The talent development tools of the trade.
Succession planning: It's a topic I hear time and again when talent development executives describe top business priorities. It also appears on their "greatest challenges list"—and has for several years. In this issue of CTDO, Kevin Eikenberry guides us through the complicated minefield of succession planning with pragmatism and candor.
"Creating a pipeline of leaders for your organization starts at the top, in creating commitment and resources to drive action. But it also starts at the bottom, by identifying and encouraging individuals with the capacity and potential to lead and make a difference in your organization," Eikenberry writes. He encourages talent development executives to treat succession planning as more than a trendy concept relegated to the annual strategic plan, explaining the mission-critical need to "build a deep, broad, and sustainable pipeline of leadership talent to help our organizations succeed today and prosper long after we are gone." How are you helping to drive succession planning in your organization this year?
Growing a strong leadership pipeline is one way to show the value of the talent development function to your C-suite peers. And proving that such learning solutions contribute to business results doesn't have to be arduous, Dana Gaines Robinson reveals in her article, "Chain of Evidence."
Robinson introduces a practical approach to connect learning to performance and performance to business results. This method, called a "chain of evidence," identifies business needs followed by performance needs, and finally organizational and individual capability needs. "What we know is that business results do not occur because of what people know; they move because of what people do with what they know," Robinson writes.
Other musn't-miss columns this issue include Career Hacks, which makes a case for the power of networking, and Debate, a face-off about whether Agile is the better learning design methodology. Finally, State of TD is full of leading research on trending topics such as the future gig workforce, emerging technologies, and the use of performance ratings.
If you’re reading this article online, have you thought to access CTDO magazine from the free ATD Publications app? If not, I encourage you to check out this dynamic content medium created specifically with you in mind.
Thank you for your interest in CTDO magazine, full of essential insight for leaders like you. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback about this issue. What article was your favorite? Which column is most beneficial in helping to inform your role as a talent development executive? Please contact me at any time with your thoughts.
Ann Parker
ATD Community of Practice Manager
Senior Leaders & Executives
aparker@td.org
Read more from CTDO magazine: Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.
