In a development and performance conversation, imagine an EVP of Manufacturing looking to his CEO boss and saying, “Here is what I am going to do to improve and grow.” Then he hands her a detailed career plan that highlights his personal and professional goals and actions, which align with the CEO’s mission, vision, values, and objectives for the company.
The CEO listens intently as her direct report outlines his personal development and business performance plans. For the next hour and over the subsequent months, the EVP and CEO build trust, support, and accountability relationships as they work together on strategies that increase their required outcomes.
An effective CEO will be listening, not telling. The CEO hears how the person thinks and tries to understand her employee’s desire to improve in certain areas of leadership, and technical skills, ultimately improving the company’s performance. The CEO absorbs the information and understands where her direct report comes from by asking more questions like, “Why do you want to take on more?” or “How do you want to improve and grow?”. The CEO builds trust with her talent, listens for new ideas, and learns how she may be a better servant leader from her talent’s unique perspective.
The CEO can provide input that may modify or enhance the direct report’s plan. Hopefully, this is not a complete redirection. If the plans her employee presented are far from what is needed, this is actually the CEO’s fault. The CEO should not allow a disconnection where the employee is unsure of the objectives or aim. The plan might need small enhancements or redirections but should align with the CEO’s vision. By enhancing her direct report’s plan, the CEO can show personal interest and help the talent meet the talent’s desired outcomes.
The CEO is in a supportive, connected relationship with her direct report and can empower him and provide accountability to the ideas the talent owns as their development plan. A development plan is not a dirty word meant punitively, but it is necessary to continuously grow both the talent and the business.
The CEO should provide resources or structure that connect the talent and their plan to other members of their executive team and the rest of the company. External interactions and other functional relationships might break down barriers and expedite the plan’s success.
Ideally, the CEO has properly communicated the company’s mission, vision, values, goals, and objectives in a way that cascades through the organization. She’s simultaneously provided feedback on how the talent can improve performance. Therefore, the direct report’s proactive development planning for their career should have an outcome of a multiplier of performance and growth.
This same dynamic works throughout every level of the organization, not just the CEO and her Executive Team. Every designated leader should be able to represent the company’s mission, vision, values, goals, and objectives to their direct report and be in a relationship with each talent about their development to meet company and personal goals.
Empowering employees to come to their leader with the statement, “Here is what I am going to do to improve and grow…” unlocks many of the trust components poor development programs miss. The leader must serve the talent’s individually designed plan while aligning with the common mission and objectives.
Yet, how does a leader respond to their talents’ unique career plans when they have as many as ten to twelve direct reports? And how do companies secure a deep sense of ownership to an authentic holistic career plan for each individual?
This platform is the first comprehensive career management platform utilizing the CareerTruth growth philosophy. CareerTruth propels the individual development conversation beyond the stale process that merely satisfies compliance for pay increases and annual obligatory timelines.
When leaders in the typical top-down development planning structure struggle to identify, create, and execute a unique plan for each team member, CareerTruth enlivens the leader-talent development experience.
With more managers having over ten direct reports and too many other responsibilities, the promises of learning and supported development fail, leaving talent feeling like a task or a number instead.
CareerTruth enhances the company performance management process. CareerTruth’s Five A development experience – Align, Advance, Amplify, Advocate, and Annualize – is customizable to the individual need and creates five major development milestones augmented with monthly development sprint check-ins.
Because CareerTruth provides insights, exercises, and tools for all seasons of the employee’s career, able to be completed individually or in community, the leader and talent can maximize actual development.
Through CareerTruth, the company provides holistic planning tools to help each talent define their values, purpose, and vision of success while creating action plans to work toward their purpose and align their career development with the company and their direct leader.
The leader does the same work, so everyone develops a common language. This shared experience builds relationships, trust, and commitment as they align. The 5 A development experience is much more productive and efficient since each talent owns their plan, and their leader serves them for best results.
People are more motivated to achieve the plans they develop rather than a plan dictated to them. This motivation is especially likely when the plan connects with their values and what motivates them. CareerTruth makes the career plan deeply personal, which improves the likelihood of success. CareerTruth empowers individuals to own their plans and career, which frees the leader to support the talent in their ambitions rather than trying to compel them to perform.
100% of CEOs surveyed “strongly agreed” that they want their talent to proactively pursue improved performance and bring them development goals and action plans. By allowing each person to create an individual strategic career purpose and action plan accounting for their whole life, the leader and each of their talent build a relationship of trust, support, and accountability.
CareerTruth helps create this excellent employee development experience, increasing engagement, retention, productivity, performance, and results for each talent and their company.