So, you've hired a fabulous group of employees. Good for you! But don't sit on your hiring laurels now  it's only the beginning of the process. The name of the game now is development. It's vital to the long-term success of your organization to work with those newly-hired employees, measuring their performance and encouraging the continuous improvement of that great staff you've hired.

Regardless of their place on the corporate ladder, a solid employee development and performance management system ensures that individuals understand the significance of their roles within the company and are doing their very best to contribute to departmental and organizational objectives.

The best way to go about that, in my view, is with an employee development plan that is customized to fit your company's needs  and then customized further to meet to needs of specific departments. When it comes to employee development, what's good for accounting may not be good for sales.

How to begin? There are four phases to this process: Discovery, Analysis/Design, Implementation and Measuring Success.

1. Discovery
This is, quite simply, determining your needs and goals. Are you developing a plan for accounting, sales, or the whole company? Do you want to dig deep and identify core competencies for each position in the company or do a simpler succession plan? Are you focusing on individuals or departments? In a perfect world, what would be your ideal end result? And don't forget one of the most important questions: What is your budget for this undertaking? That, alone, can dictate the size and scope of whatever you do.

2. Analysis/Design
Once you know your needs, it's time to design a blueprint for getting there. Ways to help employees on the road to development?

" Link employees' current roles directly to corporate goals. This is a great way of demonstrating to each employee how vital he or she is to the organization.

" Use structured, formal performance appraisals, including those using 360 degree feedback in which the employee hears from coworkers, managers, customers and underlings how he or she is doing on the job and where he might improve. These are particularly powerful tools to ensure continuous improvement and growth.

" Create succession planning that outlines the employee's current role and where he or she might go from there. Be creative  include a flow chart of avenues by which an employee might advance.

" Outline additional skills, knowledge and training that might need to occur along the way. Don't simply list Positions A, B and C on the corporate ladder, provide a roadmap of exactly how to get there.

3. Implementation
So, how do you put all of this into practice without drowning in a mountain of effort and paperwork? One good way is to use an outside consultant who can provide customized review and appraisal processes that are administered online. That way, all information is compiled by someone else into easy-to-use reports. Armed with those, you can conduct planning sessions with employees.

4. Success
How can you make sure all of your effort was worthwhile? Periodic measurement and analysis of the key metrics that determine program success is vital. Are employees following their plans? Are they achieving success and growth? Are they taking additional training necessary to move up the ladder? All of these things will let you know if your efforts are successful.