Employee Development Plans: A Guide for Employers
Reading Time: 8 minutes - An employee development plan names three things: the capability being built, the actions that build it, and the date it gets reviewed.
- Only 15 percent of employees say a manager helped them build a career plan in the past six months, down five points from the year before, according to LinkedIn's 2025 Workplace Learning Report.
- 63 percent of U.S. employees say their organization provides advancement opportunities, but only 33 percent at employers with fewer than 10 people, per Gallup's 2025 survey of 15,968 U.S. workers.
- High-potential employees are 3.7 times more likely to leave within the year when their manager does not regularly provide growth opportunities, according to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025.
- A development plan is not a performance improvement plan. Confusing the two is the most expensive mistake employers make with this document.
An employee development plan is a short written agreement between a manager and an employee that names one or two capabilities the employee will build, the specific actions that will build them, who is responsible for each action, and the date progress gets reviewed. It documents growth, not discipline.
What to include Example plan Plan vs. PIP
What is an employee development plan?
Some organizations call it an individual development plan, or IDP. The terms are interchangeable. It is the piece of employee training and development that turns a training catalog into something one person actually uses.
The plan is deliberately small. One page. Two goals at most. Nine goals is a wish list, and wish lists don’t survive a busy quarter.
What goes in an employee development plan
Seven elements. Anything beyond these is administrative weight.
- The development goal. One or two capabilities, stated as an observable behavior. “Runs the weekly production meeting without escalation” beats “improves leadership.”
- The business reason. Why the organization benefits. This protects the plan when budgets tighten.
- The actions. Courses, stretch assignments, projects, or coaching. Formal training is usually the smallest piece, and it should be a specific course with a date, not “take a leadership class.”
- The owner of each action. The employee owns most. Some belong to the manager: an introduction, a seat at a meeting, a project handoff.
- The resources and cost. Fees, time off the desk, and who approves it.
- Target dates. One per action, not one for the whole plan.
- Evidence of progress. What will be true when the goal is met, and who confirms it.
Employers skip the fourth most often. A plan where every action belongs to the employee is a plan the manager has already opted out of.
An employee development plan example
A filled-in plan for a team lead being prepared for a supervisor role.
Employee: Team Lead, Customer Service · Plan period: September 2026 to March 2027 · Reviewed: quarterly
| Element | Entry |
|---|---|
| Development goal | Handle performance conversations with direct reports independently, including documented coaching for missed quality targets |
| Business reason | Two supervisor roles open within 12 months; escalations average 6 per month |
| Action 1 | Complete Coaching for Growth and Using Feedback Effectively |
| Action 2 | Shadow three coaching conversations, then lead two with the department manager observing |
| Action 3 | Own the weekly quality huddle, starting November |
| Manager’s actions | Schedule the shadow sessions; hand off the huddle; give written feedback within 48 hours |
| Resources | Two course fees approved by department manager; 6 hours off the floor |
| Target dates | Action 1 by Nov 10 · Action 2 by Feb 1 · Action 3 ongoing from Nov 3 |
| Evidence of progress | Escalations drop below 2 per month; two coaching conversations documented and reviewed |
No competency model, no rating scale, no five-year vision. Both people know what happens next week.
Courses that fill the Actions row
The Actions row is where most plans go vague. A named course with a date on the calendar is an action. “Get some leadership training” is not. These match the development goals employers write most often, and each has a page where you can pick a date and register.
| Course and the goal it builds | Price* |
|---|---|
| Coaching for Growth Coaching direct reports |
$339 / $269 Register |
| Using Feedback Effectively Giving feedback that sticks |
$339 / $269 Register |
| Navigating Difficult Conversations Holding hard conversations |
$339 / $269 Register |
| Fundamentals of Supervision Certificate Program Stepping into a first supervisor role |
$959 / $699 Register |
| High Potentials: Is Supervision Right for Me? Deciding whether management is the right path |
$799 / $579 Register |
*Non-member / member price. Catapult members register at the lower rate. See the full manager development workshops lineup for more topics and later dates.
Employee development plan vs. performance improvement plan
These two documents look similar and function as opposites. Blur them and employees learn to read any written plan as a warning shot. Development conversations stop.
| Development plan | Performance improvement plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Potential, ambition, or a future business need | Performance below the standard of the role |
| Baseline | Employee is meeting expectations | Employee is not meeting expectations |
| Time horizon | 6–18 months, extendable | Typically 30, 60, or 90 days, fixed |
| If it is not completed | The goal moves; employment is unaffected | Further discipline, up to termination |
| Who initiates | The employee or the manager | The manager, usually with HR involved |
| Documentation weight | Working document | Formal record, likely produced in litigation |
| HR’s role | Support and resourcing | Review before it is issued |
The practical rule: if failing to complete the plan could cost the employee their job, it is a PIP. Build and document it as one, using PIP and disciplinary documentation templates and a review by HR or counsel.
Do not run a PIP under a development-plan label to soften the message. An employee terminated after a document that never said their job was at risk is a wrongful-termination or discrimination claim waiting to be filed.
Who writes the plan, and how often you review it
The split that works: the employee drafts, the manager shapes, HR resources.
- The employee proposes the goal and the actions. A plan written for someone gets completed at the rate of a New Year’s resolution.
- The manager pressure-tests the goal against what the business needs, commits to their own actions, approves time and budget, and holds the review dates.
- HR supplies the format, connects the plan to available training, and tracks who is getting plans and who isn’t.
Cadence matters more than format. Set the plan in a dedicated 45-minute conversation, then review it for 15 minutes inside a regular one-on-one every quarter. Annual review is not a cadence. It is a postmortem.
Employers moving off the once-a-year model fold these check-ins into an existing feedback rhythm, the shift behind continuous performance management. Keep them separate from the rating conversation. When the two share an agenda, the rating wins the room.
Why development plans die in a drawer
Three failure modes account for nearly all of it.
The manager cannot hold the conversation. Only 15 percent of employees report that a manager helped build their career plan in the past six months, down five points from the year before. Separately, half of the L&D professionals surveyed say managers lack the support they need to develop their people. Both figures come from LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report. A manager who was never taught to ask about someone’s ambitions will default to this quarter’s numbers.
That is a skill gap, and it is a trainable one. A single session of Coaching for Growth covers the exact conversation a development plan depends on. If one person’s plan calls for several courses, a Class Pass covers every public course for that individual for 12 months at one annual fee.
Nothing is scheduled. A plan with no calendar entry is a document, not a commitment. Book the quarterly reviews, and register for any course in the plan, the day the plan is signed.
The manager owns nothing. If every line belongs to the employee, the plan is homework. The employer’s actions, such as the stretch assignment, the introduction, and the approved course, are what signal a real stake in the outcome.
The payoff is measurable. Employees who received skills training reported high job satisfaction at 45 percent, versus 27 percent for those who did not, per Gallup’s 2025 survey of 15,968 U.S. workers. And DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025 found high-potential employees are 3.7 times more likely to leave within the year when their manager does not regularly provide opportunities for growth.
For roles feeding your leadership bench, tie the plan to a defined program rather than a list of courses. See how to build a leadership development program.
What is the difference between a development plan and a performance improvement plan?
A development plan builds future capability for an employee already meeting expectations. A performance improvement plan corrects performance below standard, runs on a fixed 30- to 90-day clock, and can end in termination. One is a growth document. The other is a disciplinary record.
Who should write an employee development plan?
The employee drafts it, the manager shapes and approves it, and HR supplies the format and resources. Employee-drafted plans get completed more often because the goals reflect what the person wants. The manager’s job is to tie that goal to a business need.
How often should a development plan be reviewed?
Quarterly, in about fifteen minutes inside an existing one-on-one. Annual review is too slow to catch a stalled plan and turns development into a paperwork exercise. Set the review dates the day the plan is signed, and keep them separate from performance ratings.
Should every employee have a development plan?
Every employee should be offered one. Most employers start with roles carrying succession risk, high-potential contributors, and newly promoted managers. Watch the size gap: 63 percent of employees say their employer provides advancement opportunities, but only 33 percent at employers under 10 people, per Gallup.
What training should go in an employee development plan?
Pick one course that builds the exact behavior in the goal, and put its date in the plan. For a future supervisor, that is usually coaching, feedback, or a supervision certificate. Keep formal training to one or two items. Stretch assignments and manager-owned actions do most of the work.
Where to start
Pick five employees. Write five one-page plans with them. Review them in ninety days and see which actions actually happened. If most did not, the problem is rarely the template. It is the managers.
Fundamentals of Supervision covers the coaching, feedback, and performance conversations every development plan depends on.
Pick a date and register
Not sure which course fits your managers? Book a 30-minute HR consultation with a certified advisor.
Sources
This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Performance improvement plans and disciplinary documentation carry legal exposure, so consult employment counsel for your specific situation. Current as of September 2026.
- LinkedIn Learning, 2025 Workplace Learning Report (2025; 937 L&D and HR professionals, 679 learners): manager career-plan support and the manager support gap
- Gallup, One in Four U.S. Employees Lack Advancement Opportunities (survey conducted January 13 to February 25, 2025; n=15,968 U.S. workers): advancement opportunity by employer size, skills training and job satisfaction
- DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025 (January 2025; 10,796 leaders across 2,014 organizations): high-potential attrition risk without manager-provided growth
- SHRM, Charting Growth Trajectories: The Individual Development Plan (IDP) Approach: IDP definition and the shared manager and employee responsibility model
- Catapult, Manager Development Workshops: current course dates, seats, and member and non-member pricing
Carlie Houchins, Ed.D., is Director of Learning Solutions at Catapult, where she leads learning and development strategy and program design. Her work centers on helping organizations build leadership capability and support employee growth, across leadership development, training program design, eLearning, and capability building. She also speaks at conferences, chamber events, and professional development sessions. Catapult is an employers association founded in 1958 that serves member employers across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and supports members nationwide.
