individual development plan 70 20 10

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70-20-10 development plan: how to create one (free templates + examples).

Who would’ve thought a study from the 1980s would inspire one of the most popular L&D models we know today?

The 70-20-10 framework is a collective brainchild of authors and researchers McCall, Lombardo, and Morrison, they asked about 200 executives to recall pivotal career events and their learnings. 

The results culminated in what we now know as the 70-20-10 development plan.

🌱 What does the 70-20-10 rule mean ?

The rule suggests that individuals learn via 3 main ways - on the job, via constructive feedback, and formal learning - each method carrying a different weightage.

• On the job learning : 70% of their knowledge comes from job-related experiences
• Learning through feedback & observation : 20% absorbed from interactions with peers and mentors ‍
• Formal learning : 10% from formal courses and events

There is a strong connection between an employee’s career growth and their experiential learnings (70%). There are many potential reasons for this. For one, it enables them to gain pivotal skills like communication, and self-reliance—that open doors for new opportunities. 

While, courses and events have minimal significance (10%) on an employee’s development.

❓ What is a 70-20-10 development plan ?

Think of the 70-20-10 rule as a general guideline to use the right resources to facilitate on-the-job learning, formal learning, and learning through feedback.

It is an L&D model commonly used by organizations to maximize their employees’ effectiveness of their learning, and development programs through external inputs.

This model appeals to so many L&D pros because it’s easy to understand and get buy-in from internal stakeholders. 

And a 70-20-10 development plan does work. It’s been widely tested and backed by research. Center for Creative Leadership’s Lessons of Experience research explored how executives learn, grow and change over 30 years. 

Creating a 70-20-10 plan for your employees

All successful L&D initiatives have one thing in common—an actionable plan that can be implemented easily. 

Here’s how you can create your plan - 

Assess current learning sources

Use the following questions to assess current learning sources:

• How does learning happen at your organization right now? 
• If you already have formal learning sources in place, how much time and budget is put into that? 
• Do you have leaders and managers eager to spend time developing their team?
• What roadblocks do employees currently face?

When you have all the answers, map learning outcomes to your organization’s goals and get started on the draft.

Create an actionable strategy

Once you know what employees need to accelerate their career growth, tie this to your company’s goals as well. This actionable strategy should reflect how you will implement the 70-20-10 rule. For example, if a goal for people on the marketing team is to get better at Project Management, then it might (highly simplified) look something like this:

• Goal : Improve project management skills
• Timeline : 6-months

Creating an employee development template can be of great help here—one that is easily replicated for individual needs. Because some employees may need to put in more time per week or prefer on-demand learning over instructor-led training to, for example, earn associate certification in project management .

Choose the right tech stack

You need to choose tech that works for you, not against you. Unfortunately, LMS (learning management systems) are often under-utilized because they aren’t conducive to engaging learning experiences and aren’t integrated into existing workflows.

Remember, more tools do not equal more productivity. Switching between platforms causes cognitive drain and context switching—a far cry from meaningful work. 

That said, here are the most common tools L&D pros use:

Learning Management System  

Your LMS allows you to deliver, track and manage learning experiences.

Choose one like Zavvy that integrates with Slack or Teams, sends reminders over email, and allows you to automate repetitive tasks. 

Project Management Tool

Notion, Trello, Asana, or Monday—whichever project management tool you end up using should be easy to use and offer transparency for everyone involved in the learning experience. 

Messaging/Comms tool

Informal learning has a growing demand in the workplace. Messaging or communication apps that facilitate real-time conversations allow those organic moments to occur spontaneously.

Content creation tool

Niche subjects may require internal leaders to create engaging courses. Invest in a tool that allows you to create courses at scale.

📝 Templates : What does a sample 70-20-10 plan look like?

Pdf version of the sample 70-20-10 plan.

Here’s a quick pdf format of the sample plan that you can modify for your organization, and individual needs.

Note: To use the PDF you'll have to download it to your device

>> Download it here <<

Excel version of the sample 70-20-10 plan

If you prefer using an excel format, you can easily download and edit the file here! We’ve also included a progress tracker in the sample plan. 

Looking for more general examples? Find out multiple employee development plan examples in our complimentary article.

💾 Is the 70-20-10 plan outdated ? 

The 70-20-10 model isn’t a crowd favorite. Some L&D professionals don’t find it credible. 

It underplays the importance of formal training and doesn’t account for new-age learning mechanisms.

On-demand learning through formal courses is on the rise. Take LinkedIn Learning, for example. Gen Zers watched 50% more hours of content in 2020 vs. 2019.

Critics are also skeptical of the data and how it was gathered in the original study. It only looked at executives, and it was a small sample size at that.

So does the 70-20-10 rule still have a place in the modern workplace?

Does the changing landscape of work demand we revisit the plan?

Training Industry seems to think so. They suggest that instead of taking the rule at face value, organizations should alter the ratio to make it work for them.

For instance, instead of a 70-20-10 rule, a 60-30-10 or 50-30-20 might work better. This has led to a new concept—the OSF ratio . The OSF ratio represents the ratio of learning from different sources - on the job, social, formal. This is a far more flexible way to use the 70-20-10 plan.

🪄 Looking for a smater way to fill your development plans?

Zavvy AI now lets you create development plans that incorporate everbody's career path, competencies, 360 degree feedback.

Curious?  Find out how it works!

Veronika heads the Learning Sciences division at Zavvy. She has a background in learning psychology and helps our clients get the most out of their people enablement programs.

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• Published April 24, 2022
• 3 Minute Read

The 70-20-10 Rule for Leadership Development

70 20 10 Development Plan Template

Download this template and harness the power of focused 70-20-10 development plans. Witness the transformation in employee performance and skills.

Get your free template

What's included.

• Free 70-20-10 development plan template for Google Spreadsheets or Excel
• The file contains the two variations of the 70-20-10 development plan template, one with smart progress tracker for real-time visualization of completion
• Includes a 70-20-10 development plan example

70 20 10 Development plan template overview

According to the 70-20-10 model of learning, optimal learning occurs through a mix of 70% on-the-job experiences, 20% from interactions with others, and 10% from formal educational training.

Tailored by Deel’s learning and development experts, this comprehensive tool helps team members grow their skills effectively and aligns their growth with the company's broader goals. The 70-20-10 method helps balance different approaches to learning and enables development plans that work better than merely assembling a list of courses.

This downloadable employee development plan template includes:

• Two structured development plan options: Both outline actionable steps across on-the-job tasks, social learning, and formal education, adhering to the proven 70-20-10 learning model.
• Version with integrated action-progress tracker: Monitor your team's achievements and milestones with an intuitive progress tracker that auto-updates as they complete tasks
• Clear timeline management: Set developmental goals with specified timelines, ensuring consistent progress and timely completion
• Customizable for all roles: Whether your people need to develop their core competencies like collaboration, functional competencies like copywriting, or technical competencies like data analysis, you can use this template

Use this free template

The 70-20-10 model enables development plans that work better than merely assembling a list of courses. Use this template to plan and track your workers' development. 

How to use this 70 20 10 development plan template

This template helps ensure that learning development is comprehensive and varied, combining hands-on tasks, social interactions, and formal education to foster professional growth.

Steps to follow:

• Create an individual development plan for each of your direct reports
• Fill in the "Skill to develop" section in your plan —we advise performing a dedicated skills gap analysis to identify crucial skills that need development
• Outline specific tasks for each category: on-the-job learning (activities happening during regular duties), social learning (activities that involve learning from co-workers, shadowing, etc.), formal learning (courses or training programs)
• Establish realistic timelines for each task across the three sections, ensuring a balanced approach to development
• Check off completed tasks so that the progress bar fills automatically —this visual representation helps keep the development plan on track and provides immediate insight into areas that may need additional focus
• Schedule regular check-ins to review the progress of the development plan and adjust the tasks and timelines if necessary 
• Encourage continuous feedback from the employee regarding each learning activity's effectiveness

More resources 

• Skills gaps analysis template
• Complete competency framework template (with 100+ core, functional, and technical competencies) 
• Career discussion template

What is a development plan template?

A development plan template is a structured document that outlines an individual's goals, objectives, and actions for professional growth and skill enhancement. It provides a framework for organizing and tracking development activities over a specified period, typically aligning with the individual's career aspirations and the organization’s goals.

What is the 70-20-10 development ratio?

The 70-20-10 development ratio is a learning and development model that emphasizes the importance of experiential learning (70%), social learning (20%), and formal learning (10%) in driving individual growth and advancement in the workplace. 

70% comes from experiential learning: Learning and developing through day-to-day tasks, challenges, and practice within the workplace. This component emphasizes that most learning comes from on-the-job experiences, including handling projects, problem-solving, decision-making, and other tasks that require applying knowledge in real-world scenarios.

20% comes from social learning: Learning through interaction with others, through receiving feedback, mentoring, coaching, and observing and collaborating with peers and leaders. It highlights the importance of social interactions and learning from others' experiences as a critical component of professional development.

10% comes from formal education: Learning through structured courses, workshops, training, and seminars. This formal instruction provides foundational knowledge and theory but constitutes the smallest part of the learning model.

What is a 70-20-10 development action plan?

The 70-20-10 development action plan is based on the principle that 70% of learning comes from on-the-job experiences, 20% from interactions with others (such as mentoring, coaching, and feedback), and 10% from formal training or education. A 70-20-10 professional development plan leverages this guideline by allocating development activities across these three categories to maximize learning and growth.

How do you write a 70-20-10 professional development plan?

To write a 70-20-10 professional development plan, first, identify specific learning objectives and goals based on the individual's career aspirations and areas for improvement. Then, allocate development activities across the three categories: on-the-job experiences (70%), such as stretch assignments, special projects, or job rotations; social learning opportunities (20%), including mentoring, coaching, peer feedback, or communities of practice; and formal training or education (10%), such as workshops, courses, seminars, or certifications. Finally, create a timeline for each activity, set metrics to measure progress, and establish mechanisms for feedback and reflection to support continuous learning and development.

What is the 70-20-10 rule for career development?

The 70-20-10 rules for career development emphasize the importance of diverse learning experiences to advance one's career. The model suggests that most learning occurs through hands-on experiences, followed by interactions with peers, mentors, and supervisors, and lastly, through formal training or education programs.

This model supports the idea that while formal education can lay the groundwork for professional knowledge, the most impactful learning comes from informal learning through practical experiences and interacting with others within the workplace.

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Using the 70 20 10 Model for Personnel Development

Before we delve into the 70 20 10 model, how do you train your team members? What are your views on providing training classes, qualifications and training workshops?

Is most of the training for your team, on the job learning? 

What if you could put together more effective training programs for your team, which allows them to learn faster? In this article, we’ll discuss the 70 20 10 model and how to use it to train and develop your team members more effectively.

Background to the 70 20 10 Model

70 20 10 model rule, 70 20 10 model – points to note, 70 20 10 development plan template.

In the 1980s, researchers McCall, Lombardi, and Morrison carried out a study on how executives gained success.

By studying nearly 200 executives and getting them to identify what they learned and how they learned it, they found an interesting similarity.

• 70% of the time, these executives learned by applying the skills on the job;
• 20% of the time they learned from other people around them;
• 10% of the time, they learned from formal workshops and courses.

McCall, Lombarda, and Morrison referred to these results as the 70 20 10 model.

Later through the years, it was popularised and became a well known concept. In fact, it’s been said that the majority of large organisations today, adopt the 70 20 10 principles when developing their staff.

The approach is simple:

70% (or the vast majority) of Learning Should be Experiential

This is what is called on the job learning. In order to make it more effective, the employee should experiment and regularly reflect on what worked and what didn’t.

Encourage your team members to carry a diary or notepad, and record lessons learned every day. There’s always an opportunity to learn from reflecting on what worked and what didn’t.

Each time we do this, we shape our skills and experience in a methodical way that’s highly targeted around continuously improving our knowledge and understanding.

Encourage your team to take notes around the following, each day:

What worked:

What things worked today? How did they work and why?

What didn’t work:

What did you think would work but didn’t? Why do you think it went wrong?

What could be Improved for next time:

Based on the above, what things would you improve or add to? What was missing or not implemented correctly, in hindsight? What would you do better next time?

20% Working with Others

In our 70 20 10 model, it’s proposed that around 20% of the time, learners should learn from other people. This means that to be effective, there has to be some collaboration amongst your teams and employees.

Think of a time when you worked with a more experienced colleague, whereby you watched and discussed how things should be done. You can more than likely find a number of favourable memories, where you look back and pin-point a good learning experience or two.

This is a powerful way to both learn and build relationships. And in the context of the 70 20 10 model, try to promote 20 -25% of a person’s learning to this method.

Make it clear that you want to see collaboration around 20-25% of your team’s work.

Get team members to identify and plan how they will work together each week to develop skills and share experiences.

Promote cross sharing of information. Perhaps you could have a lessons learned review with your team, once a week.

10% Formal Training

There is still room for formal training, but according to proponents of this 70 20 10 model, it should only reflect around 10% of the employee’s time. After all, this allows us to polish our skills and learn from best practice, but not so much as we drown ourselves in theory with little practical knowledge.

In some instances, you need formal qualifications to be able to apply your skills. In others, you need to be abreast of the latest thinking.

The problem is that most of which we are taught in a classroom, we forget. So the more classroom training, the more we will probably forget before we get to apply it to our work.

For this reason, if we are in the classroom more than 10% of the time (or contextually more than any of the other two methods), then we may not be getting the most effective return. 

Try to identify workshops and courses that compliment your team’s development needs. What technical knowledge do they need to be a high performing team?

These courses could be online, or onsite. The point is to mix it up. Add a little more traditional training on top of job learning and collaboration.

When they do attend courses, encourage your team members to implement the skills learned as quickly as possible in their jobs. Afteral, the sooner we apply what we’ve learned, the more we will retain skills.

So, if they are enrolling on courses, create an action plan with each employee, to help them implement what they’ve just learned.

The 70 20 10 model is a good framework to use to help maximise the effects of training.

Use it as a guide. Adjust the ratios to suit you and your business and industry. Perhaps, you need to increase formal training and reduce the on the job learning, reflecting a 60 20 20 model.

That’s perfectly fine. Make it work for you and your teams. The point is to try to ensure you capture all three learning types in rough 70, 20, 10 model ratios.

Focus on most of the learning at the closest point of use . This has been highlighted to be the most efficient and effective way of learning. In other words, individuals learn as they apply the techniques.

If you do provide formal learning, try to split it up into small manageable chunks, whereby the individual implements what they’ve just learnt.

Encourage teamwork and learning together. Some research by Charles Jennings and towards maturity , suggest that 90% of employees find teamwork essential in the workplace. This can bode well for promoting solid team relationships, too.

Bridgespan provides a simple 70 20 10 model development plan that you can use with your teams to plan training.

Remember to focus on effective learning by splitting it into most of the activity in on-the-job learning, around a quarter percent of the learning and teamwork and collaboration and 10% on formal exposure.

• L&D Strategy

How to Create a 70 20 10 Development Plan for Your Employees

4 min reading time

Caroline Lawless , Senior Content Marketing Manager at LearnUpon

Does your organization want to encourage employees to take an active part in their own learning and development? Do you aim to foster collaboration within your teams? A 70 20 10 development plan can help you to achieve both of these objectives.

A 70 20 10 development plan prioritizes on-the-job learning as it accounts for 70% of learning and development. Then mentoring with colleagues and superiors , which accounts for 20%, and finally, formal learning making up the last 10%.

There are many benefits to this approach; it’s flexible, cost-effective, and doesn’t require too much oversight from senior management. But it can be difficult to implement if it’s a brand new approach for your company. However, by making a plan, developing a strategy and investing in the right tools, the process will run a lot smoother.

Create your 70 20 10 development plan

1. make a plan.

All successful learning and development initiatives start with a plan. Begin by assessing where your organization is at the moment. For example, is on-the-job learning already happening on an informal basis ? How much of your time and budget do you put into formal learning? Do you have team leaders and managers who are ready and willing to play a bigger part in developing their teams? Ask both your managers and employees where they feel there are training gaps at the moment.

When you’ve collated all this information, consider how it all fits with your organization’s broader goals. The ultimate goal of your training program will be to support these. With all this research to hand, you’ll know exactly where to start with creating a new learning and development plan.

2. Create and implement your strategy

Your strategy is a more detailed version of the plan above. It should show exactly how you’re going to achieve the organization’s goals through the 70 20 10 method.

For example, if your organization’s goal is to grow its digital footprint, the Marketing team might be assigned an online course about social media, email marketing and growing web traffic. Senior members of the team could then demonstrate some of the principles explored in the course step-by-step so that the rest of the team fully understands it. Finally, the team is allowed time to develop their own ideas and put them into action – with oversight from their managers.

The three elements of 70 20 10 work together to give employees a thorough and well-rounded understanding of the topic. Your strategy should document each goal and how the three elements of the 70 20 10 plan will combine to achieve it.

3. Invest in the right tools

Now that you know exactly what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it, it’s time to think about the practicalities of implementing the plan – what tools are you going to need to achieve your goals? Find out what you already have in place, and identify the gaps that you need to fill. You don’t need to rush off immediately to purchase a suite of new software; invest in what you need most first.

The most common tools used for corporate learning are:

• A learning management system (LMS)

An LMS helps you to effectively deliver, manage, and track employee training. Purpose-built LMSs allow you to create engaging courses, set exams and assignments, collate resources, host a forum, automate the day-to-day management training, and much more.

One of the benefits of investing in a powerful LMS is that it may have a number of the features you need already built into one system. Your learners will have everything they need to collaborate and learn from each other, as well as independently. Formal learning will maintain an important place in your learning and development program, but it will be supplemented by a system that gives your employees autonomy to learn for themselves.

• A project management tool

A project management tool is essential in a collaborative environment; it helps keep teams on task. With them, you can use automated features to ensure the most important jobs are always assigned to teammates on time, and deadlines are met.

• A messaging app

Messaging tools, like Slack, help avoid messy, clogged inboxes by allowing conversations and learning to happen in real-time. Conversations can be one-on-one or involve whole teams.

• Content creation software

High-quality content creation software is crucial. You want your learners to stay actively engaged with your content throughout their training, so high production values are key. Investing in an authoring tool is a smart move to helping you produce engaging training courses.

While the right tools are important, creating a culture of learning is also paramount to the success of the 70 20 10 model. All employees, from senior executives down to new hires need to be involved. If possible, make sure your employees know that actively participating in creating this culture can lead to positive performance reviews and opportunities for career growth.

Putting a 70 20 10 learning and development program in place will take time, but there are considerable rewards when it’s successful. Your team will be better equipped to meet their goals, communication will be more open, and individuals will be empowered to take control of their learning and their careers.

Does your organization use the 70 20 10 model? How did you create the right learning culture and put it in place? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Related posts

5 min reading time

Create Your Course

What is the 70-20-10 rule in learning & development, share this article.

The 70-20-10 model is useful for designing a training mix that maximizes learning outcomes through Experiential, Social, and Formal training.

As a course creator or corporate trainer, the end goal is for your learner to gain value from the course, retain the information provided and achieve a transformation which is demonstrated by the ability to achieve the desired outcomes of the course. For a corporate audience, one way to measure success is through increased productivity on the job or a behavior change. For an individual course creator, when the learner achieves the desired transformation, they may be motivated to purchase other courses or products that they offer.

The 70-20-10 Model , created by McCall, Eichinger, and Lombardo in the 1990’s is one tool that is useful in designing a training mix that will engage the learner, lead to higher retention rates, achieve desired learning outcomes , and result in the promised transformation.

How does the 70-20-10 rule work? 

The more engaged a learner is, the better the outcome and retention of the material should be. How people learn has not changed over time, even though the method in which content is delivered may have radically been transformed.

McCall, Eichinger, and Lombardo surveyed corporate executives to discover their thoughts on learning philosophies. The results were rather surprising!

• 70% of what learners retained was related to hands-on experience, job-related skills, and decisions made in the work environment.
• Learning from co-workers and peers, coaching, and mentoring accounted for 20% of information retention.
• The smallest percentage, 10% , covered was from traditional instruction with only a 10% information retention rate. 

Here’s a summary with examples, you can click the link to skip to each section:

Experiential (70%)

Experiential learning is when the learner can get their hands dirty, like on-the-job training, such as completing projects, or daily tasks. I nstead of reading about how to do something, the learner is challenged to learn through trial and error.

And if  they get stuck, they can lean on social and formal learning resources to fill the gaps.

Experiential learning works so well because it brings the trainee closer to the action – and tests higher levels of competency, like applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, as described by Bloom’s Taxonomy .

Digital content has the potential to allow for various levels of engagement and provide experiential opportunities, which enables a much higher rate of retention. There are several methods to apply Experiential Learning through online course creation.

Here are some examples:

Online simulations

Online simulations of situations are one way this can be achieved. Virtual reality is a tool that could be used to provide learners with situations they will face and how to deal with them. It provides a safe environment to try, learn and grow for a multitude of skills, imagine being able to practice hitting a tennis ball, creating a gourmet meal, or discovering proper ergonomics as you work from your home office.

Another example is Scenario-Based learning. In this type of course, the learner is immersed in a situation, required to make decisions that will move them forward through the situation, receive immediate feedback on their choices, and be provided with the opportunity to reflect upon the choices before moving on. This can be achieved by utilizing branching scenarios, the learner immediately sees the results of the choices they are making in the situation.

Gamification

Gamification is a third way in which learners can be engaged in the course. By crafting a thoughtful gamification strategy that combines behavioral design and game mechanics, the learner becomes more engaged in the experience and more often achieves the desired transformation. A common type of gamification strategy is to use points, badges, and leaderboards to motivate the learner to complete tasks and achieve recognition for completing those tasks. Other popular game mechanics that can be used in an online course include random rewards, Easter eggs, and certificates that create a sense of adventure while completing the course content.  

With Thinkific, you can integrate gamification apps to improve the overall student experience. Learn about the available apps in the Thinkific App Store .

Social (20%)

Social Learning , or the 20% portion of the 70-20-10 model, is a key component and not to be overlooked.

Peer-to-peer learning and discussion are important elements of the learning process as they help to build better connections both with the content and others. This type of learning can be accomplished through mentoring, feedback, and relationships with co-workers.

 Online platforms such as Zoom, and social media sites are ways that interactions between co-workers may be facilitated. The social interaction piece is a great way to encourage learners and connect with them personally. Even though this element accounts for only 20% in the model, the overall value should not be dismissed.

Speaking of social learning, did you know that Thinkific allows for integration with Zoom and offers a Community feature along with the ability to turn on discussions within a course? Providing opportunities for learners to easily interact without having to log in to different places also allows for a more consistent experience.

Putting social learning and community engagement into practice is what helped Thinkific Plus customer, MBRU, reach over 300K enrolments within 3 days of launching their free Community Immunity Ambassador Program to help fight COVID-19. Read about their story here.

Related: How To Create An Effective Professional Learning Community

Formal (10%)

You are probably familiar with the more traditional lecture style of teaching. The content is often pre-recorded with slides designed to reinforce the message or videos that are narrated and remind one of a movie, while we don’t want to discount this style of information transfer, it’s also time to explore how to incorporate more of the experiential and social elements into course creation.

Creating a more interactive and engaging experience will provide better results and happier learners. 

Tips on implementing the 70-20-10 model in learning and development

Proper planning is key when a course is being developed and will ensure that each of the components of the 70-20-10 Model is reflected in the course. Each component is important and should not be minimized.

A tremendous amount of energy could be put into creating a course with all types of gamification and scenarios, but if the information provided is weak at best or the learner has not been adequately prepared with the information they need to successfully navigate, the course will not yield the desired results.

Similar results would be expected if the course is designed to listen to a speaker talk at the learner for hours on end, but there is not an opportunity for peer-to-peer interaction or any sort of engagement of the learner with the material. The key is balance.

Take some time to create an eLearning Storyboard  prior to creating your course content. As you draft your lessons, think about ways you can incorporate experiential learning, social learning, and traditional content transfer.

Perhaps you can share a shorter video, followed by an activity, and then a discussion with peers to discuss not just what was covered by how it can be applied to the learner’s current situation.

By incorporating and applying the 70-20-10 Method, you are on the road to providing a more transformative learning experience to your audience.

Learn how to effectively scale up your business through the power of B2B sales in this new free course: 

Mary Nunaley co-founded the Lavender Dragon Team with her son Amadeus. Mary is an ATD Master Instructional Designer, gamification aficionado, award winning course creator, and an advocate for putting the fun back into learning.

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Individualized Professional Development Plans to Support Career Pathways

Success in any career requires the continued development of skills and knowledge. This is not an automatic process. Instead, it begins with a vision and a strategy. It requires a commitment to lifelong learning, continuing effort, and accountability. Setting career goals is an excellent means of self-motivation and actively steering one's life toward their desired direction. This page explores Individualized Professional Development Plan (IPDP) tools and resources that program leaders can use to help staff identify and pursue career pathways.

Professional development is especially important for staff in early childhood education because they must continuously keep their skills and knowledge current to keep pace with the field. It also gives staff a competitive advantage in achieving their career goals. Benefits of professional development for employees may include:

• Increased earning potential
• Networking opportunities
• A boost in confidence
• Enhanced competency, capacity, and service delivery for children and families
• Timely attainment of required credential degrees or certifications

For Head Start programs, professional development helps ensure effective delivery of comprehensive services to enrolled children and families.

Are Head Start programs required to support employee professional development?

When considering an employee's individual professional development, the 70-20-10 rule is an important concept. It emphasizes that:

• 70% of all learning is experiential – reflective practice, hands-on experience, team project, rotational assignment, volunteer work
• 20% is social – networks, mentors, coaches
• 10% is formal –  structured courses, professional development workshops

While the Office of Head Start does not require a specific form or method for building professional development plans with staff, an IPDP can help employees achieve their goals.

What is an Individualized Professional Development Plan?

An IPDP is a written plan developed by the employee and their supervisor that outlines career goals and describes the steps the employee needs to take to meet the necessary competency requirements. It directs the employee through self-assessment and reflection and helps them identify the learning and development objectives for their chosen career pathway they want to pursue. An IPDP plan with explicit goals provides structure for future learning and a blueprint for achieving goals at every stage of a career.

The IPDP also serves as a reference tool to track progress, set new goals, and adjust career plans as needed. It can also be used to communicate career objectives and achievements to direct supervisors and other professional contacts. Creating and following an IPDP encourages staff to take ownership of their professional development and enhance their career opportunities.

Why should Head Start programs invest in having staff complete IPDP s?

Ensuring that all staff have an IPDP requires the Head Start program to make an investment of time, finances, and energy. However, research shows that the return on investment can be significant not only for the individual, but also for the organization. Investing in employee professional development can help programs:

• Combat the nationwide skills shortage 
• Stay up to date with industry and technology trends
• Increase engagement and reduce turnover
• Aid in succession planning
• Increase earning potential
• Provide networking opportunities
• Attract better talent
• Boost confidence
• Enhance competency, capacity, and service delivery for children and families
• Ensure the timely attainment of required credential degrees and certifications 

What is involved in developing an IPDP ?

Career development is a valuable opportunity for individuals to identify their potential career goals and create a road map to achieve them. A well-designed professional development plan should consider an individual's aspirations, motivations, preferred learning styles, and encompass their overall career path, rather than focusing solely on their current job responsibilities. This may include continuing education or training to fulfill the requirements of a current position or exploring a new career pathway.

The IPDP Guide provides information programs can use and a process to design and document one's professional development efforts. The process and related forms may be of special interest to programs without a formal approach to staff professional development or programs exploring planning options. The sample forms in IPDP Profile and Action Plan Sample can help staff and their supervisor or human resources specialist explore potential career goals and plan steps to achieve them.

Check out the IPDP Decision Tree infographic for a visual representation of key considerations when creating an IPDP and addressing HSPPS and local program requirements.

STEP 1: Complete the IPDP Profile.

The IPDP Profile helps staff reflect on their skills, knowledge, interests, and abilities. The completed form provides valuable information for an individualized professional development action plan.

STEP 2: Create IPDP Action Plan.

The IPDP Action Plan is developed by the staff and the supervisor or a human resource professional. It captures career goals and outlines the steps, resources, and time frames expected to achieve desired career goals. The form includes a mid-point review date for revising the plan. The IPDP Action Plan provides space for one goal. Use one Action Plan for each career goal and make additional copies of the form as needed.

STEP 3: Document progress.

The IPDP Action Plan, Follow-up Notes, and Status Updates helps staff capture meetings and identify personal barriers, coaching opportunities, related resources, and additional considerations as needed.

Here are some tips for developing IPDP goals

While vision defines the direction of development, goals and action plans support professional development outcomes that bring the greatest rewards.

Things to consider when developing IPDP goals:

• Identify desired career goal. Goals should be simple and clearly define what will be done. Consider the SMART model for writing goals.
• List steps needed to achieve the goal. Examine and identify gaps in training and education.
• Identify key resources needed to achieve the goal. These might include training and professional development, non-credit training or college courses, financial resources, coaching, mentors, etc.
• Create a timeline to review and revise the IPDP plan as needed.
• Identify potential challenges that may prevent goal achievement and ways the program and staff can address them.
• Consider how to measure progress toward   achieving goals and how and when to adjust the plan if needed.
• Schedule regular meetings to assess the need for additional resources, determine if adjustments to the plan are necessary, and celebrate progress toward goals.
• Encourage staff to share their goals. Telling others about goals boost accountability and commitment to the action plan.

Resources to Support the IPDP Process

The resources below can help program leaders and staff develop individualized professional development plans and work toward career goals.

• Head Start Qualifications briefs can help programs determine and justify how employees meet the requirements of their position.
• Steps Local Agencies Can Use to Determine Credential or Degree Equivalency outlines three steps and considerations to help guide programs in the equivalency determination and justification process.
• Continuing Education Unit (CEU) Credit for Professional Development provides an overview of the purpose and types of CEUs .
• Early Educator Central is a one-stop online portal that links to free- or low-cost federally funded courses and resources geared for the infant-toddler workforce.
• Individualized Professional Development (iPD) Portfolio is a learning management system with free, self-paced online courses to support the ongoing professional development of staff in Head Start and child care settings. Many courses offer CEUs or certificates of completion that align with Child Development Associate® credential subject areas.

The following example IPDP forms show how plans can support individual growth and development, as well as succession management for staff in various roles.

Leadership Staff

• Fiscal Officer
• Human Resource Professional

Education Staff

• Child Development Specialist
• Early Head Start Center-based Teacher
• Disability Services Coordinator
• Education Manager
• Family Child Care Provider
• Head Start Center-based Assistant Teacher
• Head Start Center-based Teacher
• Home Visitor

Resource Type: Article

National Centers: Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning

Audience: Directors and Managers

Last Updated: February 20, 2024

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Blog 14 Individual Development Plan Examples & Templates

14 Individual Development Plan Examples & Templates

Written by: Michelle Martin Feb 15, 2023

The terms Individual Development Plan and Employee Development Plan are often used interchangeably, but the outcome is the same: a document outlining a person’s professional and career goals with an action plan to get there.

Does every employee in your organization have an IDP? Or if you’re here to make one, has your manager discussed a plan for your professional development?

If your answer is “no” to either, you can’t afford to ignore individual development plans any longer. Companies that invest in employee development earn, on average, 11% higher profits than those that don’t.

Not to fear: Here’s everything you need to know about creating useful individual development plans plus easy to use professional IDP templates to boost your profits and attract and retain top talent.

Click to jump ahead:

What is an individual development plan?

Why do you need an individual development plan, 14 individual development plan examples and tips, how to make an individual development plan, individual development plan faqs.

An individual development plan (IDP) is a collaborative document between a manager and an employee to define career goals and map out how to learn new skills or improve current ones. It matches an employee’s strengths and interests to key business objectives.

Usually, individual development plans are part of the annual performance review and general  employee development  discussion. But you can make or update one anytime.

You can also create an individual development plan for yourself to pursue career or personal learning goals.

IDPs usually include:

• Short and long-term career goals the employee wants to achieve.
• Current skills the employee wants to improve, or new ones to learn.
• Skills the manager wants the employee to further develop.
• Specific action steps to achieve the goals (e.g. taking a course, attending a workshop, finding a mentor, etc).

Many different formats work well for individual development plans, from plain text documents to elaborate tables and timelines. Mix and match blocks, tables, and more with this flexible IDP template to customize it to your career goals.

Individual development plans are beneficial to everyone, including the company. IDPs encourage your employees to voice their career goals and co-create a plan to get there. Even if they end up leaving for another company in the future, you benefit from their new skills until then.

Your employee will likely also be grateful for their growth with you and happily refer others to open roles. Since we’re in one of the  tightest labor markets ever , referrals and word of mouth can mean the difference between filling your open positions or not.

Individual development plans also address a real business need:  56% of businesses  surveyed by Statistics Canada in 2022 said most of their employees weren’t “fully proficient” at their jobs. If your company has over 100 employees, that most certainly applies to you as 93% of large companies responded that way, whereas only 33% of companies with less than four employees did.

IDPs help your employees learn the skills they need to achieve their own goals, but they’re also key to ensuring your business needs are met.

Components of an individual development plan

Remember, an IDP is a flexible tool. As your goals and circumstances change, so should your plan. It’s all about taking ownership of your career development and reaching your full potential!

Here are the key components of an effective IDP:

1. Self-assessment:

• Strengths:  What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing?
• Areas for improvement:  Be honest – what skills could you use some work on?
• Values:  What matters most to you in your career? What kind of impact do you want to make?

2. Goal setting:

• Short-term:  Set specific, achievable goals for the next few months that align with your overall career aspirations.
• Long-term:  Think bigger! Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years? Set some aspirational goals to keep you motivated.

3. Development activities:

• Identify activities  – Think training courses, workshops or taking on new challenges – that will help you reach your goals.
• Create a timeline  that’s realistic considering your time and resources.
• Figure out what resources you need  – financial support, time off or specific tools.

4. Monitoring and evaluation:

• Have regular check-ins  with your manager or advisor to discuss your progress.
• Track your progress  and make adjustments to your plan as needed.
• Celebrate your successes  and learn from any setbacks.

Individual development plan examples for supervisors

Individual development plans (IDPs) for supervisors serve as roadmaps for team growth, tailoring skill development to specific roles in the team and organizational goals.

These plans aren’t just about meeting company goals; they also help supervisors achieve their career aspirations while supporting the growth of their team members.

Are you (or your employee) a visual person? Just because most individual development plans look like traditional documents doesn’t mean yours has to. Try out this creative and colorful quadrant template to prioritize goals and actions by their importance, due date, or any other criteria that make sense to you.

This template is structured as a corrective action plan but could also work well for an IDP. As a reminder, IDPs aren’t a disciplinary tool or for underperforming employees. Everyone should have an individual development plan focusing on their strengths, while also acknowledging weaknesses that may impact the achievement of career goals.

Give this worksheet-style template to your employee before your IDP meeting to find out their goals and how they view their progress so far. By getting their ideas on paper first, you’ll make better use of meeting time to discuss actions and solutions.

Another great template for visual folks, this serves well as a progress tracker for the action steps in your IDP. The simple, one-page format is quick to update and makes it easy to see progress toward your goals.

Individual development plan examples for leadership

Imagine a leadership-focused IDP as your personal roadmap for tackling the twists and turns of leadership roles. It’s not just about growing your own leadership skills, but also about making a real impact on the success of the whole organization.

A leadership IDP may include targeted training programs to enhance communication, decision-making, and strategic thinking skills.

A stylish table format is effective for communicating career goals and action steps which are both important parts of an IDP. List the goal category on the left, the action step in the middle and a target due date on the right.

For example, a goal category could be “improving public speaking skills.” An action step could be joining a local Toastmasters group or hosting a Lunch and Learn for the office.

If you’re a manager assessing your team’s leadership skills, this template could be another self-evaluation tool for your employee to fill out prior to your IDP meeting. Or, use it as a progress tracker by listing out the actions and ranking them from “Not Started” to “Complete.”

Individual development plan example for career

Think of your Individual Development Plan (IDP) for your career as your personalized roadmap to success.

For instance, your career-focused IDP might include short-term goals like acquiring new skills through workshops or online courses. Long-term goals may revolve around taking on challenging projects to showcase your capabilities and climbing the professional ladder.

An individual development plan is a lot like a product roadmap, except with your career goals instead of new features. This simple timeline template is a good way to work through the order you’ll need to accomplish action items in and set target deadlines.

It’s also useful for visual thinkers to see a simplistic overview of their trajectory on one page. You can detail each goal or step in subsequent pages.

Using a 30, 60, and 90 day timeline is an effective way to break down large goals into achievable steps per quarter. This can also work as a one-page quarterly plan — just add an extra column — or a multi-year plan.

This template serves as a compact yet detailed action plan that’s perfect for goal tracking in your individual development plan.

Individual development plan examples for managers

Often, an IDP has a big goal in mind, like being the head of a division or something else several steps ahead of you. In order to get there, you need to break it down into smaller goals along the way.

Growing into a C-suite position could mean first managing an important project, then a small team, and then a larger team, and so on. By visually planning the smaller goals along the way, you (or your employee) have realistic expectations of what’s needed to get to the ultimate goal and a focused approach to get there.

This multi-page template is highly flexible so every page of your IDP will look professional and on-brand. Easily add tables, lists, and more to the content pages as needed to create a detailed and aesthetic development plan.

While this is set up as an orientation plan, you could easily customize it as an individual development plan.

If you like a quarterly planning approach, this template is helpful to detail the action steps you need to take for the rest of the year.

Individual development plan example for government employees

Feeling like your career in a government agency could use a refresh? Individual Development Plans (IDPs) can be a helpful tool for that.

IDPs are a great way to take ownership of your career development, gain valuable skills and contribute even more effectively to your government organization’s mission.

For example, as a government healthcare worker, your IDP might involve specific activities like attending relevant workshops, seeking mentorship from experienced colleagues or even shadowing other professionals in your field.

Here’s what it might look like:

Individual development plan examples for IT professionals

Individual Development Plans (IDPs) can be a valuable tool for IT professionals to navigate the ever-changing tech landscape.

When drafting your IT individual development plan, try to find out beforehand if your company offers internal training programs, tuition reimbursement or professional development opportunities.

You could also consider attending industry conferences, workshops and webinars to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies.

Too much to take in? That’s exactly why you need an IDP – It helps you map out goals and the steps to reach them. Check out this quick development plan template to discuss with your manager or colleague.

Any of the templates above can be your starting point for creating your organization’s IDP template, or choose from all our  business templates . Some templates are available only to our paid subscribers, but all the options above are free for everyone to use.

Starting with a template saves time and ensures your finished IDP looks polished and professional. It’s easy to customize any of these with our free online editor in just a few clicks.

Step 1: Sign up for a free Venngage account

All you need is an email address to  sign up for a free Venngage account .

No free trials, credit card numbers, or any of that. You can edit any of our free templates with your free account… for  free , okay?

Step 2: Choose an individual development plan template to customize

Pick one of the templates mentioned above or browse our full database of  Human Resources templates , including  letters ,  plans ,  presentations , and more.

Step 3: Edit the template for your IDP

Once you’ve picked a template, the fun part begins: Making it your own. Click  Create  on any template to enter the editor where you can change colors, text, graphics, and more.

I’m using this IDP checklist template as an example:

I like to match a new template to my brand first as this saves a lot of time if you want to duplicate the page to add more content later.

Our Business and Premium subscriptions offer  My Brand Kit  to store your colors, fonts, and logos for easy template customization anywhere for your entire team. But no worries for our free account holders: Editing is just as easy.

Click on any text area or graphic to edit it. Type new text, or use the top menu to change color, font, size, spacing, and more.

You can replace existing graphics with one of our  3 million+ free stock photos , over 40,000 illustrations and icons, or upload your own.

Explore the left side menu to add a background or a new layout, like a graph or table. You can also click and drag objects around the page to your liking. Use the right side menu to duplicate the current page or add a new blank one to your document.

Step 4: Share or save your new IDP

Once you’re happy with your new individual development plan template, click on the  Share  icon or  Download  button to save it to your computer (Business or Premium accounts).

So easy, right?

What are good IDP goals?

There aren’t “good” or “bad” goals as each IDP is as unique as the individual it’s for. However, effective IDP goals have a few things in common, like being:

• Related to the employee’s career path.
• Achievable in the specified timeframe. (You can list out big goals but ensure the action steps to start with are reasonable to accomplish, or at least start, within the next year.)
• Collaboratively planned between manager and employee, with both having input.

If your employee wants to lead their department one day but hasn’t managed anyone before, some good IDP goals to set for the upcoming year could be:

• Taking a leadership course or program from a nearby or online business school.
• Leading a big project, including supervising their peers and providing feedback.
• Finding a leadership mentor within the company and regularly checking in with them.

How can I support my employee’s IDP goals?

This depends what your employee’s goals are, but a few general ideas are to:

• Offer time to try new roles and responsibilities to learn new skills.
• Reimburse or partially cover courses, seminars, and other educational tools.
• Encourage your employee to start a side hustle or passion project to learn from.
• Offer professional development days, separate from vacation time.
• Create a mentorship program to connect junior and senior staff.

Unsure what would be most effective? Ask your employees what would help them the most, and check our guide to employee development for more ideas .

What should I put for areas of improvement?

Individual development plans encourage and motivate your employees to achieve their dreams. However, as their manager, you may have some insights they don’t about skills they’re lacking to get them to the next step.

It’s best to bring these up during the planning meeting, so your employee can hear why you think these skills are important and how you’d suggest working on them. Together you can add action items to address them in the IDP.

It’s key to frame these developing areas in a positive and constructive light. You don’t want your employee to feel like they’re doing badly at these things, or their job. After all, no one’s perfect! Be open and honest and chances are, they’ll be grateful for the feedback and eager to improve the skills you’ve identified.

Create a professional IDP today with a customizable Venngage template

Whether you’re preparing for an employee’s annual review or creating an individual development plan for yourself, we’ve got the free templates you need to knock it out of the park.

Get started now and have your new IDP finished by the end of the hour. While you’re at it, why not also create a branded  offer letter  or  onboarding guide ?

For everything in your business, we’ve got a template for that.

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