Our company will be adminstering the annual employee survey. We want to formalize an action planning process for our managers so they are held accountable for taken action to address areas of need within their departments. Is anyone aware of a good action planning framework and tools that I can customize for my needs?

You might do well to do a Google search on 'Managing Underperformance'. I know it sounds strange, but the key processes outlined for this procedure will probably adapt quite easily into an action plan process.

In simple terms, action plans are just commitments to act on identified opportunities or threats, so if you can focus on asking them to highlight the major issues they face and then put actions in place aligning to this, you can't go far wrong.

LIF-

I don't know of any tool other then a spreadsheet, but I do know os some consultants who have been ver helpful to me and my managers in helping to develop action plans if you are interested.

Hey - perfect resource for you - it is a book that provides a framework for translating your accountabilities into daily actions - I used it recently for a global project management program (built cases using the accountability framework in the book where the project managers had to develop action plans etc.) - the whole thrust was around "you are accountable - what are you going to do about it?" It is called "Accountability...a noun or a verb?" and can be found at link below.

http://www.amazon.com/Accountability-Noun-Verb-Richard-...932/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1