United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Administration And
Resources Management
(3633)
EPA 210-K-97-002
Revised September
&EPA
Creating
Your
Individual
Development
Plan
Recycled/Recyclable
Printed with Soy/Canola Ink on pap<
contains at least 50% recycled fiber
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Foreword
The primary purpose of this guidance is to provide assistance in
establishing an Individual Development Plan (IDP). The IDP is both a
valuable planning process and an excellent communication tool. The process
helps individuals identify short-term needs for improving current job
performance and long-term career aspirations. As a result, both the
individual and the organization benefit from the opportunity to exchange
ideas, concerns, and important developmental information.
Enlightened managers and employees will establish or update their
plans within thirty days of receiving their annual performance appraisal or
starting a new job. This planning process and communication tool will
compliment the performance management process in the PERFORM System.
If you have questions or need help, contact your Human Resources
Officer or Program Management Officer, who can contact the Office of
Human Resources and Organizational Services, EPA Learning Institute at
(202) 260-6678 if questions remain.
September 1997
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“IF
YOU DON’T
KNOW
WHERE YOU’RE
GOING YOU’LL
PROBABLY
END UP
• •. • SOMEPLACE ELSE”
DAVID P CAMPBELL
PRESIDENT, STRONG & CAMPBELL, INC.
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Table of Contents
Introduction .1
The Individual Development Plan Process 2
Step 1: Conduct Self Assessment 3
Step 2: Obtain Others’ Assessment 6
Step 3: Survey Environment 7
Step 4: Take Action 8
Choosing Developmental Opportunities 11
Optional IDP Format 13
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INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS
INTRODUCTION
Individual Development Plans (IDP’s) provide the individual with a planning
process that identifies both developmental needs and career objectives.
Furthermore, IDP’s serve as a communication tool between employees and
their managers.
The goals of the IDP process are to help individuals identify:
• Short-term needs for improving current job performance; and
• Long-term career opportunities and options they want to pursue.
Some very specific benefits of the IDP process are:
-- Organizations benefit by having motivated employees who have
good skills, high morale and job satisfaction. These factors contribute
to the organization by creating a more efficient, productive work force.
-- Supervisors benefit from understanding the strengths and career
aspirations of their employees. The process encourages them to readily
and openly discuss developmental objectives with their employees.
-- Individuals benefit when they can communicate their goals and
developmental objectives to their managers and focus on achieving their
career aspirations.
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BASIC STEPS IN THE INDIVIDUAL
DEVELOPMENT PLAN PROCESS
STEP 1: Conduct Self-Assessment
• Examine your interests and values
• Assess your skill strengths and limitations
• Establish long-range (2-4 years) and short-range (1 year)
career goals
• Examine management priorities
• Rank developmental areas
STEP 2: Obtain Others’ Assessment
• Obtain objective assessment of performance from
supervisors, employees, peers and customers
• Obtain others T perception of potential
STEP 3: Survey Environment
• Identify job options and developmental opportunities
• Consider constraints: time, money and personal
responsibilities
• Adjust ranking of top three strengths and limitations
STEP 4: Take Action
• Commit your plan to paper
• Discuss it with your supervisor
• Implement
• Revise and modify as needed
• Begin again
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STEP 1: CONDUCT SELF-ASSESSMENT
• Examine Your Interests and Values
-- Interests and values determine how satisfied you will be in your
career. To identify interests and values, start by examining what you
like and don’t like about your present job, such as:
- Work setting
- Relationships with co-workers
- Supervision received
- The work itself
- Compensation
- Ability to balance job and personal responsibilities
-- Next, think back to your earlier jobs, and identify the most
satisfactory and the least satisfactory ones. Look for any patterns in
your likes and dislikes.
-- Finally, consider elements you find desirable in jobs held by others.
Recall occupations you have always been interested in learning or
doing.
This exercise will give you an idea of your interests and values.
• Assess Your Skill Strengths and Developmental Areas
- - A critical part of career planning is taking a realistic look at your
current abilities. Use assessment tools to examine what is needed to
improve present job performance or meet the requirements of a
promotion or career change.
-- Assessment tools can be formal or informal. Formal assessment
tools are structured or systematic in nature. They can include
instruments such as assessment surveys, workshops or courses.
Informal assessment tools are unstructured. They can be as simple as
3
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writing a checklist or asking the opinion of others.
• Establish Goals
A goal describes a particular direction or outcome which an
individual wants to pursue. For example:
I want to be a second level manager in the Air program in
a region. (Tangible)
I want to achieve a greater balance between my personal
and professional life. (Intangible)
-- Establish both long-term goals (2-4 years) and short-term goals (1
year). With clearly defined goals, you will be ready for opportunities
that come along. Although goals can change, they provide a sense of
direction and focus.
-- Short-term goals will normally apply to what you can do in your
current position; long-term goals may involve several options,
including a promotion, a career change outside of the organization, or
perhaps a lateral move with a new set of responsibilities.
-- To be effective motivators, goals should be “SMART”. Are they:
Specific--name concisely and clearly, what you want to accomplish;
content is simple and short (10-45 words).
Measurable—measures are clear; you will know when you get there.
Attainable—are achievable yet challenging.
Relevant—compatible with your values, priorities, and existing
obligations; the organization ’s needs; and professional trends.
Time-bound--have specific start and target dates.
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• Examine Management Priorities
-- Another critical piece of information is determining whether your
goals and development needs are compatible with the management
priorities in your organization. If they are not, the challenge is to work
with your management to identify developmental activities which allow
you to continue to contribute to the organization’ s priorities while still
moving toward your long-term goal.
• Rank Developmental Areas
-- Prioritize those developmental areas to achieve the best balance
between your individual needs and the needs of the organization.
-- For example, although your long-term goal may point to a certain set
of developmental areas, high priorities in your organization may
require focusing on another set of developmental areas to maintain an
acceptable level of performance in your current job.
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STEP 2: OBTAIN OTHERS’ ASSESSMENT
• Obtain Objective Assessment of Your Performance
-- The act of assessment analyzes and evaluates aspects of performance
in order to determine developmental needs and activities to improve
them. When analysis comes from a variety of sources, it provides a
different and more comprehensive perspective. Therefore, a good
assessment should involve input from others, including your supervisor,
employees, peers, customers, mentors, family and friends.
-- How well you manage your personal relationships and your work is
very important. Career success is largely determined by how well we
serve our customers, work with peers, relate to employees, and deal
with managers.
-- Similarly, the reputation you create has a profound affect on your
career. How others perceive you is critical to your success.
-- Ask others what they think are your strengths and developmental
needs. Seek suggestions on ways to improve developmental areas.
• Obtain Others’ Perception of Your Potential
-- Get others’ view on your future career progression.
-- Ask them what position they see you holding in 3 or more years.
6
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STEP 3: SURVEY ENVIRONMENT
• Identify Job Options and Developmental Opportunities
-- Now that you have decided on goals and identified priority
developmental areas, research information to determine their feasibility
and appropriateness.
- How well do your goals match the organization’s goals
and objectives?
- Do the types of jobs you are interested in exist in your
organization; if not, where are they?
- What developmental opportunities are available to you?
-- Considerations for “Choosing the Most Appropriate
Developmental Activity” are discussed on page 11.
• Consider Constraints: Time, Cost and Personal Responsibilities
-- Finally, be realistic about developmental areas that can be addressed
within the effective dates of your IDP. Your work schedule, budget
constraints or family responsibilities may influence the type of
development activity that is right for you at a particular point in time.
• Adjust Ranking of Developmental Areas
-- The information you collect in this step may require that you adjust
your ranking of development areas. For example, although your
highest developmental need may be to broaden your perspective by
taking on work in new areas, it may not be possible to address that
need in the near-term because of the workload demanded by current
projects. Similarly, attempting to address all of your developmental
needs at once is unrealistic. Therefore, it is recommended that you
focus on no more than your top three developmental areas within a
given year.
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STEP 4: TAKE ACTION
• Commit Your Plan To Paper!
-- Now that you have both long-term and short-term goals, write them
down along with the remaining information outlined below. Writing
your goals down promotes clarity and indicates a commitment to
yourself.
- - An optional ID? format is provided on page 13. You are free to use
other formats that you or your organization may prefer as long as the
same minimum information is recorded. Those organizations that have
automated IDP’ s are encouraged to use them.
--A copy of the form can also be retrieved from the Agency LAN
Services Menu. Select the Postman icon. Select Receive a ifie, then
retrieve a file from EPA Headquarters. The user will be COMMON,
and the file name will be ID?.! (a WordPerfect 5.1 Document).
Postman will ask you to specify the destination directory path, and the
default will be your LAN user directory (i.e. F:\User\Employee).
--E — Forms has a fill out and print version of the form.
• Establish Effective Dates
--Enlightened managers and employees will establish or update their
plans within thirty days of their annual performance appraisal or
starting a new job; and they will cover one full year. Therefore, the
effective dates will be February 1 of the present year through
January 31 of the next year.
• Identify Specific Developmental Objectives
-- Objectives are a group of intermediate actions taken towards a goal.
They are shorter in time, more specific and immediate.
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--Draw your objectives from the developmental areas identified earlier.
Be specific about what you want to accomplish. This will help you
figure out which developmental opportunities will help you the most.
-- Keep in mind the difference between a developmental objective and
a goal. A developmental objective is a specific knowledge, skill or
ability you want to improve to help you achieve a goal, and a goal is
where you want to be at some future point in time.
• Define Developmental Activities and Time Frames
--What specific activities will you be undertaking? What time frames
do they have? How will you know when you have succeeded in
changing a developmental need to a strength? Answering these
questions helps both you and your supervisor plan for the activities.
-- Refer to “Choosing the Most Appropriate Developmental
Activity” on page 11. Keep in mind that there is more to development
than formal classroom training.
• Discuss the Completed IDP With Your Supervisor and Co-sign
-- Discuss your plan with your supervisor and reach an agreement.
Both of you sign the completed document to signify this agreement.
Documenting your agreement helps ensure that you both understand
what is involved in your development.
• Implement Your Plan
-- You’ve made a good start on your lifelong journey of learning and
development, now it is time to take action. Your plan is just the
beginning of your development and serves as the road map to your
success. Start acting on your plan today.
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• Revise and Modify Plan As Necessary
-- Remember that your plan is not cast in concrete; you will need to
modify it as circumstances change. The challenge of implementation is
to remain flexible and open to change. Continue discussions with your
manager and others who can provide useful perspectives.
-- Review your plan in six months to see if you are on track. This will
help keep your development plan realistic and up-to-date.
-- It is the responsibility of the organization, the supervisor and the
individual to ensure that the IDP is established, revised as needed, and
completed within the year.
• Begin Again
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CHOOSING THE MOST APPROPRIATE
DEVELOPMENTAL OPPORTUNITY
There are a variety of ways to develop your competence in any given area.
They are not limited to formal classroom training. Choosing an effective
developmental activity involves more than checking to see what courses are
available. Actively seek developmental opportunities and be creative.
You should consider whether you need to:
• Build skills;
• Increase knowledge or understanding; or
• Gain experience.
Developmental activities may include:
Developmental Assignments
• On-the-job training and coaching
• Rotations
Formal Training
• Classroom training
• Developmental programs
• Workshops
Self-Development
• Counseling/Coaching
• Mentor others
• Monitor self/observe others
• Professional associations
• Reading/video tapes
• Work groups/task forces
11
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12
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Long-Term GoaL
Environmental Protection Agency
Individual Development Plan
-- ______________ Effective Dates:
_________________________________ 1 1)UCitiC I )c th)l)I1fltIl \cf i\
I )i CI )I11(I1l ()hjcI R L
Description
Time Frame
See reverse side for signatures
Short-Term Goal:
EPA Form 3140-31 (4/91)
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I ) Iupint’n I ()h.j cI i e J)1TiI I )e cIoI)II1Eflt ct i ii sc
Description
Time Frame
Employee Si 1 nsiure Date
ManagetSignaiure
IPA Form 3340-33 (4/91)
Date
Othezs, sa app up iaIe:
AuistsnI/Region.1 Adminiatrator
Date
Executive Rcaoui ea Roaxd
Date
Mento.
Date
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