SMART STAGE Talent Activation: Empowering Employees to Drive Continuous Learning
Talent activation is a new way of thinking about talent management that focuses on deliberately connecting the experiences, processes, and metrics that create a productive and loyal workforce. It involves all company stakeholders to promote a strong experience across the employee lifecycle, transcending traditional HR disciplines and integrating day-to-day work into big picture company strategy.
Last year’s Career Advisory Board talent activation survey (discussed in a session at SHRM National in Chicago) asked HR directors how they were activating talent and creating specific employee experiences at the recruitment, onboarding, learning, and performance stages – and how they were using technology to facilitate coordinated activities.
Our SHRM audience noted that our brand of talent activation put a lot of onus on the employer. It wanted to know: what role do employees play in activating themselves? Uncovering this answer was the purpose of our 2019 survey, Talent Activation 2.0. In this session, we will cover and discuss the survey results and describe the actions most effective in empowering employees to undertake professional growth and achieve meaning in their everyday work lives.
Alexandra Levit
Alexandra Levit’s goal is to prepare organizations and their employees to be competitive and marketable in the future business world. A former nationally syndicated columnist for the Wall Street Journal and writer for the New York Times, Fast Company, and Forbes, Alexandra has authored several books, including the international bestseller They Don’t Teach Corporate in College and Humanity Works: Merging People and Technologies for the Workforce of the Future.
Alexandra recently became a partner with organizational development firm PeopleResults. She consults and writes on leadership development, human resources, technology adoption, entrepreneurship, innovation, career and workplace trends on behalf of numerous Fortune 500 companies including American Express, Canon, Deloitte, DeVry University, Intuit, SilkRoad, and Staples, and has spoken on these topics at hundreds of organizations around the world including Abbott, ADP, Bank of America, Cardinal Health, Campbell Soup, Exelon, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Human Capital Institute, McDonalds, Microsoft, PepsiCo, the Society of Human Resource Management, and Whirlpool.
In the last several years, Alexandra has conducted proprietary research on the future of work, technology adoption, the millennial generation, gender differences and bias, and the skills gap. She also served as a member of Business Roundtable’s Springboard Project, which advised the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Defense on current employment issues.
Alexandra is also a frequent national media spokesperson and is regularly featured in outlets including USA Today, National Public Radio, CNN, ABC News, CNBC, Forbes, the Associated Press, and Glamour. She was named an American Management Association Top Leader for two years in a row and has also been Money Magazine’s Online Career Expert of the Year and the author of one of Forbes’ best websites for women.
A member of the Northwestern University Council of 100 and the Young Entrepreneur Council, Alexandra received the prestigious Emerging Leader Award from her alma mater. The award honors a Northwestern graduate under 35 who had made a significant impact in her field and in society. She was also just named to the Thinkers50's Class of 2019. This global organization identifies the individuals developing the most compelling business and management ideas of our age. She resides in Chicago, IL.