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By Leann Schneider, M.A. and Tim Jackson, Ph.D.

Answer the following question honestly: do you think that development plans are useful? Some of you probably think that they are, and they should be if they’re done right.




Unfortunately, it’s likely that some HR professionals doubt their usefulness. Whether we’ve taken the time to create our own plan and it’s long forgotten, or helped someone else to create a plan that they didn’t follow through with, it’s easy to understand why this topic can lead to frustration.

However, there’s a reason why development plans are encouraged. If you want to progress in your career, or if you’re supporting someone else in their career progression, aimlessly engaging in developmental activity can be a waste of time and money. Don’t we want to be deliberate in how our development unfolds?
There are best practices for creating development plans that increase the chances that the plan you create will turn into actual improvements in performance. At some point, you’ve likely been told that development plans should include SMART goals (i.e., goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound). The following recommendations take this a step further.

Define the developmental experience
The starting point for creating a development plan should be defining the type of desired developmental experience. Research supports two types of developmental experiences: “mastery” experiences, which involve continuing to do your current job but with more intensity and increased demands, and “broadening” experiences, which involve stretching yourself to seek out new experiences, opportunities and relationships. Mastery experiences can lead to more visibility and greater impact, but also higher risks and expectations within the current role.

In contrast, broadening experiences can lead to the development of new skills and familiarity with new contexts, but also greater ambiguity when stretching outside of the current role.

The question to ask is, “Do I want to pursue mastery or diversity in development experiences?” This question can help provide a focus for the career steps and, subsequently, the skills to be developed that will be included in the development plan.

Ensure that the manager contributes to the development plan
If you’re a manager, you’re hopefully invested in the development of your employees. Don’t underestimate the value that you’re bringing to the table by being involved in the developmental planning process.

Direct involvement by a manager in creating a development plan following an assessment leads to gains in future job performance. This is mainly due to these reasons:

• The manager is made aware of the goals of their employee and is able to support them in their development by checking in on goal progress or providing opportunities for skill development relevant to the plan.
• It helps to have a manager’s support and stamp of approval for spending valuable time on development activity. For example, if taking on a special project to improve your financial acumen, the last thing you want to find out is that your manager thought it was a waste of time.
• The manager can provide suggestions that can be incorporated into the plan. They may have insight into actions that are the most critical for the individuals’ development in their role.
• The manager often knows what career moves are possible, and therefore which skills need to be developed to move into these future roles.

Specific short-term goals specific, learning-oriented long-term goals

In most instances, setting specific goals that have clear outcomes leads to the best results from development plans. However, there may be instances where a person wishes to master a particular skill or ability that doesn’t have a clear outcome (e.g., becoming an engaging presenter). In this situation, set learning goals, where the goal is to master a skill or ability rather than to work towards a specific result.

This framework encourages trying out different strategies and figuring out what works best, without the pressure of having to attain a performance goal.

How can setting a broad learning goal for the development of skills or abilities be reconciled with advice to set specific goals? One strategy is for long-term goals to be framed as learning goals, with the inclusion of specific sub-goals that outline steps for attaining the learning goal. For example, a long-term learning goal could be to improve presentation skills.

Three specific, short-term sub-goals could be volunteering to present at an upcoming conference, practicing presentations in front of peers and maintaining eye contact with the audience.

There is great importance to having short-term goals within the long-term goals that are in the development plan. Short-term goals help maintain a sense of focus and accomplishment, and make long-term goals less overwhelming. However, the long-term goals help provide a broader vision for development.

Don’t set too many goals

While the exact number of goals in the development plan will vary in each circumstance, having too many can be overwhelming. In addition, with all the performance goals on our plate, the first reaction will be to put development goals on the backburner if they take up too much of our energy.

One strategy to keep the number of development goals manageable can be to set only one goal per competency that is targeted with the development plan. Another strategy can be to set a maximum number of goals for the entire plan – research has found that setting three or four goals led to increased 360 ratings and leadership effectiveness in coaching interventions.

Integrate the development plan with other systems

By integrating the development plan into aspects of work, it will seem more relevant, be more salient and receive more support from the organization. Integrate the plan with two areas: other career development systems and the organization’s long-term business plan.

With respect to other career development systems, it’s important to integrate the plan into processes like mentoring, coaching, performance reviews or further assessments. For example, a mentor can be specific in their guidance and support if they are aware of the goals in the development plan. Or, 360 assessment questions can be customized to measure progress in achieving development goals, which gives the survey more impact.

The development plan can also be integrated with the organization’s business plan. Think about if there is any way that personal goals can be set to align with this year’s business targets. For example, a start-up business would be heavily invested in promoting their new brand. If your development goal is to improve your presentation skills, this fits well with the key objectives of the organization.

Obtain feedback on goal attainment

It’s important to realize that the development plan doesn’t need to be a static document. Rather, employees get the most value from using a development plan when they can track how well they are achieving their objectives. The best way to do this is to ensure that development plans are measurable – the feedback is immediate when you can objectively check “yes” or “no” to whether a goal has been achieved. Keep a spreadsheet with a goal checklist to facilitate this.

Researchers find that feedback on goal attainment leads to better quality development plans in a number of ways. Feedback acts as a check-in to revise goals to be more realistic if they turned out to be too challenging, or to add more goals to the plan once past goals are met. Importantly, feedback can also be a wake-up call to change strategies for goal attainment if what is currently being done isn’t working.

As HR professionals, you know the basics. Development plans should help you, or the individuals you work with, reach peak performance and progress in your careers.

Leann Schneider, M.A. is a consultant with Jackson Leadership Systems Inc. and Tim Jackson, Ph.D. is president of Jackson Leadership Systems Inc.

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