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SDI insight / Skills & readinessTalent Development

Developing Talent is Just as Important as Any Other Core Function of Your Business

Originally published September 15, 2023Guidance reviewed August 26, 20262 min current guide

SDI Clarity Insight. This article is part of our Knowledge Base, drawing on 20+ years of organizational design and talent development expertise. Explore our Outsourced L&D and Corporate Training services.

Current practitioner guide

Run capability as a strategic operating portfolio.

Forecast capability from the strategy and future work.

Translate strategic priorities into the workflows, roles, decisions, relationships, and human-agent interactions the organization will need. Identify critical capabilities, current supply, time horizon, and the business consequence of a gap. This makes development a capacity decision rather than a collection of programs. It also lets leaders distinguish broad enterprise capabilities from role-specific or temporary needs.

Make build, buy, borrow, automate, and redesign choices.

Development is one option in a wider portfolio. The organization may hire, redeploy, partner, automate repeatable work, redesign roles, or change the process while building selected capability internally. Compare time, cost, risk, scarcity, knowledge retention, employee opportunity, and operating fit. Name the owner and sequence for each choice so capability planning connects with workforce, technology, and business decisions.

Measure deployment and performance.

Completion does not show whether capability exists where the strategy needs it. Review proficiency, work evidence, internal movement, manager support, application opportunities, operating performance, and the capacity created or consumed by the new model. Track whether people are deployed into meaningful work that uses what they built. Capability becomes strategic when leaders can see it, move it, and make informed trade-offs.

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Use the article as context, then describe the work, role, capability, or adoption challenge behind your question. Clara can help frame the decision, identify the evidence to gather, and suggest the most relevant SDI next step.

Read the original 2023 articlePreserved as historical context; the reviewed guidance above reflects SDI's current point of view.

Companies often face the challenge of balancing numerous core functions to achieve success. However, despite their limited resources, developing and upskilling employees should never be overlooked. In this blog post, we'll use current research to educate our audience on why developing talent isn't just a nice-to-have; it is, in fact, just as important as any other core function of the business. By doing so, we can emphasize the benefits of investing in a comprehensive talent development platform like Thrive Talent, to achieve success.

According to recent research, companies that invest in talent development initiatives enjoy significantly higher revenue growth than those that do not. By developing and upskilling employees, organizations create a more resilient, agile, and capable workforce. A capable workforce promotes innovation, leads to better client outcomes, and attracts elite talent, all of which drive organizational success.

A survey conducted by Deloitte indicates that "companies that prioritize employee development are 45% more likely to have employees who rate their job satisfaction as excellent." Creating a culture of continuous learning and development ensures employees feel supported in their professional growth and advancement. When employees feel empowered and valued, it drives elevated engagement levels that ultimately lead to better job performance.

It is no secret that employee turnover can have a significant impact on a small or mid-size company's bottom line. The cost of replacing an employee can range from 30% to 150% of the position's salary. The benefits of development programs extend beyond engaging and retaining employees, but more importantly, it leads to a reduction in turnover. When employees feel valued and supported, they are less likely to leave their current employer, thereby reducing recruitment and onboarding costs.

As companies, we are all striving to create a competitive edge that enables us to stand out from the crowd. However, it can be challenging to create such an advantage with limited resources. Developing talent is a cost-effective method of creating a competitive advantage. High performing organizations prioritize skills development to ensure they are continually evolving, growing, and keeping pace with the fast-paced business world.

Developing talent is just as crucial a core function as any other to develop within your small or mid-size company. Talent development initiatives pay off in significant ways, driving organizational success, elevating employee engagement, reducing turnover, creating a competitive advantage, and enabling succession planning. Investing in a comprehensive talent development platform like Thrive Talent ensures long-term success for your organization, as we offer cutting edge solutions backed by real results.

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