coaching takes planning - ucsf human resources

© 2006 Corporate Executive Board. All Rights Reserved.

Coaching Takes PlanningLaying the Groundwork for Successful Coaching Efforts

Why Is Planning Important?

Managers usually coach their employees in response to an urgent need: a project is off track, an employee doesn’t understand a critical process or product, an employee is using a system or tool for the fi rst time, etc. While these efforts address critically important short-term needs, they do not necessarily develop a particular skill, nor do they ensure that the employee will retain the lessons learned.

Moreover, the reactive nature of coaching means that managers often have to teach skills that may not be their own strengths. Managers, like those they manage, also have strengths and development areas.

So it is hardly surprising that while most managers spend time developing those employees, employees view their efforts as “okay” at best.* By developing a coaching plan, you can:

• Develop skills to help eliminate some of the time you spend “putting out fi res”;• Ensure you are coaching based on your strengths, which can immediately improve your coaching effectiveness; and• Demonstrate your commitment to your employee’s professional success in the short and long term.

This guide is divided into four sections:• Section I: Identify the skills your employees need to develop• Section II: Use your greatest strengths to coach your employees• Section III: Create a coaching plan• Section IV: Create individual development plans (IDPs)

* Learning and Development Roundtable, Driving Results Through Employee Development, Washington, D.C. : Corporate Executive Board, 2004, p. 8.

Learning and Development Roundtable®

2© 2006 Corporate Executive Board. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Section I: Identify the Skills Your Employees Need to Develop ...............................................................................................................................3

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................4

Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas—Instructions ...............................................................................................5

Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas ..........................................................................................................................6

Career Planning Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................................................................7

Section II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees. .....................................................................................................................8

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................9

Identify Strengths I Can Use to Coach—Instructions ...................................................................................................................................10

Identify Strengths I Can Use to Coach ..............................................................................................................................................................11

Where Should I Focus My Coaching Efforts? ...................................................................................................................................................12

Thinking Outside the Coaching Box ...................................................................................................................................................................13

Section III: Create a Coaching Plan ..................................................................................................................................................................................14

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................15

Understanding the Root Cause ............................................................................................................................................................................16

Coaching Plan—Instructions ................................................................................................................................................................................17

Coaching Plan ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................18

Section IV: Create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) ...........................................................................................................................................19

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................20

Creating an IDP: Quick Tips. ................................................................................................................................................................................21

Individual Development Plan—Instructions .....................................................................................................................................................22

Individual Development Plan .................................................................................................................................................................................23

Development Plan Checklist—Instructions .....................................................................................................................................................24

Development Plan Checklist .................................................................................................................................................................................25

Creating Achievable Goals ....................................................................................................................................................................................26

Experience Inventory .............................................................................................................................................................................................27

Learning and Development Roundtable



Section I: Identify the Skills Your

Employees Need to Develop


Overview

Development Goals Should Build Skills That Directly Impact Performance

Your coaching efforts should target skills that your employees need to successfully perform their jobs. These skills are typically outlined in performance review criteria, listed in job descriptions, or implied in an employee’s performance objectives.

Development Goals Should Focus on Strengths, Not Just Weaknesses

Managers often coach their employees to correct performance weaknesses. While this is critically important, it should not be the only time managers coach, as it implies coaching only occurs when employees do something “wrong.” By focusing your coaching efforts on employee strengths, you reinforce positive behaviors and further develop strengths that directly benefi t your team.

Use the “Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas” to identify employee strengths and weaknesses in job-critical skill areas. To view this resource, turn to pages 5 and 6.

Both the Employee and Manager Should Collaborate on Any Development Goals

Even if you do all of the work up front—identify skill strengths and weaknesses, create short- and long-term goals—it’s still up to your employees to reach the milestones and hit the goals. If they don’t agree with the goals you’ve identifi ed, your coaching efforts will be wasted. In order to ensure your coaching efforts yield the maximum benefi t, you should collaborate with your employees to ensure they will put effort into building skills that benefi t the individual, team, and organization.

Long-Term Development Goals Should Refl ect the Employee’s Long-Term Career Plans

You have an employee you think would be perfect for a managerial position. You spend countless hours coaching the employee on people management, infl uencing peers, and project management. Then you fi nd out your employee has no interest in becoming a manager. By having career planning conversations with your employees early, you not only ensure that your efforts are focused on the right skills, but you send the message that you are invested in their long-term goals.

Use the “Career Planning Questionnaire” to make sure you have a fi rm understanding of your employee’s long-term career goals. To view this resource, turn to page 7.

Coaching Takes PlanningSection I: Identify the Skills Your



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Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas—Instructions

The template on the following page is designed to help you consolidate the strengths and weaknesses of each employee in the skills he or she needs to successfully execute against performance objectives. To use this template, follow the steps outlined below for each employ

Identify the competencies or skills this employee needs to be successful, as identifi ed by your organization, business unit, or function (you can fi nd these in formal performance review criteria or in job descriptions).

List the three to fi ve most critical skills or competencies the employee needs in his or her role.

Identify whether or not the skill or competency is a strength or a development area. You can do so either by using standards defi ned by your organization or by using your own professional judgment. If you’re unsure, think about what you would reasonably expect of someone in this role.

Employee Name

Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development

Area?

John Smith

1. Communication

2. People Management

3. Project Management

4. Analytical Thinking

5. Change Management

Employee Name

Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development

Area?

John Smith

1. Communication

2. People Management

3. Project Management

4. Analytical Thinking

5. Change Management

Performance Review Criteria

ABC Company

Learning and Development Roundtable Coaching Takes PlanningSection I: Identify the Skills Your


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Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas

Before you identify the areas you need to coach, you should understand the skills your employees need to succeed in their current roles. Use the template below to record where your employees stand against the most critical skills and competencies needed in their roles.*

* Managers should use the organization’s performance criteria and/or the employee’s most recent performance review to identify the skills needed to achieve performance objectives and whether these skills are strengths or development areas.

Employee Name Most Critical Skillsfor This Role Strength? Development

Area? Employee Name Most Critical Skillsfor This Role Strength? Development

Area?



Area?



Area?

Coaching Takes PlanningSection I: Identify the Skills Your Employees Need to Develop



Conversation Guide

Questions to Ask Your Employee Employee Responses

Questions About Your Current Goals

What is your favorite part of your current role?

What would you describe as your biggest strength?

What one skill would you like to develop to improve in your current role?

Questions About Your Future Role(s)

Where do you see yourself in 1 to 3 years?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

If there is one task or project type you’d like to do more frequently in your future roles, what would you select?

If there is one task or project type you’d like to do less frequently in your future roles, what would you select?

Questions About My Role

How can I best help you in your current role?

How can I best help you achieve your career goals?

Are there other individuals you would like me to enlist to help you achieve your career goals? (e.g., a colleague in a role you’re interested in pursuing)

Career Planning Questionnaire

As important as it is to build strengths and development areas that employees need now, it is also important to build skills that employees will need for future roles. This conversation guide is designed to ensure you have a fi rm understanding of your employees’ career aspirations; by assuming that employees will follow a particular career path, you risk expending effort developing skills they may not want or need in the future.

Coaching Takes PlanningSection I: Identify the Skills Your



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Coaching Takes PlanningLearning and Development Roundtable

Section II:Use Your Greatest Strengths

to Coach Your Employees


Overview

It’s Hard to Coach Someone in an Area Where You’re Weak

Your employees have strengths and weaknesses, and so do you. As a manager, you can expend effort trying to build an employee skill by coaching in an area where you are weak, or you can leverage your strengths to coach your employees. By focusing your efforts on coaching in areas where you’re strong, you can improve the effectiveness of your coaching efforts.

Use the “Identify Strengths I Can Use to Coach” template to help maximize your coaching efforts. To view this resource, turn to pages 10–11.

Focus Your Efforts on Coaching Skills That Help Your Team Achieve Its Performance Objectives

Managers who are very effective at developing their employees have employees who outperform their peers by as much as 25%. While how they develop their employees certainly accounts for some of this increase, what they develop surely is just as important. Directing your employees to resources that build skills they do not need now but will need for future roles is important; however, devoting the bulk of your efforts toward developing these skills will provide you with very little return in the short term. Simply put, there must be alignment between the skills you actively seek to develop in your employees through your coaching efforts and your employees’ performance objectives.

Coach Strengths and Weaknesses

When you are targeting your coaching efforts to particular employee skills, you want to make sure you are striking a balance between building both strengths and weaknesses. If you only coach employees in areas where they are traditionally weak, your development efforts can be viewed negatively—as indicators that the employee is doing something “wrong.” And as important as it is to coach strengths, it is just as important to clarify you are coaching a strength. You run the risk of being viewed as a never-satisfi ed micro-manager if you do not clarify when you are helping to further develop strengths and when you are working to build skills needed to achieve current performance objectives.

Use the “Where Should I Focus My Coaching Efforts” diagram on page 12 to fi nd alignment between your coaching strengths and your employees’ development areas.

Just Because You Shouldn’t Coach It, Doesn’t Mean You Should Ignore It

Once you’ve identifi ed the areas where you will focus the bulk of your coaching efforts, you need to 1) determine a plan for coaching in these areas and 2) help your employee identify other activities that can build skills not covered in your coaching plan. When your coaching efforts will not be the primary development resource for achieving a particular goal, you should still seek to help your employee identify available resources—formal classes, mentors, job rotations, other colleagues—to help reach this development goal.

Use the “Thinking Outside the Coaching Box” table on page 13 for ideas on development opportunities beyond coaching.

Coaching Takes PlanningSection II: Use Your Greatest Strengths



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Use Available Resources to Identify Employee Skills• The “Inventory of Employee Strengths and

Weaknesses” worksheet on page 6• Your employees’ past and present performance reviews

and/or development plans

Focus Your Coaching Efforts on Your StrengthsThe gray highlighted areas represent the skills where you are best equipped to serve as a coach for your employees. While the column labeled “2” is a solid opportunity, you appear to have reservations regarding column “3.” Before you make your decision, consider the following questions:

1. Do I really believe this skill is a strength? 2. Is it a strength I’m naturally good at, or is it one I’ve had to work at to build? In other

words, can I identify components of the skill that I can build in others?

Identify Strengths I Can Use to Coach—Instructions

As a manager you often work with diverse teams where individuals have different strengths and weaknesses. Like your employees, you also have strengths and weaknesses; it’s important to recognize this before you commit yourself to coaching a particular skill. Use the checklist below to help you identify skills you feel comfortable coaching. As a sample, we’ve listed some common skills and competencies; look at the skills you need to do your job and the skills or competencies your employees need to do theirs. To facilitate this exercise, use the sheet “Inventory of Employee Strengths and Weaknesses” on page 6 and enter the skills in the columns listed “Most Critical Skills for This Role”; you can also use your employees’ past performance reviews or development plans to note where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Look for Alternative Development Options in Areas Where You Are Weaker

When you’re coaching an employee, you’re building your coaching skills; you make it harder to learn and apply lessons if you’re also trying to build the skill you’re coaching. Your coaching efforts will have a bigger impact if your focus is solely on coaching.

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Employee Development/Skill Area

“This is a strength for me, and I feel completely comfortable

coaching others in it.”

“This is a strength for me, but I don’t feel entirely comfortable coaching others in this skill.”

“This area is not exactly a strength, but I feel I could coach someone.”

“I tend to be weak here and should focus my coaching

efforts on other skills.”

Project Management

Communication

People Management

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Coaching Takes PlanningSection II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees



Identify Strengths I Can Use to Coach

List your employees’ development/skill areas in the column on the left-hand side, and check the box that applies. Areas in the gray boxes represent your best coaching opportunities.

Your Employees’Development/Skill Area

“This is a strength for me, and I feel completely comfortable

coaching others in it.”

“This is a strength for me, but I don’t feel entirely comfortable coaching others in this skill.”

“This area is not exactly a strength, but I feel I could coach someone.”

“I tend to be weak here and should focus my coaching

efforts on other skills.”

Coaching Takes PlanningSection II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees



Where Should I Focus My Coaching Efforts?

List your employees’ strengths and development areas in the left-hand circle, while entering your own coaching strengths in the circle on the right. The gray area indicates where an employee’s development area and one of your coaching strengths is the same skill.

The skills in the highlighted gray area are those that merit the bulk of your coaching efforts; in order to ensure focus, you should

concentrate on building no more than one to two skills per employee.

Employees’ Strengthsand Development Areas(Areas Developed by Means

Other Than Coaching)

Your Coaching Strengths(Skills/Development

Areas You Feel Comfortable Coaching)

Areas You Will Coach

(Areas That Are Strengths for You and That Your

Employees Need to Develop)



Leverage the “Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas” (page 6) and the “Career Planning Questionnaire” (page 7).



Employees’ Strengthsand Development Areas(Areas Developed by Means

Other Than Coaching)

Your Coaching Strengths(Skills/Development

Areas You Feel Comfortable Coaching)

Areas You Will Coach

(Areas That Are Strengths for You and That Your

Employees Need to Develop)

Thinking Outside the Coaching Box

Focusing your efforts on one or two skills you feel comfortable coaching does not mean you can ignore other skills your employees are targeting for development. In Section IV, “Create Individual Development Plans (IDPs),” you’ll note that there are other activities besides coaching and the more traditional classroom or online training your employees can use to build skills.




Sample Non-Coaching Development ActivitiesSample Non-Coaching Development Activities

Other Coaching and Mentoring Job Experiences and Assignments Formal Training/Education(Less Than 20% of Development Activities)

Find a colleague to coach a strength or development area

Provide your employee with a job rotation

Facilitate your employee’s attendance at internal classes

Encourage your employee to participate in a formal mentoring program

Assign projects or tasks that will “stretch” your employee

Encourage your employee to take classes at a local university

Assign your employee a peer coach

Use external experiences to build strengths or close development gaps

Direct your employee to e-learning opportunities

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Coaching Takes Planning

Section III:Create a Coaching Plan



Coaching Takes PlanningSection III: Create a Coaching Plan

Overview

Both the Employee and Manager Should Contribute to a Coaching Plan

As your coaching plan outlines the steps you will take to develop your employees’ skills, their input is critical. Engaging employees in the plan’s creation ensures that they understand their own responsibilities, the expectations you have for their development, and the value you place on their improvement. Additionally, employees will know the action steps you will take and can help keep you on track, ensuring you meet your coaching commitments.

Coach the Root Cause, Not the End Result

To maximize your coaching efforts, try to focus your time on the root cause of a skill weakness. For example, an employee with poor communication skills has an underlying weakness—such as a lack of product knowledge—that is not being addressed. If you understand why an employee struggles in a particular area, you can better improve the skill.

Use the “Understanding the Root Cause” sheet on page 16 to learn more.

The Ultimate Measure of Coaching Success Is Your Employee’s Improvement

A coaching plan benefi ts the manager and employee in two ways. First, it sets a course for consistent coaching efforts across a development cycle, ensuring steady growth as opposed to coaching in “spurts.” Second, it focuses your efforts on one or two skills and ensures alignment between your employee’s development areas and your coaching efforts. Although there are milestones and targeted dates for your coaching activities, the true measure of your coaching efforts is the degree to which your employee has improved in the targeted skill area.

Use the “Coaching Plan” template on pages 17–18 to create a coaching plan.

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Coaching Takes PlanningSection III: Create a Coaching Plan

Understanding the Root Cause

Employees often target general skills in their development plans (e.g., “I have problems getting projects in on time. I need to work on my project management skills”). The problem confronting coaches is that these skills are usually just symptoms of the root cause. While treating the symptoms can create some improvement, the returns on your coaching efforts are maximized when you focus on the root cause. The diagram below provides an example of how different components can actually impact a particular development area.

Sample Root Cause Analysis of an Employee’s Diffi culty Managing Projects

Development Area: Project Management

Possible Approaches

Encourage Effi cientUse of Time

• Have employees schedule particular parts of their day to accomplish different tasks.

• Provide clear guidance to help employees differentiate between “expected” performance and “perfect” performance.

Delineate Job Responsibilities to

Employee and Peers

• Provide scripting on how to say “no” to colleagues professionally.

• Help employees establish clearer boundaries on their job responsibilities.

Provide Guidance on Identifying “Important”

• Explain big picture strategy for organization and team.

• Encourage employees to populate an “urgency/importance” matrix with their assignments and review it with them.

Poor Time Management

Spends too long on projects.

Poor Prioritization

Cannot discern between “urgent” and “important.”

Inability to Say “No”

Takes on new tasks when asked, regardless of time to do so.

! The Root Cause Should Determine Your Coaching Strategy

Take the time to ensure you understand the underlying root cause of development weaknesses so you can implement the most effective coaching approach.



Coaching Plan—Instructions

Coaching plans serve two purposes: They create a foundation for consistent coaching efforts across the development cycle, and they ensure that the manager’s coaching activities are supporting their employees’ development goals. To that end, the coaching plan outlines the responsibilities of both the employee and the manager. Employee responsibilities—such as activities and success measures—are generally pulled from their development plans to ensure targeted development. The manager’s responsibilities center on the specifi c coaching activities he or she will perform over the course of the coaching plan, and milestones ensure coaching obligations are being met. The success of a coaching plan is ultimately decided by the employee’s improvement.

Coaching Plan

Manager Name: Employee Name: Development Areas:

Employee Responsibilities Manager Responsibilities

Development Areas Employee Activities Success Measures Manager Activities Milestones Target Dates

Closing (Specifi cally, handling objections)

1. Shadow top salespeople on visits to prospects

2. Script ways to handle objections

1. Lifts sales by 5%

2. Can successfully turn around one solid “no”

1. Sit in on closing calls, providing immediate feedback

2. Identify possible objections and go through scripting before sales visits

1. Sit in on one call per week

2. Pull up after all sales visits to discuss why closing did or did not occur

1. Once a week for fi rst month until goals reached

2. After each sales visit

Managers Should Focus on Activities That Help Employees Learn and Apply Lessons

Managers should commit to activities that prepare employees before they engage in development experiences, track progress along those experiences, encourage refl ection, and ensure that lessons learned are applied.

Learning and Development Roundtable Coaching Takes PlanningSection III: Create a Coaching Plan

Employee Information Should Align with the Development Plan

To ensure the employee and manager are working toward the same goals, the employee’s development areas, the activities in which he or she should engage, and the metrics that track successful progress against these goals should be identical to those in the employee’s development plan.

Success Is Measured by Employee ImprovementWhile coaching plans outline the activities to which a manager commits, the true measure of a plan’s success is the development of the employee. If employees fail to demonstrate growth or reach their goals, it may become necessary to revisit the plan.


Coaching Plan

The table below is designed to ensure your coaching efforts are aligned with your employee’s development areas.

Learning and Development Roundtable Coaching Takes PlanningSection III: Create a Coaching Plan

Coaching Plan

Manager Name: Employee Name: Development Areas:

Employee Responsibilities Manager Responsibilities

Development Areas Employee Activities Success Measures Manager Activities Milestones Target Dates


Coaching Takes PlanningLearning and Development Roundtable

Section IV: Create Individual

Development Plans (IDPs)


Overview

Good Development Plans Positively Impact Employee Performance

Managers who are very effective in helping their employees create individual development plans (IDPs) have employees who outperform their peers by as much as 12%.1 Creating a development plan is not enough however; additional research shows that not having a development plan is better than having a bad one.2 This guide is designed to help you assist your direct reports in creating development plans that are focused, actionable, and achievable.

For quick reference on the components of a good development plan, see page 21, “Creating an IDP: Quick Tips.”

Development Plans Focus on Employee Strengths and Weaknesses

IDPs often focus on the skills and knowledge employees need to fulfi ll their current jobs as well as those they will need to perform at the next level. Goals must be achievable: expecting employee performance to quickly turn 180 degrees is not only unreasonable, it can also discourage the employee. Creating a plan for incremental improvement, on the other hand, makes goals attainable and increases the likelihood of employee buy-in.

If your organization does not have a standard development plan template, see the “Individual Development Plan” template on pages 22–23.

Both the Manager and Employee Create a Plan for Meeting Development Goals

IDPs should not consist only of a “laundry list” of training courses. Good development plans should include a mix of development opportunities: specifi c training courses, on-the-job experiences, stretch roles, and potential mentoring relationships. Plans require that managers assist employees in meeting these challenges, that employees fulfi ll agreed-upon timetables for completing these development opportunities, and that employees understand the standards for measuring results.

To help your employee craft a good development plan, see the “Development Plan Checklist” on pages 24–25 and “Creating Achievable Goals” on page 26.

Approximately 80% of the Action Steps in a Development Plan Should Be On-the-Job Experiences

Although most development plans usually rely on classroom-based or online-based training to help employees reach development goals, these solutions account for less than 20% of all activities in good development plans. Indeed, research indicates that 80% of the activities used to help employees reach their development goals should be “experiences”—their current job assignments, stretch roles, job rotations, or even external roles that build skills (e.g., serving as an offi cer in the PTA, joining Toastmasters, putting together a fundraiser for a local cause, etc.).3 By using the work your employees do to help them reach their development goals, you send the message that development and business objectives are intertwined and you help ensure that any lessons learned on the job are then applied to the job.

Use the “Experience Inventory” on page 27 to help brainstorm possible development opportunities to include in employee IDPs.

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Learning and Development Roundtable Coaching Takes PlanningSection IV: Create IDPs


Creating an IDP: Quick Tips

Not having a development plan is better than having a bad one.4

Ideally, an IDP is created with the input of both the manager and the employee.5

About 80% of the actions taken to achieve development goals are through on-the-job experiences, with no more than 20% classroom- or computer-based training.6

An IDP should concentrate on ways to leverage strengths as well as improve areas where employees are not as strong.7

Focus on developing no more than one or two areas where the employee needs to improve.8

Development goals must be achievable.

Include action steps that will assist the employee in achieving his or her development goals and include an implementation timetable.9

Clearly state how results will be measured.10


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Development Goal Skill Being Developed

Action Steps

SuccessMeasures

TargetCompletion Date

Date of NextIDP Pull-Up

Objective #1: 1.

2.

3.

Objective #2: 1.

2.

3.

Individual Development Plan—Instructions

The Roundtable has provided this template for managers at organizations that do not have a formal development planning process. If you are unsure if your organization uses development plans, we strongly recommend you check with your HR team to see if your organization has a preferred template.

While development plans are ideally initiated by the employee, we’ve included instructions to help you make sure the plan that’s presented to you is realistic and achievable.

Components of Individual Development Plan Template

What is the employee going to do? How will the employee do it? How will I know if the employee has achieved the goal?

Development GoalsInclude both strengths and development areas

Are tied to performance goals

Action StepsAre taken by the employee and by the manager (e.g., coaching)

Tie to your current job assignments and responsibilities (80%); less than 20% should be formal classroom or online training

Development GoalsSet the expectation for gradual, realistic growth

Are easily visible and therefore, measurable

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Individual Development Plan

I have read and discussed my IDP with my manager. I have read and discussed this IDP with my direct report.

Staff Member Signature: Manager Signature:


Staff Member Name: Manager Name:

DevelopmentObjective

Skill BeingDeveloped Action Steps Success

MeasuresTarget

Completion DateDate of NextIDP Pull-Up

Objective #1: 1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Objective #2: 1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Objective #3: 1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

Objective #4: (Optional) 1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.


Development Plan Checklist—Instructions

Development plans offer your employees the opportunity to identify the strengths and development areas that merit their attention and yours. Not all development plans are created equal, however. A good development plan focuses on the development of a few skills, balances the need to develop both strengths and development areas that are tied to your performance objectives, has concrete action steps, and sets gradual, realistic, and achievable success measures.

As you and your employees think about their development plans, remember the following:

1. Performance and Learning Are Linked to Each Other: Your employees can build the skills they need by focusing on the work experiences and assignments that are most closely tied to their performance objectives.

2. While the Skills May Change, the Strengths Employees Draw Upon Do Not: The strengths that have made an employee successful in the past do not go away. Although employees may need to address development weaknesses, do not forget to continue to build their strengths.

3. Employee Success Depends on the People Asked to Help Them: By sharing their development goals with you, their peers, a mentor, or their direct reports, your employees can check in at various points to make sure that they are on track.

The checklist on the following page is designed to assist employees as they build their development plans. It ensures your employees are creating plans that build skills they need to improve their current performance and reach their career goals. More importantly, it builds in accountability to make sure lessons learned are not lessons forgotten.

Distribute the “Development Plan Checklist” to employees as they begin to craft their IDPs.



Development Plan Checklist

A good development plan can position you to build both the skills you need to improve your performance in the short term and the skills you will need to achieve your long-term career goals. As you think about creating a development plan, remember three things:

1. Performance and Learning Are Linked to Each Other: You can build the skills you need by focusing on the work experiences and assignments that are most closely tied to your performance objectives.

2. While the Skills May Change, the Strengths You Draw Upon Do Not: The strengths that have made you successful in the past do not go away. Although you may need to address development weaknesses, do not forget to build your strengths.

3. Your Success Depends on the People You Ask to Help You: By sharing your development goals with your manager, peers, mentor, or direct reports, you can check in at various points to make sure that you are on track.

Once you have completed a draft of your plan, use the checklist below to ensure that your development plan focuses on the right goals, provides concrete action steps, and allows you to measure your progress.


Development Plan Checklist11

Category Step Completed

Development Goals

1. Have I shared the plan with my manager and incorporated his or her feedback?

2. Do I focus on skills I’ll need to successfully do my job now and those I’ll need to achieve my career goals?

3. Do I focus on continuing to build my strengths at least as much as I focus on closing any gaps?

4. Does this development plan push me to the edge of my “comfort zone”?

Action Steps

5. Have I identifi ed a clear action plan that will help me reach my development goals?

6. Have I made sure that at least 80% of my action steps are tied to my day-to-day job responsibilities and project assignments and fewer than 20% are training programs?

Success Measures

7. Have I shared by development goals with others so I can measure my progress along the way?

8. Have I created realistic and achievable metrics to measure my progress?

9. Have I tied the metrics to realistic deadlines to assess my progress?

10. Have I created milestones to ensure I’m on track?


Creating Achievable Goals

It is important to build a realistic timeline into your employees’ development plans that enable them (and you) to track progress toward their goals. Although this seems easy in theory, some employees and managers struggle to identify milestones that help gauge progress. The graphic below provides managers and employees with a framework for establishing milestones within the plan.

Development plans are fl exible: Revise plans if it becomes evident that the milestones or timelines are too aggressive. Remember the goal is to stretch employees, not break them.!

Development Goal Skill Being Developed

Action Steps

SuccessMeasures

TargetCompletion

Date

Date of NextIDP Pull-Up

Objective #1:Be able to present project fi ndings to the function’s senior leadership team

Communication • Network with speech “gurus” to learn presentation tips

• Work with team to develop script highlighting project fi ndings

1. Present half of scripted speech to peers; let co-presenter handle Q&A session

2. Present fully scripted speech to peers; handle Q&A

3. Present speech in its entirety to function’s senior leadership team

3 months from now

9 months from now

1 year from now

6 months from now

Consider the Employee’s Current and Desired Skill Level When Creating Milestones

Take stock of your employee’s current abilities as you begin to identify milestones. Ask yourself the following questions:

What steps would I expect someone to take to reach this development goal?

What activities would indicate growth in this skill area?

Think About the Time It Takes to Reach Each Step

Each milestone builds on its predecessor. As you identify target completion dates, consider the following:

How long will it take someone to demonstrate competence at this activity?

Is this timeline challenging yet achievable?


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Experience Inventory

The list of development experiences below is by no means exhaustive but is designed to serve as inspiration when considering opportunities to help your employees achieve their development goals.

People Management• Fill in for a manager on vacation.• Mentor or onboard a new employee.• Coach a team.• Serve as a tutor.• Keep a leadership journal.• Interview a potential team member.

Communication• Present at a practitioner conference.• Join Toastmasters.• Create e-mail templates for common customer

communication.• Create a script for a presentation.• Present the team’s work during a meeting.• Engage in structured networking.

Project/Process Management• Manage a particular project from start to fi nish.• Evaluate and refi ne a process.• Conceive, plan, recruit for, and implement a volunteer

project.• Run the marketing campaign for an event.• Run a fundraiser for a community group.• Develop a new product or service.

Strategic Vision• Participate in an enterprise-wide task force.• “Shadow” a leader in a different function.• Tour other sites within the organization.• Do a rotation in a foreign country.• Serve as a liaison between two or more functions.• Visit with a customer for a week to better understand

needs and challenges.• Switch from corporate to the line or vice versa.

Business Acumen• Help launch a new business, initiative, or program.• Help turn around a struggling project or business.• Conduct a cost-benefi t analysis.• Serve as a treasurer for a community group.• Build a business case for additional resources.• Conduct a competitor analysis.• Create a budget.• Assume P&L responsibility.

Job-Specifi c Skills• Join an industry association.• Teach a process or course to the team or others.• Run a team meeting or briefi ng session.• Work on a challenging project or initiative.• Represent the team at a cross-functional meeting.• Make a temporary lateral move to another part of the

organization.• Present the impact of a project or initiative developed

by your team to a different business unit.

Examples of Development Experiences

Coaching Takes PlanningSection IV: Create IDPs


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Note to Members

This project was researched and written to fulfi ll the research requests of several members of the Corporate Executive Board and as a result may not satisfy the information needs of all member companies. The Corporate Executive Board encourages members who have additional questions about this topic to contact the Board staff for further discussion. Descriptions or viewpoints contained herein regarding organizations profi led in this report do not necessarily refl ect the policies or viewpoints of those organizations.

Confi dentiality of Findings

This document has been prepared by the Corporate Executive Board for the exclusive use of its members. It contains valuable proprietary information belonging to the Corporate Executive Board and each member should make it available only to those employees who require such access in order to learn from the material provided herein and who undertake not to disclose it to third parties. In the event that you are unwilling to assume this confi dentiality obligation, please return this document and all copies in your possession promptly to the Corporate Executive Board.

Legal Caveat

The Learning and Development Roundtable has worked to ensure the accuracy of the information it provides to its members. This report relies upon data obtained from many sources, however, and the Learning and Development Roundtable cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information or its analysis in all cases. Furthermore, the Learning and Development Roundtable is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. Its reports should not be construed as professional advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. Members requiring such services are advised to consult an appropriate professional. Neither the Corporate Executive Board nor its programs are responsible for any claims or losses that may arise from a) any errors or omissions in their reports, whether caused by the Learning and Development Roundtable or its sources, or b) reliance upon any recommendation made by the Learning and Development Roundtable.

1 Learning and Development Roundtable, Engaging Managers as Agents of Employee Development, Washington, DC: Corporate Executive Board (2003).

2 Corporate Leadership Council, Realizing the Full Potential of Rising Talent: Executive Summary, Washington, DC: Corporate Executive Board (2005).

3 Learning and Development Roundtable, Building Learning Strategies Beyond the Classroom, Washington, D.C. : Corporate Executive Board (2002).

4 Corporate Leadership Council.

5 Fontyn, Yvonne, “Performance Appraisals Can Be a Catalyst for Growth,” All Africa (19 September 2002). (Obtained via Factiva)

6 Rothwell, William and Rich Wellins, “Mapping Your Future: Putting New Competencies to Work for You,” T&D (1 May 2004). (Obtained via Factiva)

7 Learning and Development Roundtable, Building Learning Strategies Beyond the Classroom.

8 Stringer, Robert A. and Randall S. Cheloha, “The Power of a Development Plan,” Human Resource Planning (1 January 2003). (Obtained via Factiva)

9 Stringer and Cheloha.

10 Fontyn, Yvonne, “Performance Appraisals Can Be a Catalyst for Growth;” Plawsky, Susan, “How to Give Performance Reviews that Really Boost Performance,” Dahlstrom & Company, Inc., http://www.dahlstromandcompany.com (2 August 2004).

11 The Boeing Leadership Center, “Development Plans That Aren’t a Waste of Time,” Boeing Management Company (2004).

coaching takes planning - ucsf human resources

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