As I look back on 70 years of ASTD, one term that definitely wasn't part of our lexicon in the early days of this association was "talent management." In the middle of the 20th century, hiring and retaining employees was an important part of many corporate strategies, but the term "talent management" didn't surface until the past decade when it was defined as a critical task that is about leveraging and building corporate know-how.

In the May 2008 issue of T+D, Pat Galagan brought this term to the forefront in a feature article titled "Talent Management: What Is it, Who Owns it, and Why Should You Care?" That title clearly sums up some of the confusion surrounding this workplace practice.

The article noted the confusion surrounding the definition of this term. Many trainers defined talent management as a practice involving "competencies—what employees should know and be able to do—and performance processes—how to leverage those competencies ... and then measure their impact on real goals," Galagan wrote. But the definition, according to Galagan, includes all parts of an employee life cycle such as leadership development, succession planning, career planning, performance management, high-potential employee development, learning and training, competency management, retention, and professional development.

This issue's cover feature pushes the talent management envelope a little further by examining how to measure the impact of integrated talent management initiatives. Authors Toni Hodges DeTuncq and Lynn Schmidt explore the use of scorecards to demonstrate the value of integrated talent management on business results.

Business leaders recognize that their employees are critical to achieving success in this fast-paced knowledge economy. It is now time for you, as training professionals, to prove the value of human capital by measuring the impact of employee development on the success of your organization.

Paula Ketter

Editor, T+D

[email protected]