Empowering Growth: The Art of Co-Creating a Development Plan with Your Direct Report 

Most organizations have a formal process for reviewing work performance.  This exercise can be done in conjunction with any established process with modifications.  The critical element is the idea of co-creating the plan which requires active involvement from the individual in doing a self-assessment and defining their professional goals. 

 

Schedule time for the discussion: 

 Pre-work: 

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Ask the individual to reflect on their performance and write down key accomplishments, development areas and potential career goals. 

 

At the same time, write down your assessment of the individual’s accomplishments, development areas and potential career options. 

 

Have the individual send you their document in advance of the meeting 

 

Review their self-assessment and see how it aligns with your feedback and where it does not. 

 

If closely aligned with your feedback, you can plan to spend more time talking about how to address the development areas and potential career paths. 

 

If not closely aligned with your feedback, you will need to spend more time discussing performance expectations of the role, so the individual understands where they may need to develop further. 

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During the Meeting: 

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First, make the individual feel comfortable by establishing rapport and explain that the goal is to co-create a development plan that is aligned with their goals.  Provide an outline of the key parts of the dialog: 

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Performance 

 

Development opportunities 

 

Future career paths 

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Next steps (both you and the individual make a commitment to follow-up items) 

 

Potential questions: Here are some questions that could be used in the discussion. 

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How are you leveraging your strengths?  Are there ways that the organization can better leverage your strengths? 

 

Is there an area that you would like to develop?  Technical skill?  Interpersonal skill?  Organizational skill?  What would success look like? 

 

What is the role or type of work that you would like to be doing in the next 12-24 months? 

 

How can I help you with your goals? 

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​Clearly articulate future performance expectations: ​The review of past performance is important because it sets a precedent for future performance.  If the individual has been performing to expectations and the expectations will increase in the future (due to job requirements or department goals), those changes should be clearly articulated during this discussion.  Otherwise, the individual may assume that positive feedback on past performance is sufficient for future positive feedback. ​

Outline opportunities without promising: ​In discussing the individual’s career progression, it is critical to outline opportunities that are feasible without making promises (unless that is already confirmed in your organization), otherwise you are setting up the individual for potential disappointment.  If specific opportunities are only feasible if the individual completes certain activities or achieves specific goals, make that clear also. 

 

​Future opportunities may require demonstrating elevated performance: ​The individual may be seeking a promotion or a new role.  In order to qualify for those opportunities, the individual may need to demonstrate specific technical or interpersonal skills to indicate to leadership that they are ready for that level of responsibility.  You, as a manager, can outline the skills they will need to showcase and, over time, provide regular feedback on their progress as well as opportunities to demonstrate those skills. 

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Some examples may be: 

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If they are an individual contributor and want to manage people in the future, give them an opportunity to on-board a new member of the team or lead a project team. 

 

If they need to demonstrate revenue generating capabilities, you may be able to have them shadow people in a sales function or work on new client engagements. 

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​Identify resources appropriate to the individual’s specific needs: ​As you discuss the individual’s developmental needs, identify resources that might be appropriate.  Make suggestions of the resources and listen for the individual's interest and commitment to those resources.  You may suggest courses, tuition assistance, professional coaching, assessment tools books, articles, blogs which may be well received or may feel overwhelming.  Make suggestions and explain why the resource is helpful.  Ask the individual if they are interested in your suggestion and look for queues both spoken and unspoken about their commitment to the ideas you share. 

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​Summarize the commitments made during the meeting: Identify the follow-up items that came out of the meeting and try to be specific about the timing of each item.  For example, the individual may say “I commit to working on my technical skills with regard to {xxx] in the next 2 months” or you may say “I commit to getting you these leadership resources by next week” 

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After the Meeting 

 

​It is recommended that the individual document the follow-up items and send them in an email to you and then draft their own development plan.  Provide the resources that you suggested in a timely manner showing your commitment to their development.  If you have identified opportunities to give the individual hands-on experience or exposure to leadership, be sure to follow-up on that commitment. 

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