Development Planning

"Diagnosis - Prognosis - Prescription"

In a medical sense, good health is not achieved simply through the diagnosis of risk factors or pathology - prescription of a remedy for improving health is essential.

Organisationally, there are many means through which development gaps are identified for individuals: performance reviews, multi-rater processes, direct feedback, development centres and so on.

While the diagnostic process is fundamental to targeting the most high pay-off development areas, a critical lynch pin in the development cycle is the planning and execution of specific strategies to close the development gap. Without a specific focus on this element of the development cycle, any resultant performance improvement will largely be attributed to increased awareness of development gaps, akin to the well documented Hawthorne Effect.

While we acknowledge that the intrinsic learning that comes with greater understanding of strengths and development gaps is valuable, our view is that more specific and focused planning of development solutions is required to help overcome more substantial gaps.

CompAssess has developed a number of processes for ensuring that our clients maximise the returns from identifying development gaps by ensuring that individuals have a clear road map for addressing development issues.

Some of these initiatives include:

User-Friendly Development Reports

Where CompAssess prepares reports for individuals that summarise development gaps identified through various diagnostic processes, we ensure our reports are written in such a way to maximise comprehension without additional interpretation. Further, to facilitate understanding, each CompAssess report contains a concise summary that pinpoints the development issues.

Feedback Preparation Forms

To ensure maximum value from development diagnostic feedback, we utilise Participant Feedback Preparation Forms prior to one-on-one feedback and development planning as a means of ensuring that the participant is fully focused and prepared to explore development strategies.

One-on-One Feedback Sessions

CompAssess offers one-on-one feedback sessions for those who have participated in various development diagnostic processes. This provides an opportunity for the participant to seek further clarification, particularly where the feedback may be more confronting or at odds with the individual’s self insight. It also provides opportunities to seek guidance in the prioritisation of development issues.

Please note: There are many different developmental feedback processes which may be offered. Each of these has their advantages and disadvantages. Our consultants are highly experienced in delivering feedback, and at times difficult feedback, and are happy to offer advice as to the process that will best meet your needs.

Development Priority Reports

It can be quite a leap from feedback to the construction of a specific and measurable development plan. In our experience, haste here often reflects a less considered approach that may be more reliant on traditional development methods such as training courses.

Time poor managers may be tempted to treat development from an 'engineering' perspective that is analogous to having an automobile repaired, sending individuals to a workshop to return 'repaired'. The salient issue here is that a truly high impact development agenda requires more consideration in matching appropriate development options to needs.

CompAssess offers a development prioritisation process that typically is the basis and a key output of the one-on-one development planning session.

The Development Prioritisation Report (DPR) challenges participants and their managers to consider the different types of development gaps that may be evident and the most effective means to rapidly close identified issues.

This is achieved by categorising development priorities into one of four elements of an overall success profile:

• Knowledge requirements
• Behavioural competencies
• Derailers (Emotional Intelligence, personality and work preference)
• Required experiences and challenges

Learn more about Success Profiling

Development Plans

Our view is that the Development Prioritisation process is best completed between the participant and the CompAssess consultant providing feedback. The translation of this into specific development actions is best completed, however, by the participant and their manager, with the support of human resources as appropriate.

Our rationale for this is that for development to achieve 'traction' it needs the active involvement and support of the reporting manager. Further, the participant's manager and human resources professionals are likely to have greater knowledge of the available internal resources that may assist in the development process.

Armed with an understanding of the development priorities, the organisation, the participant, the participant's line manager and others who may be playing a supporting role, need to choose those development options that best fit the individual's and the organisation's needs.

The following table summarises the best match between development objectives and types of development interventions:

Progress Reviews - Development Action Reports

Development Planning is one thing, executing the plan and achieving tangible results is another!

To assist individuals in completing their plans, CompAssess offers the option of periodic progress reviews at pre-determined intervals (for example 12 or 18 months) to evaluate the progress individuals have made against agreed development plans.

The process varies according to client requirements but typically consists of the following components:

• Development Activity Summary: Review of the specific developmental actions that have been completed since sign-off on the development plan
• Participant Behavioural Interview: Seeking examples of where development has been put into practice. For example, where newly acquired negotiating skills have been applied to current challenges
• Manager Behavioural Interview*: Validation of participant progress

* This may be supplemented by some additional data collection such as multi-rater feedback

Contact CompAssess from more information regarding Development Planning.