Five Steps to Writing an Employee Development Plan

Leigh Anthony reports:

"An employee development plan is a written plan that addresses areas of improvement for an employee. The plan is generally drafted together with the manager and the employee. Goals that are important to the employee as well as the small business are identified along with how the employee will accomplish the goals. The manager can also deliver feedback on the resources that will be available to aid the employee in reaching the goals...Determine the employee's goals. Working as a team, goals will be identified for the employee to work towards. In some employee development plans, the goals will be focused on areas of weakness that need improvement. In others, the development plan will be based on grooming the employee for a promotion or position of leadership within the small business. Employee development plans may also be a part of continuity planning for the business...Set strategies for goals. For every goal that is identified, determine strategies that will be used to meet those goals...Develop an action plan for the goals and strategies. The action plan takes the strategies a step further by specifically identifying what will be done and when it will be done as well as any costs associated with the plan. For the strategy of taking classes on public speaking, the action plan will identify the class, when it will be held and the costs associated with the class. It will give the exact steps needed for the employee to accomplish the goal...Assign a timeline in which to reach the goals and complete the items outlined in the action plan. To improve public speaking, a timeline of six months may be instituted. This gives both the employee and the manager an idea of what to expect and by when the goal should be accomplished. It also helps to guide the action plan as it helps to determine what can be done within that timeline...Evaluate the employee's progress and adjust the plan. The final part of the plan is how the progress for achieving the stated goals will be evaluated. With the goal of public speaking, the employee could be evaluated by a group of peers during a presentation before the development plan is implemented and at the end of the time period. The evaluation scores will serve to prove if the employee has met his goals. If progress is not satisfactory, the goals, strategy and action plan can be adjusted to ensure success...The employee development plan should be a joint effort between the employee and the manager."