First published on Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Last updated on Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Within the performance management cycle, the develop stage is where the magic happens. It’s all about employee growth, skill enhancement, and preparing your team members for future challenges.
After monitoring progress and identifying areas for improvement, this stage provides an opportunity to invest in your workforce, helping employees refine their abilities and reach their full potential.
As an employer, it isn’t just about improving individual performance, it’s about fostering a culture of continuous learning, which drives long-term business success.
If you want engaged, motivated employees who stick around, you need to make development a priority. Let’s dive into what this stage involves and how you can make the most of it.
What is the develop stage?
By the time you’ve reached the develop stage, you’ve already set clear goals and objectives in the plan stage and started tracking progress in the monitor stage. Now it’s time to kick things up a notch—helping your employees sharpen their skills, take on new challenges, and feel more confident in their roles.
Essentially, it’s about taking the insights gathered during the monitor stage and transforming them into actionable growth opportunities for your employees. It involves providing training, mentorship, and resources to help employees bridge skill gaps, expand their knowledge, and meet both current and future objectives.
At its core, it’s about recognizing potential, addressing challenges, and creating an environment where employees feel valued and supported in their professional journey.
Key components of the develop stage
With an understanding of what the develop stage is, now we can get into the key components:
Identify development needs
Before you can help employees grow, you need to understand where they need support. So, the first step in the develop stage is to pinpoint specific areas where employees can grow. These needs may arise from performance reviews, feedback sessions, or evolving business priorities.
To identify development needs you should:
Review performance metrics and feedback gathered during the monitor stage
Discuss career aspirations and areas of interest with employees
Consider business goals and the skills required to achieve them
For example, if an employee struggles with presenting ideas clearly in meetings, you might identify public speaking or communication skills as a key development area.
Provide tailored training and development opportunities
Once development needs are identified, it’s time to offer relevant training and learning resources. You should think about offering diverse learning opportunities to accommodate different learning styles.
This could include:
Access to online e-learning courses that employees can complete at their own pace
In-person or virtual workshops and seminars focused on specific skills
Opportunities to learn from colleagues in different roles or departments
Conferences and networking events to gain industry insights
The more accessible and varied your training options, the more likely employees will take advantage of them.
Create personalized development plans
As no two employees are the same, a one-size fits all approach won’t work. The best way to keep employees engaged is by tailoring development to their goals and learning styles. That’s why it’s best practice to create a personalized performance development plan (PDP) for each of your employees.
Giving employees a say in their development makes them more likely to stay motivated and engaged. Whilst providing them with a clear pathway for success.
Offer mentorship and coaching
Pairing employees with mentors or coaches can have a transformative impact on their growth. Mentors provide guidance, share their experiences, and help employees navigate challenges in their roles.
Effective mentorship involves:
Matching employees with mentors who align with their career goals
Encouraging regular check-ins to discuss progress and challenges
Setting clear expectations for the mentorship relationship
For example, a junior team member aiming to transition into a leadership role could benefit from shadowing a senior manager and receiving advice on team management strategies.
Encourage on-the-job learning
Learning doesn’t always have to happen in a formal setting. Encouraging employees to take on stretch assignments or participate in challenging projects allows them to gain hands-on experience and develop practical skills.
Examples of on-the-job learning include:
Leading a cross-departmental initiative
Solving a real-world problem as part of a team
Taking ownership of a new process or technology implementation
This approach not only enhances skills but also boosts confidence and prepares employees for future roles.
Encourage a growth mindset
A growth mindset is the belief that skills can be developed with effort and practice. Employees with this mindset see challenges as learning opportunities rather than setbacks.
You can encourage this by:
Praising effort and progress rather than just results
Creating a safe space for mistakes to let employees experiment and learn
Providing regular feedback that focuses on improvement
For example, you could use an employee recognition platform to give praise, feedback, and recognition for employees hard work.
Support career progression
People don’t want to feel stuck. If they can’t see a future at your company, they’ll start looking elsewhere.
To show employees that you’re invested in their long-term success by:
Offering leadership training for those interested in management roles
Creating clear career progression paths within your business
Encouraging internal mobility, so employees can explore different roles
When employees see opportunities to grow, they’re more likely to stay engaged and committed.
Making development a part of everyday work
Development shouldn’t just happen at performance review time. You can make learning and growth part of your businesses culture, here’s how:
Align development with business goals
It’s important to remember that any development activities should contribute to your business needs. This alignment makes sure that you get a return on investment, and it helps employees see how their growth impacts the company’s success.
Be flexible and adaptable
As mentioned, not every employee learns in the same way. Some may thrive in formal training sessions, while others prefer hands-on experiences. So, remember to tailor development strategies to suit individual preferences and circumstances.
Monitor and adjust
It’s important to track progress against development goals and adjust as needed. So, remember to regularly revisit objectives to ensure they remain relevant and achievable.
Invest in development resources
If you want to prioritise development, you should allocate a sufficient budget and resources. This could involve funding external courses, hiring expert trainers, or investing in performance management software to support learning initiatives.
What happens after the develop stage?
The develop stage helps employees grow, but how do you know that it’s working? That’s where the review stage comes in. This is where you assess whether development efforts are paying off, adjust plans if needed, and make sure that your employees stay on the right path.
Just remember as the cycle progresses to the review stage, the efforts you make during the develop stage will provide a solid foundation for evaluating performance and planning future growth. Let’s explore the review stage.
