Here’s a three-step process for creating an individual employee development plan.
1. Get Clarity on Your Business Goals
Get clear on the long-term business goals of your company. Some examples of long-term business goals:
- A sustainable lifestyle business: Some entrepreneurs want to build a business that allows them and their employees to make a living doing something they enjoy while providing a great work-life balance.
- A lucrative exit: Other entrepreneurs want to build a business that they could sell.
- Going public: Some want to eventually list the company with an initial public offering (IPO).
What’s important is deciding what you want. Then, you can start thinking about what you will need to reach that goal.
For example, suppose all you want is a sustainable lifestyle business. In that case, consider providing your employees with opportunities for professional development within their current roles. Meanwhile, growth will require hiring more managers, so if that’s what you are after, you should identify employees interested in the managerial track and support them in developing relevant skills.
Finally, consider your immediate priorities. If there’s an upcoming launch, you might want to talk to your marketing person to see if you can do anything to support them. Something as simple as buying them a reputable online course on Facebook Ads can help make that launch a success.
2. Discuss the Employee’s Career Goals With Them
Avoid making assumptions about your employees’ goals. Talk to them and find out how they envision their careers.
Entrepreneurs often assume that everyone wants to progress toward leadership roles. But plenty of people have no interest in that and want to do great work in their current position instead of taking on managerial duties.
It’s also important to consider your employee’s career ambitions in the context of their lives. For example, someone might love to take on a leadership role one day, but if they have a baby on the way, now may not be the right time for that. People react differently to the same situations, so you shouldn’t make assumptions here.
To continue with the baby-on-the-way example, one person might want to slow down to spend more time with their family, while another might go into career overdrive out of the desire to provide a better life. Again, communicate with your employees to find out what they want.
Also, someone just starting their career may still need to learn what they want and that’s OK. You can help them discover that by providing opportunities to try different things. Once they get more clarity, you can create an employee development plan that supports their newfound ambitions.
3. Work Together With Your Employees to Create an Individual Employee Development Plan
Once you know your employees’ goals, work together to create individual employee development plans. There’s a possibility that the employee knows what they need better than you do.
For example, if you’re a tech startup founder but not a technical person, you can probably safely assume that software engineers know better what they need to improve on and the best way to go about it. Of course, if you’re not just a founder but also a chief technology officer (CTO), you might be able to provide valuable guidance to software engineers that are less experienced than you.
The same applies to all other roles: marketers, writers, social media managers―you name it. Be open-minded and listen to your employees. They probably already know how to get better at what they do and need you to provide support. Also, when switching career tracks, it makes sense to ask people already working in a similar role to mentor that employee.
