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Brad Holst is a principal and the executive director of communications strategy and innovation at Mandel Communications, Inc.

Brad Holst

Finding the time and resources needed to develop your customer-facing technical professionals in these skills is a smart investment.

Help Customer-Facing Technical Professionals Influence Decision-Makers

By following the storytelling framework of highlighting a problem the buyer cares about, your sales team will create better connections with customers and close more deals.

Can Your Salespeople Tell Business Value Stories?

What happens in the moment when the stakes are high and the pressure is on? Will your sales team be successful? Or will they choke?

Can Your Sales Team Perform Under Pressure?

January 2023 - The Buzz

Initially, the purpose of DEI training was to interrupt bad behavior, make workplaces less hostile, and avoid lawsuits. It has since grown to include a moral element—it's just the right thing to do. But now DEI needs to be viewed as an asset that sol

Better Diversity Training

At the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, employees not only need core knowledge of the finance and banking industry as well as compliance requirements and procedures; they must have expertise in general leadership skills, such as communication, and emerging and technical areas, such as data analysis. Employees likewise must stay up to date on the technology and tools they use every day.According to Jeremy Manjorin, the organization’s chief learning officer, that broad spectrum of skills demands a “holistic approach to employee development that takes into consideration not just the technical [skills] but the values and behaviors we want at the New York Fed.”Given that experience levels among workers can range from people with doctorates to those in their first year of work, Manjorin notes, that variance can complicate the development and rollout of learning initiatives.“We really have to make sure that we are focused on the learning needs of the total employee population, whether they’ve been here for one year or 30 years, and in whatever group they work in. It’s a challenge,” he admits.Mission-driven learningThe Federal Reserve, commonly called the Fed, is an independent governmental entity created by Congress in 1913 to serve as the central bank of the US. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of 12 regional banks that work within that system to foster economic and financial stability and vitality throughout the country.“We’re a mission-driven organization. Our goal is to make the US economy strong and create a stable financial system for all segments of society,” says Manjorin.Although the New York Fed serves a geographically small area compared with the other Federal Reserve banks, it is the largest in terms of assets and volume of activity. Chief among the functions for its approximately 3,000 employees is the implementation of monetary policy, one of the Fed’s three central missions. The other two missions are international operations and supervision and regulation.Carrying out those missions requires its workforce to have a wide array of skills and competencies.Mapping skillsLike in many organizations, while the various roles at the New York Fed seem significantly different on the surface, they typically have common skills. To get a better handle on the shared and distinctive skills of each job, the New York Fed embarked on an organization-wide skills-mapping journey.“We have taken on a skills-based approach to talent development at the bank. This means you have a holistic understanding of your workforce—really understanding the roles, then mapping those roles to specific skills,” Manjorin explains.The New York Fed started the initiative by conducting an analysis of all roles throughout the entire workforce, isolating the skills, knowledge, and competencies required for each. The first pass at mapping skills was automated, using market data and job descriptions and then marrying that information to the New York Fed’s internal profiles to create extensive skills taxonomies.“There’s technology that helps facilitate skills analysis, but it also requires a lot of input from subject matter experts,” Manjorin states. “This was a bankwide effort. It’s not just an HR effort. It’s not just the talent development department or the organizational effectiveness department. We needed subject matter expertise at all levels.”After the initial intake, the teams worked with subject matter experts to validate the information gathered and align similar skills and competencies to each role as well as help define requirements for demonstrating proficiency. For example, when defining competencies around project management, specific skills may be the same, but the proficiency level for an entry-level project manager will of course be different from that of an experienced project manager.“SMEs would go in and review all the roles within their function, evaluate the skills we identified, and calibrate the assigned proficiency levels,” Manjorin shares.The teams worked with SMEs to conduct several levels of validation. The result is a complete skill ontology and architecture with mechanisms in place to update the architecture as additional roles and skills emerge.“The skills ontology is not set stone,” Manjorin explains. “As new roles develop, it grows and evolves too.”Linking skills to development“The driving force behind skills mapping was so that our people could get a better understanding of their skills and career development planning, and the organization could get better at enabling the development of our talent,” he adds.
Manjorin notes that a skills-based approach helped his team cultivate a heightened awareness of the organization’s learning needs and opportunities, in addition to its existing training and development resources. By having individual skills and competencies identified for each role, the team was able to connect them to workshops, online learning programs, training programs provided through content partners such as LinkedIn Learning, and microlearning assets.In addition, the talent development team used the gathered information to create a variety of learning paths that guide employees to deeper skill proficiency. Fortunately, many assets and programs work for multiple roles. More importantly, the learning function was able to spot gaps among its learning deliverables and determine where it needed to build, refresh, or buy new learning solutions.“Skills mapping helped us gain insight into the most coveted or sought-after skills as well as where the organization had opportunities to provide the right learning,” Manjorin states. “For the learning function, it’s a way to see those opportunities at a glance. It was transformative from a strategy and planning perspective.”During the past 18 months, the talent development team has built a robust catalog of offerings and paths that enable employees to self-serve development. “What we really want to do is change the model from ‘We’re going to push learning to people’ to where managers and employees say, ‘This is what I want to develop’ and simply access it,” explains Manjorin.“And if individual employees or managers do not see what they need, we encourage them to let us know. They can tell us what type of skills they want and why they need to develop them. That type of feedback is baked into the infrastructure of the catalog.”What’s more, when employees are looking to develop a skill or competency, the catalog enables them to search assets such as formal workshops and e-learning programs that are part of a learning path. But there’s another learning component outside of the formal aspect of a learning catalog.The organization has released a marketplace of on-the-job learning experiences that fall outside of a classroom-based approach. In fact, the New York Fed has formalized such experiential development opportunities into what it calls gigs.“These gigs are longer-term opportunities where employees go to a different department, function, or group to work for a specified number of hours a week over the course of a few months,” Manjorin states. “They focus on performing tasks that offer identifiable skill development and experiential learning opportunities.”While those short-term, project-based assignments always existed, he asserts that there is now a “more intentional effort toward tying gigs to specific skills and a focus on an employee’s skill development.”Any department can launch a gig. For example, let’s say a team has a major project on the horizon. The manager can create a gig that the entire workforce can view. The gig profile must pinpoint specific skill development opportunities the employee will gain from the experience, making it a far more valuable endeavor.“We changed it from simple ‘Department X needs a pair of hands’ to ‘this is a development opportunity,’” Manjorin explains. “That narrative shift and the ability to see how the work benefits the employee’s development right in the gig’s description invigorates our people around talent development.”Opportunities to develop select skills needs to be distributed broadly throughout the organization. Just as anyone can launch a gig, any employee can apply for one. Manjorin describes how having workers participate in gigs in other departments creates a competency boost for their original team as well.“Maybe a team needs a certain skill or more likely a higher proficiency level of that skill. Or perhaps an employee is really interested in learning a skill or raising their proficiency so they can move their career to the next level. Training will only get them so far without experiential learning and on-the-job experience.”He adds: “Gigs are not only about filling a resource need. It’s actually about ‘How can we build skills organization-wide and nurture networks? How can we cross-pollinate the workforce?’ Learning from people who have the skills is really what gets people to advance in their careers.”What’s next?“Our people are seeking a stronger understanding of their own career potential and development. They’re looking for career mobility,” says Manjorin. “They want awareness and insight of not only their current role and skills but skills for future roles. They want a better understanding of career planning.”
He imparts that people leaders at the New York Fed are also starting to look for more development and mobility opportunities for their people.“Aligning skills through roles helps bolster the idea of mobility because we can look at different skills and see how some skills are usable across different roles. That opens up more opportunities within the bank,” Manjorin explains.“This holistic approach to skills and development makes it easier for our employees at the New York Fed to identify their own career path and start planning their own development journey.”The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.

Banking on Holistic Development

Katelyn Powell is senior manager of brand and content for Abilitie. A Houston, Texas, native with seven years of communications experience in the education/learning industry, she is passionate about equal access to quality education and the oxford comma.

Katelyn Powell

Usually, we find that beneath the surface of persistent problems lies a host of unresolved issues. If we’re not talking about the right issue or the root of the issue, the problem will remain unresolved and may even get worse.

How to Address Repeated Bad Behavior

July 2014 - TD Magazine

Although coaching started with the goal of "fixing" bad behavior and saving careers, most assignments now are proactive and developmental. The goal is to help a leader learn skills needed to operate at the next level.

Global Support

As a talent development leader, you might be looking for a more curated experience at ATD’s largest annual conference. You are now in a role where instead of designing, training, and facilitating, you are leading a team of L&D professionals. When you plan your ATD25 experience in a few weeks, the sessions that will be best for you are the ones that incorporate the expectations of your leadership role.~Look no further than the Talent Development Leader (TDL) track~The TDL experience is now in its third year of helping TD leaders stay ahead of the curve with curated content, meaningful networking, and solutions tailored to your role. The comprehensive track includes interactive Forum programming, a dedicated networking room, and 10 exclusive concurrent sessions built for leaders just like you. Whether you’re looking to connect with peers, exchange ideas, or explore emerging trends and tools, this is the place to be! For a quick glance at the schedule and offerings, check out the official TDL programming page. Otherwise, here is a breakdown of what to expect at this year’s conference in Washington, DC.Forum Sessions: A Hot TicketATD25 features five exclusive Forum sessions hosted by the ATD Forum, a membership community for senior TD professionals. These interactive sessions use practical tools to ensure attendees can apply insights directly in their organizations. This is where peer insight meets innovation, as you will hear directly from established TD leaders who will provide immediate feedback, tools, and resources to elevate your own leadership and organizational learning function. Insider tip: Because of their hands-on format, demand for these sessions is high (one of the sessions is even being offered twice!). Although we wish everyone could sit in on these sessions, seating is limited. Make sure to arrive early!Sessions:Fueling Growth and Success Through Talent Investments Monday, May 19, at 11:30 a.m.Want Solutions That Work? Do a Deep Dive Monday, May 19, at 1 p.m. & Tuesday, May 20, at 1 p.m.Connect, Collaborate, Share: Unleash Innovative Performance Opportunities With Peer Benchmarking Tuesday, May 20, at 2 p.m.Unlock Your Organization’s Potential Using the Wow Factor Wednesday, May 21, at 9:30 a.m.In the Room Where It Happens (Room 102)The Talent Development Leader Networking Room is your conference home base. Open from Monday to Wednesday, Room 102 offers refreshments, a quiet space to reflect or recharge, and opportunities to engage in both facilitated networking sessions and casual conversations. Personally, the TDL networking room changed my life. It’s where I connected with another professional who held the key to solving a problem in one of my projects. You can read all about that story here, or you can take my word for it: The TDL networking room is the place to be. Room Hours:Monday–Tuesday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.Wednesday: 8–11 a.m.Facilitated Sessions You Don’t Want to MissThese sessions spotlight real-world case studies, hot topics, and tools for today’s TD challenges. (Again, seating is limited, so make sure you plan accordingly.) Session Schedule:The Power of Compassion-Driven Leadership: Insights From Japan with Tadahiro Wakasugi from GLOBIS Corporation, sponsored by GLOBIS Monday, May 19, at 1 p.m.Crafting a Dynamic Onboarding Journey for Executive Leaders with Alissa Weiher and Mackenzie Friday, UCHealth Monday, May 19, at 4:30 p.m.The Science of Great Teams: How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety with Britt Andreatta Tuesday, May 20, at 11:30 a.m.AI in Action: Real-World Insights From TD Leaders with Markus Bernhardt Tuesday, May 20, at 2 p.m.Improve Your Storytelling – and L&D Results – With “Garlic Press” Questions with Deb Arnold Tuesday, May 20, at 4 p.m.What’s Your Organization’s Conflict Cocktail? A Guided Conversation for L&D Leaders with Karin B. Hurt and David M. Dye Wednesday, May 21, at 8 a.m.*All sessions will occur in Room 102 on Level 1 of the conference center*Invite-Only Experiences for Senior LeadersThe remainder of the TDL programming sessions are invite-only for those participating in ATD’s senior leader communities: ATD Forum, CTDO, and the ATD-Penn GSE Talent Development Executive Certificate. Learn more about ATD’s TD leader communities here.Stay Engaged All Year With ATD Talent Development Leader While the conference is only a few days long, Talent Development Leader is more than just a conference track! As ATD’s professional development brand for people leading learning in their organization, TDL provides you with cutting-edge industry insight, advice from leaders doing the work, budding research, and more. Subscribe to the Talent Development Leader newsletter and get the tools you need to lead the future of learning. Don’t miss out on monthly articles, podcasts, webinars, and special events—such as our current collaboration with Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2025!See You at ATD25!Personally, I am counting the days until the conference starts on May 18. Make the most of your time at ATD25 by fully immersing yourself in the Talent Development Leader Experience. From exclusive sessions to invaluable connections, it’s your launchpad to greater impact and innovation in talent development.

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