Individual development plan (IDP)
for technical/administrative employees
The three principles for your development:
- A high level of individual responsibility
- Support from your supervisors as executive mananger
- Get development support in Lifelong Learning Hub
An optional meeting to discuss the individual development plan can be scheduled at any point in the year. The DownloadIndividual development plan guide and form (PDF, 55 KB)vertical_align_bottom provides information and planning tools for approaching the subject and defining competences.
Take some time to think about your future. The individual development plan is an optional addition to the appraisal interview but can also be used at any point in the year in conjunction with a development meeting. Your supervisor knows your strengths and can work with you to develop potential career prospects and support and encourage you through appropriate tasks or actions. A development meeting can be held at any time. We recommend that you follow the procedure outlined below:
The employee defines targets.
The following questions may help you to formulate your development targets:
- What professional goals am I pursuing in my career path and what steps will lead to this?
- What tasks/topics am I particularly interested in?
- What am I currently missing in my professional activities?
- What skills will be in particularly high demand in my area of work in the coming years?
- What feedback and input on my activities do I receive from my colleagues and supervisors?
- What would my friends and relatives say if they were asked what my ideal job would be?
Try to formulate targets based on your answers to these questions and define a time scale for
them (one to three years, three to five years).
The employee sets out strengths and challenges.
Define the competences that are relevant to your work. There are different kinds of competences,
such as self-reliance, professional and social skills, methodical competence and
leadership abilities.
Once you have formulated your development targets, answer the following two questions:
- What strengths will help me to achieve the development targets I have set?
- What competences must I develop in order to meet these targets?
Now you know which strengths you should work on improving and which competences to develop
in order to meet your development targets.
The development measures are defined on the basis of this information.
When formulating development measures, remember that there are different kinds of development tools:
- Off-the-job activities take place outside your daily work. These include seminars, courses, conferences, lectures, networking events or even specialist reading, and more.
- On-the-job activities are new or additional tasks (e.g. projects, acting as deputy, special tasks, mentoring, coaching etc.) in your existing role.
When defining measures, pay attention to how effective they will be in developing the appropriate competences.
ETH Zurich offers support through a range of continuing education opportunities.
Even if you are responsible for your own development, you will often find that you need support when pursuing your development measures. Think about what your development needs are. Make sure that your planned activities fit into your schedule:
- How much time do you have during or outside of work that you can dedicate to these development measures?
- Realistically, by what time can you implement the individual measures – and above all, can they actually be done
ETH Zurich recommends that employees discuss their individual development plan with their supervisor.
You can discuss your development targets and plan with your supervisor. The measures you agree together in your development meeting should be recorded in the appraisal interview form under “Personnel development”. Supervisors support their employees in implementing these measures.