Successful companies are proactive about employee development and use their learning strategy, and tools like a development map to guide employees on their development journey, from on-boarding to successfully performing in-role to preparing for advancement.
A development map can be configured in numerous ways. In general, a map goes beyond clusters of courses to the broader idea of employee development – accounting for the formal training and informal developmental experiences needed to perform, develop, and advance in the role, and in an organization.
In a previous post (find it here) we explained what a development map is, what makes them unique, and how to judge whether you have a good one.
Development maps can be elaborate or spare, can be based on a theme, or simply show a sequence of development experiences. While the visual treatment is often unique, effective development maps share several traits. They display how phases of development guide progression in the role, show typical timelines, focus on performance, are learner-centric, and balance structure with flexibility. They work within an organization’s current learning ecosystem.
They make the best use of each supported modality (and blended learning), gradually increase complexity and difficulty, focus on achieving performance-oriented milestones, emphasize realistic whole-task practice, and provide enough practice to measurably demonstrate proficiency.
Business leaders, learning leaders, and employees get unique benefits from learning strategies and development maps designed to achieve those outcomes.
Benefits For Employees: Development maps improve employee engagement because employees
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Can visualize their future with the organization and develop step-by-step and stage-by-stage plans
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Connect more deeply with the organization because they can plan their future
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Feel the organization cares about them
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Have information to help them at important milestones (e.g., when they’re hired, when they’re about to be promoted, or when they’re looking for a new path in the organization)
Development maps help achieve these benefits for employees by:
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Providing a picture of the entire development experience
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Curating training and development activities from a vast list of possibilities to those that matter most to ensure development efforts support performance
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Providing insights and expectations of development milestones and timing
Benefits For L&D Leaders: Development maps provide a comprehensive picture to inform decisions so learning leaders can
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Take a leadership role in improving employee experience, engagement, and satisfaction
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Act swiftly and with confidence, knowing the foundation is firmly in place
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Be a part of meaningful decision-making
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Maximize the benefits of the organization’s learning ecosystem
Development maps help achieve these benefits for learning leaders by:
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Focusing on real-world job performance requirements, minimizing the need for one-off requests from the business
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Providing a comprehensive list of all training and development activities for on-boarding, role proficiency, and continued development
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Improving alignment to business goals by allowing them to prioritize L&D investments
Benefits For Business Leaders: Development maps ensure the employee’s training and development journey prepares them to contribute to achieving business goals so business leaders
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Are confident all the ingredients for successful employee performance are accounted for
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See how L&D supports their business, addresses gaps, and helps them exceed goals
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Have a tool for front-line managers and employees to guide employee development
Development maps help achieve these benefits for business leaders by:
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Providing visibility into all the elements of development (learning events, audience, timing, and delivery modality)
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Speeding employee ramp-up time by focusing training and development on job performance
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Helping achieve business goals related to reducing risk, decreasing training time or costs
To learn more about development maps, follow this link.
For more information on how development maps can give your organization an edge on employee performance and engagement, please contact us at [email protected].
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Building your Best Employee: Learning Strategies that Drive Results
