The Talent Development Platform: Putting People First in Social Change Organizations

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

List of Tables, Figures, and Exhibits ix

Foreword by Trish Tchume xvii

Preface xxi

Acknowledgments xxiii

About the Authors xxv

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: Why Talent Development? 17

Chapter 2: The Organizational Learning Assessment 35

Chapter 3: Social Change Competencies 63

Chapter 4: Creating Job Descriptions 83

Chapter 5: Mapping Competencies and Proficiency Levels to Job Descriptions 133

Chapter 6: The Individual Professional Development Assessment 195

Chapter 7: The Individual Learning Styles Assessment 233

Chapter 8: Developing Organizational Goals and Setting Objectives 261

Chapter 9: Setting Individual Goals and Objectives 293

Chapter 10: Implementing the Plan 309

Chapter 11: Organizational Evaluation and Performance Assessment 363

Guide 1: Third–Party Professional Development Options 405

Guide 2: Talent Investing: Raising and Granting Funds to Develop Social Change Leadership by Rusty Stahl 485

Guide 3: A Practical Guide on Intercultural Competence for Nonprofit Managers by Alexis S. Terry 511

References 533

Index 547

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.