Individual Development Plan: [Name], [Period]
An individual development plan (IDP) agreed between an employee and
their manager: career direction, current strengths and gaps against
the role's competencies, two to four development goals, the actions
and support for each, a budget, and check-in dates. Based on common
talent-development practice. Replace every [bracketed] value and
every row marked Example.
Document control
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Document ID | [IDP-YYYY-NNN] Example: IDP-2027-014 |
| Employee | [Name, role, level] Example: Priya Raman, Senior Engineer, L3 |
| Manager | [Name, role] Example: Daniel Osei, Engineering Manager |
| Period | YYYY-MM-DD to YYYY-MM-DD Example: 2027-01-01 to 2027-12-31 |
| Check-in cadence | [Monthly in one-on-ones, formal review each quarter] |
| Status | [Draft / Agreed / In progress / Closed] |
| Classification | Confidential, employee and manager only |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
Approvals
| Role | Name | Date |
|---|
| Employee | [Name] | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Manager | [Name] | YYYY-MM-DD |
Revision history
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|
| 0.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | Employee draft |
| 1.0 | YYYY-MM-DD | Agreed in development conversation |
| 1.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | Example: Q2 review: G2 action changed after team reorganisation |
1. Career direction
- Two to three year aspiration: [Role, scope, kind of work]
- What motivates me in my work: [Problems, people, impact]
- Options I want to explore: [Technical lead, management, another domain]
Example: My L4 (Staff Engineer) case is in the 2027-H1 cycle; in two
to three years I want to set the technical direction for payments. I am
unsure about people management and want to try a small lead role before
deciding.
2. Strengths and development areas
| Competency | Current level | Target level | Evidence | Strength or gap |
|---|
| [Competency] | [1 to 5] | [1 to 5] | [Feedback, example, review] | [Strength / Gap] |
| Example: Technical design | 4 | 4 | Designed and led the payouts idempotency layer, 2026 (WIN-001 in the brag document) | Strength |
| Example: Cross-team influence | 3 | 4 | 2026 self-assessment: event schema adopted by three teams, but reviews ran long in H1 | Gap |
| Example: Mentoring | 3 | 4 | Mentored two L2 engineers in 2026, positive feedback | Gap |
| Example: Written communication | 3 | 4 | Design docs clear but long, per peer feedback | Gap |
Scale: 1 learning, 2 developing, 3 capable at current level, 4 strong
or at next level, 5 role model.
3. Development goals
| ID | Goal | Linked competency | Success measure | Target date |
|---|
| [G1] | [Goal] | [Competency] | [Observable result] | YYYY-MM-DD |
| G1 (Example) | Lead the ledger events v2 design to agreement across teams | Cross-team influence | RFC accepted by payments and finance teams, decision recorded as an ADR | 2027-06-30 |
| G2 (Example) | Mentor two engineers through their first on-call rotation | Mentoring | Both complete rotation; mentees rate support 4 of 5 or higher | 2027-09-30 |
| G3 (Example) | Write shorter, decision-first design documents | Written communication | Three design docs under 1,500 words with a one-page summary, peer review positive | 2027-12-31 |
4. Development actions
| ID | Goal | Action | Type | Owner | Due | Status |
|---|
| [A1] | [G1] | [Action] | [On the job / From others / Formal] | [Name] | YYYY-MM-DD | [Not started / In progress / Done] |
| A1 (Example) | G1 | Write and drive the ledger events v2 RFC | On the job | Priya | 2027-05-15 | Not started |
| A2 (Example) | G1 | Shadow the principal engineer in two architecture reviews | From others | Priya, Daniel to arrange | 2027-03-31 | Not started |
| A3 (Example) | G2 | Pair with each mentee during their first on-call week | On the job | Priya | 2027-09-30 | Not started |
| A4 (Example) | G2 | Complete an internal mentoring workshop | Formal | Priya | 2027-04-30 | Not started |
| A5 (Example) | G3 | Attend a technical writing course | Formal | Priya | 2027-03-31 | Not started |
| A6 (Example) | G3 | Ask two peers to review each design doc for length and clarity | From others | Priya | 2027-12-31 | Not started |
5. Support and resources
| Support | Provided by | Detail |
|---|
| [Stretch assignment] | [Manager] | [What and when] |
| [Mentor or sponsor] | [Name] | [Cadence] |
| [Time] | [Manager] | [Hours per month protected for learning] |
| Example: Technical lead role for ledger events v2 | Daniel Osei | Assigned in January planning |
| Example: Mentor | Principal engineer, risk platform | Monthly 45-minute session |
| Example: Learning time | Daniel Osei | Four hours per month protected |
| Item | Cost | Approved |
|---|
| [Course, conference, book] | [amount] | [Yes / No] |
| Example: Technical writing course (online) | EUR 450 | Yes |
| Example: One engineering conference ticket | EUR 600 | Yes |
| Example: Books and materials | EUR 300 | Yes |
| Example: Total of annual budget EUR 1,500 | EUR 1,350 | EUR 150 unallocated |
6. Obstacles and risks
| Obstacle | Likelihood | Plan |
|---|
| [Delivery pressure crowds out learning] | [High / Medium / Low] | [Response] |
| Example: Q2 release crunch | High | Move A2 and A5 to Q1; protect learning time again from July |
| Example: No suitable mentees join the team | Medium | Mentor across teams through the on-call guild |
7. Check-ins and progress
| Date | Goals reviewed | Progress and evidence | Changes agreed | Next check-in |
|---|
| YYYY-MM-DD | [G1, G2] | [Evidence] | [Change] | YYYY-MM-DD |
| 2027-03-31 (Example) | G1, G3 | A2 done; writing course done; first short design doc at 1,200 words | None | 2027-06-30 |
8. Year-end summary
| Goal | Outcome | Met? | Carry forward? |
|---|
| [G1] | [Result] | [Yes / Partly / No] | [Yes / No] |
- Employee reflection: [What I learned, what I would do differently]
- Manager reflection: [Observed growth, next opportunities]
- Input to the next plan: [Goals, direction]
9. Glossary
- IDP: Individual development plan; a growth plan owned by the
employee and supported by the manager.
- Stretch assignment: Work slightly beyond the person's current
level, with support, chosen for learning.
- Sponsor: A senior person who uses their influence to create
opportunities for someone, unlike a mentor who mainly gives advice.
Standard and licence note
Based on common talent-development practice for individual development
plans; the 70-20-10 split is cited only as a widely used heuristic.
Original text written for this collection; people, organisations and
figures are fictional. Template licence: MIT.