Heres How to Develop a Job Plan at Work

Heres How to Develop a Job Plan at WorkHeres How to Develop a Job Plan at WorkNeed an employee and company friendly way to keep employee job descriptions, goals, and plans up-to-date without Human Resources intervention? Consider writing a job plan as an alternative to the traditional, normally not up-to-date, lengthy job description. Owned by the employee, in conjunction with and negotiated with his or herbei manager, the job plan solves the most frequent problems organizations experience with job descriptions. Similar to a job profile but with more detail, the job plan clearly defines the employees job. Advantages of an Employee-Led Job Plan An employee-led job plan is always up-to-date, is descriptive of the job the employee is doing and is owned by and important to the employee. The job plan is an improvement over an HR written job description that is usually out-of-date, tough to maintain, and a document that employees dont own and use as a guide. The written job plan will g uide an employees use of his or her work time and inform the employee of the priorities and needed outcomes. The job plan, done well, emphasizes an employees most significant goals and expectations. You can use a job plan to assess an employees progress on goals and core responsibilities. It makes a useful starting discussion point during weekly one-to-one meetings and in any meeting to discuss setting goals, planning the future, or desired changes to an employees job. Since the job plan is negotiated with the manager, heor she feels How to Develop the Job Plan Managers work with employees to make sure that every employee has an individually developed job plan. The document is maintained and updated as necessary by the employee with the concurrence of the employees manager. The document lists the employees responsibilities and thecore job functions, goals, and expectations for performance. It is the employees responsibility to execute the job plan with management support and agr eement. Managers work with employees to ensure that employees have appropriate elements of their companys mission, goals, objectives and guiding principles in their job plans. Managers also work with employees to ensure that regular performance discussions and feedback are occurring relative to the core functions, job expectations and goals in the job plan. Managers work with employees to ensure that each employee has appropriate stretch goals that serve both the company and the employee in distribution policy in their job plan. Group Job Plan In developing the job plan, employees who have the same job with similar responsibilities will work as a team to develop the job plan for the job with the assistance and concurrence of their managers. In the instance of a group-developed job plan, each employee might also expect to have individual goals, that are specific to his or her position. In addition to these core responsibilities, activities and functions that wereagreed upon as a group, these additional expectations also define the scope and expectations of the individuals job. When an employee is performing core job plan functions and responsibilities and meeting job plan goals, the employee is making a solid contributionto his or her organization. Overall Approach to the Job Plan The employee who is doing the job takes the lead in writing the job plan using this job plan format. The goals and plans that become the final document are negotiated with the employees manager or teamberaterin. Progress should be reviewed periodically with the supervisor and success on the job plan and goals should affect compensation decisions. Unlike performance development planning, which is for employee development, the job plan measures progress toward goal accomplishment. The job plan provides clear expectations for employee performance. This guarantees that the employee and the manager are on the same page and share meaning on the employees performance expectations. Th is is a positive, powerful way to make sure that employees are focused on producing what the organizationmost needs from them.