Skills development is extremely relevant for the employees of the future. That’s why it is crucial that you as a manager or as responsible makes sure to engage in the employees’ development. A tool for that purpose is the classical development plan.
The development plan often comes into play in the classical personal development interview, but since several have declared the personal development interview dead together with the younger generation of millennials to a greater extent require constant feedback, it is a good idea to keep the development plan on a tight rein more often rather than just once a year.
According to kompetenceudvikling.dk a good development plan must include:
- Concrete development goals
- Activities that support the development goal
- A timetable for when activities should occur
- Specifying of who is responsible for what (managers and employees)
- Specifying how the follow up happens and when
Extended Development Plan
According to Viden på tværs, the development plan is much more complex than you think and there is a number of questions that you have to remember to have in mind.
First and foremost, you should, of course, follow up on the last development plan. Subsequently, it is a good idea to ask the following questions.
- Which work tasks would you like to do/ have to do from now on?
- Which professional competencies do you need to have to solve the work tasks?
- All of the above: concrete development goals, which activities, timetable, who is responsible and when will there be followed up?
- Which personal competencies are required to solve the work tasks?
- Which personal development goals do you have?
- Which activities are required to reach the personal development goals?
- Which long-term development goals do you have within the next 2 to 4 years?
Digital Development Plan
Instead of running it all analog with papers back and forth, you can more easily follow up on the development plan, if you make it digital. You can e.g. make it in a Learning Management System (LMS), in which you at the same time can easily assign new digital learning processes which support the individual’s development.
In addition, it makes good sense to make the development plan digital compared to the new demands from the millennial generation when it comes to feedback and counseling, which really makes digital HR transformation more and more relevant. For with a digital development plan, both managers and employees can keep an eye on the development constantly on the digital platform, and it creates a bigger incitement for giving feedback and counseling more often- also digitally. To boost up your development plans you can also look into our tips on working remotely.