The Talent Development Platform - (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook) by Heather Carpenter & Tera Qualls (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Putting People First in Social Change Organizations

The Talent Development Platform is about results driven talent development for social change. Written by seasoned nonprofit experts, this book provides a holistic process for creating an in-house training and talent development program. The Talent Development Platform offers organizations the tools for ensuring their professional development systems are successful through regular feedback loops, tailored for learning styles, and specific to their organization. Detailed case studies provide insight into the strategies used by organizations that have implemented the Talent Development Platform, and interviews with experts in the field give readers a handle on the most current thinking. Robust resource guides facilitate the talent development process, and online access to the Talent Development Platform and assessments help streamline the workflow.

Social change organizations make the most of limited resources, but often overlook developing the talent they already have. This book gives readers a plan for finding and nurturing their internal talent to reduce turnover and improve organizational efficiency. More specifically the book helps organizations:

• Develop organizational, department, and position specific competencies.
• Create and revise job descriptions.
• Assess staff and volunteer proficiency levels with created competencies.
• Determine staff and volunteer learning styles.
• Establish professional development goals and objectives tied to strategic goals.
• Implement professional development with on the job learning, mentoring, and training.
• Calculate a return on talent investment.
• Evaluate talent development implementation and proficiency level changes.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Talent Development Platform

"For decades, work in our sector was often viewed as a 'calling.' That is now giving way to the notion that ours is a critical profession, with a deep well of talent that needs to be nurtured, guided, and strengthened. Carpenter and Qualls offer a wonderful blueprint for merging people's innate desire to be part of the solution with concrete ideas about how to build a rock-solid team."
--Robert Egger, president, L.A. Kitchen

"Great talent isn't born, it's developed and refined. The Talent Development Platform helps you nurture the talent in your organization so that you are able to change the world."
--Trista Harris, president, Minnesota Council on Foundations; coauthor of How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar

"Staff turnover costs nonprofits and their leaders precious time, energy, and resources. This book provides not just the inspiration or justification but also the concrete plan--laid out in clear steps--for leaders to retain and develop their staff."
--Laura Gassner Otting, president, Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group; author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector

"This book is a must-read for everyone in the nonprofit sector who is concerned about developing the next generation of leaders who can tackle some the world's most difficult social change issues. As long time leaders in the field look toward retirement and Millennials working in nonprofits come of age, this book provides strategic and practical information about nonprofits to ensure that their talent pipelines are full."
--Beth Kanter, author, blogger, and master trainer; www.bethkanter.org

"Organizational impact is driven in large part by having the right people engaged, yet all too often, organizations ignore professional development. Heather Carpenter and Tera Qualls provide the tools and platform to change this. The Talent Development Platform offers practical, actionable advice for nonprofit professionals, volunteers, and boards to attract and develop the top talent necessary to achieve social change."
--Steven D. Zimmerman, Spectrum Nonprofit Services, LLC; author of The Sustainability Mindset

"In their book, Heather Carpenter and Tera Qualls address the importance of developing nonprofit employees, who are on the front lines of dealing with record levels of need in society. By following their guidance, nonprofits will be able to better motivate and retain their most critical resource: people. Motivated and engaged nonprofit employees will provide better service, develop more creative solutions, and help society meet the needs of the most vulnerable."
--Michael Watson, former senior vice president, human resources and diversity, Girl Scouts of the USA

About the Author

HEATHER L. CARPENTER, PHD, is assistant professor of Nonprofit Management at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Nonprofit Management, Human Resources, Financial Management, Fundraising, Technology, and Volunteerism.

TERA WOZNIAK QUALLS, M.P.A., is founder of Momentum, a nonprofit consulting firm focused on strategic planning and talent development for nonprofits. Tera also serves as an adjunct professor of nonprofit administration in the School of Public, Nonprofit, and Health Administration at Grand Valley, where she teaches introduction to nonprofits and volunteerism for undergraduate students.