Employee development plan template

Too often, employee development plans sit in a folder, never to be seen again. Goals stay vague, career growth stalls, and motivation dips.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Workleap’s free employee development plan template helps managers and HR turn conversations into action. Use it to spot skills gaps, guide meaningful growth, and keep your team moving forward. 

What’s an employee development plan? 

An employee development plan is a structured, written strategy that outlines how a team member will build their skills and grow within their role. It connects everyday work responsibilities with long-term career goals, keeping employees, managers, and HR aligned on what progress looks like. 

Workleap’s career development plan template makes it easy to capture goals, strengths, and upcoming learning opportunities, all in one place. It’s a practical HR tool to support real, measurable growth. 

Creating an effective professional development plan

A strong employee development plan gives managers and employees a shared structure to discuss everything from core competencies to succession planning.

Workleap’s template simplifies that structure with a sample meeting agenda, goal setting, and strengths assessment sections. 

Here’s how to build a career development plan that works: 

• Start with a conversation: Talk with each employee about their career aspirations, preferred projects, and feedback preferences. 
• Take stock of strengths: Discuss what they do well while exploring any skills gaps and options for professional growth. 
• Set measurable development goals: Add objectives that support both individual and organizational long-term aspirations, like new competencies or mentorship opportunities. 
• Map out next steps: List the learning and development, training programs, projects, and shadowing opportunities that will move team members forward. 
• Add timeframes: Establish milestones for progress so you can measure and celebrate every small victory.
• Schedule regular meetings: Check in regularly to discuss challenges or review growth plan changes. 

Benefits of an employee development plan 

A solid employee development plan is a clear way to encourage growth and keep all your team members on the same page. Instead of leaving employees to figure it out on their own, you’re equipping them with a tangible map to guide them toward their career goals. 

A career development plan: 

• Supports long-term advancement: A professional development plan helps employees build new competencies and close skills gaps while providing support to help them achieve their career goals.
• Makes everyday work more enjoyable: Employee engagement and job satisfaction rise when progress is visible and tangible. When team members know managers are investing in them, it’s rewarding for both parties.
• Shows what the future could look like: Career plans provide clear paths forward and help with succession planning, making new roles feel less overwhelming and more within reach.
• Levels up performance: When expectations and next steps don’t feel like a moving target, your people will have the confidence to do their best work. 
• Keeps managers talking to their teams: Regular check-in conversations often flow more naturally when there’s a growth plan to follow.
• Connects the individual’s goals to the bigger picture: When employees see how their growth supports the organization's success, motivation increases and everyone moves in the same direction.

Empower team growth with Workleap

Structured planning makes growth feel doable. A clear growth plan template for employees will help you give your team direction while empowering managers to coach with purpose. Spark more goal-oriented conversations in your organization instead of saving them for once-a-year performance reviews.

Every employee’s career path deserves a structure that supports genuine progress. Download Workleap’s free career development plan template today to start capturing your staff’s strengths and mapping out their next steps.

FAQs 

What’s an example of a development plan? 

A strong development plan outlines an employee’s current strengths, areas for improvement, career goals, and specific steps to grow—examples might include stretch projects, mentorship, or training programs.

How often should development plans be updated?

Most employee development plans work best when they’re revisited quarterly. Regular updates keep the career goals relevant, reflect new priorities, and support long-term aspirations instead of letting the document collect dust. 

Who’s responsible for creating an employee development plan? 

Employees and their direct supervisor usually work together to create a development plan. HR provides valuable guidance, tools, and structure, but the real work happens through ongoing communication between workers and their managers.