Creating Development Plans

When creating development plans with your employees, the first priority should be given to role development to ensure employees have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge/skill needed to meet the expectations of their current role. Once employees are meeting the expectations of their current role, development activities can be directed to role enrichment and career interests. Career conversations should be completed to understand career interests. Ask the following questions and then partner with the employee to create a develop plan to address:

• What type of work would you like to be doing in 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, and 5 years plus?

• What would you like to do more of in your current job?

• What other work would make your current job more interesting?

WHAT

A Development Plan clearly identifies development goals an employee is expected to achieve, and the activities required for an employee to achieve them. Development Plans should be created to help employees develop their skills in order to:

– Meet job expectations (Role Development)

– Enrich their jobs (Role Enrichment)

– Develop into new positions (Career Development)

WHY

A development plan can act as a contract between a leader and employee that will:

– Foster commitment, ownership and mutual understanding

– Set expectations

– Provide direction and clarity

– Facilitate progress reviews and follow-up

The lack of a development plan is a primary reason why employees leave an organization – they see no opportunities for growth or career advancement.

Developing employees has huge impact on business results – your employee will have a stronger skill set and higher capabilities, and will also feel more valued. Developing your employees will assist you in achieving desired results.

WHEN

Development plans for employees are to be created annually to address development opportunities (role, role enrichment, and career) identified during the annual appraisal of the employee’s performance. Development plans should be reviewed a minimum of twice a year to monitor progress and revise as necessary.