As a manager, your role in helping develop the potential and growth of your team members lies in your ability to have coaching conversations with them, fueled by curiosity and powerful questions, and aimed at encouraging them to reflect on both areas of strength as well as areas for desired growth.
In their book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, authors Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni state, “Career development is among the most frequently forgotten tools for driving business results”. Yet it is completely within a manager’s sphere of influence! And, quality career development boils down to having regular conversations with your team members. From these conversations, you can more effectively support each team member in building a career development plan that is regularly reviewed and tracked in support of their key career goals.
Why It Matters
People like to do a good job and to make an impact, and they need to see a vision for their future. A solid career development plan helps do just that and is crucial to team member engagement and success.
- Helping a team member to see their skills and strengths builds their confidence and helps them understand how to have the greatest impact at work.
- Knowing what is expected of them provides structure to their role and sets you both up for success.
- Understanding gaps identifies areas of potential skill development and improvement.
How It’s Done
Career agility is the name of the game. The traditional “career ladder” is often no longer relevant due to factors including organization restructuring, fewer leadership roles, and people moving more frequently to different jobs or companies. Onward and upward has been replaced by forward and toward.
Develop a cadence and a process for career development planning
- Leverage shorter and more frequent career development conversations which fit better in today’s business cadence. For example, scheduling quarterly career development conversations, with follow-ups and updates in 1-on-1’s.
Your team members own their career development plan
- You might start this plan together, or start individually each with your own blank copy and then set up a one-on-one where you can both compare and share your ideas and thoughts.
- However, once it’s developed, the team member owns the plan – they should feel that the plan came from them with your input and support.
- Refer to the sample Career Development Plan on the last page, which you can use with your team members.
Use your coaching skills in the career development conversations
- Your team member does 80% of the talking. Use your 20% to ask open ended questions (e.g. “what” questions), to share your experiences and knowledge of the organization, etc.
- Practice Level 2 listening – listen with curiosity. Curiosity is not just informative; it’s also transformative. It provokes reflection, insights, ideas, and actions.
Focus on strengths and filling gaps
- Generously identify and praise your team members’ strengths.
- Validate team members’ performance and aspirations – what skills, talents, and knowledge do they presently have that could be transferrable and applied towards their career goals?
- When identifying and coaching to gaps, use a scale of 1-10; ask where they’d rate themselves now, and what steps can they take to reach 10?
Tips for Success
Here are some powerful questions you can ask with team members when you are filling out the career development plan, or during any career development conversation.
- How do you define career success for yourself? How does this align with related career paths in your organization?
- What are your top goals for growth and improvement?
- What are your strengths and how could you be leveraging them even more?
- What gaps might currently exist? What steps could you take to fill them?
- How can I support you in achieving your goals?
PRACTICE
Refer to this sample Career Development Plan and use it with your team members.
Sample Career Development Plan
Employee's aspirations & skills they want to develop:
I would like to become a manager and lead a team
I would like to learn how to give feedback and have difficult conversations
I would like to learn how to give honest feedback and have difficult conversations
I would like to receive more coaching and have a manager mentor
Strengths
Expert in my field
Technically skilled team lead
Organized and meets deadlines
Well-respected by directs and peers
Team player
Data focused
Skills to develop | Current skill rating 1-10
Take initiative more and "show off" my skills. (Rate 1-10)
Up-level my leadership skills. (Rate 1-10)
Improve interactions with coworkers - be more direct when tension/conflict arises. (Rate 1-10)
Listen to understand rather than listen to respond. (Rate 1-10)
Increase my self-awareness and emotional intelligence. (Rate 1-10)
How to develop these skills? What are the steps? What is the timeframe?
Take more risks! Be ready, willing and able to do more. [Start now.]
Make more "deposits" into the relationship bank with coworkers - particularly with those I struggle to connect with. [Start now.]
Listen more, talk less. [Start now.]
Network within the organization to enlist the support of a seasoned mentor who is in a manager's role. [By next month.]
Self-enroll in coaching through our HR portal. [ASAP]
Ask a team member to detail the steps/actions for each skill with timeframes.
Set a date for the follow up:
[Date for follow up here.]
RESOURCES
Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, a book by Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni
