Are your goals U S E R G U I D E TM on target? User Guide for iplan Level I & II Version 3.1 Designed to help employees get the very best from the TypeFocus iplan Program
2 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS... 2 FOCUS OF THIS USER GUIDE... 3 WELCOME TO THE IPLAN PROGRAM: VERSION 3.1... 4 HOW TO REGISTER... 4 WHAT IS THE IPLAN PROGRAM?... 5 WHAT BENEFITS DOES THE EPDP HAVE FOR YOU?... 5 WHAT PRINCIPLES IS IT BUILT ON?... 5 WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO MY MINISTRY/AGENCY?... 5 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE LEVELS OF THE IPLAN PROGRAM... 6 LEVEL I OFFERS:... 6 LEVEL II OFFERS:... 6 FEATURES OF THE IPLAN PROGRAM... 7 STARTING AND WORKING WITH EPDPS... 8 STARTING AND WORKING WITH YOUR OWN EPDP.... 8 EPDPS HAVE FOUR STATUS LEVELS:... 9 APPROVING AND COMPLETING YOUR EPDP... 10 EPDP FLOWCHART... 11 WORKING WITH YOUR EMPLOYEE S EPDP... 12 EDITING YOUR OWN EPDP.... 13 SUPERVISORY REPORTS... 14 FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE EPDP... 14 HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THE SELF-AWARENESS REPORT... 15 HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT... 16 HOW TO BENEFIT FROM THE TEAM SURVEY... 17 2
3 Focus of this User Guide This User Guide for iplan: Version 3.1 is designed to help you understand and navigate within the iplan Program. It is not intended to teach you how to create and work with your Employee Performance and Development Plans. Planning Goal setting work, competencies, Reviewing Employee and Focusing Progress and realignment To learn more about the EPDP process, go to: http://www.hrtoolkit.gov.bc.ca/epdp/ 3
4 Welcome to the iplan Program: Version 3.1 This version has been extensively upgraded to include new features and easier navigation. How to register 1. Go to the website https://iplan.typefocus.com 2. Highlight your organizational group in the drop box by clicking on it 3. Click on the Go button 4. Click on Create New Account 5. Enter your work email address As you continue, an email message will be generated by the iplan and sent to the email address you have just given. At this time, you will need to go to where you normally get your emails (e.g., Outlook) in order to continue the registration process. 6. If you receive an error message at this point saying your email is not authorized, you will need to contact your Ministry iplan administrator and have them enter your email address into the program. You are able to contact this person by using the Ask for Help link on the top right of the page. 7. If your email is authorized, an email will arrive in a few minutes with a temporary password and a link to take you to the registration page. You are now able to create your own username and a new password, to ensure your privacy. The following information is also collected: Gender (needed so the program can create gender-correct pronouns for your reports) Employee ID number (needed for the government-wide CHIPS program) Upon registration, you are able to access the benefits of the iplan program. 4
5 What is the iplan Program? The iplan Program is the online version of the Employee Performance and Development Plan (EPDP). It is beyond the scope of this iplan User Guide to fully explain the EPDP process, but you can find more information about the EPDP at: http://www.hrtoolkit.gov.bc.ca/epdp/ What benefits does the EPDP have for you? You will understand: How your work contributes to your team goals The key competencies needed in your job Your professional, personal and career development goals How your work/performance will be measured and recognized What principles is it built on? Employee initiated and managed Forward looking Incorporates a planning, focusing and reviewing cycle Results-oriented and linked to Service Plan and team goals Personal development & competencies key components Employee-supervisor dialogue is key to success What are the benefits to my Ministry/Agency? Common organizational approach to setting goals and reviewing performance and development Alignment of individual plans with ministry goals Ongoing process and dialogue between employees and supervisors on performance and development Links to corporate learning & development, career & succession planning, rewards & recognition 5
6 Descriptions of the Levels of the iplan Program Level I offers: Online Employee Performance & Development Plan (EPDP), and Roll-up Reports for Supervisors Level II offers: Online Employee Performance & Development Plan (EPDP), Roll-up Reports for Supervisors As well as: Self-awareness Report based on personality type, Career Development Report based on competencies, and Team Survey Report. 6
7 Features of the iplan Program See the page associated with the feature. 13 13 8-12 13 15 16 17 14 7
8 Starting and working with EPDPs See the circled letters for explanations. A. The Show and Hide always refer to instructions. If you already know what to do, this feature allows you to hide the instructions. B A C D B. Click on this button to start a new EPDP. When you click on it, you will be asked for your classification, supervisor s name and fiscal year. You can only have one open EPDP per fiscal year. C. Click on this button to request a Special EPDP for temporary assignments, secondments, and acting positions. E D. This section identifies details of your EPDP. E. This section identifies details of a supervisor s employees EPDPs. Starting and working with your own EPDP. Once you have started your own EPDP, you can re-enter it at anytime by clicking on the Open button. B = where you click to start your EPDP. D = where you click to open an existing EPDP to work with it. 8
9 EPDPs have four status levels: Not started Status you have registered into the iplan Program but you have not yet started or opened an EPDP. In this case, you will not see anything in area D. Open Status you have started or opened an EPDP, but you have not progressed to the point where you and your supervisor have approved it. Approved Status you and your supervisor have both Approved the EPDP, which doesn t stop you from further editing and it doesn t mean that it is perfect. It means that it is a good workable EPDP that you will continue to work with throughout the year. Mid-Year Focus Session you have discussed the progress you are making in your EPDP with your supervisor and fellow employees. (This step occurs within the approved status but it is tracked for roll-up reports.) Year-End Review Session you have discussed the final results with your supervisor and employees and determined what will be required for next year s EPDP. (This step occurs within the approved status but it is tracked for roll-up reports.) Completed Status you and your supervisor have completed the EPDP process and are ready to close this year s EPDP in order for you to start a new EPDP for the next fiscal year. Once an EPDP has been Completed, it can no longer be edited. Because of this feature, care should be taken to ensure that the final version of your EPDP is exactly the way you want it. 9
10 Approving and Completing Your EPDP The EPDP process is one where an employee opens an EPDP, then when both the supervisor and employee click on the approve link, the status now changes to approved. It doesn t matter which person does it first, the program will email the other to encourage that person to check it over and if it s OK, then to approve it as well. When it comes time to complete an EPDP, the supervisor must go first. They would click into the complete this EPDP link, which will be there in the blue box to the right of main EPDP page once the supervisor has done so, the employee will be notified and asked to do the same. This is what the Supervisor of Jane Smith sees: This is what the employee (i.e. Jane Smith) sees: Note that before the supervisor completes the EPDP, the employee will NOT have a link to complete it because the supervisor must go first. When the supervisor does complete it, the link will then appear in the employee s EPDP giving them the chance to complete it as well. When the employee clicks on the complete button, he or she will have three options open to them: a) complete the current EPDP and not open a new one, b) complete the current EPDP and open a new blank one, or c) complete the current EPDP and open a new one with all the current information imported into it on the premise that it would be easier to edit an existing EPDP for the new fiscal year than to create it all from scratch. 10
11 EPDP FLOWCHART Employee starts draft EPDP. iplan program automatically notifies Supervisor of EPDP started. Employee meets with Supervisor to review EPDP. Supervisor Approves EPDP Employee Approves EPDP Supervisor does not Approve EPDP and suggests revisions. Employee incorporates revisions mutually agreed upon. EPDP status changes to Approved. Employee works on achieving key work goals, career, and learning objectives identified in EPDP throughout the fiscal year. Employee updates Mid-Year Review and meets with Supervisor halfway through fiscal year to assess progress to date. At end of fiscal year, Employee meets with Supervisor to update the Year-End Review and discuss EPDP objectives for the next fiscal year. Supervisor Completes current fiscal EPDP. Supervisor does not Complete current fiscal EPDP and suggests revisions. Employee Completes current fiscal EPDP. Employee incorporates revisions mutually agreed upon. 11
12 Working with your employee s EPDP. E This section only applies to people who have been identified as a Supervisor by an employee. If you have employees who do not show up on this page, they have not started an EPDP with you identified as their supervisor. You may view your employee s progress at any time by clicking on Open Link. As the Supervisor, you have two main responsibilities for your staff s EPDPs: Provide the employee with the team goals at the start of the Key Work Goals section. As their supervisor, you are their team leader and they should be working towards helping you meet your EPDP goals. It is up to you to communicate and clarify the team goals for your employees. You do this by simply creating a good set of your own Key Work Goals because your employees will be able to import your goals right into their own EPDPs. Provide the employee with supervisory comments regarding their Key Work Goals, Key Competencies and Personal Learning Plan. At the least, this should be a short statement affirming that you have read and approved their efforts. 12
13 Editing Your Own EPDP. A B C E D A. iplan Resources includes the following links: My Account your personal information that you can change (e.g. username or password) FAQ frequently asked questions Tutorials how to develop an EPDP and use the Team Survey Links Access to Public Service Agency s Learning Services and Manager s HR Toolkit User Guide available for downloading Program Map a one-page overview of the iplan Program B. Ask for Help. An easy way to ask questions and report any problems you may have with iplan. These requests are sent to the support personnel assigned to your ministry. C. This section tells you the status of your EPDP (see page 9 for definitions). D. You can do two things here: Print a hard copy of your current EPDP Direct an email to the supervisor specified on this EPDP. E. This section is headed by tabs that let you work through the EPDP. You can also change your classification and choose another supervisor in this section. 13
14 Supervisory Reports Supervisors (who have employees with EPDPs) can create roll-up reports that capture whatever section of the EPDPs they are interested in. For example, a supervisor might want to roll up the Key Work Goals of their employees into one report in order to ensure their team goals are sufficiently addressed. Final thoughts about the EPDP EPDPs are done in partnership between the employee and supervisor. When the EPDP file is created, both the employee and supervisor can access it. This makes it easy for both parties to communicate with one another. Changes or comments made to the EPDPs are immediately available to the other party that has been identified in this partnership. Hints about using the EPDP: The EPDP is a working document and therefore is always open to change. Because of this, you might want to print a copy at the time of approval and again at year end. The signed hard copy will serve as the official report. Whenever you click on the Print this EPDP you are creating a PDF file that is dated, which means you can save your EPDP copies all electronically rather than in hard copy. Whenever the employee or supervisor makes significant changes/edits to the file, it is suggested that an email be sent to the other person identified on the EPDP document. This can be done using the handy email feature on the EPDP main page. 14
15 How to Benefit from the Self-awareness Report The dictionary defines personality as the combination of your distinctive individual qualities. The better you understand these qualities, the better your career decisions and the more you can contribute to your team s goal setting efforts. Carl Rogers, a famous psychotherapist, once said that everyone is trying to answer the question, "Who am I... really?" Knowing your personality type helps you answer this question, and as you understand yourself better, you begin to understand others better too. The Self-awareness Report is based on one s personality type and is a comprehensive 19-page report touching on such issues as workplace preferences and frustrations, areas of development and handling organizational change and stress. The basis for the report is the TypeFocus Personality Type Indicator, which was developed by David Wood (who is trained in psychology and psychometrics) over a period of six years. This instrument has demonstrated good reliability and validity statistics and has been in use by school and university career centers since 1997. Self-awareness is the first step to personal success because the better you understand yourself, the more you are empowered to change, adapt and grow. Imagine being able to communicate - really communicate - with your colleagues, so you share a common language and a way of understanding each other that builds trust and creates great working relationships. The Self-awareness Report in the iplan program is all about helping you work more effectively with less stress and better results. The Self-awareness Report is only available in the Level II option of the iplan program. Everyone who has access to this report through the iplan program should also have the opportunity to attend a workshop that explains personality type theory and applications. Some important considerations for your peace-of-mind: Your personality results are for your own self-awareness; taking the questionnaire is voluntary and your results are confidential. No one but yourself can access your results from the program; the only time someone will know your results is when you choose to share your results with them. You may take the personality assessment, print the results for your own files and then delete your scores by going to: Self-awareness > Delete your self-awareness report and start again (which deletes the existing scores in preparation for a new set of scores) then simply don t complete the questionnaire. You may choose to come to one of the Personality Type Workshops to gain a better understanding of the theory and application before committing to complete the questionnaire. 15
16 How to benefit from the Career Development Report In this report, you will identify a target career and assess your competencies against it. Your goal is to continue working on your strengths and address any competency gaps that might exist. You can then prepare yourself for this position by creating an individual career development plan, which can be discussed with your supervisor or mentor. Determining your career development needs is an important part of work life because it will help you and your supervisor to: Develop shared expectations for your training and development Facilitate your ongoing career planning Get the job you want! Note: Both the Self-awareness Report and the Career Development Report are solely for your benefit and are voluntary. 16
17 How to Benefit from the Team Survey An effective team is a group of interdependent people who agree on a goal - and who agree that the best way to achieve that goal is to work together. An effective team also creates an enjoyable experience for its members, who look forward to team meetings and experience a sense of progress and accomplishment. Like individuals, teams go through stages of development. And, like individuals, teams may also get stuck in an immature phase, which leads to reduced effectiveness. Understanding your team's stage of development helps you to be an effective team member. You can initiate the Team Survey as many times as you want and for as many different teams as you want. Your completed results are automatically saved. This makes it possible to compare one team to another or compare the same team from year to year. This report benefits you as a team leader in two ways: Your career success is related to how well you can lead and develop teams, so this report is especially useful as a developmental feedback tool. This report also makes an excellent starting point for team building sessions. Once you have initiated a Team Survey, everyone identified as being part of the team will receive an email from the iplan program asking him or her to log into a web address where they will respond to a Team Effectiveness Survey. As the initiator, you will be able to determine what timeframe you will use for the survey. The program will not let you close the survey until at least three people have completed it. This feature provides some anonymity for the participants. Upon closure of the survey, the results will be collated and made available to you from the iplan program. 17