Individual development planning allows workers to create a personalized plan for growth and improvement, with a focus on enhancing strengths and addressing weaknesses. Supervisors help align the plan with company goals and identify opportunities for development.
Individual development planning is a method used by workers to present their specific wishes for improvement and growth in the coming period. In most cases, an employee will draw up an individual development plan (IDP) that outlines what he believes are his most important improvement points for the next period of time, usually a year. The worker will then meet with his boss to discuss his individual development planning strategy, see how his goals coincide with the business plans, and understand how the company can help him in the best possible way.
The key word in individual development planning is “individual”. Each worker defines his own IDP based on what he believes are his strengths and weaknesses. The goal of individual development planning is to improve weaknesses while strengthening strengths. This is a delicate balance, so the IDP is likely to have at least one person further up the writer looking at it before implementation. Even if it is supervised, the worker should try to make the plan as specific to him as possible; use an IDP as a method if ingrating will often hurt the writer’s overall growth.
When discussing an IDP, a supervisor will likely hit three key points. The most important point is the growth of the worker. Not only does this make the individual a more well-rounded employee, it makes them more valuable to the entire company. By enhancing the worker’s strengths, that person is more capable in a wider range of situations. This offers departmental coverage over the widest area with the least number of employees.
The next common point in an individual development planning meeting is a discussion of the company’s goals. While personal growth is great, it does little to a business if it’s in an area that doesn’t provide it with any benefits. This phase of the meeting allows the employee and supervisor to discuss how employee growth can be channeled in the most effective way for the company.
The last major component of an individual development planning strategy meeting takes the information from the last two phases and brings it into the practical world. In this phase, the boss and the worker discuss upcoming situations where the company can help the worker together with the IDP. For example, a worker may want to work on leadership and planning skills. The boss would look for upcoming projects where the worker could be an assistant to a qualified foreman. The year could culminate with the worker receiving their supervision project.
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