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ATD Blog

Do You Have a Global Mindset? (May 2015)

Thursday, May 14, 2015
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The May 2015 issue of TD at Work, “Measuring and Addressing Talent Gaps Globally,” explains why it is critical in the current business environment to consider your organization’s talent gaps in a global context, and to use objective means to measure those gaps.

Specifically, the issue addresses these key factors:

World Economics

Having a global mindset is important when thinking about addressing corporate talent gaps, in part because salary and wage rates vary globally. Economic growth is dramatically different around the world—as are the laws, regulations, and local infrastructure governing that growth. Consequently, an organization will want to consider salary and wage rates when planning when and where to build, and what source of talent to use.  


Talent Gaps: Negative, Positive, Present, and Future

Gaps may also exist over time. Gaps may be present or future. A present gap exists now. A future gap is expected to exist at some future time. A present negative gap is a weakness; a present positive gap is a strength. A future expected negative gap is a possible threat; a future expected positive gap is an opportunity.

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Assessing Talent Gaps Objectively

While a subjective analysis is the most common way that talent gaps are assessed, it is not the best. Especially when considering global talent gaps, assessment must be as objective as possible. We often don’t like what we don’t understand. Instead of using subjective measures, it is important for managers to use objective tools to determine real gaps and guard against cultural bias ruling the day.

Closing and Leveraging Talent Gaps

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Talent gaps can be closed using formal, informal, and social learning. It’s important to create a talent development plan that incorporates aspects of all these learning methods in order to close talent gaps. 

Remember that not all talent gaps are bad. Learning methods can be used to leverage positive gaps and opportunities as well. This is especially true of social learning. Using social learning to form communities of practices around organizational initiatives is key to creating innovative working solutions.

Want more? Have a look inside the issue, and use it to take a more strategic approach to your business.

About the Author

William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPLP Fellow, is president of Rothwell and Associates, Inc., a full-service consulting company that specializes in succession planning. He is also a professor of learning and performance in the Workforce Education and Development program, Department of Learning and Performance Systems, at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. In that capacity, he heads up a top-ranked graduate program in learning and performance and is the program coordinator for the fully online Master of Professional Studies in Organization Development and Change. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited 300 books, book chapters, and articles—including 64 books. Before arriving at Penn State in 1993, he had 20 years of work experience as a training director in government and in business. As a consultant, he has worked with over 50 multinational corporations--including Motorola, General Motors, Ford, and many others. In 2004, he earned the Graduate Faculty Teaching Award at Pennsylvania State University, a single award given to the best graduate faculty member on the 23 campuses of the Penn State system. His train-the-trainers programs have won global awards.

His recent books include Organization Development Interventions: Executing Effective Organizational Change (Routledge, 2021 in press), Virtual Coaching to Improve Group Relationships (Routledge, 2021), Adult Learning Basics, 2nd ed. (Association for Talent Development Press, 2020), The Essential HR Guide for Small Business and Start Ups (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020); Increasing Learning and Development’s Impact Through Accreditation (Palgrave, 2020); Workforce Development: Guidelines for Community College Professionals, 2nd ed. (Rowman-Littlefield, 2020); Human Performance Improvement: Building Practitioner Performance, 3rd ed. (Routledge, 2018); Innovation Leadership (Routledge, 2018); Evaluating Organization Development: How to Ensure and Sustain the Successful Transformation (CRC Press, 2017); Marketing Organization Development Consulting: A How-To Guide for OD Consultants (CRC Press, 2017); and, Assessment and Diagnosis for Organization Development: Powerful Tools and Perspectives for the OD practitioner (CRC Press, 2017), Community College Leaders on Workforce Development (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), Organization Development in Practice (ODNetwork, 2016), Mastering the Instructional Design Process, 5th ed. (Wiley, 2016), Practicing Organization Development, 4th ed. (Wiley, 2015), Effective Succession Planning, 5th ed. (AMACOM, 2015), The Competency Toolkit, 2 vols., 2nd ed. (HRD Press, 2015), Beyond Training and Development, 3rd ed. (HRD Press, 2015), The Leader’s Daily Role in Talent Management (McGraw-Hill, 2015), Organization Development Fundamentals (ATD, 2015), Creating Engaged Employees: It’s Worth the Investment (ATD Press, 2014), The Leader’s Daily Role in Talent Management (Institute for Training and Development [Malaysia], 2014), Optimizing Talent in the Federal Workforce (Management Concepts, 2014), Performance Consulting (Wiley, 2014), the ASTD Competency Study: The Training and Development Profession Redefined (ASTD, 2013), Becoming An Effective Mentoring Leader: Proven Strategies for Building Excellence in Your Organization (McGraw-Hill, 2013), Talent Management: A Step-by-Step Action-Oriented Approach Based on Best Practice (HRD Press, 2012), the edited three-volume Encyclopedia of Human Resource Management (Wiley, 2012), Lean But Agile: Rethink Workforce Planning and Gain a True Competitive Advantage (Amacom, 2012), Invaluable Knowledge: Securing Your Company’s Technical Expertise-Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent, Transferring Technical Knowledge, Engaging High Performers (Amacom, 2011), Competency-Based Training Basics (ASTD Press, 2010), Practicing Organization Development, 3rd ed. (Pfeiffer, 2009), Basics of Adult Learning (ASTD, 2009), HR Transformation (Davies-Black, 2008), Working Longer (Amacom, 2008), and Cases in Government Succession Planning: Action-Oriented Strategies for Public-Sector Human Capital Management, Workforce Planning, Succession Planning, and Talent Management (HRD Press, 2008).

He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 814-863-2581. He is at 310B Keller Building, University Park, PA 16803. See his website at www.rothwellandassociates.com, his videos on YouTube, and his wiki site at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Rothwell.

About the Author

Angela is the Director of Program Innovations at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management (GSM), where she oversees the development and delivery of innovative management and leadership development programming for the School. To do so, she partners with faculty, deans, staff and business leaders to create compelling credit and noncredit curriculum offerings, delivered in both face-to-face and online formats, to differentiate the School in the competitive market. Angela was promoted to this position after spending nearly two years working as a Director in the GSM’s Executive Education unit. Angela holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and International Business, a Master’s of Science degree in Workforce Education and Development, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Workforce Education and Development, with a concentration in Human Resources and Organization Development.

About the Author

Aileen Zaballero is a senior partner of Rothwell & Associates and a dual-title Ph.D. candidate in Workforce Education and Development and Comparative International Education at The Pennsylvania State University. She is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) since 2009. Aileen is currently working on a project that will produce a Competency Model and Career Map for the advanced commercial building workforce, utilizing the U.S. Department of Labor's competency model framework and aligning with the new Department of Energy supported and industry-developed Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines. Aileen has recently authored and co-authored chapters in Performance Consulting-Applying Performance Improvement in Human Resource Development (2013, John Wiley & Sons); co-edited and co-authored Optimizing Talent in the Federal Workforce (2014, Management Concepts); co-authored a chapter in Organization Development Fundamentals: Managing Strategic Change (2014, ASTD Press); and co-edited The Competency Toolkit, 2nd Ed. (2014, HRD Press).

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