Definition: A "fast track" is a development program (often a fast rotation through different departments) that readies an employee for promotion much faster than a non-fast track employee.

By a “formal program,” we mean it is written, is ongoing, and has someone in charge of it. If what you do is a reaction to training requests, or sporadic people development efforts, please choose No below.

By “mentoring” we mean passing along experience and knowledge of how to best perform in a role to a person with lesser experience in a similar role. This is different from “coaching” which is about helping a less-experienced employee think through general problems and organizational challenges more clearly and effectively, and usually helping them discover the best approach without being told how by the coach.

By “experiential learning” we mean helping someone learn new things by having them engage in an activity usually outside of their current job description. Examples could include putting someone on a key account proposal team to gain sales experience, or putting them on a software evaluation team to make a recommendation about changing software.