This issue of CTDO takes a fascinating look at the different components that need to be a part of a comprehensive learning strategy. In Spotlight, Brian Miller, vice president of learning, development, and inclusion at Gilead Sciences, explains the ins and outs of what it takes to maintain a strong company culture while growing the company by more than 1,000 new employees per year.
This significant rise in new hires led Miller to increase his focus on the company's comprehensive talent strategy. And a big part of that strategy was to find the best way to integrate the new employees into an already strong company culture. It also involved reimagining L&D.
"We've always thought this idea of blurring the line between talent management and learning and development was real, and it's already starting to happen with a lot of my peers," Miller says. "So we're thinking of an integrated approach to L&D, bringing together inclusion and diversity, leadership development, cultural agility, and so on. We know that culture really stems from the leadership, and we're trying to figure out how to help architect the culture and bring it to life."
Another topic covered in this issue is women (or lack thereof) in the C-suite. In The Angst Index, Rosina L. Racioppi examines how to achieve gender parity at the highest corporate levels. "For gender parity to be a sustainable reality, involvement has to be 'all in,'" she writes.
And while Confessions From the C-Suite highlights the struggles that CTDOs face when rebuilding a talent development function, Debate takes a hard look at leadership development and the failures and successes that encompass it. In short, the Debate articles examine whether leadership development programs actually work. It has been a topic of discussion for a long time, and who better to have that argument than Tacy M. Byham of DDI and John R. Ryan of the Center for Creative Leadership? What do you think about the success of leadership development programs?
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
[email protected]
Read more from CTDO magazine: Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.