Coaching Takes Planning Laying the Groundwork for Successful Coaching Efforts

Transcription

1 Coaching Takes Planning Laying 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 first 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 fires ; 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. 1

2 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

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

4 Overview Coaching Takes Planning Section I: Identify the Skills Your Employees Need to Develop 1 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. 2 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 benefit 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. 3 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 identified, your coaching efforts will be wasted. In order to ensure your coaching efforts yield the maximum benefit, you should collaborate with your employees to ensure they will put effort into building skills that benefit the individual, team, and organization. 4 Long-Term Development Goals Should Reflect 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, influencing peers, and project management. Then you find 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 firm understanding of your employee s long-term career goals. To view this resource, turn to page 7. 4

5 Coaching Takes Planning Section I: Identify the Skills Your Employees Need to Develop 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 1 Identify the competencies or skills this employee needs to be successful, as identified by your organization, business unit, or function (you can find these in formal performance review criteria or in job descriptions). Performance Review Criteria ABC Company 2 List the three to five most critical skills or competencies the employee needs in his or her role. Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role 1. Communication Strength? Development Area? 2. People Management John Smith 3. Project Management 4. Analytical Thinking 5. Change Management 3 Identify whether or not the skill or competency is a strength or a development area. You can do so either by using standards defined 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 John Smith Most Critical Skills for This Role 1. Communication 2. People Management 3. Project Management 4. Analytical Thinking Strength? Development Area? 5. Change Management 5

6 Coaching Takes Planning Section I: Identify the Skills Your Employees Need to Develop 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.* Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development Area? Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development Area? Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development Area? Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development Area? Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development Area? Employee Name Most Critical Skills for This Role Strength? Development Area? * Managers should use the organization s per formance criteria and /or the employee s most recent per formance review to identify the skills needed to achieve per formance objectives and whether these skills are strengths or development areas. 6

7 Coaching Takes Planning Section I: Identify the Skills Your Employees Need to Develop 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 firm 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. Conversation Guide Questions to Ask Your Employee Employee Responses Questions About Your Current Goals 1 What is your favorite part of your current role? 2 What would you describe as your biggest strength? 3 What one skill would you like to develop to improve in your current role? Questions About Your Future Role(s) 1 Where do you see yourself in 1 to 3 years? 2 Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 3 If there is one task or project type you d like to do more frequently in your future roles, what would you select? 4 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 1 How can I best help you in your current role? 2 How can I best help you achieve your career goals? Are there other individuals you would like me to enlist to help 3 you achieve your career goals? (e.g., a colleague in a role you re interested in pursuing) 7

8 Coaching Takes Planning Section II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees 8

9 1 It s Hard to Coach Someone in an Area Where You re Weak Coaching Takes Planning Section II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees Overview 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 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. 3 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-satisfied micromanager 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 find alignment between your coaching strengths and your employees development areas. 4 Just Because You Shouldn t Coach It, Doesn t Mean You Should Ignore It Once you ve identified 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. 9

10 Coaching Takes Planning Section II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees 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. 1 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 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. Employee Development/ 1 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 Focus Your Coaching Efforts on Your Strengths The gray highlighted areas represent the skills where you are best equipped to serve as a coach 3 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? 10

11 Coaching Takes Planning Section 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. 11

12 Coaching Takes Planning Section 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. Employees Strengths and Development Areas (Areas Developed by Means Other Than Coaching) Areas You Will Coach (Areas That Are Strengths for You and That Your Employees Need to Develop) Your Coaching Strengths (Skills/Development Areas You Feel Comfortable Coaching) Leverage the Inventory of Employee Strengths and Development Areas (page 6) and the Career Planning Questionnaire (page 7). 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. 12

13 Coaching Takes Planning Section II: Use Your Greatest Strengths to Coach Your Employees 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. Employees Strengths and Development Areas (Areas Developed by Means Other Than Coaching) Areas You Will Coach (Areas That Are Strengths for You and That Your Employees Need to Develop) Your Coaching Strengths (Skills/Development Areas You Feel Comfortable Coaching) S Other Coaching and Mentoring Find a colleague to coach a strength or development area Job Experiences and Assignments Provide your employee with a job rotation Formal Training/Education (Less Than 20% of Development Activities) 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 13

14 Coaching Takes Planning Section III: Create a Coaching Plan 14

15 Overview 1 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. 2 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. 3 The Ultimate Measure of Coaching Success Is Your Employee s Improvement A coaching plan benefits 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 to create a coaching plan. 15

16 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 Difficulty Managing Projects Development Area: Project Management 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. Possible Approaches Encourage Efficient Use 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. 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. 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.! 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. 16

17 Coaching Takes Planning Section III: Create a Coaching Plan 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 specific 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. 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. 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 reflection, and ensure that lessons learned are applied. Coaching Plan Manager Name: Employee Name: Development Areas: Employee Responsibilities Manager Responsibilities Development Areas Employee Activities Success Measures Manager Activities Milestones Target Dates Closing (Specifically, 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 first month until goals reached 2. After each sales visit Success Is Measured by Employee Improvement While 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. 17

18 Coaching Takes Planning Section III: Create a Coaching Plan Coaching Plan The table below is designed to ensure your coaching efforts are aligned with your employee s development areas. Coaching Plan Manager Name: Employee Name: Development Areas: Employee Responsibilities Manager Responsibilities Development Areas Employee Activities Success Measures Manager Activities Milestones Target Dates 18

19 Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) 19

20 Overview Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 1 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. 2 Development Plans Focus on Employee Strengths and Weaknesses IDPs often focus on the skills and knowledge employees need to fulfill 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 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: specific training courses, on-the-job experiences, stretch roles, and potential mentoring relationships. Plans require that managers assist employees in meeting these challenges, that employees fulfill 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 and Creating Achievable Goals on page 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 officer 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. 20

21 Creating an IDP: Quick Tips Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 1 Not having a development plan is better than having a bad one. 4 2 Ideally, an IDP is created with the input of both the manager and the employee. 5 3 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 4 An IDP should concentrate on ways to leverage strengths as well as improve areas where employees are not as strong. 7 5 Focus on developing no more than one or two areas where the employee needs to improve. 8 6 Development goals must be achievable. 7 Include action steps that will assist the employee in achieving his or her development goals and include an implementation timetable. 9 8 Clearly state how results will be measured

22 Individual Development Plan Instructions Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 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 Goal Skill Being Developed Action Steps Success Measures Target Completion Date Date of Next IDP Pull-Up Objective #1: Objective #2: Development Goals 2 Action Steps 3 Include both strengths and development areas Are tied to performance goals Are 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 Goals Set the expectation for gradual, realistic growth Are easily visible and therefore, measurable 22

23 Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs Individual Development Plan Staff Member Name: Manager Name: Development Objective Skill Being Developed Action Steps Success Measures Target Completion Date Date of Next IDP Pull-Up Objective #1: Objective #2: Objective #3: Objective #4: (Optional) I have read and discussed my IDP with my manager. Staff Member Signature: I have read and discussed this IDP with my direct report. Manager Signature: 23

24 Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 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. 24

25 Development Plan Checklist Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 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 Checklist 11 Category Step Completed 1. Have I shared the plan with my manager and incorporated his or her feedback? Development Goals 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 identified 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? 7. Have I shared by development goals with others so I can measure my progress along the way? Success Measures 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? 25

26 Creating Achievable Goals Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 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 Goal Objective #1: Be able to present project findings to the function s senior leadership team Skill Being Developed Communication Action Steps Network with speech gurus to learn presentation tips Work with team to develop script highlighting project findings Success Measures 1. Present half of scripted speech to peers; let copresenter handle Q&A session 2. Present fully scripted speech to peers; handle Q&A Target Completion Date 3 months from now 9 months from now Date of Next IDP Pull-Up 6 months from now 3. Present speech in its entirety to function s senior leadership team 1 year 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: 1 What steps would I expect someone to take to reach this development goal? 2 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: 1 How long will it take someone to demonstrate competence at this activity? 2 Is this timeline challenging yet achievable?! Development plans are flexible: Revise plans if it becomes evident that the milestones or timelines are too aggressive. Remember the goal is to stretch employees, not break them. 26

27 Experience Inventory Coaching Takes Planning Section IV: Create IDPs 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. Examples of Development Experiences 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. 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. Communication Present at a practitioner conference. Join Toastmasters. Create templates for common customer communication. Create a script for a presentation. Present the team s work during a meeting. Engage in structured networking. Business Acumen Help launch a new business, initiative, or program. Help turn around a struggling project or business. Conduct a cost-benefit 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. Project/Process Management Manage a particular project from start to finish. Evaluate and refine 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. Job-Specific Skills Join an industry association. Teach a process or course to the team or others. Run a team meeting or briefing 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. 27

28 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, Per formance Appraisals Can Be a Catalyst for Grow th, 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, Rober t A. and Randall S. Cheloha, The Power of a Development Plan, Human Resource Planning (1 Januar y 2003). (Obtained via Factiva) 9 Stringer and Cheloha. 10 Fontyn, Yvonne, Per formance Appraisals Can Be a Catalyst for Grow th; Plawsky, Susan, How to Give Per formance Reviews that Really Boost Per formance, Dahlstrom & Company, Inc., http: // (2 August 2004). 11 The Boeing Leadership Center, Development Plans That Aren t a Waste of Time, Boeing Management Company (2004). Note to Members This project was researched and written to fulfill the research requests of several members of the Corporate Executive Board and as a result may not satisf y 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 profiled in this report do not necessarily reflect the policies or viewpoints of those organizations. Confidentiality 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 confidentiality obligation, please return this document and all copies in your possession promptly to the Corporate Executive Board. Legal Caveat The HR Executive Forum 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 HR Executive Forum cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information or its analysis in all cases. Furthermore, the HR Executive Forum 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 HR Executive Forum or its sources, or b) reliance upon any recommendation made by the HR Executive Forum. HR Executive Forum Washington, D.C. Chicago San Francisco London New Delhi Sydney w w w. H R E x e c u t i v e F o r u m. c o m