Our Approach | development programs
Just like a strong building requires careful planning and the right surroundings to rise tall, development also relies on having a strong foundation. Without a clear roadmap and the right conditions, developing yourself can be tough. That's where approaches like McKinsey's 3x3x3 method can be invaluable..
The 3x3x3 method provides a structured way to grow personally and professionally. In this article, we'll explore why a strong foundation matters and how we, at Mploy Associates, have embraced the 3x3x3 approach in our development programs.
Development, we all strive for it, but it is not as easy as we sometimes think. For employees to develop, it is important to have a solid foundation within the organization they work for. Being aware of this, is step one. McKinsey has designed a simple heuristic -“3x3x3”- as a memorable baseline method that aligns with the practices of effective learning (Lisa Christensen, Jake Gittleson, and Matthew Smith, 2021). Following this approach helps to create a strong development foundation in your organization. This 3x3x3 approach can be summarized as follows:
When setting goals for development, it's best to focus on just three at a time. If you try to work on too many things at once, it can be hard to make real progress because your attention and energy get divided. Building new skills requires intentional effort and concentration. People who set too many goals often struggle to remember what they're trying to achieve. On the flip side, having too few goals may mean missing out on opportunities to improve and succeed in different areas. The "Goldilocks zone" (Kidd, Celeste; Piantadosi, Steven T.; Aslin, Richard N., 2012) of development suggests that aiming for three goals is just right – not too many to lose focus, and not too few to limit your growth and impact.
The second "3" in the development approach focuses on the timeframe to achieve goals, with three months as a guideline. This duration encourages breaking down long-term goals into manageable parts, facilitating employees to reflect and adapt if necessary and without losing too much time. For instance, someone aiming to transition from an HR generalist to a people-analytics role might set a three-month goal to learn machine-learning basics. At this checkpoint, they can reassess and decide whether to continue or adjust their path. This three-month cycle ensures continuous alignment of development goals with broader aspirations, making the process more adaptable and effective.
The last "3" in this approach is about the people who can support you in achieving your development goals. While there's a natural tendency to keep goals to ourselves, involving others is a powerful way to improve success. Sharing goals creates social pressure and allows others to offer helpful feedback and ideas. It also provides opportunities to celebrate and reinforce growth with a support network.
The advice of McKinsey is to involve at least three people, these could be teammates, peers, direct reports, managers, or even your partner, depending on the goals you have set. While a single external perspective is beneficial, we know that having multiple sources of support, insight, and feedback multiplies the potential for learning and growth.
At Mploy Associates, we have taken inspiration from McKinsey's 3x3x3 approach and tailored it to our own unique organizational context. Embracing the philosophy, we've created a structured framework that revolves around three key principles: 3 areas of development, 3 months timeframe, and 3 people.
As McKinsey mentioned in their research, it is important to give your employees a certain focus when it comes to development. Instead of creating a maximum amount of development goals, we decided to help our employees with focus by setting goals on a few concrete development areas. We distinguish the following 3 areas of development in all our development programs:
Deadlines have a way of focusing the mind, also for our employees. Therefore, at Mploy Associates we reflect every 3 months during a Talent Development Meeting (TDM). In this TDM the employee presents his/her Talent Development Plan (TDP) including their long-term ambition, personal, professional, and theoretical development goals.
Together with their lead and personal Talent Manager, our employees reflect on their development goals, add and/or adapt the goals if needed and discuss what is necessary for the employee to achieve the goals. After creating the Talent Development Plan, the employee has a clear path and knows which concrete steps to undertake to reach their development goals.
Just as the rest of the world, our employees are also more likely to achieve goals when they enlist others who can help and hold them accountable. At the same time, we also believe that our employees should be in the lead of their own development. To implement both outlooks, we decided to let the employee be the first person who is accountable for achieving his/her development goals.
Next to the employee him/herself, a Team Lead (person 2) and a personal Talent Manager (person 3) are involved to keep the employee accountable for achieving his/her development goals.
At Mploy Associates we have created a strong development foundation according to the 3x3x3 approach of McKinsey. To summarize – our employees have a concrete Talent Development Plan with focused development goals in 3 concrete development areas, they reflect on their plan every 3 months with their lead and their Talent Manager to hold them accountable. Because of this strong and structured foundation, our employees have the opportunity to develop themselves in the best way possible.
If you want to know more about this topic or obtain additional information on talent development at Mploy Associates, please don't hesitate to contact us using the contact button on this page.