Creating Your Rest-of-2023 People Investment Plan

I was in Costco last week and saw…a Christmas tree. It’s *&^$% August! Can’t we have the WHOLE summer?

Fall fast approaches. It’s back-to-school. And, for those whose fiscal year follows the calendar year, we’re staring down Q4.

In this issue of our newsletter - your practical people investment plan for the rest of 2023.

1. Have stay conversations with each of your team members. (And coach managers to have them with their team members.)?

Align team members’ needs with what you and the organization can offer (More flexibility? Growth opportunities?) and align the organization's needs with what team members can offer (How are they doing against expectations? Are you optimizing their strengths and skills?).?

We have these needs + offer conversations during the recruiting process (“Join us and be your best self!”) and, sometimes, during the exit process (“Gee, what could we have done to help you BE your best self?”) Stay conversations are a powerful tool in your engagement toolbox.?

Need help with your stay conversations? Check out my article.?

2. Review your team members’ development goals and co-create action plans.?

No shame if they don’t have goals. (OK, some shame.)?

It’s not too late. Ask your team members to draft. Notice I did NOT say “Write your team members’ plans yourself.” Part of our development process is individual ownership of our development. You can coach and guide, but hold your people accountable for at least the first pass. Encourage responses to these questions:

• How do I want to grow personally?
• How do I want to grow professionally?
• How will this growth support my current role?
• How will this growth prepare me for future roles?
• What actions can I take to support this development?
• What do I need from the organization?

Two tips:

Write SMART goals - specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timebound. I’ll never forget the development goal I read in a plan written by an executive assistant. I was head of HR and we had overhauled our approach to performance and goal management. I read every goal plan so I could see patterns, coach leaders, and identify training opportunities. The executive assistant had one goal - “Become a better assistant.” Umm…noble, but not SMART.

Align goals with needs and offer to harness intrinsic motivation. Daniel Pink’s great motivation book Drive describes three aspects: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. How does the development plan support the team member’s ability to direct their own life and work? How does it deepen strengths and hone critical skills? And how does it connect to their bigger picture?

If your team members HAVE plans - yay you! Celebrate progress and move to step 3.

3. Identify individual and team development opportunities.

See how this is building? Based on your review of development plans, which flow from your stay conversations, you can prioritize investments. Do multiple team members want to become better people managers? Offer foundational skill-building (onsite, virtual, and self-study training options abound). Do they crave broader networks and deeper business knowledge? Explore mentors within and across functions.. Do high performers want to strengthen leadership potential? Offer coaching. Get creative, do something, and adjust based on feedback.

4. Consider an offsite

Fully covered in past issues…you have four months before year’s end to bring team members together to review the past, rally the present, and get a head start on 2024. Use your travel budgets to unite remote employees. If you’re scraping your piggy bank, hold an onsite offsite but make it intentional - not just another work meeting.?

Time’s ticking. Pumpkin spice lattes have landed. Take a sip, ignore the trees, and optimize the rest of your summer by investing in your people.

Tina has played at the intersection of humans + technology + work for more than 25 years. A consultant, speaker, and educator, she is the founder of WorkJoy, partnering with organizations to unleash the potential of their humans. WorkJoy helps develop leaders through 1-to-1 coaching, 1-to-many training and team facilitation, and 1-to-all speaking engagements. Contact us to learn more!