How do you create talent development programs that work for everyone?

One method is to think of what the end state looks like. What is the result you are seeking in the talent development program? From this end state, you can then deconstruct it backwards to help better understand the different components like those skills, competencies, and behaviours.

Design talent development programs with an eye for the needs and gaps of the current workforce, but also looking at what will be needed 3-5 years ahead. Agility is key to successful learning and development that doesn’t lose relevance within a short time frame.

There is great power in viewing the organization through the unique work worlds/levels, in which people operate. There are known KSA's that drive performance, and effectiveness at each level (Leadership, Managers/Supervisors and Individual Contributors) that are quite unique. This is partially why we see so many promotions fail! Individuals have to give up/adapt the KSA's that helped them achieve at one level, and pick up new KSA's. Beginning with a view of these work worlds, and identifying what the most important KSA's are inside the organizational context, is a strong foundation on which to assess for skills gaps and create bespoke developmental intitiaves.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) is vital insight to provide unique and diverse insights into employee needs and perspectives, aiding in addressing talent development across the organization. ERGs offer a platform for diverse employees to share experiences and feedback on company culture, policies, and programs especially talent development. The collaboration helps to identify improvement areas, implement targeted initiatives for professional growth, and enables tailored development opportunities aligned with employee interests, promoting career advancement, mentorship, and leadership development. Ultimately, committing to ERGs ensures inclusive and effective talent development efforts, strengthening our culture of belonging and respect.

HR should never develop these programs in a vacuum. This should be a community effort trying to achieve shared goals. Stakeholders are the ones ultimately most impacted by the success or failure of these programs, so they should be involved in all steps of the process, from vision to strategy and tactics. If they are not committed to the program's success from the start, these programs will often be starved of support, making success nearly impossible.

Understand the needs of every stakeholder, as well as what insights and input they can provide. SLT can share insights into succession planning, gaps, and growth plans for the organization. HR can share an overview of top talent and demographics. Recruiting can share the talent pipeline and branding to build the reputation. Managers can share the gaps that exist on their team currently. Employees can share what they want relating to growth and development. These insights can be combined to create the strategy for what roles are critical, where gaps will exist in short-term and long-term scenarios, & to build appropriate programs to find talent with the right core competencies that can be trained up to fill those future needs.

We often fall short with the real implementation of program learning. It gets more and more difficult to get stakeholder buy-in when accountability consistently falls short. This is a key area for HR professionals to monitor and follow up on, particularly when outside consultants are used for design and implementation.

Remember to look at your company demographics, we might not like to generalize, but it can be very helpful to create programs according generations and expertise, each generation has certain tendencies of learning, some generations like to read instead of watching a video, others are more open to learn with infographics or strong use of technology; however, in any case, don’t be afraid to generate a quick exam as a previous requirement to start the program, so that the participants can self evaluate the level of knowledge they might have in certain topic, this helps a lot to promote interest among participants. Not everybody has the same level of expertise in every topic, and age is not always a guarantee of knowledge.

One good way to get started is to blend active and passive learning programs. Active learning, which includes experiential and participatory activities (Job rotations, Case Studies, Simulations) is most effective for learning retention purposes but also most time-intensive to set up. Passive learning, which includes online courses and reading materials, has the fastest set-up but the lowest rate of learning retention. Creating different pilot programs with a varied mix of active and passive learning and allowing each employee to sign up for their preferred mix allows you to learn what works for your company in an organic way.

Trust is key for talent development and improving inclusion. However, trust as a strategy is often disconnected from diversity and inclusion efforts and isolated within talent development. Trust-building helps create a safe space for employees to share ideas and take risks. Inclusive cultures rely on trust to ensure all voices are valued, leading to innovation. Prioritizing trust-building helps ensure transparent communication, which is crucial for building understanding and empathy among diverse teams, where other's ideas will be respected and considered, leading to innovation and creativity. Ultimately, trust forms the bedrock of an inclusive culture, benefiting both individuals and the organization.

When development programs are few and far between or very bare bones it sends a powerful message to the employees that it’s not a valuable company priority. This has a devastating effect on morale and motivation levels. My advice for those who are responsible for this area is to fight for robust budgets and be ready to back up your argument with data on engagement, retention, and succession planning.

One of the most common pitfalls that can occur is what I would call the 'stasis' whenever development programs 'end' and it's totally normal because everyone is so fulfilled to finally cross the line: participants, their leaders, HR function, etc. I mean who doesn't love to see that people learned, switched roles with a colleague, got promoted, or all of the prior... but keeping the program alive, and making it better every time is deployed, that's the real challenge! I've found innovation artifacts like retrospectives, digital canvases, or feedback-prompting questions very useful to gather feedback and make sure I'm capturing all possible voices without losing momentum.

One thing I’ve found helpful is to define your target audience and how it connects to your organizational strategy and values. By starting on this path you can tie your evaluation strategy to the organizational strategy ensuring success over time. Furthermore, I highly recommend starting a program or initiative with an evaluation plan that includes milestones and ‘pivot markers’. That way, if you hit a snag, you’ll know if you should continue on the same trajectory or pivot. ????? Continuously evaluate your progress with live data and pivot accordingly.

Another great way to celebrate the completion of a program is to invite the participants to become sponsors of the program, some might even become tutors. This will promote a learning culture among your company. And let’s remember that the best way of learning is by constant practicing and teaching.

Celebrating talent development successes plays a critical role in nurturing an inclusive culture. Beyond only recognizing individual accomplishments, celebrations serve as affirmations of the company's dedication to learning and promoting career advancement for all employees particularly for those feeling traditionally left out. By explicitly showcasing how diverse groups of employees' unique and invaluable input directly influenced the company's talent development strategy, it underscores their significance and investment in their own professional growth. It also instills a profound sense of belonging and helps employees to remain engaged and enthusiastic contributors to the company inspiring people to reach their full potential.

One idea is to have an 'alumni' group that stays connected quarterly, meets with the current program participants and mentors/tutors the new participants. This allows for a continued focus on learning, branding and building relationship capital.

Promoting a learning culture in your company should always be part of the goals you seek in every course and program you generate. Try to finish your programs and evaluate a competence, by working on actual problems that your company might have in certain subject. Invite the heads and/or managers of those areas to be evaluators / judges of the proposals, they might find the solution they were seeking right there. In this way you are guaranteeing the competence you are seeking to promote, and also save a lot of time and money to the company by generating solutions to an actual problem.

In short Ensure objectives align with both individual and organizational needs. Use surveys, interviews, and assessments to gather data and identify areas of improvement or potential talent. Involve employees to understand their career goals, interests, and preferred learning methods. Provide a variety of learning opportunities like workshops, seminars, online courses, mentoring, job rotations, cross-functional projects, and more. Encourage peer learning through mentoring, and coaching . Celebrate and recognize the achievements through public recognition, rewards, promotions, or growth opportunities. Make adjustments and improvements based on the feedback received to ensure the program remains relevant and beneficial.