A Tool to Overcome Your Obstacles to Effective Development Planning

If you want to see where staff dream of traveling in the world, a good place to start is by looking at the list of training in their development plan. Development Plans are intended to list the professional development needs of the staff so if those needs are met they may perform their best.  However, in the past I have been guilty of approving my direct report's Development Plans that are more of a training wish list that may or may not align with their current role (the top three:  "Learn English", "Learn Excel" and "Learn Project Management"). 

This last year our team took Development Planning more seriously, listing the common training everyone put in their Development plan in a "master plan" and actively found opportunities for staff to gain skills in those areas.  At the end of the year staff had completed more training, but how much impact did it have on the quality of their work, and were some of these five day workshops in Thailand worth the investment?

After some reflection I have determined common obstacles that impede the effectiveness of the development plan process:  

1. Lack of clarity in terms of skills needed

2. Need for more practical on the job training and less emphasis on workshops

3. Lack of accountability on part of the supervisor and staff

In this episode I introduce a modified version of what I am calling the "Accountable 70-20-10 Development Plan" (see below) and how you can use it to overcome these obstacles.  This tool will address the obstacles with Development Planning and will ensure your staff gain the skills they need to be more effective in their work, which means better service delivery to the community and a broader impact.

You can download your own 70-20-10 Plan here.

 

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