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Professional growth comes at a cost – it’s only fair that your employer foots some of the bill – literally or figuratively. This question opens the conversation for what role an employer plays in someone’s professional development.
The person at your organization responsible for your professional growth – your manager – is the best person to ask, but not the only person to ask. Colleagues – both inside and outside your organization – can offer insights about what their employers provided to help them growh.
Direct this question at yourself, too, asking in effect “What do I need to accomplish my goals?” By thinking through this question, you can prepare yourself for the conversation. You can also think more broadly about your career path, and how it can be supported by more than your own personal effort.
More often that not, managers do not have a ready answer for this question. They’ll turn it right around and ask you what you need. Come to your meeting with some requests. Even a generous employer might not have much imagination, hoping only to throw money at it. You can also ask for time to pursue growth. Better yet, ask for assignments where you can learn (and potentially fail) or ask for the time of a senior practitioner who can guide you.
As a manager, I expected people reporting to me to ask this question during conversations about professional development, which usually followed a performance review. We gave them time between the performance review and the planning session to put together a plan, an approach for achieving their goals. This was a crucial input into this question – knowing how someone wanted to go about their growth made answering the question more straightforward. Ask this question, then, once you have a sense of what approach you would take to achieving your goals.
A suggestion is not a commitment. Ask your manager what it will take to make their offer of help a reality. Ask your manager for a time 3-6 months from now when you can check in to make sure you’re getting what you need.
What can I do to help you make progress?
What can my (team, manager, boss, organization) provide to help me complete this task?