CHAPTER 5

The Talent Development Capability Model

Morgean Hirt

The Talent Development Capability Model is a research-based framework for what talent development professionals need to know and do to be successful. Developed with input from more than 3,000 professionals around the world in a wide range of roles and working in a diverse set of organizations, the Capability Model elevates the talent development function to the level of a key contributor to an organization’s success.

The Talent Development Capability Model offers a new standard for the field, helping prepare talent development professionals for their future of work by broadening the scope of knowledge and skills that will make them effective. There is no professional model better positioned to help organizations navigate the changes that are coming, and talent development professionals themselves need to be ready to meet that change.

ATD has been developing competency models since 1978. Each model has focused on the specific technical skills required of those in talent development, which in turn helped build a solid foundation of skills for TD professionals. However, when developing its new framework in 2019, ATD decided to move in a slightly different direction—away from competencies and toward capabilities. Competence has become a somewhat outdated and passive term, as it refers to a person’s current state and their having the knowledge and skills necessary to perform a job. Capability, on the other hand, is about integrating knowledge and skills and adapting and flexing to meet future needs. By shifting from a competency model to a capability model, ATD is helping talent development professionals put their knowledge and skills to work to create, innovate, lead, manage change, and demonstrate impact.

How the Model Was Developed: The Latest Study

The research for the 2019 capability model began with capturing the major shifts in society and the larger business landscape that had occurred since the previous model was published. Major changes were identified through a comprehensive literature review, expert practitioner interviews, and advisory group discussions. These trends spanned a variety of areas in business, technology, learning, science, and the profession itself, and were directly incorporated into the research to determine their impact on future skills requirements for practitioners.

The results of the trends research overwhelmingly indicated that the role of the TD professional has moved beyond the traditional realm of training design and delivery. Effective talent development requires a proactive, business-partner approach to anticipate and respond to changing needs and to leverage personal capabilities to support organizational strategy and generate competitive advantage. The research data collected formed the basis for ATD to craft competency statements. Because this was the first study done under the banner of talent development, defining the full scope of what encompasses the field was a key goal.

The competency statements were then included in an occupational survey, which ended up being the largest ever done by ATD. That study determined which competency statements would be included in the final framework. The range of data obtained in the study enabled ATD to reflect on the global nature of the work TD professionals are doing and showed little difference between what those in varying parts of the world, different size organizations, or disparate industries need to know and be able to do in order to succeed. Having information from such a wide range of levels of practitioners, rather than just those who are midlevel career, helps ensure all TD professionals can build their skill set and create a more mobile workforce, establishing an international standard for TD practice.

The Model and Its Structure

ATD’s recent competency research shows that the future of work will require talent development professionals to leverage interpersonal skills, along with their professional expertise, to work as a true business partner to help achieve organizational goals.

Overwhelmingly, respondents rated the importance of tasks related to business partnering and those that affect organizational strategy and success equally to, and in some cases higher than, those traditionally viewed as necessary in the learning and development field, such as instructional design and training and facilitation. Similarly, the high ratings of knowledge and skill areas that were once considered “foundational” or “enabling”—such as communication, business acumen, and having a global mindset—showed the increased importance of these interpersonal abilities to success.

The resulting Talent Development Capability Model has three equal domains of practice, centered on three key areas: personal skills, professional expertise, and contributing to organizational success. Among these, there is no hierarchy of importance of the knowledge and skills to be developed. Talent development professionals will need to leverage topics across these domains for the greatest level of success and effectiveness.

Under each of the three domains are 23 capabilities, which detail the specific knowledge and skills that can be harnessed for maximum impact (Figure 5-1).

Building Personal Capabilities

This domain of practice embodies the foundational or enabling abilities all working professionals should possess to be effective in the business world. These largely interpersonal skills, often called soft skills, are needed to build an effective organizational or team culture, trust, and engagement. The Building Personal Capabilities domain includes the following capabilities:

•  Communication. As talent development professionals become critical business partners, they will need to articulate the appropriate messages for a particular audience.

•  Emotional intelligence and decision making. Emotional intelligence and the ability to make good decisions are paramount to professional success. Regulating your own emotions and correctly interpreting the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of others are key strengths in building rapport and trust with others.

•  Collaboration and leadership. Leadership is about influence and vision, which also helps to facilitate collaboration. Being good at collaboration requires the ability to foster environments that encourage teamwork and respectful relationships, especially cross-functionally. Effective leaders inspire trust and engagement with their employees and teams.

•  Cultural awareness and inclusion. Cultural awareness and the ability to foster an inclusive work environment are requirements in today’s global business climate. Being effective at both means conveying respect for different perspectives, backgrounds, customs, abilities, and behavior norms, as well as ensuring all employees are respected and involved by leveraging their capabilities, insights, and ideas.

•  Project management. Effective project management requires being able to plan, organize, direct, and control resources for a finite period to complete specific goals and objectives.

•  Compliance and ethical behavior. Compliance and ethical behavior refer to the expectation that a talent development professional acts with integrity and operates within the laws that govern where they work and live.

•  Lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is sometimes called continuous learning, agile learning, or learning drive. It is marked by traits such as self-motivation, insatiable curiosity, and intelligent risk taking. Talent development professionals should model the value of lifelong learning by pursuing knowledge for personal and professional reasons.

These areas are of particular value to talent development professionals who need to be able to persuasively communicate solutions and guide individuals and teams to improved performance, and to do so in an inclusive way. The need to focus on and elevate these knowledge and skill areas is echoed by research being done by others. A recent IBM report on the future of work states that “skilled humans fuel the global economy. Digital skills remain vital; however, executives tell us soft skills have surpassed them in importance” (La Prade et al. 2019).

Developing Professional Capabilities

This domain of practice encompasses the knowledge and skills talent development professionals should possess to be effective in their roles of creating the processes, systems, and frameworks that foster learning, maximize individual performance, and develop the capacity and potential of employees. The core professional skills that have been the mainstay of the field, such as instructional design, evaluating impact, and training delivery, are all found in this domain of the new model as key elements, alongside new and expanded skill sets such as learning sciences and technology application.

The Developing Professional Capabilities domain includes the following capabilities:

•  Learning sciences. Organizations with highly effective learning programs incorporate key principles from the learning sciences, which is an interdisciplinary research-based field that works to further the understanding of learning, learning innovation, and instructional methodologies.

•  Instructional design. Instructional design is an essential element of an effective learning effort. The creation of learning experiences and materials is what results in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills.

•  Training delivery and facilitation. Training delivery and facilitation are means by which talent development professionals help individuals improve performance at work by learning new skills and knowledge. The practitioner serves as a catalyst for learning.

•  Technology application. Disruption via technology will continue to be a reality for organizations and talent development functions. Talent development professionals must have the ability to identify, select, and implement the right learning and talent technologies that serve the best interests of the organization and its people.

•  Knowledge management. Knowledge management is the explicit and systematic management of intellectual capital and organizational knowledge. In a knowledge economy, lost institutional knowledge can be costly for organizations in the form of turnover, recruitment, and training expenses.

•  Career and leadership development. Creating a culture of career development in an organization can be a competitive advantage. Being effective at career and leadership development requires the ability to create planned processes of interaction between the organization and the individual.

•  Coaching. Coaching is a discipline and practice that is an essential capability for any talent development professional, and it has the power to catalyze breakthroughs to enhance individual, team, and organizational performance.

•  Evaluating impact. Evaluating the impact of talent development programs is correlated with learning and business effectiveness. Talent development professionals should be able to implement a multilevel, systematic method for assessing the effectiveness and effort of learning programs.

These specialized skills are necessary for identifying, developing, and delivering effective learning solutions. Practitioners not directly involved in development and delivery will be better business partners and advocates if they understand these key elements of talent development.

Impacting Organizational Capability

This third domain of practice includes the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by professionals to ensure talent development is a primary mechanism driving organizational performance, productivity, and operational results. Talent development professionals are in the unique position of having insight into an organization’s workforce, coupled with the ability to link that human capital to the skills most needed to attain business-critical missions and goals. If all TD professionals had the knowledge and skills to serve as business partners, regardless of their role, organizations could achieve their goals more quickly and effectively.

The Impacting Organizational Capability domain includes the following capabilities:

•  Business insight. Business insight is the understanding of key factors affecting a business, such as its current situation, influences from its industry or market, and factors influencing growth. Having business insight is essential to strategic involvement with top management and ensuring talent development strategies align with the overall business strategy.

•  Consulting and business partnering. Being seen as a valued business partner should be a goal for talent development professionals. Consulting and business partnering use expertise, influence, and personal skill to build a two-way relationship that facilitates change or improvement in the business.

•  Organization development and culture. To remain relevant, organizations must continually develop capability and capacity. Organization development (OD) is an effort that focuses on improving an organization’s capability through the alignment of strategy, structure, management processes, people, rewards, and metrics.

•  Talent strategy and management. Talent strategy and management are the practices used to build an organization’s culture, engagement, capability, and capacity through the implementation and integration of talent acquisition, employee development, retention, and deployment processes, ensuring these processes are aligned to organizational goals.

•  Performance improvement. Organizational competitiveness is fueled by improvement in human performance. Performance improvement is a holistic and systematic approach to meeting organizational goals by identifying and closing human performance gaps.

•  Change management. Talent development professionals are well positioned to facilitate change because they connect people, process, and work. Change management is the capability for enabling change within an organization by using structured approaches to shift individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a future state.

•  Data and analytics. Data and analytics are key drivers for organizational performance and should also be drivers for talent development. This is about the ability to collect, analyze, and use large data sets in real time to influence learning, performance, and business.

•  Future readiness. The increasing pace of change requires constant upskilling and reskilling of the workforce. Future readiness requires intellectual curiosity and constant scanning of the environment to stay abreast of forces shaping the business world, employees and their expectations, and the talent development profession.

This domain comprises the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that enable TD professionals to be key business partners who can present data to the C-suite in a way they understand, showing that L&D functions are not disposable but essential drivers toward competitive advantage and business success. All talent development professionals, regardless of role or experience, should strive to understand how interconnected their work is to the success of an organization and how they can influence that success.

While the Talent Development Capability Model has a new framework and set of labels for what talent development professionals need to know and be able to do, many of these concepts could be found in previous models. However, they had not been surfaced in a way that led professionals to focus on developing them. The Capability Model demonstrates the need for TD professionals to blend their knowledge and skills across the three domains and each of the capabilities to be most effective. Even entry-level professionals can begin to see the necessity of collaborating with key business units, uncovering the true needs of the business, and effectively presenting ideas and solutions that are tied to organizational goals. If TD professionals develop themselves and their teams in line with this new standard for talent development, they can best position themselves to drive a learning agenda that will help organizations navigate the future.

Using the Talent Development Capability Model

In addition to introducing a new visual framework for talent development capabilities, ATD also developed tools and an interactive website that are available to anyone at no cost. The site is designed to assist professionals in exploring the Capability Model, assessing themselves against the new standard to identify skills gaps and areas for development, and connecting with resources to assist them in their own professional growth and development. You can find these tools and job aids at the handbook’s website, ATDHandbook3.org.

The Talent Development Capability Model defines the standard of excellence and helps lead the profession by empowering professionals to elevate their skills and enabling organizations to strategically align learning and talent development opportunities to business outcomes. However, the real utility of a capability model is in its application. Practitioners and organizations must invest in skill-building opportunities, quantify the importance and impact of talent development, and boost their credibility within the organizational landscape.

Individuals may use the model to explore skills that will lead to role or career expansion or to help prepare for professional certification. Academic institutions, professional groups, and others involved in educating those who will perform talent development functions may use the model to benchmark and align their curriculums. And talent development managers and leaders may use the model to establish which roles they need to fill and which skill sets are required of their staff. Each stakeholder group will have different needs in relation to how they use the model.

The Talent Development Capability Model provides a common language and consistent way to communicate about the profession. It conveys the scope of the profession to those exploring career or professional development. It can also help demonstrate the value of talent development to organizational leaders and the workforce at large.

For Individuals

The interactive website allows individuals to explore the model and identify how knowledge and skills blended across the model can enhance their practice. The domains and capabilities complement each other but also provide a deeper dive into the various areas of practice, from instructional design, to organization development, to technology application. A built-in self-assessment encourages professionals to benchmark their current knowledge and skill proficiency against this new standard. The assessment can identify knowledge and skills gaps and then be saved to a user’s ATD profile.

Users can prioritize identified gaps for development and access direct links to ATD resources that can help close those gaps. Various learning paths can help users achieve their goals and were designed to develop knowledge and skills specific to those goals. Users can choose among paths that are role based, can help deepen their practice throughout their career, are designed for developing readiness to pursue a professional certification, are customizable, and allow them to create their own learning path. At any time, a user can come back to the self-assessment to reassess against the standard and update learning goals.

The self-assessment can also help uncover how a professional’s career might evolve over time, what jobs they might want to pursue in the future, and which skills are necessary for those roles. Professionals with more tenure in the field can use the model to hone knowledge and skills in areas they may not have encountered over the course of their career or develop new skills as a result of changes in the field or society.

The new model also serves as the foundation for the two credentials currently offered by the ATD Certification Institute. The Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) is designed for individual contributors who are still early in their career or for whom talent development is only part of their role. The Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD, formerly the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance) is for more experienced practitioners and those who wish to play a more strategic role in their organization. The appropriate subset of knowledge and skills for each designation is included on the respective credentialing exams.

For Managers and Teams

Managers can also use the new model to design job roles and structure teams, departments, and the talent development function. The model can provide insight into what talent development capabilities are needed by line managers, subject matter experts, and other nonpractitioners who are responsible for developing or educating others. The flexibility of the model allows practitioners to personalize the areas in which they place their focus.

Managers can use the interactive model to have members of their teams complete self-assessments to identify common gaps and develop team learning plans. ATD resources—from TD magazine articles and job aids, to downloadable books or webcasts, to education courses—are linked directly to the knowledge and skill areas that need to be developed, making it easy to identify personalized or group learning solutions.

The model can also serve as a template to show talent development managers and leaders what success looks like now and in the future. It can be leveraged to set performance expectations and incentivize staff to expand and enhance their skills to align to those expectations, thereby enhancing the image and credibility of the profession with business leaders. The integration of personal, professional, and organizational impact capabilities in the Capability Model makes it especially well suited to communicating the talent development function’s strategic value.

For Organizations and Their Leaders

The Capability Model is a useful framework for leaders at multiple levels—from a manager of a talent development team, to a senior talent leader, to a C-suite executive—because it provides insight into the range of functions talent development performs in the organization. It also articulates how professionals serving in these roles can add significant value to the organization through their work in fostering learning, improving performance, and supporting the organization through change. Leaders can use the model to support discussions about the value of upskilling the TD team by demonstrating the link between talent development and organizational performance.

Once an organization determines which functions its talent development team will perform, the Capability Model can be used to create a road map of the knowledge and skills team members need to support those functions. Job descriptions can be scoped to match those skills, which in turn can be used to upskill current team members or recruit new members with complementary skill sets.

Because the model is designed to be a blended, flexible set of knowledge and skills, it can also be used to identify skill sets for ancillary team members—such as subject matter experts, technology team members, and those in analytics or human resources—whose roles intersect with the talent development function. This can help create a common language and understanding of expectations that will enhance overall performance across the learning and development function.

Final Thoughts

The ATD Capability Model defines the standard of excellence and helps lead the profession by empowering professionals to elevate their skills and enabling organizations to strategically align learning and talent development opportunities to business outcomes. The interactive model can serve an informational role in capturing what is most needed among TD professionals now and in the future, but its value stems from its potential application through assessment, personalized learning plans, and direct links to learning solutions. It has been designed for individuals and organizations to place themselves in its center and apply or customize it to their needs. Practitioners and organizations must invest in skill-building opportunities, quantify the importance of talent development, and boost their credibility within the organizational landscape. The ATD Capability Model provides talent development professionals with a common language and standard against which knowledge and skills can be developed to leverage expertise for maximum impact on an organization’s success.

About the Author

Morgean Hirt is director of credentialing at ATD and responsible for the overall management and leadership of the ATD Certification Institute. She was instrumental in the development of the Talent Development Capability Model. Morgean has devoted her career to advancing professions through the establishment of industry standards, providing strategic leadership and technical expertise in developing and implementing competency and credentialing programs. Morgean has led several organizations through establishing industry standards, including clinical research, K–12 ed tech leaders, and healthcare information systems. Prior to joining ATD, Morgean was CEO of Certified Fund Raising Executives International and was responsible for establishing international support across six continents for a unified standard of fundraising practice. Morgean lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and is active with the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE).

References

La Prade, A., J. Mertens, T. Moore, and A. Wright. 2019. The Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap. IBM Institute for Business Value. ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/closing-skills-gap.

Vital, C., M. Hirt, and P. Galagan. 2019. Capabilities for Talent Development: Shaping the Future of the Profession Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

Recommended Resources

“Talent Development Body of Knowledge.” Association for Talent Development. td.org/tdbok.