One of the most important things you can do for your company and your employees is to engage in regular professional development conversations. But sometimes, these conversations can be tricky. When direct reports have clear competency gaps or personal development needs, conversations might be difficult or awkward. Likewise, when direct reports offer feedback about your shortcomings, it’s easy to let ego get in the way of personal improvement.
As you start to plan your development process for the year, keep these five things in mind to help you create a valuable and productive development conversation:
Keys to a Productive Development Conversation
1. Don’t Limit the Conversation to Once or Twice Per Year
Make sure that you’re checking in to listen to your people on a regular basis, not just during formal performance reviews. Create regular times on the calendar to ask your team members about their goals and how those goals are progressing. Of course, asking to have the conversation outside of a scheduled review cycle might cause anxiety, so be sure to clarify that not all development conversations are cause for concern. Make sure your employees know that you are interested in helping them toward their career goals.
2. Avoid tying the Development Feedback Directly to Performance Reviews
While there is a time and place for a performance review and evaluation, development conversations should occur separately. Doing so will communicate that your reports have time to work on their competencies before being evaluated on them. It will also help create an atmosphere of openness where no one feels defensive about skills that are still in progress. Reducing the stakes helps open the doors for communication.
3. Look at the Long-Term
Actual development includes long-term career planning. Take time to learn your team member’s long-term hopes, goals, and dreams. Doing so requires a lot more effort than just ticking off boxes on a development plan, but the rewards are worth it. A 2019 study by LinkedIn showed that 94% of employees would stay longer if the company invested in helping them learn.
4. Encourage Your Team to Dream
Employees need to know that their dreams and hopes are valued and considered in development. Ask them questions that encourage big thinking. What kind of company do they envision working for at the pinnacle of their careers? Do they want to start their own companies? Do they have long-term education goals? From these “thinking big” conversations, you can draw out some of the themes that may have only been hinted at during formal review conversations.
5. Listen
It may seem simple, but it’s the most crucial ingredient to a productive conversation. Actively listen to what your direct reports say. Even if you’re meeting virtually, be sure your body language and tone communicate your engagement in the conversation. Don’t be afraid of silence, and make notes as you listen. Engaging in the discussion will express how important your people and their development are to you and the company.
Remember that your people are your most important asset, and taking the time to invest in their development will return long-term benefits for both them and your company.