How do I create a development plan from a review in Leapsome?
Managers can create a Development Plan, Individual Development Plan (IDP), or Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) directly from the review's 'Notes & next steps' tab. After selecting an eligible plan type, they can let the Plan assistant fill in the structured form, or complete it manually. All AI-generated content is fully editable before approving.
This keeps post-review follow-up inside Leapsome, reducing the risk of feedback being lost or delayed after a review cycle closes.
Table of Contents
- What is post-review development plan creation?
- How to enable the feature
- Prerequisites: setting up eligible plans
- How to create a development plan from a review
- How the Plan assistant works
- FAQ
What is post-review development plan creation?
Post-review development plan creation lets managers turn review feedback into a structured plan without leaving the review. A dedicated 'Development Plan / Performance Improvement Plan' section in the 'Notes & next steps' tab surfaces eligible plan types and offers an AI-assisted flow that pre-populates the form using content from the review.
How to enable the feature
Two separate settings in the Feature Access Matrix control this feature. To access them:
- Go to 'Settings' > 'Employees' > 'Feature Access Matrix'
- Locate the 'AI features' section
- Enable the following settings for the relevant roles:
- 'Reviews - recommend development and performance improvement plan forms' — After a review, recommends relevant Development Plan and Performance Improvement Plan forms based on the assessment and conversation notes. This setting must be enabled before the AI fill setting below can take effect.
- 'Reviews - fill development and performance improvement plan submissions with AI' — Drafts and refines Development Plan and PIP submissions with AI from a review. Requires the 'recommend' permission above to be enabled first.
Please note: Both settings must be enabled for the full AI-assisted plan creation flow to be available. If only the 'recommend' setting is enabled, plan types are surfaced in the review but the Plan assistant will not pre-fill content.
Prerequisites: setting up eligible plans
The plans that appear in the 'Development Plan / Performance Improvement Plan' section are the Development Plan, Individual Development Plan (IDP), and Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) form types configured in the Form Builder. A plan type appears as an option for a manager if:
- The form is of type 'Development Plan', 'IDP', or 'Performance Improvement Plan'
- The manager and employee meet the eligibility and access rules defined for that form
Recommended plans based on the current review appear at the top of the list. Make sure the relevant form types have the correct eligibility and access rules set up before the review cycle closes.
For guidance on creating and configuring form types, refer to the Forms documentation.
How to create a development plan from a review
To create a development plan from a review:
- Open the review and go to the 'Notes & next steps' tab
- Scroll to the 'Development Plan / Performance Improvement Plan' section
- Click 'Continue with plan generation' next to the relevant plan type
- The Plan assistant panel opens on the right, complete the structured fields or let the assistant pre-fill them
- Review all fields, then click 'Approve & create draft form' to save
Once approved, a link to the plan appears in the 'Development Plan / Performance Improvement Plan' section so it stays accessible from within the review.
Please note: The 'Continue with plan generation' option is available once the manager assessment has been submitted and the review conversation phase is underway. It is not available before the manager assessment is complete.
How does the Plan assistant work?
When a manager clicks 'Continue with plan generation', the Plan assistant panel opens on the right side of the screen. Depending on the plan type selected, the assistant presents structured fields to complete — for example, for a Performance Improvement Plan:
- Manager and HR partner — select the relevant people
- PIP start and end date — set the plan timeline
- Check-in cadence — choose weekly, biweekly, monthly, or other
- Area(s) to improve — select from predefined categories such as communication, productivity, or professional conduct
- Summary of performance concerns — describe the context for the plan
Where review data is available, the assistant uses goals, past feedback, and role descriptions as context to inform suggestions. If no context data is available for a given field, the manager completes it manually.
All fields are fully editable before approving. Once the manager is satisfied with the content, they click 'Approve & create draft form' to generate the plan. Clicking 'Reject & delete' discards the draft without saving.
Please note: The Plan assistant fills structured fields rather than generating free text. The level of AI pre-fill depends on the context available from the current review cycle.
FAQ
1. Who can create a development plan from a review?
By default, managers can create development plans from the review's 'Notes & next steps' tab. Employees may also see the option depending on the access rules configured for each form type in the Form Builder. Role-level access to the feature is configured in 'Settings' > 'Employees' > 'Feature Access Matrix'.
2. Which plan types are available?
The available plan types depend on what is configured in the Form Builder: Development Plan, Individual Development Plan (IDP), and Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). Recommended plans based on the current review appear at the top of the list.
3. Do both Feature Access Matrix settings need to be enabled?
Yes. The 'recommend' setting surfaces plan types in the review, and the 'fill with AI' setting enables the Plan assistant to pre-populate fields. The 'fill' setting requires the 'recommend' setting to be enabled first.
4. What happens if there are no eligible plans for a manager-employee pair?
If no eligible plan types exist for that combination, the 'Continue with plan generation' option is not shown. Check the form eligibility and access rules in the Form Builder and ensure the relevant manager and employee meet the criteria.
5. Is the development plan visible to the employee?
Visibility depends on the access rules configured for each form type in the Form Builder. Some forms may be set to manager-only access, while others allow the employee to view or comment.