Hello, friends. It's our favorite time of the week again! Before you start winding down for the weekend, and find yourself reading through the Business Discussion board here in the Community, I wanted to share an article I found earlier. The article was published by
uschamber.com and talked about how you as a business owner can develop a career plan for your employees. Here are some key points that were mentioned:
Identify employees that are readyEmployees that are ready to begin their career development plans are ideally the ones with highest performance. They have excelled at their current position and are ready to move forward to the next stage.
Plans for the futureWe all know that communication is key, especially in the workplace. One thing to talk about with your employees is their plans for the future. This communication can be very informal and wouldn't take long at all. Let each employee know you're interested in cultivating development plans and then follow up with these questions for the initial meeting:
- What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?
- Do you prefer working by yourself or with other people?
- Where do you see yourself in your career in the next five years?
- What would your ideal job description look like?
- What would your ideal workday look like?
Short-term and Long-term goals
Once you have collected some info from the questions above, you can help your employees develop both short-term and long-term goals. This can be done with SMART goals, which stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Goals for each employee's career within the company should be realistic but should also inspire them to push their limits and put in the necessary hard work to get where they want to be.
Provide resources
Since not every career development plan is going to look the same as the next, your employees may need an extra hand to accomplish their goals. This is where additional resources come into play. These particular resources are tailored for each individual according to their plan. Some examples include classes, seminars, or certifications that they could receive.
Continued evaluation
A career development plan should be recognized as an on-going, ever-changing process. With that being said, once there is a plan in place, quarterly check-ins to evaluate and reassess the plan are a necessity. Plan evaluations include progress check points and discussions to reform any goals, if necessary. The article also mentions, "Make sure you have a system for tracking your employees’ progress and addressing any problems that come up along the way."
With these tips, you'll be able to help guide your employees to success. I truly believe this is a win-win situation, as the employees work to better themselves, they're ultimately bettering your business as a whole. I hope this motivates you to begin working with your employees to develop career plans. I'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions to add, and maybe even results from this type of planning. Take care!
