Horizon Point Consulting

Tag: talent development

Nourish: A Bold New Direction for 2025
After a year of “Open the Door” as our 2024 theme, we decided this year as a team that maybe we needed to simplify- our theme and our focus. As I discussed in my speech Taste and See, turning responsibility into obligation to open the door to anyone and anything brought about a state of too much in 2025. Like they say, there can be too much of a good thing.

So in keeping with tasting and seeing what is good and letting that be the only obligation or responsibility to pursue, trusting that good things will flow naturally from there, we felt as though “Nourish” speaks volumes to what we are pursuing this year and aligns with our organizational values.

What Nourish means to us:
- Living with intention
- Nourishing the people closest to us
- Emphasizing abundance instead of scarcity
- Pouring into good things allows the outcomes take care of themselves
- The mindset that capacity doesn’t equal obligation. Margins nourish us to live with intent and pour into the important people and things around us. This helps us see who and what needs to be nourished right in front of us.
- Nourishing creates growth
- Nourishing leads to thriving
Values Alignment

And in true HPC fashion, we put the word into ChatGPT and found that nourish aligns well with our values:
1. Passion: Nourishing reflects a commitment to fueling enthusiasm and energy in all endeavors, encouraging others to pursue their work with heart and dedication.
2. Productivity: Nourishing the mind, skills, and workplace environment enables individuals and teams to perform at their best, driving meaningful outcomes.
3. People First: At its core, “nourish” emphasizes care, growth, and support, putting people at the center by fostering their well-being and development.
4. Continuous Learning and Improvement: Nourishment encompasses providing the resources, opportunities, and encouragement for ongoing growth and enhancement, ensuring a culture of improvement.
5. Give Back: Nourishing others extends to contributing to the greater good, whether through community efforts, mentorship, or empowering others to succeed.
What we will Nourish this year:

Leadership Development and Coaching

We are launching new content in 2025 that includes monthly blog posts and coaching moment videos to help nurture leadership development in companies and communities. These will be practical strategies to implement, not complex theories or vague guidance. A taste of what we will be doing to nourish leadership development in our area includes facilitating the Cummings Research Park Tech to Exec Program and continuing to deliver Encounter Groups to our clients. Our customized programs for organizations will now come with a customized website page(s) to provide nourishment even after the in-person component concludes.

Entrepreneurship

We will be launching new content featuring entrepreneurs across our network to showcase the innovation taking place all around us. We will continue to support Alabama Launchpad and the dozens of entrepreneurs that come through the program each year.

Career and Professional Development

In 2024, we launched online courses and will continue to launch more courses throughout 2025. Taylor is now one of the very few people in the country certified to deliver the National Career Development Association’s brand new School Career Development Advisor (SCDA) training, and she will continue to work with the Alabama State Department of Education to certify hundreds of educators across the state in this and other content and certifications.

Informed Compensation

We continue to do a lot of compensation work. We realize that this core hygiene factor helps people literally nourish themselves and their families. Living wages are important and so is making wise business financial decisions to ensure the longevity of our organizations. These can exist together and be nourished together- remember abundance, not scarcity. We will continue to facilitate the North Alabama Regional Wage and Benefit survey to help companies and communities make informed compensation decisions.

Each Other

We are a family at HPC and each of us needs nourishment from each other. This year, we will be focused on nourishing Taylor as she undergoes surgery and treatment for breast cancer. Emily is nourishing new life, and we will welcome a baby into the HPC family in May! We ask your prayers for Taylor and Emily and their families.

Taylor’s “nourish” basket from the team!
Each of us curated a few items that we knew would bring Taylor a little bit of joy and “nourishment”.

What are you nourishing this year? What do you want to see grow?
January 28, 2025
Investing in People Makes Cents
Last week, Emily kicked off our new series on professional development. What it is and why we should care about it. I’m pulling that thread to talk about the dollars and cents of why you should invest in people and why you should do it NOW.

I just read a powerful article from McKinsey titled Increasing your return on talent: The moves and metrics that matter that hit me square in the face with this quote: “McKinsey research indicates that companies that put talent at the center of their business strategy realize higher total shareholder returns than their competitors.”

One more time for the people in the back: spending money on your people makes you more money. McKinsey’s research let them to the startling stat that some companies could be missing out on $480 million a year just by not investing in employee engagement and skill development.

McKinsey goes on to lay out a 5 step plan for companies to “maximize their return on talent”, and it’s a an excellent plan that relies on an already existing, already strong HR team. If that doesn’t describe the situation at your company, you might not be ready for McKinsey’s 5 step plan. Instead, maybe you need the Dollar Tree plan.

Last week, I had lunch with a great friend who also works in the HR space. She recently stepped in for me to facilitate some pro-bono training when I couldn’t make the date work. Her tactic? Conversation cards from Dollar Tree.

She spent $3.75 plus tax on conversation cards that turned into meaningful relationshipping for the group and several people left interested in adopting conversation cards with their own teams. Weeks later, my friend is still riding the high of a $3.75 investment. When we invest in people, it’s about the intent and the follow through more than the amount of money spent.

Horizon Point’s operating values include Continuous Learning & Improvement, and it’s truly part of everything we do. Our operating values make up the structure of our planning meeting agendas. Seriously, the line items are grouped by value:
1. People First
  - Catch up
  - Review accomplishments
  - Schedule one-on-ones
2. Productivity
  - Company performance
  - Open projects
  - Business development
3. Continuous Learning & Improvement
  - Review program & project feedback
  - Identify continuing ed / professional dev opportunities
4. Give Back
  - Volunteer leadership
  - Financial support
Just the act of talking about our learning with intention generates engagement and a future-focused mindset. But the impact is compounded when we put our money where are mouths are. I asked Mary Ila today about Horizon Point’s investment in continuous learning for team members, and the total so far this year is over $10,000, just for the 5 of us. She doesn’t hesitate to invest in people, as long as the purpose is aligned with the mission of our work at HPC and, of course, as long as the investment is reasonable and works in the current budget. Our work is about talent development and better workplaces, and it only counts if we practice our own preaching.

To close the loop on the McKinsey research, they reported that:

the most effective organizations encourage personalized, adaptive learning. Employees are motivated to own their journeys by deciding which skills and areas of expertise they want to focus on. They are given feedback, along with coaching and peer-learning opportunities, and they are supported by a digital ecosystem that can help them track their progress over time.

We strongly agree with this approach, and we spend a lot of time and resources talking about it and being about it. We learn together, we learn individually, and it’s all based on the skills or areas we want to develop. As McKinsey puts it, we own our journeys. We also train and coach our clients on this adaptive learning model using our Leaders as Career Agents process. We help them customize learning opportunities that drive their organizations forward and create more value.

To invest in people is to invest in a thriving future. Talk about it and be about it. Investing in people makes cents!
September 10, 2024
Who cares about Professional Development? Horizon Point does!

This week kicks off a brand-new series here at The Point Blog. The Fall brings a new school year and with that, all things Professional Development. Some would consider this topic a snooze fest, but if it is tailored to an individual’s needs and desires for career growth, it can be one of the most exciting things that you get to do! Mary Ila supports our interests by meeting with us for monthly one on ones and asks us what we would like to be doing and the best way that the company can support our future goals. We also discuss our opportunities for Professional Development as a team when we meet at our Monthly Mingles.

In my own journey of leadership development and career growth, I ventured out and started a new class last week. The class is Highlands College Leadership Institute. It will meet for an hour on Tuesday nights for 4 semesters, and the BEST part of it all? Horizon Point is investing in me to do it. I could not be more interested in the content that I’m learning, and I cannot wait to take back what I have learned about to our team for us to implement what I’ve been taught. That’s the beauty of Professional Development done the right way. It adds value!

Jillian on our team has been sharing all about ATD24 and her experience at Recharge Your Soul, their annual Expo. In one of her recent blogs she shares…

The theme for ATD24 was Recharge Your Soul. I absolutely felt recharged when I left, so much that I couldn’t stop talking about it (still can’t).

Jillian’s experience and excitement about the things that she learned inspired the rest of us at our Mingle when she handed out cards from different vendors and shared her stories. Not only is Mary Ila adding value to us individually, but as a whole, our team is better because of these opportunities.

Taylor was recently certified in School Career Development Advisor (SCDA) Training and can now offer the training through our website in addition to Career Development Training that is offered. Not only is the company investing in Taylor, but she is turning around and adding value to Horizon Point with her unique interests and skills.

Last but not least Lorrie got to attend the American Correctional Conference in Nashville last month and sent pictures of the songwriter Jelly Roll in our group text message. She said that it was one of the best conferences that she had been to and the experience ties right into Lorrie’s interests. Lorrie holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice and recently received her Master’s of Jurisprudence in Labor and Employment Law at Tulane University Law School.

Can you see the value of Professional Development? It doesn’t have to be the boring old lectures with stale ideas. If it is done the right way, it brings life to your employees. So go ahead and start asking, “How can I best support you?”

September 3, 2024
AI for Talent Development: Good, Scary, or Both?

AI is everywhere. Have you recently googled something and used the AI generated answer without ever clicking a link from the list? It’s one of my new favorite efficiencies…and it freaks me out a little. In the “if something scares you, it probably means you should do it” kind of way. We’ve been talking about AI for HR over the last few weeks in the context of our work and industries we support, and today I’m wrapping it up with my take on AI for talent development as a whole. It freaks me out a little, so it’s probably a good thing. Right?

Speaking of Google’s AI Overview, here’s what came up when I googled “is AI for talent development?”:

Yes, AI (artificial intelligence) is being used in talent management to improve efficiency and outcomes at every stage of the talent lifecycle. AI technologies like machine learning algorithms and natural language processing can help with:

Recruitment
AI can help match candidates with roles based on their skills, experience, and cultural fit. AI-powered semantic search can also help recruiters find qualified candidates by running Google-like searches that go beyond keyword matching.

Employee development
AI can help create personalized training plans, learning suggestions, and development goals for each employee. AI can also provide real-time feedback based on performance data, which can help employees make immediate improvements.

Performance management
AI can help set dynamic goals and provide actionable insights to drive employee performance and development. AI can also help with succession planning by analyzing employee data to identify high performers and predict future leadership needs.

Skills intelligence
AI-powered tools can help HR leaders gain an in-depth view of their workforce’s skills and potential knowledge gaps. This information can help leaders evolve job architectures as skill needs and business priorities shift.

For each topic featured in the AI Overview, Google provided links to the source material used to inform the AI response. I wanted to know more about AI in Recruitment, so I clicked the link icon and found more detailed articles:

(Shoutout to Avature and HireRoad)

If you’ve kept up with the latest news at Horizon Point, you likely know that I (Jillian) just returned from a 6-week paid sabbatical. During that time, I slept a lot, I made time for hobbies, and I let my brain slow way, way down. Now coming back to work, it’s nice to ease into slow productivity and learn to incorporate the good of AI into our talent development work.

I don’t think anyone can say for sure what the future of AI for HR holds, but for now, let’s be curious and explore AI for talent development with open minds. After all, the simple definition of development is the act of improving by expanding, enlarging, or refining, and AI can certainly help.

August 20, 2024
Be Creative Anyway: How ATD24 Made Me Feel Better About AI

Attending the ATD24 International Conference made me feel so energized and prepared for another year around the sun in talent development. The obvious buzzword: Artificial Intelligence (AI). I walked away with pages and pages of notes on AI in training and development. Mary Ila kicked off our series on AI last week, so now I’m sharing a rundown (written in part using ChatGPT) of my key AI takeaways from ATD24.

Generative AI: The Game-Changer in Scenario-Based Learning

One of the sessions that really stood out to me was “Use Generative AI to Create Scenario-Based Learning” by Kevin Alster and Elly Henriksen from Synthesia. They showed us how generative AI can take the heavy lifting out of creating scenario-based learning (SBL). Imagine being able to quickly craft engaging, real-world scenarios that captivate your learners and improve retention.

The tools and frameworks they demonstrated were incredibly user-friendly, making it feasible for anyone to enhance their courses without needing a PhD in AI. This session made it clear that SBL, powered by AI, is not just a future concept but a present-day reality that can significantly elevate our training programs.

Navigating the Inclusion Maze with AI

Then there was the eye-opening session by Mychal Patterson of The Rainbow Disruption, titled “AI Doesn’t Mean ‘Always Inclusive.’” This was a deep dive into the potential pitfalls of AI when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Mychal highlighted some serious risks, like biased data leading to exclusionary outcomes and the lack of diversity in AI development teams. These are real challenges that can undermine your DEI efforts if not addressed properly.

This session was a reminder that while AI offers huge benefits, we need to implement it thoughtfully and inclusively to avoid reinforcing existing biases. We’ve written about inclusive training before, and now we are reminded to be more intentional with avoiding language and representation bias, with or without the use of AI.

Demystifying AI for Leadership Development

DDI also showed up strong with Patrick Connell’s session, “Demystify AI for Development: What’s Hype, What’s Real, and What to Do,” which struck a perfect balance between optimism and practicality. He debunked some common myths about AI (i.e. we’re not all losing our jobs) and showcased how it can be a real asset in leadership development.

From using AI-driven assistants for data analysis to generating personalized content, Connell provided a roadmap for integrating AI into our strategies in a way that enhances, rather than overwhelms. This session made AI seem less daunting and more achievable. Since the conference, HPC has practiced using AI to write first drafts of program learning objectives, training outlines, and more.

Redesigning Training Programs to Stay Relevant

Another session that hit home for me was actually during the Chapter Leaders Conference that some of us from ATD Birmingham attended prior to the International Conference. The session was “Making it Competitive: Redesigning Your Chapter Programming to Offer Relevant Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities” by Miko Nino. Miko stressed the importance of continuously updating and evaluating our training programs to keep pace with the changing demands of employers and learners. Using technology to assess and enhance curriculum effectiveness was a major highlight.

The session also covered developing marketing and financial plans to ensure these programs are not only impactful but also sustainable. It was a comprehensive guide to making our training offerings more competitive and relevant.

Tackling AI Integration Challenges

Of course, the conference didn’t shy away from discussing the challenges of integrating AI in training and development. But the consensus was clear: with careful planning and a commitment to ethical considerations, we can mitigate the risks.

For us, an example might be clearly identifying when something we deliver is made with AI, even in small part. If we use AI to create graphics or images that we share in marketing or in training programs, we need to clearly label those as made with AI. We’re all still learning how to use AI ethically, and it starts with a good faith effort on the front end.

So…What’s Next?

ATD24 gave me so many insights on AI in training and development. The sessions highlighted how AI can help make learning more personalized, efficient, and inclusive. But they also underscored the need for thoughtful implementation; the future of T&D is not just about adopting new technologies, but about doing so in a human way that truly enhances learning for everyone.

For now, my AI journey is all about “do it anyway”. Feel intimidated by AI and use it anyway. Don’t feel very creative? Create anyway. Using AI in my work helps me be creative anyway, and that’s a positive in my book.

Image made with AI to illustrate the idea of “create anyway”

June 25, 2024