Do the development goals you set for your direct reports matter? You may want to say yes—but unless you create the same level of accountability for development goals as you do for business results, you are communicating that development goals are second-class priorities.
The pace of change is determined by the speed of accountability.
When your direct reports decide what to work on, they evaluate what tasks they want to do, what they believe is important, and what they are held accountable for. Accountability is incredibly powerful because it is the easiest factor for managers to control.
As a manager, you probably are creating accountability around your business tasks. Your direct reports need to accomplish the tasks you assign, and you check on their progress periodically to make sure that the work is getting done. That creates a strong incentive for your direct reports to focus on those tasks.
But, if you create accountability around business goals and don’t put the same accountability structures in place for professional development, the incentive to work on those tasks is far lower. Your direct reports are likely to work on those goals much less frequently. Consequently, they will develop slowly and inconsistently.
Ask yourself how frequently you create accountability around business goals. Do you check in with your direct reports each day? Once a week? Chances are you don’t go much longer than a week between accountability checks. Now ask yourself how frequently you create accountability around business goals. Did you last ask your direct reports what they need to improve during an annual performance review? During a quarterly check-in?
Notice the disconnect between how frequently you create accountability for each type of goal. You can improve as a manager by closing the gap. It doesn’t take a lot of time—a one-minute interaction like, “And what skill are you going to focus on improving over the next week as you work on these tasks?” can start the accountability loop. Having these short conversations on a regular basis—and maintaining the expectation that direct reports will follow through with their commitments—can dramatically improve performance over time.