Employee Individual Development Plan: What It Is And How To Create One
The proper development of a business is impossible without a professional team. That's why, in today's world, it's crucial to pay significant attention to the development of employees' hard and soft skills.
To do this correctly, managers need to craft a well-thought-out individual development plan for employees, typically handled by HR.
What is an Employee Individual Development Plan?
An employee individual development plan is a list of activities aimed at continuous professional growth. It's a document that outlines goals and actions through which an employee can achieve success. The program should be tailored individually, considering all the professional nuances of the employees, allowing them to acquire new competencies or develop existing ones. A coach or business mentor can also help with this if you're seeking an outside perspective.
Every business is a mechanism made up of many gears. Therefore, employees' incompetence, lack of time management, or communication skills can cause serious harm to a company. Moreover, you need to care about your employees' goals and ambitions not just to decrease employee turnover, but also to create real motivation within your company.
An individual plan benefits both the employee and the company. The employee becomes more engaged and motivated, and the organization gains a valuable colleague who can work much more effectively for the company's benefit. Successful implementation of the plan is usually encouraged with financial rewards or career advancement.
A common mistake among many managers is creating an individual plan on paper but failing to implement it. This should not be allowed.
What Needs an Employee Individual Development Plan?
An individual plan is necessary for everyone, from juniors to experienced professionals. Essentially, it's a career plan that takes into account professional and personal qualities. Therefore, it's necessary for anyone who wants to grow and develop.
How to Properly Create an Employee Individual Development Plan?
First, determine the goals the company sets for itself, such as reducing staff turnover. Then, it's essential to talk to the employee and find out what they want, like career advancement or self-development.
Next, assess the employee's competencies. This can be done through surveys, personal conversations, or testing. Analyze which skills need improvement. Be sure to provide feedback to the employee and discuss your decision.
Outline a development strategy. There are several main activities to emphasize:
Training
Working on new projects
Training sessions
Self-learning
Mentorship
Always form tasks using the SMART methodology. Goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Typically, an individual development plan includes several competencies that the employee needs to develop. Simple skills may take a couple of months to master. Complex skills can be developed in 6-9 months, while comprehensive competencies sometimes take up to two years.
Experts from JobMesh recommend using Tell – Show – Do development scheme as the most effective. Let's discuss it in more detail:
Tell (Learn). These are theoretical knowledge that one can acquire independently, gleaned from books, movies, courses, and seminars.
Show (Learn from others' experiences). Mentorship and rotation to other departments can be used. Observing others' experiences yields good results.
Do (Apply in practice). It's crucial to apply skills practically. Involve the employee in working on new projects, organize business trips, or internships.
When creating the plan, it's important to ensure that the workload each month is approximately the same. It's best to combine Tell – Show – Do simultaneously, rather than focusing on any single strategy.
What Should an Employee Individual Development Plan contain?
A well-crafted individual development plan contains the following points:
Goal. It's important that both the employee and the manager are interested in achieving it.
Timelines. Specify the time frame for achieving the goals.
Development Strategy. Detail specific tasks and measures for their implementation.
Support. Indicate who the employee can turn to for help.
Execution Notes. This applies to each point.
It's essential to record the result of the development plan's implementation and evaluate it.
Let’s take a look at an example. Suppose you have a company in the event management industry. We recommend starting by identifying the most important event management skills in 2024. Keep in mind that some individuals may excel in specific skills, while others are generalists with a broad range of abilities. Your task is to assess their personal ambitions and how they align with your company's goals.
How Often to Make Changes to an Employee Individual Development Plan?
For the development plan to be effective, it needs to be regularly adjusted. It's best to do this mid-year when you can evaluate the initial results. It's important to note how well the staff development is going and whether employees are achieving the set goal. Be sure to reward employees moving in the right direction – it further motivates them. If there are no significant improvements, it's worth reviewing the plan and making adjustments.
Always check whether the development plan has lost its relevance. Business tasks or employee goals may change – this should be taken into account.
