Most of us in the HR world are in the midst of what some call "HR Season." The time of year when many organizations are in the middle of their performance review, goal setting and development plan processes.
It is, indeed a busy time of year. However, the ideal situation is that this is just one of many times during the year when employees and managers are take time to reflect on accomplishments and development areas. It seems like such an easy concept. Measuring progress and talking about professional development activities are key to organizational success as well as individual growth.
So why do so many organizations still only facilitate these conversations but once a year?
I must admit that as a manager myself, I understand how easy it is to get caught up in the tasks, meetings, and the other aspects of "getting things done." It IS easy to let weeks and months go by without having substantive conversations with our staff and our peers about the bigger picture. Lack of a formal process makes it so easy to put off these conversations until tomorrow. Next week. You get the picture.
So how does one discipline themselves to make thinking about and talking about goals, measurements and development progress a part of their personal cadence? Do you schedule time for yourself to do these activities, and if you do, how good are you at keeping the commitment to yourself without other things get in the way?
Taking a note from the world of weight loss, I'm thinking that having a "development buddy," like a work-out partner, would make people feel more accountable to actually getting it done. We all know that it is much easier to hold ourselves accountable to someone else, than it is to remain accountable to ourselves. Sad, but true.
As I get ready to launch a new tool for our organization to track on-going development plans (separate from goals and performance reviews), I'm thinking of suggesting, dare I say advocating, for such a system.
Thoughts? Other ideas? Resources?
