Certified to Lead

McLean & Company’s report, The Future of Work, explains the balance between organizational needs and worker expectations that companies contend with in today’s world of work. For example, businesses must maintain growth and profits while balancing budgets and, at the same time, increase employee productivity and maintain culture and engagement.

It’s a fine line that talent development leaders must manage. How can they meet the needs of both the business side and the people side while tending to their own mental health and well-being in an ever-changing environment? And what skills and capabilities do they require to do so?

To help high-potential TD leaders develop those skills, ATD and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education have partnered to develop a certificate program that addresses the unique challenges and opportunities of senior talent leaders, offering guidance, promoting knowledge sharing, and fostering collaboration across the vast, interconnected global community of TD leaders.

According to recent ATD focus groups, success for current and aspiring TD leaders means being a businessperson first and a learning person second. It requires shifting from leading a team to leading a function and understanding key business problems. TD leaders also need the ability to pivot and innovate while managing change efforts.

More specifically, the new way of work requires talent executives to use communication, emotional intelligence, and decision-making skills to support the business, influence stakeholders, and coach team members. It also requires leaders to be able to integrate policies and facilitate strategic discussions and leverage learning technology into business strategy to increase efficiency. Further, successful TD executives must foster a culture of innovation and learning agility while generating measurable business outcomes.

The first cohort of the virtual program, led by University of Pennsylvania faculty and senior TD practitioners, began March 17 and runs through August 29. Members of the cohort who are attending ATD25 were welcome to attend an invitation-only reception with other TD leaders, which took place on Sunday, May 18. It further helped them develop a deep network of peers.

The Talent Development Executive Certificate Program uses competency research from ATD’s Talent Development Capability Model as well as input from business leaders about what TD learning executives need to know and do to be successful.

If you’re interested in taking your career to the next level and would like to receive information about future cohorts, learn more about the program online.

Read more about ATD25 at conferencedaily.td.org.