On Sat, 14 Jun 1997, Vana Prewitt wrote:
> I work now, and have worked before, with organizations that annually map
> learning goals with employees. At my current job, we call them Individual
> Development Plans (IDPs). They occur at the time of annual review and are
> a discussion between the manager and the employee which states (a) areas
> for professional development in current position (b) areas for
> professional development for future assignments / promotion and (c) areas
> for personal development and growth.
>
> What comes out of these discussions are ususally interpersonal skill
> development, continuing education issues, and technical skills that both
> manager and employee believe would benefit the employee AND the company.
> Learning for learning' sake is not the point of the process, but
> identifying the strengths and needs of employees as they interface with
> the business needs and expectations. Local seminars, annual conferences,
> self study, corporate training, and mentoring assignments are commonly
> rolled into these IDPs.
>
> Vana Prewitt
I don't think I've ever worked at a company that doesn't have some
document of this sort. What's important is not the document but the
reality behind whether management really cares about it. In general,
development discussions on paper and in a meeting aren't worth the time it
takes to think about them, except for the employee's self-knowledge.
Critical aspects are an excuse for limiting raises, while the good points
only get acknowledged in the form of compliments. As for development
plans, good luck. I won't say they don't exist, only that they're
implemented poorly if at all.
What I'd like to see is reality testing of development plans: has the
employee taken courses X, Y, Z? Has her manager made sure the course work
can be put to use? Does the manager's manager care enough to make
subordinates' goals part of the manager's objectives?
This may be happening somewhere, for all I know. I wait patiently for the
day when management is so enlightened that nobody sees the point of
Dilbert cartoons. As long as senior management, and the shareholder
culture that supports it, remains focused on short-term monetary results,
I don't see much hope for this type of change in most corporations, at
least for now. It's about as likely, say, as the fall of Communism in the
Soviet Union was in Brezhnev's days.
Marc Sacks, Ed.D
Senior QA Engineer
Spyglass, Inc.
--Marc Sacks <msacks@world.std.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>