Opening a one-on-one conversation with a team member about their career development doesn’t have to be hard. Below are a few tips for getting the conversation going.
First, it’s important to know that this conversation will come up, and it’s a lot more effective if you, the manager, initiates the one-on-one conversation because it shows you care about their career development. Studies have shown that a clear plan for career development improves employee engagement and performance. So, it’s also never too late to start having these conversations. It’s ideal to start them whenever you start managing a new team member, but even if you didn’t set up these conversations from the beginning, now is a great time to start.
To open the one-on-one conversation, start by asking about how their current role is going:
Then, ask about the future:
Next, create an action plan together for what to do next. After this initial one-on-one conversation, some team members will have a very clear picture of where they want their career to go next, some won’t and that’s okay. A good action plan for all team members has short-term and longer-term goals that are measurable.
To learn more about creating measurable goals, check out Teaming's Team Leadership playbook.