Development Plans follow a structured approach — outlining competencies and tasks that Managers track, along with due dates and status, in collaboration with the employee during regular reviews and one-on-one meetings. As an Administrator, you build the master Development Plans that Managers then assign to their team members. This guide shows you how to create, edit, and delete Development Plans in Performance.
Who this is for: Administrators
Read time: 6 minutes
How Development Plans are structured
A Development Plan is built in a clear hierarchy:
- Development Plan — the overall plan, with a name.
- Competencies — the capability areas within the plan.
- Tasks — the specific items of work within each competency.
As an Administrator, you define this structure once. Managers then assign the plan to their team members and track progress (status and due dates) in collaboration with the employee. See Assigning and Managing Development Plans for the Manager workflow.
Prerequisites
- You must be an Administrator.
- The Performance module must be enabled for your organisation.
Part 1 — Building Development Plans
Step 1 — Open Manage Development Plans
From the Prosper main menu, navigate to Performance and Manage Development Plans.
Step 2 — Add a new Development Plan
Select Create Development Plan.
Step 3 — Name the plan and add a competency
Populate the Development Plan name and select Add Competency.
Step 4 — Populate the competency and add a topic
Populate the Competency and select Add Task.
Step 5 — Populate topics and build out the plan
Populate the Topic, then repeat Steps 3 and 4 to add more topics and competencies until the plan is complete.
Tip: Build plans that are specific enough to be actionable but broad enough to be reused. A well-designed plan can be assigned to many employees in similar roles — so think about it as a reusable template, not a one-off.
Step 6 — Save
Select Save. The Development Plan is now available for Managers to assign to their team members.
Part 2 — Editing Development Plans
Step 1 — Open Manage Development Plans
Navigate to Performance and Manage Development Plans.
Step 2 — Edit the plan
Select Edit under Actions for the plan you want to change.
Step 3 — Make your edits
- Delete a competency or topic by selecting the trashcan icon.
- Edit text by clicking the text box to edit or override the existing text.
Step 4 — Save
Select Save to apply your changes.
Part 3 — Deleting Development Plans
Step 1 — Open Manage Development Plans
Navigate to Performance and Manage Development Plans.
Step 2 — Delete the plan
Select Delete Development Plan and confirm.
Note: Deleting a master Development Plan removes it from the library so it can no longer be assigned. Confirm the plan is genuinely no longer needed before deleting — if it's still in use, consider editing it rather than deleting.
Tips and best practices
- Design for reuse. The strongest Development Plans map to roles or capability areas common across your business, so a single plan serves many employees.
- Use clear, consistent naming. Name plans by the role or capability they target (for example, Duty Manager Development, Frontline Leadership Foundations) so Managers can find the right one quickly.
- Keep competencies and topics action-oriented. Topics that describe a clear, achievable action are easier for Managers and employees to track than vague aspirations.
- Consult Managers when building. Development Plans are most effective when designed in consultation with the Managers who'll use them — they know what their teams genuinely need to develop.
- Review the library periodically. Retire or refresh plans that are no longer relevant, and add new ones as roles and capability needs evolve.
- Coordinate edits. Because edits affect what Managers assign, communicate significant changes so Managers know the plan has been updated.
Troubleshooting
I can't find Manage Development Plans.
It sits under Performance. Confirm you have Administrator access and that the Performance module is enabled.
A Manager says a plan isn't available to assign.
Confirm the plan has been saved. A plan that's not yet saved won't appear for Managers to assign.
My edits aren't showing for Managers.
Make sure you saved the changes. Ask the Manager to refresh or reopen the plan — recent edits apply on next load.
How detailed should a plan be?
Aim for a handful of competencies, each with a small set of clear topics. Overly long plans are harder for Managers and employees to track and complete — depth of conversation matters more than length of list.
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