Talent development has become an even more critical organizational function during the past few years: To do their jobs well, TD professionals need to be performance consultants, thought leaders, designers, innovators, and implementers, and—most of all—they need to ensure that learning makes a difference by improving individual and organizational performance. That means employees are learning the most value-adding skills, retaining the essential knowledge to excel at their jobs, and applying their new capabilities back in the workplace. That's a big ask, particularly if you are a small department or one-person shop.