Leadership can be understood as the competence to transform visualization into actuality with the help of appropriate planning. Efficient leaders can be developed and promoted by providing ample prospects for growth and involvement. In addition to the availability of prospects, it is crucial to keep pace with the need for growing skill levels.
There is a continuous change (for improvement) in the global market and as such, it does not require much time for the present skills and information to turn obsolete. So, education should never be considered to be completed. People have to keep on learning till they expect steady progress in their professional lives. It is also important to keep on improving the skills needed for any particular job profile (Dudovskiy 2013).
One of the most successful methods of keeping awareness and achieving such developmental aims is appropriate utilization of Individual Leadership Development Planning (ILDP). Such tools provide motivation to the employees (Jacobson 2014) and are beneficial for both employees and managers (WFLDP 2010).
The word ‘individual’ (within ILDP) should not be misinterpreted as an individual process. ILDP is also not a single or one-time experience. On the contrary, it is a continuous process that keeps on ascending to higher levels.
Rather than an individual effort, it is a team attempt that requires the participation of managers and employees where work is examined and future strategies for improvement are documented in order to assist employees’ understanding of work requirements and subsequent growth.
ILDP can be considered to be a shared obligation where employees are committed to take up new ventures and sincerely follow the documented strategies and the managers are devoted towards providing a suitable learning environment. There is ample proof that organizations across the globe are involving managers in such development programmes (Groves 2007).
It should be understood that even though managers are an essential part of an ILDP, it is the employees who are the crucial elements for the successful completion of such a programme. Employees should take keen interest in the ILDP and it should be their endeavour to attain self-improvement by utilizing the available growth-prospects. Employees are responsible for scheduling and overseeing the performance of their ILDP.
They should understand and accept the fact that growth cannot be achieved simply by concentration during office hours; some after-office hours also need to be devoted. On the other hand, managers are responsible for improving the skills of employees.
They should educate (inform) them about the available growth prospects, assist them in developing appropriate strategies, and give continuous feedback and assistance. Doing this would also polish their knowledge and expertise (Jackson 2012).
Usually, the following steps are followed during the course of an ILDP. If these steps are followed, the expected growth might be achieved:
- Evaluation of skills.
- Setting up of developmental aims.
- Identification of functions and strategies to be followed.
- Preparation of ILDP.
- Implementation of ILDP.
- Supervision and amendment of ILDP (if required).
Evaluation of skills
This is the first step of an ILDP and is very crucial because this is the time when managers and employees interact with each other for the first time (regarding the development programme). They decide on the path to be taken for mutual growth (McCarthy 2008). It gives an opportunity to the employees to express their skills and desire to improve them through ILDP.
The managers can also have an idea about the employees’ skills and frame future strategies accordingly. It is quite possible that some of the employees might have unexpected skills and knowledge. Managers should appreciate such skills and information and try to maintain equilibrium between their knowledge and that of the employees.
Employees should be encouraged to come forward with an insight about their capabilities and requirements. They should do a self-assessment of their capabilities (Horowitz 2006).
Managing one’s own wisdom is an appreciative skill (McNamara 2014). Apart from the input from employees, other sources of information can be utilised while gauging skills; such sources might be: feedback from other employees, assessment results, and outcome of any preceding ILDP.
The initial concern during skills assessment should be to recognise and get acquainted with the employees’ potencies and weaknesses. Performing this step would bring forth the development requirements pertaining to the employees’ job profile. Characteristically, the outcomes of yearly appraisal are crucial to discovering the existing growth requirements.
Once this is done, attention should be on the skills needed for future growth. Employees should articulate ambitions pertaining to their professional growth. The outcomes of such programmes can assist employees to win over their existing growth hurdles and be eligible for future augmentation of performance.
Supply chain in the cloud: where to start
After successfully completing the first action of skills assessment, the subsequent action is to set up developmental aims. Developmental aims can be better understood and categorised if the skills to be developed by the employees are known. This signifies the ‘what’ skills. It is advisable to classify skill requirements according to apparent, explicit and quantifiable terms.
The developmental aims should be prioritised and managers and employees should cooperate with each other to divert developmental endeavours towards skill requirements that have highest urgency/importance. Areas of highest urgency/importance consist of those that are advantageous to employees and their organization as well.
Developmental aims should concentrate on skills that need enhancement and augment the current strengths. It is also important that attention on skills to be developed should be limited (that the employees can cope with comfortably); excessive stress to develop/improve all the required skills can prove to be depressing. It is a general practice to concentrate on two or four (maximum) skills annually.
Identification of functions and strategies to be followed
Developmental actions signify the method (how) in which the recognised skills have to be built up. Managers might propose different strategies and assist employees in taking into consideration all possible training options. In turn, employees need to examine such options and choose the one they prefer; here, preference relates to the willingness and ability of employees to follow any particular strategy.
During the course of selection/decision, various factors have to be considered; such as employee’s capabilities and approach, the kind of activity, etc. Such an exercise would increase the chances of learning and curtail the involved cost.
Development can be in the form of various activities, some of which might be more apparent. It is always advisable to incorporate an amalgamation of various activities during the course of the development programme. Also, a single requirement should be represented by a couple of activities.
The ILDP can comprise of experiences during and after office-hours and also inside and outside the office. Employees should take their jobs as learning opportunities (Zenger 2013). The following list of such opportunities is not exhaustive; a fundamental checklist of options is provided:
Activities inside the office
Such activities are also known as ‘on-the-job-training’ opportunities and these have to be in accordance with the precise requirements of individuals.
‘Coaching’: During this process, managers observe the employees performance and try to recognise their drawbacks and advantages (plus-points). Individual assistance is given to employees to expand and improve the required skills.
‘Cross training’: This signifies imparting requisite training to employees in an additional field (other than the actual job responsibility) so as to expand the learning options. Employees are able to learn additional skills and maximise experience without changing their jobs.
‘Job enrichment’: During the job enrichment activity, individuals are given extra responsibility (related to another job position) and the related authority. As a result of this, individuals gain extra experience and their work becomes demanding and exciting.
‘Job rotation’: According to this particular method or activity, individuals are given different job responsibilities (other than their regular jobs). Such positions are on a temporary basis and individuals are rotated on different jobs. Such an exercise enables individuals to gain experience and expertise (possibly) in different fields (Axner 1993).
‘Special projects’: It is an understood fact that all employees are not of the same competency level. Similarly, different employees have different professional ambitions. So, different employees are given different tasks (that are different in magnitude and scope) according to their capabilities and requirements.
Activities outside the office
‘Internal training courses’: Under this method, employees are sent to external training sources such as information technology training centres and colleges to attain the requisite training.
‘College course work’: This method signifies courses offered by colleges that augment the knowledge of employees. This, in turn, would enhance their skills for existing and upcoming job responsibilities.
‘Community service’: If employees are allowed to participate in community welfare and other social activities, they will have unique experiences that might enhance their self-development.
‘External training courses’: When internal training courses are not sufficient (when they cannot provide the requisite training), external training options are considered.
‘Professional meetings’: There are various agencies that organise meetings. Such meetings are organised at various levels and by participating in such meetings individuals can gain a lot of experience and knowledge.
‘Self development’: This incorporates self-directed actions that might augment personal growth of individuals. Office libraries, subscribed magazines and other reading material can be utilised to achieve such growth.
‘Team work’: Working in teams inculcates a feeling of team-work and cooperation among individuals. They can have a larger perspective of various things and augment their growth.
Monitoring policies
It is beneficial to have a policy for monitoring the performance and subsequent growth of employees. This is beneficial for both employees and managers due to the fact that it allows them to identify any drawbacks in the programme. Such drawbacks give the employees and managers an indication that certain changes are required in the programme for better effectiveness. Such monitoring also provides a dual function: allows intermediate inspection and informs about the conclusion of a particular activity. Likewise different growth activities, there are different monitoring options as well (such as written and verbal monitoring reports).
Preparation of ILDP
An ILDP serves as a place for recording the results of preceding actions. It is intended to reveal the performance for a period of one year (at least). On the contrary, the development process is not limited to one year but is a continuous process that has no closing stages. There are various components of an ILDP and following are some of the important ones:
- Prioritization of all the developmental aims.
- Identification of aims.
- Finalization of activities.
- Finalization of completion date of activities.
- Finalization of training schedule.
- Estimation of budget.
- Status of various activities.
- Deciding subsequent monitoring date.
Once the ILDP draft is ready, employees consult their managers. Managers review the draft and suggest changes, if any. The impact of the development programme’s schedule on the planning and budgeting of the organization is considered minutely. During the discussions, it is decided as to who will be bearing the costs of the programme (it has to be either the employee or the organization).
Implementation of ILDP
After acceptance of the developmental programme plan, implementation is carried out by employees and managers and both of them are responsible for their respective roles in the programme. The employees should inform their managers about any hindrances faced during the execution of the programme. The employees are also responsible to inform their managers about the completion dates of various activities of the programme.
Managers are responsible to provide appropriate resources to the employees for the successful completion of various activities. For instance, they might have to assist them in various activities that require registration. Managers need to take active participation in the programme to improve the employees’ experience.
Supervision and amendment of ILDP (if required)
Supervision of development programme can have great benefits. First of all, continuous supervision can help in motivating the employees and managers as well. Secondly, supervision identifies successful achievement of activities and if any activity is not successfully completed, appropriate training and motivation might be provided. Lastly, supervision suggests the time (when) and procedure (how) to amend the existing ILDP.
It should be understood that this step (supervision and amendment) does not signify the completion of the developmental programme. On the contrary, it gives an indication that the process has to be restarted.
Summary of key findings
From the methodology of ILDP it was learnt that prior to implementing any ILDP, it is a must to evaluate the skills of employees, set up developmental aims and identify the functions and strategies to be followed. Once the ILDP (draft) is prepared by the employees, it has to have consent of concerned managers.
Any amendment to the draft has to be incorporated. During the implementation, it is crucial to have a proper monitoring and supervising system. It should be understood that once an ILDP is started, there is no immediate end to it.
Method of getting feedback
40 management portfolio holders across 20 colleges were interviewed for this purpose. A written consent to participate in the interview was obtained from all the respondents. Respondents replied to the questions based on experiences in their respective educational institutions.
Tools used for self-assessment
The following tools were used for self-assessment:
- Short-term goals.
- Long-term goals.
- Developmental activities.
- Competencies.
- Target date.
- Approvals from managers.
Conclusion
In order to succeed professionally, employees should conduct a self-assessment and participate in some ILD programme. Organizations find it beneficial in assisting their employees to participate in developmental programmes.
References
Axner, M. 1993, The community leadership project curriculum, The Topsfield Foundation, Pomfret, CT.
Dudovskiy, J. 2013, Personal development plan: a sample. Web.
Groves, K. S. 2007, ‘Integrating leadership development and succession planning best practices’, Journal of management Development, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 239-250.
Horowitz, L. B. 2006, Leadership development: building your personal plan. Web.
Jackson, J. A. 2012, A personal leadership development plan. Web.
Jacobson, D. 2014, Using IDPs to leverage strengths. Web.
McCarthy, D. 2008, How to write a great individual development plan (IDP). Web.
McNamara, C. 2014, Supervisorial development. Web.
WFLDP 2010, The individual development plan guide. Web.
Zenger, J. 2013, Throw your old plan away: 6 new ways to build leadership development into your job. Web.