Do you want to remain relevant and have career options and internal mobility? If so, take the time to assess your skills and knowledge in critical areas of talent development (TD) and upskill to gain the skills and knowledge you need for now and the future.

According to LinkedIn Learning’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report, 72 percent of learning leaders agree that TD has become more strategic, and 87 percent agree that TD has become more involved in helping their organization adapt to change.

ATD research reveals critical areas where TD professionals lack the skills and knowledge to perform at a high level: succession planning processes and strategies, learning technology application, and data and analytics. Check out these detailed reports to learn more:

• In ATD’s Succession Planning: Preparing Organizations for the Future, one of the most cited barriers to why organizations did not have a succession planning process was lack of relevant knowledge and skills among staff (51 percent).

• In ATD’s Learning Technology Ecosystems: Tools, Programs, and Strategies, TD professionals cited a lack of skills on the TD staff as a barrier in building and maintaining a learning ecosystem. The highest percentage of advanced proficiency was 29 percent for learning and mastering new technologies; the lowest advanced proficiency level was leveraging data to improve operations and experiences at 13 percent.

To become a valued strategic business partner and maintain a strong competitive advantage, you need to update your skills, gain new competencies, and recognize and react to the continuous changes in the workplace. Take ownership of your personal development.

In a RedThread Research survey, L&D professionals revealed seven categories and 39 skills they believe they will need to succeed in their roles:

• Leadership (coaching, consulting, leading others, and diversity, equity, and inclusion)

• Data and decision making (data analysis, strategic thinking, problem solving, and data literacy)

• L&D core skills (training delivery, learning science, human-centered design, and content curation)

• Business acumen (marketing, change management, project management, creativity, and innovation)

• Management relationships (communication, empathy, collaboration, and teamwork)

• Personal readiness (adaptability, flexibility, resilience, and agility)

• Technology (technological strategy and technology use)

How Do I Know Where I Need to Focus?

TD professionals have greater expectations and challenges than ever before, and that leaves little time for their own learning. But it has never been more important for TD professionals to value their own personal development.

ATD’s Talent Development Capability Model™ is a research-backed model that identifies the knowledge and skills practitioners in the TD field need to know and the ways to apply them to ensure success now and in the future. It’s practical and flexible, and anyone can use it at any point in their TD career. After completing the self-assessment, a report is generated that highlights your proficiencies and skills gaps in each of the model’s 23 capabilities.

“Upskilling and professionalization are reasons practitioners look to ATD as a resource,” says Courtney Vital, CPTD®, vice president of ATD Education. “Our Talent Development Capability Model was created in response to that. The interactivity and personalization we’ve built into the self-assessment is groundbreaking. The technology is empowering, letting you personally answer the question we hear most often: ‘What ATD resources should I engage with?’”

Now What?

ATD is dedicated to helping individuals succeed along their path toward personal development. We have a team of professional development specialists dedicated to providing complimentary consultations for anyone looking for guidance on where to start, or what to do next, in their learning journey. It’s time to take charge of your career development and build a personalized learning plan based on your goals, role, and industry. Let ATD help you get there.