What is Developmental Counseling?
Developmental counseling is the Army’s most important individualized means to assist a subordinate with improving performance and potential. Leaders at all levels are required to conduct developmental counseling with their subordinates.
Explore the interaction to learn more about when to counsel (timing), who’s involved (actors), and the purpose of the interaction (objective).
Counseling looks at the past and how to improve for the future. It should be done on a routine basis. You can read more about the different types of counseling in ATP 6-22.1 The Counseling Process.
The counselor is a superior – like the rater or senior rater – to the individual being counseled.
The purpose of providing developmental counseling is to review a subordinate’s performance or professional growth by providing specific feedback. It can be used to reinforce positive behavior and superior performance, or to identify issues before they become significant problems.