It’s hard to think of an important aspect of management more neglected than development planning: helping your employees shape the future direction of their careers. Yet for a variety of reasons, this valuable activity is often ignored… or handled as a bureaucratic exercise… or an afterthought. Companies pay a high price: the loss of top young talent.
I know when I was in management I didn’t spend as much time as I should have on the development of my own employees. I did spend some time, but in retrospect I wasn’t as consistent and thorough as I should have been. And I’m sure it would have been helpful over the years if my own managers had spent more time with me.