PDP form

One of the things I like best about working at HOK is the firm’s committment to professional (and personal) development. While we see this dedication throughout the year through various learning events (both in house and external), it’s never more apparent than at review time. 

Each HOK business unit does the review process slightly differently. Advance Strategies uses an online tool called the “Personal Development Plan,” or PDP for short. The PDP is a great way to formalize short- and long-term goals (honestly, I need someone to force me to think about it sometimes), gauge how you’re doing against your official position description, and measure your achievements for the year. It also serves as a forum to discuss both existing challenges and future improvements with your supervisor (I’m lucky to have a great fearless leader, our own Leigh). My major challenge for the upcoming year is finding my own “thing” and stepping out as a thought leader (suggestions welcome!). 

One component of the PDP is the “360 review,” which gives the reviewee an opportunity to reach out to colleagues and clients to get another viewpoint. This year, our team each reviewed two others on the team – it was great to hear their thoughts on what I do well and how I can work more effectively with them in the future (for example, I need to help our newest Ad-Strader stay busy and keep giving her challenging work and increasing responsibility). 

The WDC office has a similar review process: both an online tool and a “360″-ish process. In the WDC 360 process, all officers meet and review the strengths and weaknesses of non-officer staff. Associates then leave and are reviewed by more senior officers and so forth.  

I’ve had the opportunity to be both inside and outside the room. Outside the room, it’s intimidating to think that others are talking about you (especially when you hear giant bursts of laughter – which, it turns out, are usually due to someone making fun of someone else in the room).  Inside the room, you find that it’s an extremely positive environment in which people have the opportunity to share experiences. The vast majority of comments are compliments for staff or identification of things the company can do to help people grow (such as “this person is really interested in X, maybe she should work with Y” or “X has amazing hand-drawing skills, perhaps we should look for opportunities for him to use them”). 

The major commonality across business units is the extreme commitment to employee personal development: It’s simply good business for HOK and also makes for a happy, satisfied, and ever advancing workforce.