Development Plan With globalization and the ongoing fast paced changes in the workplace, it is essential for managers to build a team of skilled and knowledgeable employees who are able to easily adjust and constantly perform. Development plans have become an essential aspect for all companies, and holds such value that it no longer should be viewed as a mandated human resources function. Development plans provide employees with direction on how to advance, while also meeting company objectives. It is a win-win situation for both the employees and the company. When employees become more knowledgeable, they are expected to apply that knowledge and new skills to their work, which eventually should lead to higher productivity. Managers who focus on development will have more talented and loyal employees, since they are appreciative of the manager taking the effort to invest in their future.
Company Background and Skills Requirements The mission of the project I currently work for is to ready clients for gainful employment through job training, education and provision of supportive services. Its vision is for all case managers to become employment advisors specialized in removing client barriers and leading them to self-sufficiency and off government assistance. And their strategy is to maintain high overall client participation and employment numbers, while also meeting County and internal reporting and compliance standards. The standard skills that are required of all case managers in order to be able to accomplish their basic job duties are: time management, organization, patience, ability to multitask, and ability to work under tight deadlines and high level of stress. In addition to what is mentioned above, the skills and traits that high performance tend to have are: understanding and passion for the overall purpose and goal of the project, those are the case manager that focus on their clients relationship and success rather than just paper shuffling to meet requirements; and case managers with sales skills, since our program is mandated and not favored by most clients, case managers who are able to sell it to their clients rather than force it on them, will in return win their commitment and respect and will more likely win their constant communication and participation as well.
Establishing a Development Plan Development plans are employee specific, must be tailored to meet the employees’ specific needs, and should never be standard for all employees as every employee has unique skills and needs. In the case of the company that I work for I can either be setting a development plan for a lower performing case manager, which would require more following up, coaching, and resource referrals; or I can be setting it up for a higher performer, which those tend to be more focused on skills needed for promotions and higher positions. For the purpose of this paper I will be creating a development plan for a higher performer case manager. When establishing a development plan for a higher performing case manager, the first thing that needs to be considered is what positions the employee is interested in moving up to, how their current skills can benefit that position and the project, and what skills the employee needs to build on in order to be able to move up into that position. Once an honest and open conversation is conducted with the employee about what they need to build on to reach their goals, then an action plan needs to be set. This will help establish goals, timelines, and follow up schedules to ensure that the process is on track. For example, an employee is interested in moving up into the financial manager role. Some of the skills that