toolkit · 2019-07-23 · once you have created an initial draft of your idp, the covering the...

Toolkit: Individual Development Plan Guide and Framework

The individual development plan

What this resource is about

An individual development plan or IDP is:

a clear statement of your career development goals

an individually-tailored action plan for developing specific competencies (and any knowledge and skills) that will improve your performance in your

present position or will prepare you for new responsibilities

a written plan for scheduling and managing your development

a tool for your manager to use to estimate the resources needed for employee development training

an agreement between you and your manager to meet your own and the organisation’s goals.

Who is responsible for developing your IDP?

The foundation work for articulating your aspirations and figuring out how to get there starts with you. However, while your IDP gives you control over your

personal development, you can only develop a functioning IDP in collaboration with your manager. Your manager is responsible for providing all direct

reports with access and exposure to appropriate development opportunities and usually must approve individual activities on the IDP.

For individuals

Understand your own role in your career development.

Find appropriate resources to help you create an IDP that works for you.

Get some tips for the kinds of conversations you should be having with your manager.

See what helps to make an IDP successful.

For managers

Understand your role in helping your people create their IDPs.

Provide your people with templates to get them started.

Clarify the aspirations of the people in your succession pipeline and how you might best invest in their development.

Get some tips for the kinds of conversations you should be having with your people.

The three areas to consider in developing an IDP

Individual aspirations

How does your IDP support you

getting to the future you picture for

yourself in 5 years’ time?

In what ways does your IDP build on

you existing strengths?

In what ways does your IDP

deliberately focus on those difficult-to-

develop areas that might be

roadblocks to success if you don’t do

something about them?

Organisation needs

How does your IDP contribute to the

objectives of your organisation?

How does your IDP help build the

capabilities your organisation needs

in its future leaders?

Sector needs

How does your IDP focus your

development on system capability?

(Check how your IDP aligns with the

State Services Commission’s

Leadership Success Profile.)

Are there particular capability areas

currently seen as gaps at Career

Board level that you could develop

(check this with your manager)?

IDP Individual aspirations

Organisation needs

Sector needs

Key features of a well-constructed IDP

Use the GROW model to help you develop a well-considered, comprehensive IDP:

1. Goal: What do I want to achieve? What specifically am I setting out to achieve? Is it sector, organisation or individual focused? Or a combination of two or all three?

How will I and my manager know I’ve achieved my goal? How can we measure success?

What time frame have I set for achieving this goal? Is my goal achievable in the development period I am focusing on (this might be less than a year,

1–3 years, 3–5 years)?

How is my goal relevant to my own future, my organisation’s objectives and the capability needs of the state sector?

2. Reality: Where am I now? What am I learning from assessments such as AfD or the LSP 360?

How far am I from achieving my goal?

What have I already got that shows I’m on my way to achieving my goal?

What things are missing, or are in the way, that I’ll need to change to reach my goal? What competencies do I need to develop to reach my goal?

3. Options: What could I do to develop myself? How can I access development in my current role, through on-the-job, real work, in a way that contributes to the organisation or wider sector?

What can I get involved in that broadens my development by learning about new areas or stretches me in the area of capability I want to develop?

What support systems can I put in place? Do I need a coach? A mentor? A group of peers who are on a similar development journey?

What formal development options are available (eg, courses, workshops)? How will I demonstrate that an investment in my formal development will

benefit my organisation?

For each of these options, how much do they provide me with an experience that develops me in the areas of diversity, adversity, variety or intensity

(the DAVI model)?

What haven’t I thought of? Are there any ‘left-field’ development options that might bring me better exposure to the DAVI model?

4. Way forward: What will I do? Of all the options, which ones will bring me the biggest capability return for my development investment?

How will I record what I’m going to achieve?

Who will I tell about what I’m aiming to achieve? What permission will I give them around holding me accountable?

Steps to creating your IDP

It is useful to follow a conversation-based process when setting up your IDP:

For more help clarifying, developing and committing to your IDP, see the Developing an IDP—worksheets 1 and 2 and Stuck for development

ideas?—checklist, available from the webpage for this toolkit.

Reflect on what you’re learning from current

development and initiatives such as the

Assessment for Development.

Talk with your manager: update your aspirations; identify what’s important in

your develpment.

Create an initial draft of your IDP.

Ask your manager to provide input to and feedback

on your IDP.

Update and finalise your IDP

with your manager.

Start formulating a list of

development priorities.

Commence the next phase of

your development

Once you have created an initial draft of your IDP, the Covering the bases in your IDP—checklist will help you confirm that you have considered and

developed all areas of your plan. You can find this checklist at the webpage for the toolkit.

The development conversation

The Corporate Leadership Council’s model of Aspiration, Ability and Engagement, used in identifying high-potential performers, also works well for framing

development conversations between managers and the individuals seeking development. Referring to the aspects listed in the model can help the conversation

move beyond a surface-level objective-setting session to uncovering what really motivates and inspires the individual in progressing their career.

Figure 1: High-potential employee model, Corporate Leadership Council (Aspiration, Ability, Engagement model: CLC, Sept 2006)

Aspiration

Employees with aspiration desire responsibilities and rewards that come with

more senior roles.

Engagement

Employees with engagement capital exhibit commitment, discretionary effort, and intent to stay.

Ability

Ability involves a combination of the innate characteristics and learned

skills that enable employees to carry out their day-to-day work.

Aspiration questions Ability questions Engagement questions

Where does your development focus currently lie?

How satisfied are you in your current role? What’s the next big challenge for you?

When you think about future development, is your preference to develop your leadership capability, deepen your expertise in your chosen field or move to a different role or area? Or is it something else?

How well do you see your aspirations aligning with the direction this organisation/the public sector is taking?

If you could choose any role, what would it be? What interests you about the role? What would it bring you?

The Leadership Success Profile outlines the capability needed in senior leaders across the public sector. Where do your strengths lie? What do you want to work on?

Where do you think your areas of highest potential lie?

Thinking about the answers to the aspiration questions, what particular areas will you need to work on to keep moving towards the things you want to achieve?

What are the things you like about working in this organisation and your current role?

How would you describe the extent to which you feel someone or something provides the recognition or reward you like to receive?

Discretionary effort is the difference between bringing the level of effort you are capable of to an activity or a task and bringing the effort required only to just meet requirements. How would you describe your level of discretionary effort?

How would staying in the public sector help you advance your aspirations?

How would you describe the extent to which you derive pride, enjoyment, inspiration or meaning from working in this organisation and the wider public sector?

Working effectively with your manager for your development

1. Build a solid foundation for your development partnership

.

2. Encourage and support your manager to expose you to high-impact development activities

Development activity

one:

Stretch and challenge you

through work experiences


two:

Connect you to other key

leaders


three:

Offer you advice and

guidance


four:

Encourage you to learn

from work experiences


five:

Pave your path to senior

leadership

Establish a positive

relationship

Be open to development Follow through on coaching

3. Target experiences that will accelerate your development

Accelerated development experiences provide exposure to one or more of the following four qualities, known as the DAVI experiential learning model:

Diversity

Look for opportunities to work with people or groups of people you haven’t worked with before. This could be in a different team, business group,

organisation or even country. Look for experiences that will call on you to think differently and challenge your established perspectives.

Adversity

Look for opportunities to work in areas that are low performing or have failed to meet expectations. There may be difficult circumstances involved that

provide the bigger challenge of turning around performance and results.

Variety

This might be a role in a work area you’ve never experienced before – perhaps a completely different professional field that calls on you to use your

leadership skills without having the technical knowledge to fall back on.

Intensity

Look for opportunities to lead or contribute to high-stakes work that is will be scrutinised by influential others.

To ensure that any development opportunities provide appropriate developmental stretch, weigh them up against the DAVI experiential learning—

checklist, available from the webpage for this toolkit.

Diversity e.g. working with new people, a lot of people

or people with different skills.

Adversity e.g an assignment

that ceates additional pressure, including

tough deadlines, large scope/scale, work viewed as critical.

Variety e.g. an assignment

that is very different from what you have

done in the past.

Intensity e.g. a work

programme that is being closely

scrutinised and monitored by people

whose opinions count.

Own your development – successful development strategies

Set up your environment to help you succeed

What changes do you need to make to the way you work that will help you achieve your development goals? How does your support structure look? What will

you communicate to people about your current development focus?

Maintain a productive relationship with your manager

As you build the portfolio of skills and work experiences you will need for future senior leadership roles, few strategies rival the development your manager can

offer. If you are successful at getting the development you need from your manager, research has shown that you can improve your performance by as much

as 27 per cent1. Stay connected; focus your efforts on establishing a solid foundation for your development partnership. Help your manager to help you by

actively managing your own development.

Demonstrate your openness to development

Emotional Intelligence (EI) accounts for up to 90 per cent of the differences between average and top performers, and levels of self-awareness and self-

regulation are key components of EI. Be receptive to the new ideas and suggestions offered through coaching and feedback; acknowledge areas where you

need to develop and actively seek feedback.

Actively follow through on development opportunities

Act on the input, coaching and development opportunities you receive. Your positive follow-through is the key to encouraging others to continue investing in

your development.

Request assignments that build your long-term capabilities

Work with your supporters to identify the experiences you need in order to progress your career, and solicit help in getting exposure to those experiences.

1 Learning and Development Roundtable 2003 Employee Development Survey

Look for development opportunities in your current role

Regularly assess the extent to which your current role is helping you learn new things and demonstrate new capabilities.

Build your understanding of the organisation and its key players

Work with your manager and others to increase your understanding of the broader sector you are working in. Ensure your development plan includes steps you

will take to build quality relationships with inspirational and influential others.

Develop relationships with other leaders

Ensure that your IDP includes the steps you will take to build quality relationships with inspirational and influential others, including those who can help you with

particular projects or serve as mentors. Build a network of peers to help accelerate both your own and their development.

Reflect on what you have learned from key experiences

Before you begin a new assignment, discuss with your manager or mentor the key capabilities you should expect to develop from the experience. Confirm who

will be supporting you to succeed in the development you are targeting. During and after the assignment, schedule time with that person to discuss key insights

and how these might further shape your targeted development. Ask your manager and co-workers for feedback on your performance and share what you learn

with your peers and your team.

Promote you own accomplishments

Keep your supporters up to date with your biggest achievements.

Regularly solicit coaching and feedback

Understand which areas your manager is most interested in coaching or teaching and schedule time for their input in those areas. Seek out other people who

are willing to coach you in the areas that aren’t strengths for your manager.

Tips

Seek out feedback and target the areas you can improve.

Understand that feedback − whether formal or informal, solicited or unsolicited − is designed to help you get closer to your performance and career

goals.

Focus on the end outcome. Recognise that any initial discomfort you experience listening to feedback and constructive criticism will quickly fade over

time.

Development opportunities

There are three main avenues for development potential – on the job (experiential learning), mentoring or coaching and formal interventions, such as

workshops and classroom learning.

Involving yourself in experiential learning, where the work is real and the outcomes have consequences, is the best way to accelerate and embed your

development.

Mentoring and coaching are excellent ways of finding time for reflection and advice and help to concretise the learning.

Classroom learning is most suitable for kick-starting yourself in areas you might not be familiar with or for quickly updating yourself on the latest

developments in an industry you might already be familiar with.

Getting the most from experiential development

Before starting a new assignment, identify the knowledge or capabilities you expect to develop. Discuss the experiences you need to progress with your

manager and solicit their help in getting exposure to these experiences.

Your manager can also help you ‘mine’ your current job for developmental value by embedding stretch and challenge into your daily activities. In turn, you

should help them by regularly assessing the extent to which your current role is helping you learn new things and demonstrate new capabilities.

Aside from connecting you to ‘the right jobs and assignments’, your manager can encourage you to reflect on what you have learned and show you how to

apply that learning to your work. Once you have completed the assignment, set aside time with your manager to talk about what you have learned from the

experience.

Your manager can help your development by:

sequencing your work and assignments so that they build on one another

directing you to career advancing job assignments

placing you in challenging situations that push you beyond your comfort zone.

Tips

Proactively identify work experiences that you need exposure to in order to progress your career:

Interview your manager and other senior leaders to understand the job assignments that contributed to their success.

Talk to your peers to understand the job assignments they learned from the most.

Analyse your day-to-day work activities to understand where you can embed further stretch and challenge:

Think about the outcome you want to achieve through learning from day-to-day work activities − is it to improve a particular skill, achieve a specific

business result or increase your self-awareness?

Embed stretch and challenge by changing the way you engage in daily activities by, for example, increasing your visibility in or expanding the scope of

activities, delegating activities to your direct reports, etc.

Learn from work experiences by asking your manager to:

Identify the knowledge and capabilities you expect to develop before starting a new project or assignment, and ask yourself:

How does the knowledge or capability I hope to acquire help me become a more effective leader and benefit the organisation?

What should I be able to do differently if I am successful at acquiring the knowledge or capability?

Think about specific tasks and activities within the work experience itself that can help you acquire the knowledge or capability.

Schedule periodic meetings with your manager across the ‘life of the work experience’ to inform them of your progress, specifically what you have learned

and what you are experiencing difficulty with.

• help you balance learning and work

• provide you with opportunities to practice new skills

• enable you to reflect on learning assignments.

Prepare to share what you have learned from the work experience beyond your immediate team − summarising and sharing your learning with others can

often help you apply what you have learned.

Learning from experiences framework

While learning from work is one of the best ways to develop and boost your performance, you need to be intentional about what you hope to learn from a job

assignment or work experience that your manager has brokered on your behalf. 2The framework borrowed from IBM Corporation and State Farm Insurance Co

provides a simple approach for making the most out of learning from work experiences.

A copy of the Learning from experiences framework—checklist is available from the webpage for this toolkit.

2 Learning from experiences framework: Adapted from CLC research: Unlocking the Value of On-the-Job Learning: Increasing the Intentionality of Learning from Work (CEB Learning and

Development Leadership Council, September 2009); and State Farm Company’s Experiential Learning Toolkit, (CLC, December 2006)

Getting the most from coaching and mentoring

Your manager

Establishing an effective partnership with your manager also requires you to follow through on the feedback and advice you receive. Your manager is less likely

to invest in your development if you do not act on the input and coaching they provide. To succeed, you should treat your development goal the same as you

would any business goal – craft a plan or action, marshal the necessary resources, identify and address potential constraints and measure your progress along

the way.

Follow through on coaching from your manager by:

Tips

Reflect on the coaching you receive from your manager:

What is your initial reaction to the coaching you received?

What potential steps can you take to follow through on the coaching you received?

What support resources do you have at your disposal?

Who (aside from your manager) can hold you accountable?

How will you measure your progress?

What progress have you made on the coaching you received from your manager?

responding to their feedback

striving to stop or curtail self-limited beliefs and behaviours

following through on your most important development goals.

Be sure to keep your manager updated on your progress. They can provide additional feedback, advice and coaching to help you achieve your goals, and your

ongoing communication helps signal your openness and willingness to follow through on coaching.

For more help with coaching, see LDC’s Coaching Toolkit.

Mentoring and partnering

Knowing the right people is critical to the success of any leader. Connect with other influential leaders who can assist with your development. Identify

individuals who can guide you on a particular project or serve as a mentor. Your manager can best develop you by helping you get the most out of your current

relationships. Ask your manager to help you connect with other key leaders by:

Tips

Proactively identify individuals who can best assist with your development by:

asking your peers about potential individuals who can guide you on particular projects or serve as mentors

considering partnering with a more junior person or subject-matter expert who could provide new and unique perspectives

leveraging from both formal and informal networking opportunities (for example, agency-wide meetings and hallway conversations).

Be deliberate about what you want to learn from your relationships with key leaders, and share this with your manager. This will help them put you in touch with

the right people. For example, you might:

document the specific development outcomes you want to achieve from your relationships with key leaders

prepare discussion items and questions you’ll put to those key leaders

describe styles of leadership you want to learn about, and who you see demonstrating these

guiding you to the most influential leaders

helping you build relationships with other people

enabling you to learn from leaders.

Advice and guidance

The advice your manager can offer is critical to boosting your performance. However, managers are not there to solve your personal development problems;

rather to help you to find your own solutions. Help your manager use their time and efforts most efficiently by providing them with different options for

addressing your challenges and the pros and cons of each. You should also encourage your manager to identify your greatest strengths and specific examples

of when you have demonstrated them.

Solicit advice and guidance by asking your manager to:

Tips

Be open and honest with your manager on when and how you want their advice and guidance. Their ability and effectiveness to help you is a function of your

own ability and effectiveness at communicating how you want to be helped. You need to ask yourself these questions:

In which situations do I urgently need my manager’s advice and guidance, for example, in dealing with competing priorities?

In which situations do I least rely on my manager’s advice and guidance, for example, in dealing with people management issues?

How do I want advice and guidance to be delivered?

Share your perceptions of your greatest strengths and examples of when you have been able to demonstrate them.

The Stuck for development ideas?—checklist on the website for this toolkit provides some starters for how you might use experiential learning,

mentoring or coaching, and classroom learning, along with some suggestions around the level of attention to give each.

• provide feedback on your greatest strengths

• serve as your sounding board for difficult challenges

• help you understand unintended consequences.

High-impact development activities

Not all development activities are created equal. You and your manager should focus on those activities that will have the greatest impact on your development.

How to partner and work effectively with your manager

Encourage and support your manager to focus on high-impact development activities

High-impact development activities that the most effective senior

leaders provide leaders at your level:

Tactics for enabling your manager to effectively perform high-impact

development activities:

Development activity one

Stretch and challenge you through work experiences

Ask your manager to:

sequence your work and assignments such that they build on one another

direct you to career advancing job assignments

place you in challenging situations that push you beyond your comfort

zone.

Development activity two

Connect you to other key leaders


guide you to the most influential leaders

help you build relationships with other key leaders

enable you to learn from other key leaders.

Encourage and support your manager to focus on high impact development activities (continued)

High-impact development activities that the most effective senior

leaders provide leaders at your level:

Tactics for enabling your manager to effectively perform high-impact

development activities:

Development activity three

Offer your advice and guidance


• provide feedback on your greatest strengths

• serve as your sounding board for difficult challenges

• help you understand unintended consequences

Development activity four

Encourage you to learn from work experiences


• help you balance learning and work

• provide you with opportunities to practice new skills

• enable you to reflect on learning assignments.

Development activity five

Pave your path to senior leaders


• explain what you need to accomplish or demonstrate to get promoted

• prepare you for successful career moves

• ensure that others are aware of your successes and long-term potential.

Source: Learning and Development Roundtable 2006

Senior Leadership Survey: Learning and Development Roundtable research Getting the development you need

On-the-job high-value development activities

There are six broad categories of easily accessible on-the-job activities that bring a strong return on development investment:

Access to best practice Scope expansion Change and adversity

Activities:

Shadow a colleague to see how they conduct

their work.

Work with a recognised expert.

Work with someone who has experienced a

notable success in work.

Activities:

Increase your amount of responsibility.

Lead a challenging assignment.

Participate in a group to solve a real business

problem.

Fill in for a senior manager.

Activities:

Work in a situation with rapidly changing

circumstances.

Handle a crisis at work.

Turn around something at work that has gone

wrong or failed.

Challenging relationships Persuading and teaching Making difficult decisions

Activities:

Work with people from other business units,

functions or locations.

Work with multiple people who have

contradictory and competing views.

Work with difficult customers.

Work with difficult colleagues.

Activities:

Persuade senior managers to take a difficult

action.

Teach colleagues how to do a component of

their jobs.

Activities:

Make a risky decision with potentially adverse

consequences.

Make a decision outside your area of expertise.

Attributes of the six types of on-the-job learning activities

Accessing best practice – orient around

demonstrated success

Expanding scope – the power of stepping up Dealing with change and adversity – capitalise

on turbulence

Engage in activities that clearly illustrate the right

approach to a problem.

Engage in activities that increase the scope of your

responsibilities for more than a brief period.

Be involved in turbulent situations that build your

flexibility to adapt to new situations.

Dealing with challenging relationships – drive

portable interpersonal skills

Persuading and teaching – knowing before

showing

Making difficult decisions – raise the stakes

Involve yourself in situations that develop widely

useful relationship-building skills.

Engage in activities where you need to actively

prepare in order to successfully communicate your

ideas.

Engage in decision-making activities where the

cost of making mistakes forces deliberate

reflection.

Finalising your IDP

To confirm the quality and rigour of your IDP, consider the following questions:

Where have I been?

Consider all your previous training, development and job experiences, including any:

learning from previous roles

formal training

developmental assignments

self-development activities.

Where can I go?

To consider what opportunities may lie ahead, focus on these major areas:

positions in which you are interested

short-range goals

long-range goals.

How can I select the best developmental activities?

A major difficulty that managers and employees encounter in matching needs with activities is that of selecting the optimum developmental activity, that is, the

activity that provides maximum learning within the boundaries of the organisation’s:

mission

budget

workload

travel allowance

staffing

time constraints.

toolkit · 2019-07-23 · once you have created an initial draft of your idp, the covering the...

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