DHHS: Workplan Guide > Development Plan

NC Department of Health and Human Services

Managing Employee Workplans

Writing a Development Plan

General Information:

The work of our organization is not static. Your employees will experience the need to continue to develop new skills and competencies to retain competitiveness and to continue to grow within their jobs and the department. While individual employees may not change jobs, their work within those jobs will continue to evolve to keep pace with their specific areas of expertise regardless of their classification levels.

To help your employees keep pace and grow in their chosen field, you can help them by creating a Development Plan that may:

Be self-paced,
Include traditional classroom or online training,
Incorporate working with peers for cross-training, or
Include supervisory or other staff mentoring,
Take advantage of educational assistance programs to attend classes at the community colleges or colleges and universities.

Creating the Development Plan:

Follow the steps below to create a thorough Development Plan.

Step 1:
Assessment

Identify what knowledge, skills or competencies will keep or enhance the employee's skills.

Step 2:
Planning

Work with the employee to determine what are reasonable steps for the employee to take in developing the identified skills or competencies.

Step 3:
Documentation

The employee provides documentation of the completed training or other activities that demonstrate the new skill or knowledge for your review. Typically, this occurs during the interim review or final performance appraisal.

Example:

The following is an example of a Development Plan with several types of issues. The format is from page 4 of the Workplan.

Zakea has worked for the Controller's Office for over a year. She will assume responsibility for being the accounts payable officer for three DHHS divisions. Zakea is technically a very good accountant but has little experience working with customers. Her new job will involve working with staff from the three divisions to ensure that bills are paid to outside vendors on time and accurately. The Dimensions "Service Orientation" and "Collaboration" will be very important in her new job.

Development Plan

A. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Zakea will need to increase listening skills to be sure she is clear on the customer's needs as well as working through customer complaints.

She will also need to be sure she is knowledgeable on Accounts Payable policies and that she can clarify these to customers in plain language.

B. Training and Education:

Zakea will take the DHHS Customer Service Excellence class in the next few weeks. She will also take an upcoming class in Conflict Management. This class includes skill building in negotiation and consensus building. She will also review an on-line class on building customer relationships.

Supervisor's Responsibilities

As her supervisor, I will spend time meeting with her and her new division contacts. Over the next two months, I will give her increasing responsibility to initiate meetings, identify key customer issues and follow-up strategies with customers.

I will provide both positive feedback and constructive suggestions to improve her work with the three divisions. I will also use the STAR method to ensure that she understands what she has done well and how or what she can do to improve.

Employee's Responsibilities

Zakea will use a daily planner to remind herself to check for understanding and to listen to the customer's point of view. She will also ask customers for feedback on what she can do to improve their relationship.

Employee's
Signature

Date

Supervisor's
Signature

Date

Manager's
Signature

Date

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Print Version of the guide.
Overview	Original Workplan	Interim Review	Improvement Plan	Development Plan	Performance Appraisal	References
	Step 1: Identify KRRs	Step 1: Preparation	Step 1: Planning	Step 1: Asessment	Step 1: Preparation	Workplan Form [Word Template] or [PDF Format]
	Step 2: Results Expectations	Step 2: Data Review	Step 2: Documentation	Step 2: Planning	Step 2: Rating KRRs	DHHS Performance Management Policy (Formerly DHHS Directive 34) HTML or PDF Performance Rating Dispute Process (DHHS Directive Number III-9, formerly DHHS Directive 33a) HTML or PDF
	Step 3: Selecting Dimensions	Step 3: Interim Review	Step 3: 30-Day Review	Step 3: Documentation	Step 3: Combine Ratings	Rating Scale and State Policy Manual
	Step 4: Writing Behavioral Expectations	Step 4: Documentation			Step 4: Summary Rating	STAR Tool
	Step 5: Tracking Performance				Step 5: Signatures & Dispute Rights	Dictionary of Dimensions
	Step 6: Workplan Review				Step 6: Submit Ratings	Standard Workplan Guidelines
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