Keeping your Career & Development conversations alive over the long term and pushing for action is essential for your employees' growth and your team's performance. It's not just about discussing performance, it's about creating a space for ongoing dialogue that fosters individual development and commitment.

Challenges and timetables

Development interviews shouldn't just be an annual formality, but a regular managerial ritual. Here's why:

Don't put everything on the annual review

The annual performance review is often "too little too late". Regular conversations enable you to detect employees' needs and aspirations earlier, and act accordingly. For example, if an employee expresses a desire for training during the course of the year, you can quickly offer suitable training or mentoring, rather than waiting for the annual appraisal.

Keeping your employees loyal

Regular follow-up shows your employees that you care about their progress and well-being. This reinforces their sense of belonging and motivation, thus reducing turnover. For example, an employee who sees his manager taking a regular interest in his development will be more inclined to stay with the company, as he feels valued and supported.

Build your reputation as a manager-coach

By adopting a coaching posture, you gain credibility not only with your team, but also beyond. You become a leadership role model who attracts and retains talent. For example, by sharing success stories within your team, you demonstrate your ability to help your colleagues progress, which can attract new talent to join your team.

Preparing a development interview

Your preparation

Preparation is the key to a successful development conversation. Before the interview, take the time to :

• Analyze past performance: Review targets set, results achieved and feedback already shared. For example, consult quarterly performance reports and ask colleagues for feedback.
• Identify development opportunities: Which skills can be strengthened? What projects could help the employee grow? For example, if an employee has demonstrated project management skills, offer to lead a new project.
• Prepare open-ended questions: This facilitates dialogue and deepens understanding of your employee's aspirations and motivations. For example, "What skills would you like to develop further?" or "What are your short- and long-term professional goals?"

Preparing the employee

Encourage your colleague to prepare in advance. This preparation is key to making this exchange a real development opportunity:

• Reflect on achievements and challenges: What went well? What difficulties were encountered? For example, an employee could prepare a list of successful projects and obstacles encountered.
• Identify your goals and aspirations: Where do you see yourself in a year or three? What skills do they want to develop? For example, an employee may want to develop leadership skills to move into a management position.
• Prepare questions and suggestions: What support does he expect from you? What projects are they interested in? For example, an employee may ask for more feedback on his or her performance, or express a desire to take part in specific training courses.

Conducting the interview

Maintaining dialogue

During the development interview, take care to encourage a genuine, high-quality exchange. Listen actively and ask open-ended questions to understand your colleague's perspectives. Offer appropriate advice and use rephrasing techniques to check that you've understood what he or she is saying, thus reinforcing the relationship of trust. For example, if a colleague says he feels overwhelmed by his current responsibilities, rephrase by saying: "If I understand correctly, you feel overloaded with your current tasks. Can you give me more details?"

Structuring the conversation

A structured conversation helps you cover all the important points without getting lost. Here's a possible structure:

1. Introduction: Recall the objective of the interview. For example,"Today, we're going to discuss your recent performance and your aspirations for the future."
2. Performance review: Discuss recent successes and challenges. For example,"You handled project X very well, can you tell me about the challenges you encountered and how you overcame them?"
3. Aspirations and goals: Listen to the employee's ambitions and discuss development opportunities. For example,"What are your goals for the next six months, and how can I help you achieve them?"
4. Action plan: Draw up a concrete plan with specific actions and deadlines. For example,"To develop your leadership skills, I suggest you attend a project management training course and take the lead on the next team project."
5. Follow-up and closing: Conclude with a reminder of the key points and plan the next meeting. For example,"We'll meet again in three months to review your progress and adjust our plan if necessary."

By following these steps, you can transform your development interviews into genuine motivational and performance drivers, while taking into account individual differences and seizing every opportunity to engage in discussions of interest, thus reinforcing your role as manager-coach.

And if you want to go even further, discover the NUMA continuous development kit.