What is a development meeting – and why is it so important?
A development meeting is a structured dialogue between employees and managers that is not only about reviewing the past few months, but above all about looking ahead.
It’s about questions such as:
- What are the employee’s professional goals?
- What skills would they like to develop or should they develop?
- Where does the company see potential—and what support can it offer?
- How can cooperation within the team or with managers be improved?
The aim is to combine individual development with the company’s strategic goals.
Ideally, this will result in a clear, joint plan for the coming months – with concrete measures, milestones, and support from managers or HR.
Typical topics covered in a development meeting
A well-conducted development meeting ideally covers the following topics:
- Review of development to date:
What went well? Where were there challenges? - Competence analysis:
What are the employee’s strengths? Where is there room for improvement? - Goals and aspirations:
What are the employee’s career goals? Are there any further training requirements?
- Development measures:
What training courses, projects, or role changes can help with this? - Feedback:
In both directions—how is leadership perceived, how is commitment perceived?
How surveys can support development discussions
1. Preparation: Understanding expectations
Before the discussion, short, anonymous surveys can help to better understand the perspective of employees.
For example:
- “Do you feel well supported in your role at the moment?”
- “What would you like to see in your next development discussion?”
Benefit: This information helps managers to prepare better and tailor discussions to individual needs. It also enables them to identify and clarify any misunderstandings or unclear expectations at an early stage.
2. Evaluate the structure and quality of the meeting
Immediately after the meeting, feedback surveys can help measure its quality:
- “How helpful was the meeting for your personal development?”
- “Were your concerns taken seriously?”
- “Were there clear agreements for your next steps?”
Benefit: Such surveys reveal whether the meetings are merely “ticked off” or actually perceived as meaningful. The results help HR to provide targeted training for managers and promote good meeting formats throughout the company.
3. Follow-up and implementation
Several weeks after the meeting, it may be useful to conduct a follow-up survey:
- “Have the measures agreed upon in the development meeting already been initiated?”
- “Do you feel supported in your further development?”
Benefit: These surveys check whether the meeting has actually been followed up with action. They are an important control tool for increasing the effectiveness of the entire development process.
Best practices for successful development discussions
To ensure that development discussions are truly effective, companies should observe the following principles:
- Create commitment: Agreements should be documented, reviewed regularly, and taken seriously.
- Prepare employees: With a discussion guide and space for self-reflection (e.g., through a pre-survey), employees can actively participate in shaping the process.
- Remove the taboo surrounding discussions: Development is not a sign of weakness, but a key success factor. The corporate culture should clearly reflect this.
- Support managers: Training in discussion techniques, active listening, and feedback culture is crucial for quality and acceptance.
- Evaluate and use feedback: Surveys should not be a token gesture—their results should visibly lead to improvements.
Conclusion: Development begins with listening
Development discussions are a great opportunity – for individual career paths, for employee engagement, and for the success of the company.
But they only have an impact if they are well prepared, conducted seriously, and followed up consistently.
Surveys are a simple but powerful tool in this regard: they give employees a voice, reveal potential for improvement, and make development measurable.
A genuine development discussion is not a monologue—it is a dialogue with perspective.
And, like so much else in a company, it begins with a simple question:
“How are you really doing—and where do you want to go?”
