Release Notes

Introducing Personalized Development Plans (PDP's)

Written by Holly Tate | Apr 3, 2024 12:00:00 PM

Our product team is always hard at work, always putting out amazing new features, but this next release has us REALLY excited. Drum roll pleaseđŸ„... Personalized Development Plans (PDP's) are finally here!

PDP's empower your employees and leaders to create and implement tailored development plans that drive personal growth and career advancement. Here's a closer look at what this new module has to offer:

  • Customized Development Paths: Leadr now offers personalized development paths based on individual goals, competencies, and career aspirations. Users can create, update, and track their development plans with ease, ensuring alignment with their professional ambitions.
  • Goal Setting and Tracking: Leadr's PDP module allows users to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals within the platform. Users can track their progress over time with visual representations of goal attainment, keeping them motivated and on track.
  • Feedback and Reflection: Solicit feedback from peers, mentors, and managers to gain valuable insights into your strengths and areas for improvement. Leadr's reflection feature allows you to capture learnings and track personal growth over time.
  • Integration with Performance Management: Seamlessly integrate your development plans with the performance management process. Leadr ensures alignment between your development goals and organizational objectives, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Actionable Insights: Leadr provides actionable insights based on your development activities and progress. Identify trends, areas for improvement, and success stories to optimize your development efforts and achieve your goals faster.

 

About Personal Development Plans

Leadr’s mission is “To Develop 1,000,000 Leaders.” With Personal Development Plans (PDPs), we are taking key features from across Leadr such as Goals, Action Items, Learning, Meetings, Recognition, and Feedback and combining them into a plan for a person to grow their skills, accomplish their goals, and develop into a leader.

To be clear, this isn’t just about moving up the “corporate ladder” or advancing to the next level of your role. While those are certainly capabilities of PDPs, the feature accounts for “Rockstars” (those who want to develop in their current role) as well as “Superstars” (those who want to advance to the next level of their career).

Having a PDP makes planning for a person’s development clear and progress easily trackable. The milestone-based approach of a PDP in Leadr creates a logical breakdown of a large plan into smaller pieces which are more easily achievable and allows for multiple checkpoints along the way.

The plan is owned by the person seeking development - they create and manage it throughout the process. We can’t force people to be developed, and those who aren’t ready or in a growth phase won’t be successful if a plan is “given” to them. By giving the person ownership of their plan, they are more likely to build a plan that meets their needs and they are more likely to see it through.

PDPs encourage visibility and mentorship by those who can help users achieve their desired outcome. By co-creating the plan with a Mentor, the plan structure can be curated and advised on to help make it effective. Viewers can also be invited to the plan to add comments and drive accountability.

 

Benefits to Users and Organizations

PDPs are beneficial to not only the person being developed, but also to the organization. Employees are able to create a documented, strategic plan for achieving their career goals and get the support they need to accomplish them. They are also able to plan for growth activities coming out of processes like reviews.

For the organization, employees who are developed and achieve their goals are significantly more likely to stay, decreasing turnover and increasing employee satisfaction and engagement. Additionally, PDPs increase engagement and provide a trackable record of achievement and skill development which can be utilized in succession planning, promotions, and in filling newly-created roles.