JULY 2008

Employee Development
What about development plans?

Perhaps you already employ development plans or they may be a new concept to you, but they can add real value to both your organization and employees. Simply put, development plans are used to place an employee in a series of challenging positions and assignments to season them and to enhance their knowledge and expertise. This is an underutilized opportunity that is readily available for most organizations.

“The use of development plans does not need to be limited to high-potential employees, but can be successfully employed at multiple levels.”

Research indicates employees are frustrated by their personal inability to develop expertise and value for their employers. The desire to learn and grow is clearly present, but many companies fail to tap into it. At the same time, many organizations are reporting a shallow bench to replace the growing numbers of retirees. Development plans can also be a solution to this problem as they create workforce depth within your organization.

The benefits of using development plans include:

• Cross-pollination of ideas and concepts within the company
• Social networking of employees and managers that leads to more productive cooperation and collaborative efforts
• Increased understanding of the challenges facing the business and how to resolve them
• Increased native knowledge of how the company works
• Development of new skills and competencies
• Employees view a pathway to advance themselves or develop their skills

The implementation of development plans is straightforward. It begins with the identification of potential candidates, which can be performed by front-line managers and supervisors. During performance reviews, the opportunities available through a development plan are discussed to determine the employee’s interest.

The initial steps of the plan can include the use of challenging assignments within the employee’s own department or function. If he or she is successful, more challenging assignments are provided. As the employee proves him or herself, challenges within other departments and functions are given to them. These can be supplemented by additional training to develop new skills and competencies.

Several key elements need to be utilized through development plans. The first is the use of a coach or mentor who is responsible for monitoring performance and makes the determination when the employee moves on to the next assignment.

Next, a clear path needs to be obvious to employees leading to a desirable and obtainable end goal. They should see how their performance impacts their progress through the development plan and what will happen once they complete it. This will usually include the potential for advancement. However, in some cases employees don’t seek advancement, but wish to increase their value in their existing jobs. In this case, some form of certification and pay increase may be warranted.

The benefits of development plans should not be minimized. They can be one of the most effective tools available to clearly demonstrate an employee’s value to the company. Yet, the use of development plans does not need to be limited to high-potential employees, but can be successfully employed at multiple levels. Additionally, development plans provide an excellent way for companies to ensure that their knowledge capital is preserved, if not enhanced.

Timothy F. Bednarz, Ph.D.