ATD's Foundations of Talent Development

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

Elaine Biech, president of ebb associates inc, a strategic implementation, leadership development, and experiential learning consulting firm, has been in the field for 30 years helping organizations work through large-scale change. She has presented at dozens of national and international conferences and has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Investor's Business Daily, and Fortune Magazine. She is the author and editor of over 50 books, including the ASTD Hand Book for Workplace Learning Professionals, ASTD Leadership Handbook, 10 Steps to Successful Training, The Ultimate Trainer, Thriving Through Change, The Business of Consulting, 2nd ed., and Training for Dummies. A longtime volunteer for ATD (formerly ASTD), she has served on ATD's National Board of Directors, was the recipient of the 1992 ASTD Torch Award, the 2004 ASTD Volunteer Staff Partnership Award, and the 2006 Gordon Bliss Memorial Award. Elaine was instrumental in compiling the CPLP study guides and has designed five ATD certificate programs. In addition to her work with ATD, she has served on the Independent Consultants Association's (ICA) Advisory Committee and on the Instructional Systems Association (ISA) board of directors.