Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2014 - (Page 9)

EMERGING TA L E N T PIPELINES Talent and organization development functions often have to push the business function to develop training programs. So, it was refreshing to see a senior leader in our blood services business at the American Red Cross approach the L&D department to create and launch a leadership development program for future leaders. The business need for this request was based on some critical concerns: * Succession: identifying future talent who could assume key leadership positions. * Talent development: creating a sustainable program that focuses on leadership experiences important for success in broader leadership positions. * Retention: investing in the talent pool for retention of talent and further learning. THERE IS ASSISTANCE AND GUIDANCE ALONG THE WAY, BUT THE EXECUTION OF THE PLAN RESTS WITH THE PARTICIPANT. As we start the third year of our strategic process at the American Red Cross, LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) has the support and engagement of the senior executive team, key business leaders and most importantly, our employee population. LEAD isn't a program, but a strategic process with deliberate components focusing on identification and development of our emerging talent pipeline. Participants are evolving as leaders across the organization. LEAD is viewed as the mechanism to develop and share talent across businesses, and our cohort of 70 employees view it as an investment in their future. Here are the key components making LEAD a unique strategic process: * Engaging executive champions: The leaders of our largest lines of business are the program champions. They partner with our talent and organization development team on all facets of design and delivery. * Leaders teaching leaders: External speakers are rarely used. Our broader leadership team has been our best source of knowledge and partnership. We engage them in business leader panels where they not only share their personal leadership story, but also demonstrate leadership in real time. * Participants apply versus being selected: An open application process is conducted (based on defined program criteria) every year. At the end of each year, participants are evaluated against leadership competencies and are invited to continue. Not every participant continues year-to-year. * Group coaching cohorts: Internal certified coaches work with small groups of participants in the first-year to provide peer coaching modules. These coaching cohorts are facilitated by an internal certified coach, but the LEAD participants quickly step up and provide peer coaching for each other. * Business-driven action learning projects: Midway through the first-year, LEAD participants are assigned to project teams and spend four months working on a critical business issue (selected by the T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - SUMMER201 4 I WWW.TRAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE - KATHLEEN SACK Developing senior team). With the action learning (AL) topic sponsor's support, the teams work the issue with a final deliverable to present specific recommendations to the full executive team. Based on the outcomes of the recommendations, the senior leaders determine what and how recommendations move forward. The AL project experience reinforces teamwork, project management skills, importance of building networks, and enhances cross-business knowledge. * Participants managing their careers: The second-year of the program focuses on individual career plans. Participants create a plan, validate it with their boss and own the implementation. There is assistance and guidance along the way, but the execution of the plan rests with the participant. Since the development of LEAD, we have learned to course correct when needed and to quickly make those adjustments. As business priorities change, LEAD has enabled our emerging talent to flex their leadership muscle in new and different ways that positively impact the American Red Cross. THIS ISSUE'S GUEST EDITOR Kathleen Sack is vice president of talent and organization development at the American Red Cross. She has successfully designed and implemented enterprise-wide talent management systems, large-scale leadership development programs and performance management processes in a variety of industries. Email Kathleen. 9 http://www.trainingindustry.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2014

From Where I Sit
Table of Contents
Guest Editor: Developing Emerging Talent Pipelines
The Inherent Inertia of Training
Stop Harping on Generational Differences
Learning to Live the Brand
Leading through a Merger and Acquisition
Organizational Change through Applied Learning
Influencing without Line Authority: A Key Skill for Virtual Project Managers
The Currency of Trust: The Difference between Flourishing and Floundering
Building Buy-in for Learning Investments
Sales Winners Sell Differently: How Selling Is and Isn't Changing
From Mind-Full to Mindful: The Intention/Instruction Intersection
The Implications of Organizational Forgetting
Casebook: ADP: Improving Sales Process Effectiveness
Sustaining Training's Impact
Managing at the Speed of Business
Becoming an Authentic Leader
What's Online
Company News

Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2014