Integrating technical skills and soft skills
Creating a personal development plan for employees requires you to consider each team member’s goals and readiness for development. To maximize the value of development plans for your company, you might want to address both soft skills and technical skills.
Technical skills are the skills needed to perform specific duties, while soft skills are transferable skills used in every job. For example, coding with Python is a technical skill because it’s used to complete coding tasks. Interpersonal communication is a soft skill because it’s applicable to every role and every industry.
Addressing skill gaps
It’s also helpful to identify skill gaps in your organization. A skill gap is a difference between the skills your employees have and the skills your company needs. If you want to use machine learning to make better decisions but existing employees aren’t trained in artificial intelligence (AI), you have a skill gap to address.
Creating an employee development plan based on skill gaps or desired performance makes it easier to set clear goals. For example, a new graduate wishing to become a Sales Manager might have the following steps in their professional development plan:
- Land an internship in a sales department.
- Work on verbal and written communication skills.
- Receive various sales certifications.
- Become a Junior Salesperson.
- Increase sales revenue each year.
- Receive management certifications.
- Apply for Sales Manager positions.
These are employee development plan examples that can be adapted for different career paths and employee growth plans.
Benefits of professional development plans
Employee development planning benefits both the employee and your organization because it sets clear expectations for each team member. Development programs can help you create a strong foundation. Beyond that, employee development plans are also useful tools for expanding and growing your business. With support from your management team, employees can increase their productivity.
For example, if team members don’t have critical skills, employees may experience delays due to time spent reading instruction manuals, troubleshooting equipment or asking other team members for assistance. When you give employees opportunities to learn new skills, they can spend more time being productive.
How to create an employee development plan
The components of an effective development plan include:
- Challenge: Pushes employees to improve their skills, refine their knowledge, gain confidence in their roles and develop essential leadership skills
- Support: Identifies sources of support, such as financial assistance for classes, mentoring agreements, training plans, leadership development and structured development programs to help employees achieve their goals
- Evaluation: Establishes clear, measurable indicators of progress and success through deadlines, checkpoints and deliverables
Employee development complements your existing training and talent development efforts, which can help support your company’s growth.
1. Consider your business goals
First, consider what skills each employee needs to help you meet your business goals while also considering a realistic timeline for developing these skills. It’s helpful to list each individual’s current strengths so you have an idea of which skills you can build upon.
Consider an employee’s future career when creating a development plan. A relevant plan is more motivating than a plan that has little connection to the employee’s personal and professional ambitions.
2. Consider your employee’s personal and professional goals
The best employee development plans are collaborative. Employees and managers should work together to identify skill gaps and create goals to address them. It’s also helpful to seek input from your HR team. A Talent Acquisition Specialist or an HR Specialist can offer insight into which skills are likely to have the biggest impact on your company.
Consider meeting with employees individually to learn more about their interests and aspirations. If possible, schedule meetings at least a few days in advance to give team members plenty of time to prepare. You might also want to have team members send you a list of their current skills and goals. Having this information ahead of time can make it easier for you to plan each discussion.
During each meeting, encourage the employee to take ownership of their career development by identifying areas for improvement and setting actionable steps. As you listen to the employee’s answers, think about how their goals might align with your company’s current and future needs.
3. Create a list of important resources
After you’ve identified your company’s needs and employees’ professional interests, it’s helpful to create a list of resources to help team members reach their personal and professional goals. For example, you might start a new training program if you have multiple employees who want to learn a new skill.
Coaching and mentorship programs can also be useful in cross-training and introducing employees to new departments within the business. These programs allow team members to develop new skills or identify new professional interests.
Other ways to encourage professional development include giving employees special projects related to their desired skills and encouraging them to volunteer in their communities. You can even offer paid days off for employees to participate in community service projects.
Compiling a database of educational videos, podcasts, webinars and classes can also help team members meet their goals. To inspire your own initiatives, consider reviewing employee development examples that showcase how other organizations have used this process to foster growth, retention and engagement.
4. Develop a clear, descriptive action plan
Once you determine your goals, identify employees’ interests and create appropriate resources, you can organize the information into a clear, descriptive plan. For each goal, outline actionable steps and define desired outcomes. Include a timeline for each expectation and discuss it with each employee so everyone knows about action items and deadlines.
Submit the plan to HR, the employee’s manager and other team members for review and approval. Consider tracking the employee’s progress to ensure the plan remains relevant to their interests and aligned with your company’s goals.
Implementing an employee development plan
Once you put an employee development plan into action, you might want to schedule regular check-ins between the employee and their manager. These check-ins give managers a chance to offer constructive feedback, celebrate the employee’s achievements and adjust the plan to account for changing business needs.
For example, if an employee’s development plan indicates they should learn a specific coding language, you may need to update that goal to reflect technological changes within your organization.
Evaluating an employee development plan
The evaluation process generally involves assessing the employee’s progress toward their goals and measuring the plan’s impact on job performance. Key performance indicators (KPIs), such as employee satisfaction scores and retention rates, can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of the development plan.
Gathering feedback through surveys, focus groups or one-on-one discussions can help identify strengths and areas for improvement. Organizations can continuously evaluate and refine employee development initiatives to align their development plans with business objectives and help create a culture of continuous improvement.
Common challenges in employee development
Organizations often encounter challenges when designing and implementing employee development plans. Skills gaps are a common issue when trying to ensure training programs are useful for individual employees. It can also be difficult to measure the return on investment (ROI) of employee development initiatives and secure the necessary budget and resources for development programs.
Balancing employees’ needs and aspirations with the organization’s goals can be challenging. You also want to consider maintaining employee motivation, providing opportunities for continuous learning and fostering a culture that values development initiatives. By addressing these concerns, organizations can create effective employee development plans that support individual and organizational growth.
The strategic value of employee development plans
Employee development plans have several benefits for team members, but they also have strategic value for your organization. The planning process identifies several career-related goals, so you can use employee development plans to train your workforce to meet changing business needs.
For example, if your company is implementing AI into its accounting procedures, you might have employees in the accounting department set at least one AI-related goal. When you link the goals in an employee development plan with your overall business strategy, it’s easier to adapt to changes in the competitive environment.
Employee development plans can also support your company’s succession planning efforts. Succession planning involves identifying capable employees and preparing them to fill key roles in the future. For instance, if the Director of Marketing is key to your company’s success, you can create a succession plan to ensure you have someone ready to fill the role when your current Director of Marketing retires.
If you need to update your succession planning strategy, consider using employee development plans to guide your efforts. Once you identify a key role, you can collaborate with team members to set goals related to learning the required skills.
Leadership support for employee development
Leadership support is crucial for successful employee development initiatives. Leaders set the tone for a culture of continuous learning by prioritizing employee development, allocating resources and championing development initiatives. When leaders actively communicate the value of professional growth and participate in their development, they inspire employees to pursue their own career goals.
Effective leaders empower employees to take ownership of their development plans, provide regular feedback and recognize achievements along the way. By encouraging learning and growth, leaders can boost job satisfaction, increase employee engagement and drive business success. Leadership commitment to employee development ensures that development efforts align with the organization’s long-term goals.
Career development plan examples
Consider using these career development plan examples to launch a formal development program within your organization.
Example #1
Short-term goals: Develop leadership abilities, gain experience and build relationships
Long-term goal: Become a Finance Manager
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Example #2
Short-term goal: Increase knowledge of real estate practices, gain experience in the current Real Estate Assistant position and build relationships
Long-term goal: Become a licensed Real Estate Agent
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Employee Development Plan Templates for PDF & Word
Use these employee development plan templates to align employees and define clear goals.
*Indeed provides these examples as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your HR or legal adviser, and none of these documents reflect current labor or employment regulations.
