Development Plans & Workforce Training

SmoothHiring's Development Plans feature uses AI to create personalized workforce training plans based on assessment results. These structured plans help managers guide new hires and existing employees through targeted skill development with clear timelines, goals, checkpoints, and success criteria.

Whether you're onboarding a new hire, upskilling a current team member, or preparing someone for a promotion, Development Plans provide an actionable, data-driven roadmap for professional growth.

Overview

Development Plans (also called Workforce Training Plans) transform assessment data into structured growth roadmaps. Key capabilities include:

• AI-generated plans — Plans are created by AI using assessment training area data, candidate profiles, and behavioral trait scores.
• Customizable timelines — Plans span 30 to 180 days with configurable phases and milestones.
• Goal-based structure — Each plan includes up to 5 prioritized goals based on the largest skill gaps.
• Progress tracking — Managers and participants can log progress updates against plan goals.
• Messaging — Built-in messaging lets managers and participants communicate directly within the plan.
• Public portal — Plans can be published with a unique link so participants can view their plan, track progress, and send messages without needing a SmoothHiring account.
• Assessment integration — Plans leverage predictive trait scores, training areas, and behavioral assessment data.

Prerequisites

Before generating a Development Plan, the following must be in place:

1. Completed assessment — The candidate must have at least one completed assessment report that includes training area data or predictive traits.
2. Candidate profile — The candidate should be linked to a job application in SmoothHiring.
3. Training area data — The assessment report must contain training areas (behavioral skill scores and development tips) or predictive trait scores that can be synthesized into training areas.

If no training area data is available, SmoothHiring displays an error: "No training area data found. Generate at least one assessment report with training areas first."

Generating a Development Plan

Step 1: Navigate to the Candidate

1. Go to Applicants and select the relevant job.
2. Open the candidate's Applicant Profile.
3. Navigate to the assessment or development plan section.

Step 2: Generate the Plan

1. Click Generate Development Plan (or the equivalent action button).
2. Optionally configure:
   • Plan length — Choose a plan duration between 30 and 180 days (default: 90 days).
   • Assessment — Select which assessment report to use if multiple exist.
3. Click Generate to create the AI-powered plan.

What the AI Creates

The AI analyzes the candidate's assessment data and generates a comprehensive plan with the following structure:

Plan Title and Overview

A descriptive title (e.g., "Workforce Training Plan - John Smith") and a high-level summary of the plan's purpose and approach.

Timeline Phases

The plan is divided into 3–5 sequential phases, each containing:

Development Goals

The plan includes the top 5 goals based on the largest gaps between current scores and target scores. Each goal contains:

Supporting Elements

• Manager check-ins — Recommended check-in activities and cadence for managers.
• Participant routines — Daily or weekly habits for the participant to build.
• Risks and mitigations — Potential obstacles and strategies to address them.

Saving and Editing Plans

Saving a Plan

After a plan is generated, you can save it to the candidate's record:

1. Review the generated plan content.
2. Make any desired edits to the plan JSON.
3. Click Save to store the plan.

Plans are saved with a "draft" status until published.

Updating a Plan

You can update an existing plan at any time:

1. Open the Development Plan from the candidate's profile.
2. Make your changes to goals, timeline, or other elements.
3. Save the updated plan.

If a plan already exists for a candidate, saving creates an update rather than a duplicate.

Publishing and Sharing Plans

Publishing a Plan

Publishing makes a plan accessible via a unique public URL:

1. Open the Development Plan.
2. Click Publish.
3. SmoothHiring generates a unique, secure token for the plan.
4. The plan status changes from "draft" to "published."
5. The plan is now accessible via a public portal link.

Sharing the Portal Link

Once published, share the plan's portal URL with the participant (employee, new hire, or candidate). The portal provides:

• Full plan view — The participant can see all goals, timelines, milestones, and action items.
• Assessment summary — A summary of relevant assessment results (training areas and predictive traits).
• Progress tracking — The participant can log progress updates on specific goals.
• Messaging — The participant can send messages to the manager directly within the portal.

The portal link uses a secure token and does not require the participant to have a SmoothHiring account.

Messaging

Development Plans include a built-in messaging system for communication between managers and participants.

Manager Messages

From the SmoothHiring dashboard:

1. Open the Development Plan.
2. Navigate to the Messages section.
3. Type your message (up to 2,000 characters).
4. Click Send.

Messages are labeled with the manager's name and "employer" author type.

Participant Messages

From the published portal:

1. Open the plan using the portal link.
2. Navigate to the Messages section.
3. Type a message and include your name.
4. Click Send.

Messages are labeled with the participant's name and "participant" author type.

All messages are displayed in chronological order, creating a clear conversation thread.

Progress Tracking

Both managers and participants can log progress updates against specific plan goals.

Logging Progress

1. Select the goal domain (e.g., "Adaptability", "Communication") from the plan.
2. Enter a progress note describing what was accomplished.
3. Set the progress percentage (0–100%) for that goal.
4. Submit the update.

Progress Update Details

Each progress update records:

• Domain — Which goal the update relates to.
• Note — A description of the progress made.
• Progress percentage — The current completion level (0–100%).
• Author — Whether the update was submitted by the manager or participant.
• Date — When the update was logged.

Progress updates are stored as part of the plan JSON and are visible to both managers and participants.

Listing and Managing Plans

Viewing All Plans

To see all Development Plans across your organization:

1. Navigate to the Development Plans section.
2. Plans are displayed in a paginated list showing:
   • Plan title
   • Participant name
   • Role/job title
   • Status (draft or published)
   • Last updated date
   • Candidate and job details

Plans are sorted by most recently updated by default.

Plan Statuses

How AI Generates Plans

SmoothHiring's plan generation uses advanced AI to create actionable, role-specific training plans. Here's what happens behind the scenes:

1. Data collection — The system gathers the candidate's assessment results, including training areas (skill scores, target scores, development tips) and predictive behavioral traits.

2. Training area synthesis — If the assessment report contains predictive traits but no explicit training areas, the system synthesizes training areas from behavioral domain scores.

3. AI profile integration — The candidate's AI-generated profile summary (recruiter insights) is included for additional context about their strengths and areas for improvement.

4. Plan generation — The AI creates a structured plan with:

   • 3–5 timeline phases covering the full plan horizon.
   • Top 5 goals ranked by largest gap or highest priority.
   • Specific, job-relevant actions (not generic advice).
   • Week-based checkpoints with measurable deliverables.
   • Benchmark scores between current and target for realistic expectations.

5. Normalization — The generated plan is validated and normalized to ensure all fields contain valid data, scores are within bounds (0–100), and required fields are present.

Use Cases

New Hire Onboarding

Generate a 90-day plan for new hires to accelerate ramp-up in key competency areas identified through pre-hire assessments.

Performance Improvement

Create targeted plans for employees who need to develop specific skills, using assessment data to focus on the most impactful areas.

Promotion Readiness

Build plans for high-potential employees being prepared for leadership roles, focusing on gaps between their current competencies and the requirements of the target role.

Workforce Development Programs

Use Development Plans as part of broader organizational training initiatives, with consistent structure and measurable outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I generate multiple plans for the same candidate? A: Each candidate has one active Development Plan at a time. Saving a new plan updates the existing one rather than creating a duplicate.

Q: How long should a plan be? A: Plans can be 30 to 180 days. The default is 90 days, which works well for most onboarding and development scenarios. Shorter plans (30–60 days) suit targeted skill improvement; longer plans (120–180 days) suit comprehensive development programs.

Q: Can participants edit the plan? A: Participants can update certain plan elements through the portal, log progress, and send messages. The core plan structure is managed by the employer.

Q: What assessments are required? A: Any completed assessment report with training areas or predictive traits will work. The system prioritizes the most recent completed report.

Q: Is the portal link secure? A: Yes. Each published plan gets a unique 48-character cryptographic token. The link can only access the specific plan it was generated for.