third sector personal development

[JenniferAlisonPhilipaSue]

I have my annual review and objective setting in my new, third sector job, I am expected to make one of these objectives "personal development" and I'm stuck.

I'm not eligible for government funded courses (which is pretty much the only L&D the charity offers). My ineligibility is due to factors such as my age, my location (home based) and the fact I already have a degree. Being a charity, they will not pay for any courses and I can't afford to pay myself.

There are opportunities to be in the staff association, to chair one of the staff network groups or mentor new starters. My manager is against me doing any of this because it could "damage relationships" with HR who we work closely with as part of our roles (but we aren't HR ourselves).

So I don't know WTF he expects me to put as a personal development objective. I'm a bit annoyed that there doesn't seem to be any development opportunities available to me. I don't want to change jobs or get promoted, but I do like to learn new things.

I like my job, I like my place of work, and I like my manager, but I'm disappointed with the lack of opportunities available to me.

Any suggestions as to what I could put for personal development? Shadowing is unlikely due to the time commitment involved and the fact I am home based

Hmm tricky, how about taking on some kind of new challenge or extra responsibility within your role, an improvement project or similar? Or can you deputise for your manager at certain meetings or whatever when s/he's on holiday? I know you don't necessarily want to saddle yourself with a lot of extra work but this sort of thing is actually helpful for career progression. Or if not how about a free online course, it sounds basic but I've actually found some of the excel and PowerPoint ones really helpful. Or just claim you are going to do 'personal research' in a relevant topic area, ie read a book or journal articles or whatever, then present it back to the rest of the team?