1. Identify who should be responsible for each employee’s personal development plan (PDP) — typically, the employee’s line manager.

2. Create a learning culture which encourages everyone to develop; consider using external mentors for the most senior managers.

3. Make sure the employee understands the company’s objectives and how he or she contributes.

4. Develop a standard set of questions to use as the basis of a discussion about the employee’s objectives, strengths and development needs.

5. Encourage the employee to identify personal development objectives - even if these are not directly related to the job.

6. Assess how employees’ objectives match your requirements; be prepared to negotiate a mix of objectives to suit both the employee and you.

7. Consider whether challenging, long-term objectives or more immediate needs suit the employee best, and discuss preferred learning methods.

8. Agree up to three specific, realistic and measurable key objectives and deadlines; identify priorities and any interim objectives.

9. Identify how learning in the workplace can contribute: for example, providing new tasks and responsibilities, together with on-the-job guidance.

10. Identify any role for formal training, particularly if several employees will be able to benefit or if special expertise is needed.

11. Identify opportunities for self-directed development, together with support and encouragement from the manager.

12. Ask the employee to assess progress against the objectives, and discuss problems, typically every three months; provide positive feedback.

13. Agree revised objectives and new development opportunities.

14. Measure how cost-effectively PDPs contribute to achieving business goals; identify other factors preventing success (eg poor systems).

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Do's & Don'ts

Do:

Use PDPs for every employee.

Encourage the employee to identify personal objectives and needs.

Negotiate objectives which suit you both.

Focus on a small number of priorities and establish clear objectives.

Regularly review progress.

Provide support and encouragement.

Don’t:

Impose objectives.

Assume that one size fits all.

Limit development to isolated training exercises.

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