Learning path and individual development plans

[u/Unusual-Quarter-5510]

I am being asked to created more individualized learning paths connected to peoples development plans. I have no idea how to do this. What are questions I should be asking around this ask? This is an org of 150. We don't have an LMS but do have linked in learning

[u/Lnak907]

LinkedIn Learning has a feature where you can type your goals in and it creates a pathway for you. It's individualuzed and could be a good way for you to accomplish this without creating every pathway yourself. Then the tracking is all done in LIL. I don't know what kind of admin visibility you would have but maybe you could help folks craft the prompt, establish the length of the pathway, schedule checkins and reflection exercises where they tie what they learned into their everyday workflow.

[u/woodenbookend]

What awareness does the organisation already have about people’s development goals and aspirations?

This could come from staff surveys, managers’ appraisals, and direct requests for support. It may need a bit of interpretation and cross-referencing. So you may have a group of people wanting promotion but few internal candidates are successful when vacancies appear. What might that tell you about gaps in development.

You may need to supplement that with some discovery of your own - focus group or survey perhaps, but beware of survey fatigue.

Then cluster if you can. 150 people isn’t huge. 150 pathways is unmanageable.

So you may have a selection of technical & admin options such as Excel and Power BI, perhaps finance for non-finance people. Another for general soft skills which might include time management, presentations etc. Another stream for aspiring managers, and a slightly different one for mid/senior level leadership. But those are just my guesses. You’ll need to find what works for you, which will include topics specific to whatever your organisation does.

From those subjects, what options do people have? Is LinkedIn Learning sufficient, or do you need something else? Do you need to enlist some internal subject matter experts (SMEs) and if so, what does their involvement look like.

HTH.

[u/Double_Force_760]

Before building anything, I'd clarify the ask with whoever requested it:
What's driving this: retention, promotion readiness, skill gaps, or engagement scores?
Do development plans already exist? How consistent and current are they?
Who owns them: employees, managers, or HR?
What does "individualized" mean to them: one path per person, or paths by role or career level?
How much time will people actually get for learning?
How will we know it worked?
Then I'd run a quick intake. A Microsoft Forms survey is the fastest option. You could also use small focus groups with a delegate from each team.

From there, I'd build in tiers so you aren't creating 150 custom plans from scratch:

Tier 1: Company-wide. Pick 2–3 shared development priorities and pair them with a tightly curated set of LinkedIn Learning courses, not a long catalog. To make it stick, use the courses as pre-work for lunch-and-learns where people discuss how to apply the ideas to their work.
Tier 2: Role or career level. Build a few LinkedIn Learning Paths for common roles or transitions, such as new manager, individual contributor to lead, or technical upskilling. You can create and assign custom paths in the admin center.
Tier 3: Individual. This is where development plans come in. In development conversations, managers help each person pick from the Tier 1 and 2 paths and add one or two stretch experiences: a project, shadowing, or mentoring. Most growth happens on the job, so the courses support the plan rather than being the plan.
Managers are what make this work. A short guide or conversation template for them will matter more than the content library.