25 Best Practices in Learning & Talent Development

Dr Nick van Dam is an idea generator, visionary, consultant and thought-leader.

Educated in the fields of Economics, Pedagogy and Business Administration, he is now the Global Chief Learning Officer for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and advisor for the Deloitte Consulting Human Capital Practice. As an internationally recognised consultant and thought-leader in Learning and Human Resources Development, Mr van Dam has written articles for and has been quoted by the most renowned business and management magazines. He is a columnist for CLO magazine and Intellectueel Kapitaal magazine, and has authored and co-authored a number of books, including The e-Learning Fieldbook, The Business Impact of e-Learning and 25 Best Practices in Learning & Talent Development.

He is founder and chairman of “e-Learning for Kids Foundation”, which is a global non-profit foundation that provides schools and children around the world with free Internet-based courseware.

A recent survey by Deloitte Consulting found that leadership and talent development is one of the most urgent issues facing today’s top executives and HR leaders. Retiring baby boomers are expected to leave an estimated shortfall of 75 million leadership positions in the US and Europe by 2011. Plus, leaders today must cope with an increasingly broad range of complex challenges, resulting in burnout and high executive turnover.

Some believe that good leaders are born, not made. However, Nick van Dam, Global Chief Learning Officer at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, believes leaders can be developed in today’s complex environment by taking a holistic approach, rather than narrowly focussing on the acquisition of knowledge as the basis for leadership. The four critical dimensions of leadership development in the 21st century are:

Intellectual Knowledge and Understanding
Emotional and Social Competence
Physical and Mental Health
Personal Values and Spiritual Insight

“Personally, I don’t believe anyone followed a leader just because of their intellect and knowledge”, says van Dam, who points to Richard Branson at Virgin and Steve Jobs at Apple as examples of holistic leaders. “I believe that people align themselves with a leader more as a function of connections formed in the emotional, social and/or spiritual realms.”

Mr van Dam outlines this approach in his recently published book, titled “25 Best Practices in Learning & Talent Development”. Using case histories and straightforward language, he goes on to explain how companies can retain their top talent, develop talent in emerging markets like China and India, and he reveals the secret to successfully managing different generations in the workplace.

All proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the “e-Learning for Kids Foundation”(www.e-learningforkids.org), which Mr van Dam founded in 2004. The Foundation provides more than 80 high-quality courses in language, arts, mathematics, life and health and science to schools, orphanages, teachers and children aged 5 to 12 around the world at no cost, either through the Internet or through CD-ROM. A copy of the book can be ordered via “e-Learning for Kids” at http://www.e-learningforkids.org or via the publisher at http://www.lulu.com/content/676309.

Dr van Dam will be speaking at Online Educa Berlin on the topic of Building Learning Capabilities Globally Through Online Learning (WEB21) on Thursday, November 29 from 14:00 - 16:00. Copies of 25 Best Practices in Learning & Talent Development will also be available for sale at the registration area of the event.

October 29, 2007

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