ATD’s Foundations of Talent Development

Book excerpt: Your Talent Development Atlas If you’ve been directing your organization’s talent development effort during the last few years, you might think you’re on a journey without a map. There are few published resources to guide you in a challenge that many experts promise will only become more urgent, and necessary, in the coming years. Elaine Biech, a legendary leader in training and development, understands the road ahead and has partnered with ATD to present a new book that will point the way—ATD’s Foundations of Talent Development: Launching, Leveraging, and Leading Your Organization's TD Effort. Biech imbues this comprehensive volume with the energy and passion she has manifested in a career spanning more than three decades. In her hands, you have a trusted adviser who provides guidance, leadership, and direction to your organization. Biech painstakingly guides you over 36 chapters—taking you from developing your talent development strategy, creating an operating plan, and reinforcing your organization’s talent development mindset, through design and delivery, measurement and evaluation, and preparing for the future. No matter where you are in your development, you will be able to pick up this book and select chapters that describe how you can help your organization. What’s more, Biech has included a new customized model to assist you. Plus, she’s invited dozens of her friends and colleagues to contribute—well-known authors, ATD subject matter experts, and icons in the field—to present a cross-section of voices and approaches in the field. In 2018, ATD celebrates its 75th anniversary by delivering ATD’s Foundations of Talent Development, its first published reference to the profession it leads and supports. Think of this book as your professional atlas. Table of Contents: I. Identify and Clarify the Organization’s Learning Foundation 1. Your Organization’s Learning Culture 2. Leaders Champion Learning 3. Employees Value Learning 4. Everyone has a Learning Mindset 5. Clarifying Your Organization’s Readiness II. Develop a Talent Development Strategy 6. Build A Business Case for Learning 7. Enhance Your Organizational and Industry Savvy 8. Expand Talent Development’s Purpose 9. Partner with Business to Become Trusted Advisors III. Create an Operating Plan: 10. Align TD to the Organization’s Needs 11. Manage the TD Function 12. Balance Services and Budget 13. Leveraging Technology for Learning IV. Reinforce an Organizational Talent Development Mindset 14. Maturing Your Organization’s Learning Culture 15. How Your Organization Learns to Perform 16. Managers Develop their Employees 17. Employees are Accountable for Their Development 18. Talent Development Professionals are Consultants V. Design and Deliver Learning 19. Formal Learning 20. Learning from Others 21. On-the-Job Learning 22. Contemporary Content 23. Services Provided by TD Professionals VI. Fortifying the Learning 24. Enable Social Learning 25. Empower Employees 26. Coach Managers 27. Foster Continual Self-Learning 28. Develop TD Staff VII. Define and Measure the Impact 29. Determine and Demonstrate Organizational Impact 30. Evaluation Methods 31. Getting Started with Evaluation 32. The Future of Evaluation VIII. Prepare for the Future 33. The Workplace of the Future 34. The Workforce of the Future 35. Talent Development Future Trends 36. Guiding Your Organization’s Future