CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT MODEL A primary purpose of the Performance Management Program (PMP) as a management tool is to provide a basis for identifying and planning the development needs of staff; to improve performance and to further career development. The PMP provides an excellent context for development planning and implementation insofar as it requires an explicit relationship to job responsibilities, future performance objectives, performance results, and the identified strengths and areas requiring further development. However, to complete development planning and implementation, there are several other sources of vital information that should be tapped, and other systems with which development planning should be integrated. Career development planning should be a collaborative effort between the manager and employee to ensure the identification of the appropriate needs, to develop and maintain effective communications, and to elicit a high degree of commitment from the employee. Information Sources Information regarding the employee's job and career ladder, strategic plans, budget objectives, and external information that is or can affect the work of the organization, complement the performance information contained in the PMP and are essential in planning career development. From this information, the present and future work performance needs of the organization should be identified, and the actual and potential development needs of the employee assessed and matched with the organization needs. development activities should be planned to correspond to the time frames in which the performance needs of the organization must be met. The In addition to the development needs information, information regarding development activities must be available that support development planning. This information should describe the content of the development activity, costs, and expected results to determine the cost-benefit of the activity in meeting the development need. The manager and the employee should prepare for the development discussion by reviewing this information and use it within the context of the PMP process. To do an adequate job of career development planning, the PMP may be implemented in two stages where the first stage deals with actual and future performance and the second stage focuses on career development planning. The PMP form may have to be revised to more adequately guide development planning and capture useful development information. The attached Career Develop Planning Worksheet may serve this purpose. Integration With Other Systems Development planning should have a definite link with the strategic planning process insofar as strategic planning provides an assessment of the short- and long-term organization needs and the employee's PMP objectives must be linked to the strategic plan. A major component of strategic planning is identifying and assessing human resources capability to achieve the strategic plan. The success of the strategic plan is dependent on the In addition, there should be an interaction with the budget process because the budget will contain the next year's strategic objectives along with the ongoing or maintenance objectives of the division, and the budget should also contain the proposed funding support for the development plan to be achieved in that budget year. Development planning should also be tied to the compensation system insofar as the actual job descriptions and career ladder are developed and maintained by compensation, and they provide a road map for career growth. The training system provides the tools for identifying specific training activities through internal and external training, and academic education resources to achieve the career development plan. Career development planning must explicitly address the career development needs of protected classes of employees as one aspect of the Board's Affirmative Employment Program (AEP). The AEP requires that the development needs of these employees be specifically addressed as one method of achieving the objectives of the AEP. Manager's Role The role of the manager in career development planning is to determine what the organization needs are for the short- and long-term, to assess the employee's career growth potential, to prepare an employee development plan, and to provide the resources to achieve the development plan. Employee's Role The employee's role is to be actively involved in the career development assessment and needs identification process, provide input to the career development plan, take reasonable initiatives during the planning and implementation phases, and to conscientiously attempt to achieve the plan. An Information Source Checklist and Career Development Planning Worksheet is provided to assist the manager and employee during the career planning process. |
