Supervisors

MyCareer@VA > Develop Others

Why does career development matter?

The Department of Veterans Affairs Strategic Plan emphasizes recruiting, hiring, training, developing, deploying and retaining a diverse VA workforce to meet current and future needs and challenges. Supporting continuous learning and career development of employees is critical to building the pipeline of talent needed to provide the range of services promised to Veterans and their families. Career development benefits the employee, you as the supervisor, and the Department as a whole.

What can I do as a Supervisor?

Inspiring continuous learning and development is a characteristic of successful supervisors. Supervisors play a key role in helping individual employees understand their goals, opportunities and the training to enhance performance.

Supervisors at VA play a vital role in guiding and supporting the career development activities of employees by encouraging use of a variety of on-line resources and tools, including the My Career Mapping Tool. Used in conjunction with the VA TMS, employees and supervisors have a powerful tool to manage their career development and education activities.

Initiate conversations about career development with your employees and help them to complete their individual development plan in the VA TMS. Have periodic discussions with your employees on their progress and continue to support employee participation in career development activities such as training, mentoring, stretch assignments, and applying to other VA jobs. When supervisors coach employees to understand their career development opportunities, employees feel empowered to make informed decisions about their future and develop skills to be successful. These feelings contribute to better long-term performance and retention.

Additional VA professionals are also available to help employees with their career development. Supervisors may refer employees to:

Human Resources Management Office professionals