ESSENTIALS MANAGEMENT FOUR STEPS TO DESIGN A CAREER ACTION PLAN At Candor, career action plans are developed into four parts. Each part has 2-5 action items. Each action item should answer: Who will do what by when? “If those three questions aren’t answered, you don’t have an action plan. What you have is that IDP exercise. Who will do what by when? That’s an accountable plan. That’s something you can work on and manage toward,” Laraway says. Here’s how career action plans should be created: Develop their role. If you understand where employees are trying to go, you can make adjustments in their current role to move them in the right direction. “A lot of times when we think about career, we’re a broken record, stuck on: what’s next, what’s next, what’s next. People are hungry to know what their next job will be, or when that next promotion is coming,” Laraway says. “If people feel like they’ve got a manager who’s got their back and investing them in a differentiated way, it’s a different result. If we’re being explicit about doing some things in their current role that can take them toward the end goal in their career, that helps reduce the ants in their pants a little bit. People tend to want to stay put.” Enhance their network. Help them identify the people who can inform and inlfuence where they’re trying to go. “This can entail everything from helping set up informational interviews to being their sounding board to help pressure-test their thinking,” says Laraway. “Inlfuence is pretty straightforward. Who are the people that can help uncover opportunities that’ll take them closer to their long-term career vision? Identify those people and help them get some meetings.” Laraway stresses that it’s a way of providing 360-degree support to your employee. “The more they explore future possibilities, the more they’ll be engaged in their work. Meeting people who are in their dream industry or job can be inspiring and clarifying. It also helps forge connections that may come in handy down the line,” Laraway says. “And it yields beneifts for you, too. It’s so important for your employee to know how much you’re supportive of them, and how far you’re willing to go to make sure they achieve their dream job. That inspires loyalty like nothing else.” Deifne their immediate next step.“Let’s be explicit about what the next step or role you will ifll that makes sense, given what you care about, the path behind you, and the lighthouse off in the distance,” Laraway says. “It can involve advocating for them to make a lateral or vertical move, or giving them goalposts to hit on a quarterly basis. You want to help them gain crystal clarity that this immediate next step is a logical one en route to their dreams.” 116