How to Develop a Career Plan for a Manager

Developing a career plan helps an employee obtain the skills and education needed for management positions.

Many people strive for management positions that offer higher salaries and greater leadership opportunities. Becoming a manager often requires specific skills, knowledge, and experience. To ensure an employee is moving forward toward a management position, it's important to develop a career plan to keep them on track.

Instructions

1. Assign a manager to serve as a mentor to an aspiring employee aspiring toward a management position. Encourage them to meet and communicate regularly. Have the employee shadow the mentor during meetings and while the mentor performs managerial tasks within the organization.

2. Conduct a skills assessment. Ask the employee to perform a self-assessment of current skills in regards to the duties and tasks managers must be able to complete. Review the results of the assessment with the employee, and identify key skills or areas she needs to work on before she is ready for a management position.

3. Schedule training or education. Identify what kind of training, professional development, or education an employee needs to become a manager in your organization. Find courses or training opportunities that teach the skills and traits needed. Create a calendar that allows the employee to pursue them while also completing the work requirements for their current position. Allocate fiscal resources for such the training and education since the organization often pays for this.

4. Encourage networking. Task future managers with attending networking opportunities within your community. This helps develop their leadership and communication skills while also providing them with the chance to meet managers and leaders of other businesses and organizations.

References

• Example of Management Skill Assessment

Resources

• Management Skill Assessment