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We can design and develop the best training ever created, and we can deliver it with the best instructors and/or the best technology in the best format. But…if it is not on something important to the business, business executives are not happy—and they shouldn’t be. Investments in learning and development have to deliver the same level of business value that investments in R&D, marketing, sales, manufacturing and service deliver; otherwise, business executives place their investment bets in areas other than L&D.
-- Ed Trolley (from the foreword).
The mandate for L&D has never been so clear. Consider the results of the Fifteenth Price-Waterhouse Coopers Global CEO Survey:
- 25 percent of CEOs have cancelled an initiative because they did not have the talent they required;
- 33 percent were unable to pursue a market opportunity; and
- 70 percent were less than “very confident” that they had the talent they required.
What's the most pressing issue most L&D organizations face in stepping up to the mandate? We think that it's not whether they have the right guns to fire but rather whether they know just where to point them. That is to say: achieving strategic alignment.
When we went to find guidance on just how L&D organizations can actually generate strategic alignment, we found many admonishments to get close to the business. What we did not find was concrete and specific direction on just how to do that. That's why we wrote the book.
The CEO's Talent Manifesto details a systematic methodology for how to generate strategic alignment. It's based on proven work that has been acknowledged by Bersin & Associates and the Learning & Development Roundtable of the Corporate Executive Board. The book lays out why strategic alignment is vital, what it means, and how to get it done.