Why Development Plans Are Dumb and How to Actually Develop Your Team

The Theory Behind Development Plans

• 💡 Development plans sound great in theory, with the idea that employees receive a detailed roadmap for career progression, promotion, and skill development.
• 🎯 They often create an expectation that following the plan guarantees rewards, leading to disappointment when promotions or recognition don't materialize.
• 🚀 HR departments often champion development plans as a way to provide oversight and ensure employee development across an organization.
• 💰 Organizations see them as a cost-saving measure, believing that developing existing employees increases productivity and reduces the need for expensive new hires.

The Practice: Why Development Plans Fail

• ❌ In practice, development plans are terrible and have no history of working, despite widespread recommendation.
• 📉 There is a significant lack of data to support their efficacy, with common responses like "everyone knows they make sense" being dangerous without evidence.
• ⏳ Plans quickly become irrelevant due to the rapid pace of change in technology, business strategies, and market conditions.
• 🤯 Managers face an enormous burden trying to create, update, and track these plans, often with little support or follow-up from HR.
• 🧩 The sheer volume of plans for HR business partners makes it impossible to provide meaningful input or oversight for each individual.

The Alternative: Regular Development Assignments

• ✅ The most effective solution for developing team members is through regular development assignments, not long-term master plans.
• 🤝 This approach starts with building a trusting relationship through regular one-on-one meetings and frequent feedback.
• 🎯 Delegate specific responsibilities that require new skills, focusing on one or two assignments per quarter for most employees.
• 💬 Provide ongoing feedback and guidance as the employee takes on new tasks, helping them solve problems rather than solving them yourself.
• 🚀 As employees demonstrate proficiency, assign further developmental tasks in a continuous, short-term cycle.

Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)

• ⚠️ A notable exception where a