Every week, I review blogs and other publications that cover talent development to find the very best talent development posts. This week, you’ll find pointers to pieces on employee orientation, choosing the right candidates to develop, shortages of critical workers, and self-development.
From Monster Thinking via Human Capital League: Why Employee Orientation Is So Critical
“‘If you want to help new employees succeed and reduce turnover, you need to have a system in place to welcome them to the job and help them learn everything they need to know,’ says Emily Bennington”
Wally’s Comment: There’s a saying that “Well begun is half done.” It applies to the talent development experience. If recruiting is your only chance to make a good first impression, then onboarding is the opportunity to convince your new hire that he or she made the right choice.
From Mary Jo Asmus: How to Choose the Right Candidates to Develop
“Several years ago, I felt a lot of frustration in having to explain what I do for a living. In many parts of the world (including my own) when people asked ‘What do you do?’ my reply ‘I’m a coach’ often elicited a question: ‘What team?’ I could easily answer that one (‘I coach executives’). However, there were – and are – still a lot of misperceptions (at least in the circles I run in) and many were cultivated by yours truly.”
Wally’s Comment: Mary Jo Asmus writes about ways you can tell how a person will respond to coaching, but her tests are valid for any situation where you have to select which person to spend development energy and resources on.
From the San Jose Mercury News: Tech companies compete fiercely for job candidates
“It’s a tech tale of our times, unfolding on two street corners. On the northwest edge of Fourth and Howard streets here Thursday morning were thousands of Google (GOOG) developers and engineers at a huge tech conference, most of them highly paid, absurdly talented and seemingly happy. On the southeast corner were nearly 50 tech employers from the Bay Area and beyond, desperately trying to fill positions with talented geeks like the ones across the street.”
From the Raleigh News and Observer: Truckers scramble to find enough workers
“Despite a national unemployment rate topping 8 percent, trucking companies are struggling to recruit and retain enough drivers due to a host of factors.”
Wally’s Comment: All over the country there are industries and companies with good jobs that they can’t fill. Some are in “hot” fields like technology, but some aren’t. These two stories illustrate shortages created by very different dynamics.
From Ed Batista: Self-Development 2.0
“Social-oriented startups like HealthRally, Joyo, Lift and Qrew are building tools that will help people not only do a better job of pursuing their self-development goals, but also leverage the power of their personal and professional communities in the process”
Wally’s Comment: Ed Batista writes about changes in the self-development part of the talent development world. I included his post here for two reasons. I think that effective tools that develop in one place often find use in other places. And many talent development professionals who work inside companies help their clients learn to use the tools of self-development.
Carnivals and Such
The July 2012 Leadership Development Carnival at Great Leadership
