized
Corporation corresponded to a change in career development from a system of
predefined paths defined by companies, to a strategy defined by the individual and
matched to the needs of organizations in an open landscape of possibilities.
[citation
needed]
Another contribution to the study of career development came with the
recognition that women’s careers show specific personal needs and different
development paths from men. The 2007 study of women's careers by Sylvia Ann
Hewlett Off-Ramps and On-Ramps
[32]
had a major impact on the way companies
view careers.
[citation needed]
Further work on the career as a personal development
process came from study by Herminia Ibarra in her Working Identity on the
relationship with career change and identity change,
[33]
indicating that priorities
of work and lifestyle continually develop through life.
Personal development programs in companies fall into two categories: the
provision of employee benefits and the fostering of development strategies.
Employee benefits have the purpose of improving satisfaction, motivation and
loyalty.
[citation needed]
Employee surveys may help organizations find out personal-
development needs, preferences and problems, and they use the results to design
benefits programs.
[citation needed]
Typical programs in this category include:
 work-life balance
 time management
 stress management
 health programs
 counseling
Many such programs resemble programs that some employees might conceivably
pay for themselves outside work: yoga, sports, martial arts, money-management,
positive psychology, NLP, etc.
[citation needed]

As an investment, personal development programs have the goal of
increasing human capital or improving productivity, innovation or quality.
Proponents actually see such programs not as a cost but as an investment with
results linked to an organization’s strategic development goals. Employees gain
access to these investment-oriented programs by selection according to the value
and future potential of the employee, usually defined in a talent
management architecture including populations such as new hires, perceived high-
potential employees, perceived key employees, sales staff, research staff and
perceived future leaders.
[citation needed]
Organizations may also offer other (non-
investment-oriented) programs to many or even all employees. Typical
programs
[which?]
focus on career-development, personal effectiveness, teamwork,
and competency-development. Personal development also forms an element
inmanagement tools such as personal development planning, assessing one's level
of ability using a competency grid, or getting feedback from a 360
questionnaire filled in by colleagues at different levels in the organization.

Conclusion
ndividual differences in personality are universal in that they are found in all
human populations. The roots of individual differences are no doubt bedded in
evolutionary history, selected because of their improved adaptiveness to conditions
in the environment. The specific personality qualities of an individual, which lead
to individual differences between people, are not based so much in evolution,
however, but are the product of many developmental factors.
The developmental study of individual differences in personality provides a rich
source of data for the researcher and practitioner alike to use in understanding and
predicting behavior. Without the study of individual differences, there could be no
detailed analysis or explanation of why people often behave or develop very
differently under seemingly equivalent environmental conditions. Understanding
these differences and the development of these differences is fundamental not only
to psychologists' understanding of behavior but also to parents, schoolteachers,
social workers, policymakers, and anyone else working with other people. Because
of its universality and its implications for understanding behavior, the study of
individual differences is an essential part of any complete scientific study of
behavior.