While most organizations acknowledge the importance and value of experience, few have effectively captured and utilized experience information in the talent management process. We submit that experience has often been overlooked or superficially handled because there has been no mechanism or framework to capture and integrate high quality experience information into the talent management process. This has been an issue from the early stages of career development and coaching through to succession planning for the Board.

The Development Experiences Blueprint™ software tool embodies the missing link in talent management: experience. This groundbreaking web-based tool graphically displays, analyzes and mines experience information within a talent management framework (enabling the generation of personalized career paths, personalized experience maps for specific positions and best fit and pipeline candidates for succession plans, amongst many other capabilities).

This real-time software tool encapsulates the development roadmap required for success within an organization and thereby, strengthens the talent management and leadership development process by providing:

• employees at all levels with a framework to capture and visually display their experience history, as well as generate a gap analysis that highlights their highest priority development needs (empowering employees to take ownership of their career development)
• employees with greater career development transparency to write their personal development plans, thereby creating a more 'level-playing-field' for talent to develop and emerge within an organization
• employees with a development roadmap to make better informed choices about career development opportunities based on their longer-term aspirations throughout their career (creating a powerful attraction and retention tool for an organization)
• line managers, HR and others with a 'common framework and language' to mentor and coach others about their career development so that they are better prepared to achieve their longer-term aspirations and goals
• hiring line managers with comprehensive experience information to make better informed selection decisions amongst potential candidates for a position
• senior leadership with guidance to ensure that high potentials amongst others get the right development at the right time to best prepare them to achieve their longer-term aspirations and potential (and thereby ensuring that key experience gaps are addressed early to avoid stalling or derailing promising careers)
• senior leadership with a prioritized development roadmap to maximize and accelerate high potential development
• senior leadership with data mining capabilities to identify best fit and pipeline candidates for succession plans through Board level (and thereby, strengthening the depth and quality of succession plans and subsequent succession decisions)
• an opportunity to identify and communicate new development experiences that will be required to deliver the mid- to longer-term business strategy and thereby, develop employees today for the challenges of tomorrow (e.g., traditional bricks-and-mortar retailer keen to establish and grow an e-business longer-term, however, does not have the right talent to successfully deliver this strategy today)
• an opportunity to break the cycle of 'cloning talent' by ensuring successors have the experience required for success in the future, rather than the experience required for success in the past
• a real-time inventory of experience that can provide powerful strategic insight into the strengths, gaps and issues in the aggregate talent pool and emerging talent pipeline
• an opportunity to translate strategic insight into action by building bench strength in weak areas - at all levels of the organization - before a talent crisis emerges

This powerful tool yields incremental value whether an organization has basic human resources or sophisticated talent management. In the case of basic human resources, this stand-alone tool facilitates personal development, coaching, selection, succession planning and strategic insight into the talent pool (as delineated above). In the case of sophisticated talent management, this tool makes a unique contribution which strengthens and complements existing talent management programs, tools and processes (including personal development planning, career development coaching, high potential development, leadership development, succession planning and strategic succession management) and other competency-based programs, tools and processes (including 360-degree feedback, assessment and development centers).

Albertsson Consulting will work in partnership with your organization to develop and deliver a customized tool to meet your organization's specific needs. This integrated software and consulting services product is comprised of two components:

• Development Experiences Blueprint™ Software which provides the web-based software technology to display, manage, analyze and mine experience information within a talent management framework;
• Development Experiences Blueprint™ Consulting Services which identifies the specific experiences required for success within your organization through to launch and implementation of the tool.

This customized tool provides an excellent opportunity to transform the impact and contribution of your existing talent management and competency-based programs, tools and processes. The collective longer-term impact will be a stronger talent pool and emerging talent pipeline that will be better prepared to deliver business results.

Albertsson Consulting's proprietary software is delivered with the support of our established IT partner Aurora Consulting Group, Incorporated based in New York State.