L&D | August 2019_V1

Manager - Sample Talking Points for the PDP Meeting

It’s important to remember that this is one activity where the focus is the employee and her/his
aspirations, motivations and goals for professional growth. So how do you go about doing this? Ask
questions, and offer your wisdom and insight, but don’t let the meeting become ‘Your Development
Plan’ for the employee; and avoid making any promises without complete clarity.

This guideline will give your conversation a direction but avoid using this as a script, following it word
by word.

1. Begin
Be welcoming to the employee – this might sound like:

I’m happy that we have the opportunity to talk about you and your development at Packt. I understand
that you and others in the team may have been thinking about the recent changes in the business. So I
want to start by asking you, how do you feel right now? (Wait for them to answer, and address any
concerns or apprehensions that may come up)

Ok, since we’ve addressed that, I hope it makes you feel a bit more settled. Let’s begin the PDP
discussion?

Before we begin, I think to have a good PDP discussion it’s important that we collectively discuss
solutions and mutually agree on a plan. What do you think?

2. Talking about Strengths

Listen, ask clarifying questions, and respond – this might sound like:

So, were you able to identify your strengths easily? (Let them answer and explain)

Option 1: It seems like you correctly identified all your strengths, because this was clearly visible when
(share examples here).

Option 2: It seems like you correctly identified most of your strengths. I just have a different opinion
about (strength). Can you remind me /tell me about the time you used or discovered this strength? /
Could you help me understand why you think this is a strength? (Listen)

Option 3: Ok, I agree with these and I think in the current role you can build on them by
continuing/learning to (job tasks).

Options 4: We may not be able to call it a strength, if this was done once. How often did you display the
strength in different situations?... Instead I feel (name another strength) as it was observed on number of
occasions especially when (share example).... What do you think?

Option 5: Well that’s a bit different from my perspective. I see you more as being very strong in
(competency/skill) because of what I’ve seen you do in (situation/example).
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New Manager/Manager Changed:

Well, we’re just getting to know each other's working style and the journey has just begun. I have some
notes from your last manager, but I would like to know how you’ve identified and used these strengths.

(You can use any of these below)

 That’s interesting, when did you realize that this was a strength for you?
 What situations or experiences helped you the most to develop (strength)?
 When have you had your greatest opportunity to use that (strength)?

That’s good. In the new role, we will need all this and more.

3. Development Areas

Listen, ask clarifying questions, and respond- this might sound like:

Option 1: I noticed that you mentioned (X Skill) as your area of development. Can you help me
understand why? In which situations have you faced challenges and haven't been able to efficiently deal
with them? (Let them answer and explain)

I agree, I think getting stronger in that area is important and can heighten your performance.

Do you know anyone who you think has developed that skill well?... Do you think you could learn a few
techniques from them? Should we set-up a plan to be buddied or to shadow them to understand how it’s
done?

Option 2: Have you thought of how you’d like to develop this skill? (Suggest solutions, let them evaluate
and agree)

Option 3: I’m surprised, I actually think of you as very solid in that area, I would think more about
developing (X Skill) because of how important it is in the role/ to help you reach your goal. and/or

Option 4: Okay, and I also think you should consider strengthening/beginning to learn (X Skill) as an
important building block to enhance your current role/reach your future goals.

4. Setting Goals:

Listen, ask questions, and make recommendations to refine and support the plans – this might sound
like:

How have you come up with these goals? (Listen)

Option 1: This sounds great. How can we get this done, have you thought of a Plan?

Option 2: It’s a good target for leveraging your strengths – how can you convert this into a SMART goal?
You need to have milestones, measures of success and risks.
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Option 3: This is good, how can we make a stronger link between your current responsibilities and (using
this strength/developing this skill)?

Option 4: Okay, that’s good. I think another activity that would help you (leverage this strength/develop
in this area) would be to (recommend a developmental activity). What do you think?

Option 5: I’m not sure if only training will get you to the know-how you’re looking for. What could we do
that is a more on-the-job situation that will help you learn/develop in that area?

Wrap up – Let’s make sure we’ve got the next steps outlined. What do you need to do to solidify this
before we both sign off on it?

5. Career progress

Listen, and acknowledge – this might sound like:

Option 1. So you know what you’d like to do in the short term, how about in the longer term? or It’s
good/I’m happy that you’re very serious about preparing for (making a career in ____, being a top notch
_____ , finding your next career move in Packt). It shows your ambition and your commitment to Packt

Option 2. So you’re feeling pretty content where you are, but I’d like to make a bigger contribution (get
more exposure, work more with others, etc.) / take up responsibilities in the team. These include...

Option 3. It's good to know that you’ve thought about your progression in Packt. It shows your
commitment. In fact, I can imagine you moving into a senior role that requires the skills and talents you
have developed so well. May be with some planning and preparation, we can assess what other roles
you’d like to explore. Is that of interest to you?

New Manager/Manager Changed: It's good to know that you’ve thought about your progression and
long-term goals in Packt. It shows that you have a vision for yourself. I would like to help/support you
achieve that vision. So the first step is to understand what you’ve done so far to move toward that vision
and then set-up milestones for you to achieve over the next few months that are aligned to the team and
business goals, to achieve your career progression, and we’ll evaluate the success in the next PDP. What
do you think?

6. Achievements

I appreciate all the effort you’ve put in, and your contribution to the team and the company is definitely
commendable. (Appreciate achievements you’ve made note of)

Can you elaborate a bit more on the achievements you’ve mentioned in your PDP?... And, what was your
learning from this achievement?... How are you going to use this learning in your role at Packt.

Are you able to differentiate where it’s your team’s achievement and where it becomes your individual
achievement?
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7. WRAP UP and NEXT STEPS

Thank the employee, encourage them in their next step of incorporating the agreed-on points from
this discussion into their written plan, and make sure they’ve set a follow-up date with you to review
the finalized plan and confirm it – this might sound like:

I appreciate the thought you’ve given this, and the commitment you’re making to your development.
Please make the changes we’ve discussed, and I will add my comments as well to the PDP. Let’s meet
next (date) to see how things are progressing. Do you have any questions or anything else that you’d
want to talk about?

Probing Questions

Here are some ideas for questions you can ask during the PDP meeting:

 What looming concerns or apprehension might you have?

 What’s been the most frustrating thing to have encountered with your work lately?
 Where do you see the biggest opportunity for improvement?
 How do you prefer to receive feedback? (Verbal, written, in-person)?
 What’s been the most motivating project you’ve worked on this year? With whom? And why?
 What excites and energizes you about the company?
 What do you think has been a big obstacle to progress?
 What do you wish was communicated to you more often?
 When have you felt like you’ve needed more support?
 What was the best team experience for you? The worst team experience?
 How often would you like to set up a one-on-one or check- in meeting? Every week? Biweekly?

If this list of questions overwhelms you, remember, you only need to pick two to four of these questions
for the all-team meeting. Save the rest for your one-on-one follow-up conversations.

As you listen to the answers, there are a few things to pay particularly close attention to:

1. Listen for the things you can fix, solve, and knock out quickly. Is there a project that is
deadweight? Is there a useless process that’s slowing people down? This is the best way to build
trust with your new team and show that you’re here to help and actually help.
2. Listen for what people view as success and progress, and consider how you’re going to define
and measure that. As a leader, one of your primary jobs will be to say what success is, and how
well the team is doing to get there.
3. Listen for what people’s communication needs are. What do they feel in the dark about? How
might people prefer you sharing what’s going on? How regularly will you need to set up touch
points with team members?
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