The Complete Guide To Building And Growing A Talent Development Firm

Position your consultancy for longevity and growth. "How do I position a talent development business for lasting success?” is a question Stephen L. Cohen fields regularly. In his practice, he hears it posed countless times in countless ways by independent consultants, corporate executives, and training suppliers alike. Cohen fills The Complete Guide to Building and Growing a Talent Development Firm with answers. And it is why he has organized this guidebook by key milestones for establishing a successful consultancy --one specifically focused on content, delivery, and instruction. Whether you want to start your own firm or take the next steps to grow, Cohen has been in your shoes. In his 40-year career in talent development, a deep understanding of industry best practices --and their nuances --has guided his many efforts to found, expand, merge, and even sell thriving talent development firms. Delve into timeless lessons for getting your talent development firm off the ground and start moving your business forward. You'll find sage advice on overcoming barriers to success and tips for handling potential industry disruptions. Learn to: Execute your business vision and carry it out efficiently and effectively. Win over customers and build repeat business. Pave your way to growth in new and existing markets. Build a consultancy that survives and thrives the tests of time.

Get Started Now. Take Action. Staying ahead of change in the world, your organization, and your profession requires action. You learned a lot to launch your organization’s talent development effort. As you position it for the future, what you need to know grows exponentially. As futurist Ray Kurzweil once said, “If I take 30 steps linearly, I get to 30. If I take 30 steps exponentially, I get to a billion.” How do you prepare for exponential growth? In ATD’s Action Guide to Talent Development: A Practical Approach to Building Organizational Success, industry expert and bestselling author Elaine Biech lays out the steps you can take. The companion volume to ATD’s Foundations of Talent Development: Launching, Leveraging, and Leading Your Organization’s TD Effort, this book follows an eight-step framework for defining your organization’s learning foundation through preparing for the future. You are your organization’s trusted advisor, and Biech offers practical questions, organizational assessments, and tips for each step you must guide your organization through. She also presents the newest thinking from university educators and researchers that organizational experts have relied on for years, as well as from industry practitioners and luminaries in leadership and development. Open this book to any page. Jump in where you think it will be most beneficial to you or your organization. Whether you work inside a company or as an external consultant, whether you work for a large organization or a small one, whether you are launching your first talent development effort or fine-tuning a function that’s been in action for decades—you are sure to find valuable concepts, designs, and ideas. Get started now. Take action.

An action plan for working as a consultant Management consulting is a $250 billion industry and growing at a rate of over four percent annually. Many predict that more than 40 percent of the U.S. workforce will soon be contingent, freelance, or consulting members of the workforce—making this book more relevant than ever. Individuals become independent consultants out of necessity or preference: necessity because they lost their job or the company offered an attractive exit package; preference because they want a career change, more control over their time, or an enriched, varied work situation. Consulting also appeals to the Millennial workforce who are searching for careers that offer a good salary as well as meaningful work. The New Consultant’s Quick Start Guide: • Serves as a companion to The New Business of Consulting • Provides you with a place to plan your transition into consulting • Helps you identify your niche, develop a business plan, charge what you’re worth, and create a marketing strategy to ensure a steady stream of clients • Prepares you for changes you will encounter beyond your professional life, including social, family, and financial aspects The New Consultant’s Quick Start Guide helps you work through the challenges of consulting such as working alone, deciding on necessary insurance coverage, finding your first clients, struggling with cash flow, and understanding market trends.

Everything you ever wanted to know about consulting—a practical roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs Seismic changes occurring in the workforce are leading to more and more people entering the world of contract, freelance, and contingency work. Rapid changes in demographics and advances in technology have led companies and talent to engage in profoundly new ways and consulting is one of the keys to success. The New Business of Consulting is authentic and practical, and shares the knowledge and skills required to start and grow a successful consulting business. From how to make a smooth career transition, to how to determine a consulting fee, to how consultants inadvertently create a bad reputation, it covers everything you need to know to thrive and flourish in this competitive field. Covers contemporary topics, such as how to achieve success in the gig economy Discloses a reliable technique to land the clients you want Presents options to help you balance your life and your business Prepares you for naming your business, managing critical financial issues, and building a client relationship Shows you how to take your income and impact beyond working as a solopreneur The crucial start-up days of a consulting business may be frenetic and fraught with questions. This new edition provides sanity and answers all the questions. It includes practical tools, templates, and checklists that you can download and implement immediately.

In a unique action-planning format, Dr. Stephen L. Cohen gathers his forty-five years of experience founding or leading eight talent development consulting firms to share twelve key strategies. Drawing on his extensive experience, he answers such relevant questions as: ?What are the key drivers, dynamics, and trends of the industry??What are the elements of a business plan, strategy, and structure??How do you create, market, and sell a compelling offer??How do you establish a profitable operating system??How do you best identify and serve your customers??Why do some suppliers fail, survive, or even thrive??What are the various pathways to growth??And many more . . . Whether you want to grow your existing talent development firm or are thinking of starting one, this book is an invaluable resource. With an initial self-assessment to reveal areas for growth plus workbook pages throughout to facilitate frequent review of your current progress in each winning strategy, you'll cumulate a detailed action plan to propel your firm forward.

The Definitive Resource for the Talent Development Profession The TDBoK™ Guide: Talent Development Body of Knowledge, second edition, is a comprehensive collection of TD concepts, definitions, methodologies, and examples that lays the foundation and guiding principles for those who develop talent in the workplace. Created by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), this reference sets the gold standard for the learning and talent development profession. The first iteration of the TDBok was made available in 2020 through an ATD subscription product. ATD is delighted to present this updated and revised edition in book format. Grounded in and offering a deep dive of ATD’s Talent Development Capability Model, the TDBoK Guide goes beyond the core foundational aspects of training and development and supports the approach that—to be most effective—TD professionals need to develop personal and professional capabilities to impact organizational capability. Covering the TD field’s 23 key disciplines (or capability areas), the TDBoK Guide is divided into three sections that align with the Capability Model’s three domains-personal, professional, and organizational. This second edition—developed by ATD in partnership with industry expert Elaine Biech—includes comprehensive updates based on feedback from the field, more than 100 subject matter expert contributors, and curated perspectives from thousands of publications. For those preparing to obtain certifications offered by ATD—ATD CI’s certification programs, the Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD), or the Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD)—the TDBoK Guide also serves as a helpful resource for exam preparation. ATD’s TDBoK Guide is the differentiator for the field—a resource that every TD professional needs to grow in their careers, today and in the future.

Recruiting the right people is one of the most important activities organisations can undertake. Getting it right can mean fast, healthy growth and the fulfilment of business goals; getting it wrong can mean heavy costs, sinking morale and stunted growth. The Complete Guide to Recruitment is a practical self-help guide to best practice in recruitment. With international case studies demonstrating how recruitment contributes to business success, it covers every aspect of the recruitment process including: developing an effective recruitment strategy; relationship building for long-term hiring; assessing and selecting candidates; designing the contract of employment; and creating a great place to work. Also incorporating a broad range of sample adverts, contracts and assessment tests which are available to download and edit, The Complete Guide to Recruitment is ideal for companies of all types and sizes who want to attract and retain top talent.

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO FINDING, DEVELOPING, AND KEEPING THE BEST TALENT The most comprehensive book of its kind, The Talent Management Handbook has become the go-to resource for HR professionals, CEOs, and business leaders who want to take the lead in building a diverse, talented, and motivated workforce. Each section of this book offers state-of-the-art processes, step-by-step practical management tools and techniques, and up-to-the-minute resources that will equip you to: Discover and develop new talent Inspire, coach, and train future leaders Reward and retain the best people Plan and realize a culture of organizational excellence Featuring breakthroughs and "best practices" from more than 30 leading global talent management firms-- Accenture, Center for Creative Leadership, Hay Group, Heidrick and Struggles, Human Capital Institute, Korn/Ferry International, Mercer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Right Management, Sibson Consulting, Towers Watson, and others--The Talent Management Handbook is a complete, all-in-one program designed to help you place the best people in the most critical jobs to assemble the building blocks of organizational excellence and create value--one person at a time. Based on years of research, hundreds of global consultations, and the stellar contributions of top industry leaders, The Talent Management Handbook is the most authoritative guide on the market for finding and utilizing the best people. Now in its second edition, this book includes the most innovative ideas and the latest tools, processes, and technologies available to help you launch a complete, fully functioning talent management program that will drive you and your workforce to the top. Filled with key insights from renowned HR thought leaders and CEOs, The Talent Management Handbook shows you how to: Attract new talent and keep the "Superkeepers" Design career plans that boost employee morale and support organization needs Improve performance through a personal value exchange Coach, develop, and inspire raw talent and prepare the CEOs of the future See positive results with smarter performance reviews Create a culture of innovation and sustainability In these pages there is a wealth of information on a wide range of subjects, including employee compensation, onboarding, leadership competencies, and engagement programs. Discover firsthand how top HR thought leaders like Dave Ulrich, Marshall Goldsmith, Richard Boyatzis, Marc Effron, Beverly Kaye, Andy Pellant, William Rothwell, William Schiemann, Doris Sims, Allan Schweyer, Kay Thorne, and Kevin Wilde have achieved amazing results. And learn how expanding global markets are affecting the development of talent and teams all across the world. It takes a top-notch workforce to make a company succeed. This definitive guide gives you all you need to enable your organization's people to do their best.