ASTD had some big news to share with members and attendees at the 2014 International Conference & Exposition on May 6, in Washington, D.C. As one of the Career Center coaches said the next morning when she came in for her 7 a.m. coaching session, “We have a new name!” And, in case you missed it, the new name is the Association for Talent Development (ATD).

To learn more about it, I encourage you to visit www.astdnews.org, where you can view a recording of CEO Tony Bingham announcing the change and other related resources.

So what does this change mean for the Career Development Community of Practice? Many T&D professionals have been aware of how the profession’s scope has changed over the years. Thus, many view this change as a confirmation of what has been occurring in the profession and a way to communicate what the profession does: develop people’s knowledge, skills, and ability to improve performance and advance organizations.

From a career development perspective, the new name reflects the updates made recently to the ASTD Competency Model, with its 10 Areas of Expertise (AOEs), which “cover the breadth and depth of all that talent development encompasses,” as noted by CEO Tony Bingham in his recent blog post about the name change.

In their recent book on T+D career management, Career Moves: Be Strategic About Your Future, authors Caitlin Williams and Annabelle Reitman, refer to the ASTD Competency Model as an excellent career planning tool to “spot gaps in your own experience and performance and support your efforts to deepen your expertise ” in the various competency areas. They add that the Model “can make it easier for you to choose the areas you want to focus on as you develop your career.”  

Executive recruiter and coach Abbe Rosenthal pointed out that there is a great demand for this expanded skill set by employers today, in a recent post on the Career Development blog, “L&D- related skills are Hot Commodities.” She noted that this is an opportune time for L&D professionals to realize, embrace, and showcase their value.  

The Career Development Community of Practice will continue to be here to assist you in doing just that. As always, please feel free to reach out to me with your thoughts and suggestions for resources that will help you advance and manage your career.  Look forward to hearing from you.