Developing People: Creating a Career Development Strategy That Works

In most organizations, developing people is not a priority. As a result, we have a less-skilled and disengaged workforce. Our supervisors are under-equipped. Top talent is leaving at higher rates than ever before to find organizations where they will be developed. And, research shows a lack of emphasis on learning lowers the entire organization’s ability to adapt to change. According to Accenture, only 40% of organizations offer employees time for learning, and only 29% have clear learning and development plans in place. It’s clear we have a problem.

Thankfully, the solution is simple–equip managers to develop people! It might sound complicated, but an effective people development strategy is simple, cost-effective, and extremely beneficial.

Key Takeaways

• An effective people development strategy requires an infrastructure that supports equipping leaders and supervisors with a desire to help and coach subordinates.
• The resource Supervisor Essentials: Developing People helps leaders understand how to be intentional and deliberate, and provides a simple, cost-effective approach for developing people.
• An intentional people development strategy includes a coach, a goal/competency, introduction of new learning, and application of the learning in a safe environment.
• Organizations benefit from a people development strategy because it prioritizes growth (which promotes positive retention), is a benefit that is highly demanded by new job seekers, and is an effective succession strategy.

What does it mean to develop people?

Most individuals, when asked about their own development and growth experiences, are not able to point to a program, process, or person who intentionally helped them grow and develop during their career. Typically, people will describe their previous experiences with career development as informal, unsupportive, ill-planned, self-initiated, or nonexistent. Those who had nonexistent career opportunities felt they had to leave their current organization in order to pursue development.

Because experience with career development is so limited, and those who have previous experience found it unsuccessful or unhelpful, it can be difficult for managers to understand the value to their employees and their own roles within the process. For this reason, many managers think people development is not their responsibility, and often object to their involvement altogether, saying:

• I don’t have time.
• I don’t know what to do.
• We don’t have the budget to support a full-blown development strategy.
• HR doesn’t have a formal program in place.

These concerns may feel valid, but with a proper system, managers can effectively promote people development on their teams with just a few hours and a small budget. Perhaps the biggest misconception about people development is that it is the human resource department's responsibility to develop, manage, and execute a strategy. However, it is actually the manager’s job. In fact, even small organizations without sophisticated HR teams can have a successful people development plan when leaders are empowered to develop their subordinates.

This concept is at the heart of our approach to people development, and a key theme in our resource Supervisor Essentials: Developing People. Let’s look at this a little deeper.

Development efforts can happen without a development plan

Contrary to what many leaders have been taught, there are only two requirements for a successful development plan:

1. An organization that has processes in place that help people grow their careers, and
2. A supervisor who is a skilled, interested, and active player in each team members’ growth plan.

Becoming an organization with processes in place doesn’t require big budgets, sophisticated programs, or extravagant rewards systems–it simply means that the organization’s infrastructure must support leaders and growing employees. It means that equipping leaders to develop people on their teams needs to be a core responsibility of the manager’s role.

Additionally, a successful development plan needs motivated employees–employees who have a desire to grow. Without motivation, even a sophisticated program will fail.

The secret to development lies in understanding the most effective ways that adults learn and grow. The approach outlined in the resource helps leaders understand how to be intentional and deliberate. Simply put, what does the employee need to know, and what is the assignment that will get them to the point of competency? This is best achieved through a trial and error approach. The ultimate goal is to allow employees to learn and try new things, and move into a new level of competency.

A people development plan that works

Growth and development typically occur in four fashions - 1) while doing the work, 2) while supporting other people, 3) during networking, career groups, and association meetings, and 4) through training and learning. Each of these approaches has varying degrees of effectiveness, which are outlined in the resource Supervisor Essentials: Developing People.

Notice how formal training, or training provided by the supervisor themselves, is not one of the approaches. This is what makes this people development strategy so impactful. The supervisor is more often than not a coach who offers guidance, instead of an instructor who presents information. As a result, a people development strategy not only provides growth opportunities for employees but also provides learning opportunities for the managers themselves to stretch their skill sets and improve. Additionally, a people development plan provides opportunities for delegation, which is a skill many leaders lack.

The basics of the people development strategy are as follows.

1. Choose a coach.
2. Identify the goal/competence.
3. Introduce new learning.
4. Apply the learning.

Let’s look at this practically, through a real-life example. Rachel is a young employee on your team who doesn’t have a lot of experience presenting in front of others. The few times she has presented, she fumbled over her words, got very nervous, and nearly fainted. A skill she wants to improve on this year is public speaking.

You are Rachel’s manager. Because of her previous experiences with presenting, you have been doing most of the oral presentations. Developing Rachel in this area is a mutually beneficial skill because it allows you to delegate more presentations to her in the future.

You and Rachel develop a plan for her to improve her public speaking skills. You will be her coach, supporting her throughout the learning process and checking in regularly to make sure she is on track with her goals. Rachel decides to attend a series of public speaking webinars over the course of three months. At the end of the series, she will apply what she has learned by presenting to a group of peers, who will provide constructive but empathetic feedback. Her presentation will focus on material you have delegated to her–freeing you up to develop her skills even more. Notice how you won’t be throwing Rachel into a presentation in front of the Board right off the bat–presenting to her peers leaves room for her to fail safely.

In this scenario, you (as the manager), support and coach your employee but are, for the most part, uninvolved in the actual learning process. Your involvement is only a few hours over the course of a few months while the employee finishes the webinar series, and the investment is minimal (the cost of the webinars).

Why you need a people development plan

As we mentioned earlier, managers often have many objections to people development. However, you can see that implementing a system for career growth does not have to be complicated. There is no reason your organization should not be prioritizing people development, especially in the current state of our world. Here are just a few more reasons why you need a people development plan:

1. People are leaving for careers with more development opportunities.

In the midst of a “Great Resignation,” organizations cannot afford to continue to disregard people's development. In fact, a Fall 2021 report by Monster found that 45% of surveyed employees said they would be more likely to stay at their current jobs if they were offered more training.

People development is an effective retention tool because it says, “This organization is investing in me, so I’ll stay with them in order to finish what I’m learning.” Likewise, because employees themselves are choosing which competencies they want to grow in, they are personally invested and more motivated to see things through.

2. New job seekers have a high demand for people development as an employment benefit.

76% of employees are looking for opportunities to expand their careers and 87% of millennials say growth and career development are very important. When looking for new opportunities, new employees are looking to work for organizations that have development plans. Now, this doesn't mean it has to be a big-budget program–rather, employees are looking for supervisors who have a desire to help and coach their teams.

A common objection to development plans as a recruitment strategy is the lack of advancement opportunities. Many organizations, including small ones, feel that, if development is used as a benefit, employees will leave once they have reached their goals if there aren't any growth opportunities. Though there is some truth to this statement, this is a one-sided approach. Would you rather have a qualified and competent employee for a short time or an incompetent, stagnant employee for a long time?

3. Developing people is an effective succession planning strategy.

It costs, on average, $4,000 to hire an external candidate. Organizations who choose to focus on development are more likely to retain employees in the long run, and ultimately promote those individuals to upper-level positions, saving time and money. Additionally, developing plans can be intentionally crafted to grow and prepare individuals for the future. Hiring developed, internal candidates guarantees that values, skills, and culture match right away.

Take the next step

Ready to start implementing a people development strategy that works? Purchase our Supervisor Essentials: Developing People toolkit, designed to increase your ability to:

• Understand the key components of an effective people development approach.
• See where your people development skills are today and where you need to grow.
• Grow the knowledge and skills you need to help your team members develop.
• Introduce you to creating an effective development and growth plan.
• Provide you with the next steps to act on what you have learned.

Download your copy today!