Google Ad #1 - desktop - 728x90

Google Ad #3 - desktop - 728x90

Google Ad #1 - mobile - 300x200

Google Ad #3 - mobile - 300x200

ATD_Half_Page

Googel Ad #1 - Side Bar - Content pages

ATD Footer Logo

Zach Wahl is cofounder and CEO of Enterprise Knowledge, a knowledge management consultancy. He has more than 20 years of experience leading programs in the knowledge and information management space. Early in his career, Wahl defined the business taxonomy concept to address the need for human-centered taxonomy designs. Hehas worked with more than 200 public and private organizations in 40-plus countries to successfully strategize, design, and implement knowledge management systems of various types. Wahl has developed his own taxonomy design methodology, has authored a series of courses on knowledge management, and is a frequent speaker and trainer on information governance, knowledge management strategy, and taxonomy design. He also is co-author of Making Knowledge Management Clickable.

Zach Wahl

September 2022 - TD Magazine

Knowing what employees know enables companies to pinpoint training and staffing gaps.

Harness the Knowledge

Discover how to scale your learning infrastructure for the future of work. Learn to leverage AI, automation, and adaptive systems to personalize learning, close skills gaps, and drive organizational growth. Walk away with strategies to build a future-ready learning ecosystem.

During this event, you will learn to:
• Use AI to do more with less in your learning program.
• Build data-informed skill-development programs that cater to employees’ real needs.
• Align learning to measurable business impact.  

3 Ways to Scale Learning with AI

Your All-In-One Guide to ISDKnown as “the man who wrote the book on ISD,” Chuck Hodell offers a comprehensive and practical handbook on core instructional systems design (ISD) practices and principles with a practitioner’s eye. This updated fifth edition covers all the basics and many advanced tenets of ISD, walking you through each phase, including advanced concepts such as microlearning, social media, and leveraging technology. Stand-alone chapters offer crucial support to practitioners building foundational skills, while in-depth tutorials on subjects such as collaborating with experts offer rich insights to guide the credentialed designer. This fully revised and expanded volume offers new case studies, discussion questions, and sample design and lesson plans, ISD From the Ground Up demystifies the learning design process. Whether you are just getting your feet wet or have extensive experience in ISD, this industry staple provides the essential building blocks and more for ISD mastery.

ISD From the Ground Up, 5th Edition

In Lessons From Leaders, Sam Shriver and co-authors spoke with 15 leaders from every walk of life. While each was unquestionably unique, there were also some noticeable commonalities.

The Characteristics of Effective Leaders

Ms. Wallace is responsible for Intel’s global coaching practice, a targeted leadership development service investing in professional coaching engagements for more than 200 high-potential and/or business critical roles each year.  She sets the program’s strategic imperatives and oversees the execution of the coaching practice through 45 ICF certified internal coaches, 40 external executive coaches, connection with global ACTP schools, and use of a cloud-based coaching management system.  The coaching support model is closely aligned with Intel’s global assessment strategy, key business imperatives, and leadership pipeline development.  Currently, the program’s operations are going through a LEAN/Six Sigma analysis to ensure the client and coach experience is efficient, impactful and world-class.  She is also an Executive Committee Member of The Conference Board’s Council on Executive Coaching.  She received her Executive MBA from Arizona State University and a Leadership Coach Certification through the Hudson Institute of Coaching.

Jennifer Wallace

Motivate and Engage Learners to Drive Your Business ForwardOrganizations that prioritize employee learning engagement are best positioned to thrive in our rapidly evolving business landscape. Veteran learning strategist Becky Willis demonstrates how an organization can achieve stellar learning engagement in seven simple steps and then turn that engagement into a powerful competitive advantage.Becky writes this book for those who have strategic responsibility for integrating learning into broader organizational initiatives, whether they are learning leaders, HR professionals, L&D practitioners, or other talent development (TD) professionals. Step-by-step, she walks you through the process of devising and communicating a clear strategy for learning engagement, selecting and implementing the right technology, recruiting and deploying champions, and mastering the art of marketing learning experiences. She helps you learn to work with leaders and managers to sponsor, support, and collaborate on learning. Each chapter includes questionnaires, tools, and templates to ensure TD pros and learning designers can translate ideas into practical actions immediately. With this book in hand, you will have what you need to become an effective business partner who enhances employees’ knowledge, skills, and commitment to the organization and drives positive bottom-line results.

7 Steps to Better Learning Engagement

Picture this: A leader spends half a day in assessment. They walk away with a thirty-page report packed with insights on their behavior, skills, and personality. They’re ready to apply it. Then...nothing. No follow-up. No plan.Meanwhile, the report gathers dust while the leadership gaps it uncovered persist. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Organizations are drowning in unused data.But the need for this data is clear. In a recent DDI webinar, 75 percent of L&D professionals said leaders lacked the ability to evaluate skills, and 52 percent said the absence of assessments led to poor talent decisions. These numbers highlight the urgency of moving beyond reports that sit on a shelf.Let’s look at three reasons why assessments fail—and what separates ineffective assessments from real transformation. Problem 1: The Assessment-to-Action Chasm “All Data, No Decisions”A high-potential leader completes a rigorous assessment that pinpoints exactly where they need to grow. But the results never make it past the debrief. No one builds a development plan, and the data sits in a folder—valuable, but unused.Here’s the core failure: treating assessment as the end goal instead of the starting point. It’s like asking employees for candid feedback and then ignoring it. The message is clear: You weren’t really listening. Without action, you’re worse off than before.Why does this happen? Assessment is often buried in talent acquisition or succession planning, making it harder to connect with L&D. The cost is high: disillusionment, disengagement, and leaders who learn to game the system.The fix is to bridge the chasm. Build action planning into your assessment process from day one. If you’re not ready to act, don’t assess.Problem 2: Inconsistent Implementation “The Rollout Roulette” In many organizations, assessment feels like a game of chance. Some leaders are evaluated during hiring, others for succession, and many complete their tenure without being assessed.Key capabilities like “strategic thinking” or “effective coaching” can mean different things without a consistent framework. One leader’s “coaching” might be weekly mentoring sessions, while another’s is quick feedback when something goes awry. With no shared definition, comparing results or target development is nearly impossible.Timing is another issue. Assessments might happen years apart or at random intervals, leaving leaders without timely feedback when it matters most.Inconsistency means no guardrails. Data might be repurposed in ways never intended. Results meant to guide growth are sometimes repurposed for high-stakes decisions like promotions—or even layoffs. When organizations weaponize assessment tools, leaders lose trust and disengage.The antidote is an assessment journey tied to leadership milestones. You create consistency and trust by aligning assessments to key transitions or performance management and defining exactly how the data will (and will not) be used.Problem 3: Leadership Buy-In Crisis “Doubt at the Top”Executives may champion assessments in theory, but if they skip their own, the damage is immediate. Skepticism cascades. If leaders don’t trust the process, neither will anyone else. Common symptoms of a lack of buy-in? Budget battles and a focus on participation over impact. Without executive support, assessment becomes a “nice to have” rather than business-critical. And when success is measured by how many assessments are completed—not how leaders are growing or driving results—the process loses value.Executive sponsorship isn’t optional. It’s the difference between transformation and expensive theater. When executives share their own assessment experiences or visibly support the process, it builds trust and boosts engagement.The Path Forward Each of these problems can be fixed with proven leadership assessment best practices.First, stop treating assessment as a one-time event—embed it into the leadership journey to support ongoing growth. Next, connect assessment directly to development resources and opportunities. Quick, relevant action builds momentum and engagement.Then, establish clear governance for consistency, trust, and protection against misuse. Define what will be measured, how often, and exactly how data will be used.Finally, before launching assessments, ask yourself: "What will we do with this data?" If you can answer, you’re prepared to act with alignment between your assessment goals, business strategy, and leader growth.Conclusion When assessment drives action, the payoff is worth it—leadership gaps close, performance improves, and your leadership bench grows stronger. When leaders see assessments lead to meaningful development, they trust and engage with the process. Now’s the time to examine your assessment strategy. Are you turning data into action? For practical ways to bridge the gap, watch the webinar.

Your Assessment Strategy Has a Fatal Flaw. Here’s How to Fix It. 

Federal agencies today are caught between two competing tensions. On one hand, there’s mounting pressure to modernize workforce capabilities and close critical skill gaps. On the other, agencies are losing headcount, consolidating systems, and being asked to deliver more with less.This paradox—do more, do it better, but do it with less—makes skill development feel daunting. The assumption that it requires a big budget or a tech-heavy transformation often leads to analysis paralysis. And the often-cited, utopian vision of becoming a “skills-based organization” can feel more aspirational than achievable, especially when just getting started feels overwhelming.New data from the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report reveals that by 2030, an estimated 39 percent of workers’ core skills are expected to change or be outdated due to macroeconomic, demographic, and technological shifts.So, here’s a question worth exploring: What if you don’t need expensive software or new infrastructure to grow the skills that matter? How might we tap into what we already have—and build on what we know about how adults actually learn?That’s where the Four Rs Framework comes in: resources, roles, relationships, and reflection. Based on lessons learned from years of public and private sector advisory work, this model helps agencies make practical progress—even with limited tools, budget, and time.Resources: Use What You Already Have When most people think of L&D, they think of content—designing it, delivering it, and scaling it. And while content has its place, many agencies already sit on a wealth of underutilized assets: compliance modules, standard operating procedures (SOPs), facilitator guides, orientation materials, and more.Rather than building something new, the opportunity lies in repurposing and reframing what already exists through the lens of your most critical skills.Tag existing content to your agency’s priority skills.Curate learning playlists by role, level, or skill domain.Reuse onboarding and compliance materials for broader development.Establish content governance to guide future curation.You don’t need more content—you need more clarity and intentionality around how it’s used. According to the 70-20-10 model, only 10 percent of learning comes from formal training, while 20 percent comes from learning through others, and 70 percent comes from experience.Roles: Let People Build Skills by Trying New OnesNo matter how engaging, dynamic, or thought provoking your content is, chances are your learners will forget most of it within hours. In fact, research shows people forget up to 70 percent of new information within 24 hours—and up to 90 percent within a month. One of the most effective—and overlooked—ways to build skills sustainably is to give employees the chance to practice them in real time. Development doesn’t need to come from a classroom or an e-learning module. It can come from stepping into new responsibilities and testing their skills in the flow of work. Ask someone to lead a project outside their usual role.Offer temporary rotations or cross-functional task force roles.Assign someone to shadow or backfill for another team.For learning to stick, people have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s in the vulnerability of trying something new—working in a new function or stretching into leadership—that learning becomes real. This is where skills become sticky through application and reinforcement.Relationships: Make Learning Social Learning has always been social—but today, we can’t ignore just how much we absorb from those around us. We’re constantly scrolling, watching, reacting, and resharing. Whether it’s a TikTok tutorial or a colleague walking us through a process over Teams, our brains are wired to learn through interaction. The same is true at work. People don’t just learn from content—they learn from each other. And in lean environments, where formal training budgets are tight, relationships and internal expertise are powerful development tools.Create mentorship or buddy systems across departments—with a focus on key skills.Encourage peer-to-peer learning or informal knowledge sharing. Highlight internal subject matter experts (SMEs) through “Skill of the Month” lunch & learns.Form learning circles around critical capabilities. Use cohort or community functionality in your learning management system (LMS) or learning experience platform (LXP) to promote knowledge sharing. This isn’t just anecdotal. LinkedIn found that learners who engage with social features consume 30 times more hours of content than those who don’t. All of this requires planning—not budget.Reflection: Turn Experience Into GrowthAs an executive coach, I’ve seen firsthand that real behavioral change doesn’t come from the experience itself—it comes from making time to process it. The same applies to skill-building; it doesn’t stick unless people pause to reflect.Yet reflection is often overlooked. We jump from one task to the next, shifting gears before the learning has had a chance to settle. But when we slow down, even briefly, we create space for growth and reinforcement.Add reflection prompts to training or postmortems.Ask learners to journal or share key takeaways. Debrief after assignments: “What worked? What would you do differently?”A Harvard Business School study found that people who spent just 15 minutes reflecting after a task performed 23 percent better than those who didn’t. If we want skills to be developed for the long run, we need to make space for people to make meaning of what they’ve done. Start Where You AreWhile skill development is sometimes portrayed as a complex process, it doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t need a five-year roadmap or a massive transformation plan to begin. Start with the end in mind: What skills does your agency need to grow?Then, work backward from there—using creativity and a deeper appreciation for how adults learn.Yes, traditional training resources still matter. But employees also crave:Opportunities to apply skills on the jobHuman connection to learn from each otherSpace to reflect and improveThere’s no one-size-fits-all model. But the practices that make skill development effective—application, connection, reflection—don’t require a big budget or a sophisticated tech stack. They require intention, a bit of creativity, and a willingness to start where you are.

Building Skills on a Budget: The Four Rs Framework for Government Agencies

A modern intranet is a vital component of any effective culture strategy in today's distributed work landscape. It’s often how new employees first experience a company’s culture (during onboarding), and it remains a key connection point for a growing virtual workforce.When built thoughtfully, your intranet helps communicate core values, encourages open dialogue, and fosters a sense of belonging, all of which are key elements in driving mindsets and behavior. Here’s how to establish your digital ecosystem as a powerful tool for shaping and reinforcing your organization’s culture.Embed Core Values Into the IntranetYour intranet should reflect your organization’s identity and values. It’s more than a functional platform; it should visually and practically integrate the behaviors and principles you want to encourage.Consider dedicating sections of your homepage to highlighting your organization’s values. For example, visually appealing banners or callout boxes can remind employees of the values the organization celebrates, recognizes, and strives to live by. Go a step further by featuring stories of “values in action”—real-life examples of employees who demonstrate these values in meaningful ways. Not only does this make your values tangible, but it also shows your team that living the values is recognized and appreciated.Provide a Leadership Communication HubLeaders play a critical role in shaping and communicating an organization’s cultural vision. An intranet that’s designed to promote leadership visibility and transparency can help drive culture transformation.Creating a dedicated leadership communication hub offers employees direct access to leaders’ thoughts, plans, and visions. This could include regular blog posts, video or podcast updates, or live Q&A sessions that support sharing ideas and asking questions.It’s important to provide spaces for leaders across business units and departments to deliver messaging that reinforces strategic perspective and makes it tangible for their teams. When employees feel they have a direct line to leadership, it builds trust and helps align the entire organization around a shared vision. These communications should be authentic, relatable, and align with the organization’s values. Whether it’s a heartfelt video about the company’s future or a blog post reflecting on recent successes, these touchpoints help reinforce the cultural direction in an approachable way.Foster Community and CollaborationA thriving organizational culture is one where employees feel connected—not just to leadership but to each other. The intranet can be a powerful tool for fostering that sense of community and collaboration.Interactive features, such as discussion forums, virtual team spaces, or recognition walls, allow employees to engage with one another beyond their immediate teams. These features encourage cross-departmental collaboration and provide a space for employees to share their thoughts, challenges, and successes in real time. Doing so creates moments where culture can flourish organically.Recognition walls, for example, can act as a social center where employees highlight peers for outstanding contributions or living the company’s values. This not only boosts morale, but it also reinforces a sense of belonging—critical components of a strong organizational culture.At TiER1, we strive to ensure that our culture is clear throughout our Microsoft365 digital ecosystem in the following ways:Our main intranet home on SharePoint has highlighted pages that articulate our core values and aspirations.Our TiER1 Matters Weekly newsletter includes insights from our president and is published via SharePoint News, so it’s automatically archived and searchable.We use Forms to capture peer-to-peer nominations for our Values in Action Awards, which trigger automated posts to our Viva Engage community.Our Pulsecast Power App provides a mechanism for leaders to publish podcasts around quarterly priorities, personal growth reflections, and “whole-self stories” to create an inclusive environment.We regularly publish key metrics around our business and employee experience leveraging Power BI to reinforce transparency and accountability.Embrace Human-Centered Design and Continuous ImprovementTo truly be a driver of culture transformation, your intranet must be designed with employees at the center. The best intranets are built through a process that considers the needs, behaviors, and pain points of the people who will use it every day. A human-centered design approach ensures that the intranet is intuitive, easy to use, and genuinely helpful.The design process starts with understanding user needs. By collecting feedback from employees, conducting usability tests, and refining features based on real-world use, the intranet becomes more than a static tool—it evolves into a living platform that adapts to users’ needs.Continuous improvement is key. As your organization grows and changes, so will your employees’ needs. Regular updates based on user feedback help ensure that your intranet remains relevant and engaging. Focusing on ongoing refinement creates a dynamic space that reflects the pulse of the organization, evolving alongside your company’s culture.Intranets can be powerful drivers of transformation when they are intentionally designed and continuously improved. After all, culture lives in the interactions between employees, their leaders, and the tools they use to connect with one another. When your digital ecosystem becomes a space where values, communication, and community thrive, you’re not just building a platform—you’re building a culture.

Search results for 'Zach Wahl'

Categories

Refine By