Most companies say they care about career growth. Far fewer have a system for it. In LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report, only 36% of respondents had mature career development programs. The rest are still winging it with the occasional course or a once-a-year chat.
That gap matters for employees and for employers. Workers want to know where they are headed, and managers want to know which skills the team will need next year. An individual development plan (IDP) is one of the simplest ways to connect those two things.
In this guide, you will learn what an IDP is, how to build one in six steps, and what a good one looks like in practice. You will also get three examples and a template you can copy today.
What is an Individual Development Plan?
An individual development plan (IDP) is a written plan that connects an employee’s career goals to the skills they need and the actions that will build those skills. The employee and manager usually create it together and review it through the year. It is meant for growth, not discipline, so it is not the same as a performance improvement plan. An IDP can guide development, but it cannot guarantee a promotion or raise, and it only works when the manager supports it.
An IDP works best when it ties personal goals to what the business needs. That is why strong plans start with the employee’s interests and then check them against team and company priorities.
The following are the major goals of preparing an individual development plan:
Identify and teach new skills to perform a new job role.
Fine-tune skills to maximize current performance in the existing job role.
Increase job satisfaction and job engagement. A study reveals that organizations that offer development opportunities to their employees are likely to have retention rates 34% higherthan their counterparts.
Plan employees’ career advancement, prepare for promotion, or plan succession.
IDP vs. Related Plans
People often mix these up, so a quick comparison helps.
Plan
Main purpose
Time frame
Who leads it
Individual development plan
Build specific skills for the next role or stretch
6 to 18 months
Employee, with manager support
Career development plan
Map the longer career path
3 to 5 years
Employee
Performance review
Evaluate past results
Past quarter or year
Manager
Performance improvement plan (PIP)
Fix a documented performance problem
30 to 90 days, typically
Manager and HR
Benefits of Creating an Individual Development Plan
For the company:
Quick identification and establishment of long-term and short-term goals
Understanding the knowledge skill gap
Assist in making plans for the company’s training and development necessities
Understanding their contribution to the organization’s objectives
Improved mental health in the workplace due to increased job satisfaction and engagement
Gaining a sense of direction
Understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses
A study found that 74% of workers feel that a lack of standardized development opportunities keeps employees from performing at their best. By defining clear goals and providing access to training opportunities, the employer gives employees an opportunity for promotion and inculcates a sense of belonging and purpose. These elements are pivotal for fostering a high-performance work environment.
What Goes Into an Individual Development Plan?
A solid IDP does not need to be long. Two pages is plenty. Most good plans include these parts.
Employee snapshot. Name, role, manager, and the plan period.
Strengths and development areas. What the employee does well and where they want to grow.
Career goals. One short-term goal (6 to 12 months) and one long-term goal (2 to 5 years).
Skill gaps. The specific skills needed to reach those goals.
Action plan. The courses, projects, mentoring or stretch assignments that will build those skills.
Timeline and success measures. Dates for each action and a clear sign it is done.
Support needed. Budget, time, tools or introductions the manager will provide.
Role of IDP in Performance Evaluation
By combining IDP with a performance assessment system, employers can assist personnel in attaining their optimum potential, leading to a stronger, more capable workforce. Being goal-oriented can help employees become dedicated and driven toward achieving their personal and professional goals.
Managers can use the IDP framework in overall performance reviews to identify and reward high-performers and address the needs of employees seeking improvement. By providing a clear career plan and systematic roadmap, organizations can improve overall employee engagement and retention rates, boost productivity, and nurture an engaged body of workers.
Managers can ascertain employees‘ progress by comparing IDP goals and their achievements at the end of the established timeline. It helps pinpoint what’s working and what must be improved.
What are the IDP Goals for Development?
The process of IDP involves identifying the strengths and weaknesses of an employee and aligning them with their career goals by providing necessary training and resources. However, the process requires setting two types of goals for the employee – long-term and short-term.
Short-term goals are the outcomes a company would want an employee to achieve in the next few months or years.
Long-term goals, on the other hand, are the outcomes expected in the next 4-5 years.
Short-term goals can include completing a certification course or classroom training program.
The long-term goal can be to get promoted to one scale higher in the organization in the next few years.
These goals should follow the SMART framework. Aligning these with OKRs and goals ensures stronger business alignment.
SMART goals are:
Specific: Goals must have a specific purpose. For example, increasing loan lead conversion rate to 5%.
Measurable: The manager or supervisor should be able to measure the goals. For example, the number of leads converted in a quarter.
Achievable: Goals shouldn’t be too easy or too difficult. They should be realistic.
Relevant: Goals should drive an organization’s success while helping employees advance.
Time-bound: There should be specific timelines for achieving each goal.
Steps Involved in the Individual Development Plan Process
Here are six steps to preparing an individual development plan for an employee:
Step 1: Conduct Employee Self-Assessment
Self-assessment forms the basic foundation for preparing an IDP. This step aims to discover an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, career goals, and aspirations. To understand this, the employee must highlight their professional experience, qualifications, and specific skills or knowledge.
Step 2: Set Clearly Defined Goals
Once employees and employers know their career goals, they must divide them into subgoals. An employee and employer can also set more than one long-term goal. For example, long-term career planning (promotion, for example) can be clubbed with a few health or fitness goals.
Step 3: Develop Strategies for Upskilling
Employees must be equipped with the requisite resources, skills, and knowledge to achieve short-term and long-term goals. Examine an employee’s current skill set and those required to reach their career goals. These development strategies include on-the-job training, off-the-job training, or both.
Mix learning types so the plan does not become a list of courses. Good options include:
Stretch assignments on real projects
Mentoring or job shadowing
Certifications such as PMP or SHRM-CP (match to the role)
Internal training and AI tool training
Employer tuition assistance, where offered
Step 4: Set Timelines
One of the major aspects of setting goals is having clearly defined deadlines for each goal. It encourages employees to stay on track and helps managers easily monitor their progress.
Step 5: Follow Up
As employees work toward their goals, they might encounter challenges. Managers play a crucial role in helping them overcome these obstacles by providing necessary resources, knowledge, and support. Continuous real-time feedback helps keep development plans on track.This ongoing support allows for adjustments to the plan if needed.
Step 6: Review and Update the Plan
An IDP is a living document, not a form you file away. Hold a short check-in every month and a deeper review every quarter. At each review, mark what is done, drop goals that no longer fit, and add new ones. If the employee changes teams or the business shifts priorities, update the plan right away instead of waiting for the annual cycle.
Time, budget, tools or introductions from your manager
Success measures
How you and your manager will know it worked
Review dates
Monthly check-ins and quarterly reviews
Keep the IDP and the performance review connected, but not merged. The review looks back at results. The IDP looks forward at growth. If managers use an IDP as a scorecard, employees may hide weaknesses to look good, and the plan loses its value.
Adding AI and Future Skills to an IDP
Most roles now touch AI in some way, so it makes sense to include it in development plans. You do not need to turn every IDP into an AI course. Start by asking two questions in the planning conversation.
Which parts of this role are likely to change in the next 12 months?
What would help this person use new tools safely and well?
Check-ins in Hybrid & Remote Settings
When teams are distributed or working hybrid, check-ins take on added importance – but also require adjustments:
Be more frequent with shorter touchpoints Remote workers may feel isolated. Instead of one long meeting, consider shorter weekly or biweekly check-ins (20-30 minutes) to maintain connection without overload.
Use video, but balance screen fatigue Whenever possible, use video to maintain rapport. But allow “audio only” check-ins or walking calls when team members feel video fatigue.
Explicitly ask about remote-work challenges Include questions such as: “How’s your home setup? Any connectivity or ergonomic issues?” “Are there moments when you feel disconnected or out of the loop?”
Leverage asynchronous tools If real-time overlap is hard, use asynchronous check-ins via digital tools (Slack, shared documents, pulse surveys) where employees can write reflections, blockers, or wins ahead of the meeting.
Monitor signs of digital burnout Watch for cues like disappearing from video, delays in responses, abrupt mood changes. Use check-ins to surface mental-health and workload concerns.
Document and share summaries After each remote check-in, send a short shared summary (action items, follow-ups) to maintain clarity and accountability across virtual teams.
Common IDP Mistakes to Avoid
Even well-meaning plans can fall flat. Watch out for these.
Writing goals that are too vague, such as “improve leadership”
Setting too many goals at once
Filling in the plan once and never revisiting it
Making the plan only about the employee’s current job
Failing to give the employee time or budget to follow through
An individual development plan will not fix every talent gap. But it gives employees a clear path and gives managers a regular reason to talk about growth. Start small. Write one plan, review it every month, and adjust as you learn what works.
If you want to track IDPs, goals, feedback and learning in one place, request a demo of Engagedly and see how it works with your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of an individual development plan?
An IDP helps an employee and their manager agree on which skills to build and how. It links personal career goals to what the team and company need. It also gives both sides a shared record to review over time.
What should be included in an individual development plan?
A good IDP includes the employee’s strengths, development areas, short-term and long-term goals, specific actions, deadlines, support from the manager, and ways to measure progress. Keep it to one or two pages so people actually use it.
How is an IDP different from a performance review?
A performance review looks back at how someone performed over a past period. An IDP looks ahead and focuses on skills and growth. The two work best together, but they should stay separate so the IDP does not feel like a grading tool.
How is an IDP different from a performance improvement plan?
A performance improvement plan (PIP) documents a specific performance problem and sets a short window to fix it. An IDP is not tied to a problem. It supports growth for any employee, including strong performers.
How often should an IDP be updated?
Most teams review an IDP every quarter, with shorter check-ins each month. Update it sooner if the employee changes roles, the team changes direction, or a goal is finished early.
Who is responsible for an individual development plan, the employee or the manager?
The employee owns the goals and the effort. The manager provides feedback, access to resources, and time to work on the plan. HR or L&D can offer templates and training, but they should not write the plan for the employee.
Can I create an IDP for myself?
Yes. You can build one on your own by listing your strengths, choosing one short-term and one long-term goal, and mapping actions with deadlines. It still helps to share it with your manager so you can get support and make sure the goals fit the team’s needs.
Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast.
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