Key Elements of the Development Conversation
Things Managers Have to Get Right
Employees don’t see development as a perk anymore - they expect it. According to Deloitte, more than two-thirds of Millennials believe it is management’s job to provide them with development opportunities. They will take advantage of them and they will leave if you don’t offer them.
Which means a great manager has to have regular development conversations with employees. This article is going to provide some important information on how to have those conversations.
The Goal of the Development Conversation
Set the stage by aligning on the goal and your part in this process - in other words, set the expectations.
Development is gaining or increasing knowledge or a skill level. You do this by increasing knowledge, practicing, and implementing the new knowledge or skill in your role. Be clear that it isn’t about taking a class or reading a book - it is about behavior change. If the employee isn’t using the knowledge or skill, then it isn’t development.
The employee owns everything about development - deciding what knowledge or skill to develop, determining how to develop it, and executing on all the things needed to achieve the desired result.
You, as the manager, are responsible for supporting the employee during this process and by holding them accountable.
Put The Employee in a Better Position Professionally
The temptation will be to focus on the employee and where they can improve in their current role or what they can do to be in a better position for a promotion. Avoid that temptation at all costs.
Part of the conversation should be developing an understanding of what the employee wants to do in their career. If they are an accountant, do they want to simply be a better accountant? Do they want to be promoted and hopefully be a senior manager or director some day? Or do they want to change jobs completely and be a graphic designer?
Your role is to help them achieve their professional goals. Not assign them professional goals.
The pushback is: my duty is to the company and if I help them leave the company, I’ve done a disservice to the company. I disagree.
Your job is to ensure that the work is done. If an employee is engaged, they will do the work. Developing them is one key step towards engagement. Plus, if they have the desire to leave, they will leave. You should get the most out of their effort while you can and build a reputation as someone who grows people. Thinking “I’ll only help you if your development helps the company” is short sighted and wrong.
The message you want to send is that you have a responsibility to the organization AND to the employee. Sometimes those items align, sometimes they don’t. You have to account for both.
The Conversation
In the Great Manager Program, I go into the process and conversation in much more detail. Here is the outline:
Ask questions to determine where the employee wants to grow and why.
Brainstorm ways to get there (courses, projects, books, videos, mentoring, etc.).
Require the employee to set a medium term goal and a next action step.
Offer any support you can (within the guidelines of the company policies).
Hold them accountable for any action items they create.
Key Points
You are not required to be the teacher. If they want to learn a skill and you can teach them - awesome. In most cases, they will find better resources elsewhere. Help them find and use them.
You are not required to use organizational resources - beyond your time in this conversation - if the development opportunity is not a benefit to the org. If your accountant wants to learn guitar, help them, but the company shouldn’t pay for lessons.
Ask questions to help them focus on the topic - what the goal is, what will they do next, when will it get done, and how will they do it. That questioning is where you add value.
Hold them accountable. If they say they are going to schedule time with an Excel expert who can teach them pivot tables by 5 pm on Thursday, make them report to you when they have done it (maybe include you on the email). If you don’t hear from them, first thing Friday morning you should be following up.
Conclusion
It is too easy, especially for managers, to focus on the here and now. Too much to get done and not enough time. Your employees are in the same spot, but looking for hope for the future. Development is one area where you show you care and provide hope that there is more. Development means being a better professional.