The Career Development Plan - A Quick Guide

12/01/2008
The Career Development Plan - A Quick Guide for

Managers and Supervisors
By Jose Adolfo Trueba
A Career Development Plan is a written list of the short and long-term goals that
employees have pertaining to their current and future jobs, and a planned sequence
of formal and informal experiences to assist the employees in achieving their goals.
These goals should be linked to each person's strengths and potential.
Career Development Plans are usually optional. But they should be recommended to
all employees, so that their short-term growth and development objectives are
aligned and supported by their managers or supervisors and their long-term career
expectations are realistic.
Purpose of a Career Development Plan
Ultimately, the purpose of a Career Development Plan is to assist employees in

achieving their goals. In doing so, an organization also increases the likelihood of
retaining employees, because employees recognize that managers have helped
employees achieve their career goals within the organization, rather than employees
believing they need to leave to pursue these goals somewhere else.
The Career Development Plan also helps employees set realistic expectations of
career growth by suggesting time frames for certain milestones to happen (like
promotions) and identifying areas that employees need to develop before becoming
eligible for their next career milestone. Note, too, that Career Development Plans are
just plans; they do not represent career commitments to the employee nor the
Manager or Supervisor.
Format of a Career Development Plan
As a manager or supervisor, encourage the use of an Individual Career

Development Plan (ICDP) format for all of your employees. Once you have
explained the value of the ICDP, you can emphasize that employees need to take
responsibility for creating this form for themselves and provide the following
information:
 Short-term career goals/objectives (1-5 years),

 Long-term career goals/objectives (+5 years)
 Development experiences in the short term:
 Summary statement
 Education and training
 Job assignments
 Developmental activities
Process for Supporting Your Employee's Career Development Plan

Here are some steps for supporting an effective development plan for your
employees. Discussions and plans about development should focus on two
dimensions: specific technical and functional expertise and overall demonstration, by
the employee, of the organization's culture, philosophy and values.
1. Meet individually with your employees to identify their long-term career

interests. It should be based on their previous performance review, their
objectives for the current performance period, and feedback provided to you
throughout the year. Specifically, ask the employee to state goals for the short
term (1-5 years) and long-term (+5 years). Also ask the employee about his or
her current job: whether she or he is interested in receiving any special types
of assignments, participating in any training courses, or contributing in new
ways to the department. Record the information.
2. After the meeting, identify resources within your organization that can help
the employee achieve his or her goals. Also consider helpful resources
outside of the organization.
o Formal training within the organization
o Mentoring
o Local assignments
o Books, manuals, other print and electronic media
o External education (e.g. university courses)
Discuss with the employee any resources that may help implement the
plan and meet defined goals. Resources may include other people
who could monitor progress and/or provide ongoing feedback;
customers; other supervisors' feedback; and financial support to attend
training or educational courses.
3. Prepare the plan. A development plan should be used throughout the year to
note the employee's completed activities and follow-up activities. In addition,
add his/her development goals to the overall objective-setting plan for the
year.
4. Meet in-person with the employee to review the proposed plan, and based on
feedback, revise it, adjust it and confirm alignment by providing your
signature and obtaining the employee's signature. If appropriate, file the ICDP
form in the employee's personnel file. Make certain you keep a copy of the
Plan and also make certain your employee keeps a copy. This will help focus
your future meetings with each employee.
5. At the mid-year review and year-end performance review, meet with the
employee to assess progress against the plan, changes in career goals (if
appropriate), and revise the plan to adjust it, if necessary.
The Career Development Plan, as described here, can be a very useful tool for
career development practitioners working inside organizations. Career professionals
can offer it to managers as a way to encourage the development of those they
supervise. Used appropriately, it can help the manager focus on supporting
employees in gaining new skills, while adding value to their organizations. It also
helps employees stay on track and move forward in their careers.
José Adolfo Trueba (trueba@avaya.com) has more than 17 years of experience in

the design and implementation of Career Development plans. As part of his
Professional background, he worked for IBM as a member of the "IBM Worldwide
Professions Counsel" being responsible for Latin America region. This Counsel was
responsible for the design of the IBM Worldwide Career Development Portfolio for all
the IBM employees. He currently works in Mexico for Avaya Communication being
responsible for Career Development strategies not only for Mexico, but also for
CaLA (Caribbean and Latin America) region in Avaya Global Services Division.

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12/01/2008

The Career Development Plan - A Quick Guide for

Purpose of a Career Development Plan

Ultimately, the purpose of a Career Development Plan is to assist employees in

Format of a Career Development Plan

As a manager or supervisor, encourage the use of an Individual Career

 Short-term career goals/objectives (1-5 years),

Process for Supporting Your Employee's Career Development Plan

1. Meet individually with your employees to identify their long-term career

José Adolfo Trueba (trueba@avaya.com) has more than 17 years of experience in

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