In a constantly changing market, driven by AI, new work trends, and the pressure for results, companies must adapt quickly to achieve outcomes. But how can you ensure that talent can address these challenges, make decisions aligned with the business strategy, and be prepared to respond to the market’s rapid pace of change? At Tandem, we apply an approach that has proven effective in integrating talent development as a key driver for organizational growth. 

Companies that view talent development as a business driver, and not just a training initiative, achieve greater profitability, growth, and market leadership. According to Deloitte¹, organizations with a strong learning culture are 37% more productive and 92% more likely to innovate. 

Talent is one of the most important assets that organizations possess to ensure their sustainability and long-term growth. However, in our experience, we have observed that talent development models have become outdated. The results are competencies that do not respond to the company’s strategic priorities and talent with few tools to make the decisions that the business requires now and in the future. 

In this sense, the talent development strategy becomes a business aspect, impacting not only the individual’s professional level but also the operational agility and sustainable growth of an organization. For this reason, the talent development strategy begins to occupy a central place on leaders’ agendas, being addressed as one of the key strategic decisions for the company’s future. 

What do organizations gain when they invest in talent development? 

26% of CEOs rate talent scarcity as the main “disruptive factor” for their business prospects, revealed a Gartner survey in 2024. In this context, talent decisions become the central equation to solve for companies. Achieving a “good fit” in a specific position and within the corporate culture is crucial in a market where the skills needed to perform in hyper-complex industries are more relevant than ever.

Investing in internal talent development is a necessary strategy for companies, whether by acquiring new skills to optimize their performance (upskilling) or by training to adapt to a different role within the same organization (reskilling). However, to do it correctly, a careful plan must be designed. 

At Tandem, our experience shows that to optimally address this challenge, it is necessary to design and implement solutions that connect the company’s strategic priorities with the professional development of people, understanding that the future of business growth is skills-based (Skills-based organizations are those that focus on people development as the main driver of results). 

Development Decision Framework ©: best-in-class roadmap to invest in talent development and become a future-ready organization 

At Tandem, as part of our organizational solutions, we have engineered the Development Decision Framework © methodology, an approach that allows connecting the business strategy with team development, with continuous evaluation and adjustments in the growth proposal according to the company’s current and future needs. Our goal is for employees to make accurate decisions aligned with the corporate strategy. 

The model considers five critical levers that comprehensively cover the development experience in an organization. All components of the model are closely connected and mutually reinforce each other, so their differentiator lies in understanding the organization’s starting situation to work where there are greater opportunities. 

1) Strategy-Driven Development: Why, if we invest so much in development, do we still have talent gaps? 

From our experience, we have observed in several cases that an organization’s competency model is not aligned with its defined strategy. Thinking about the future of an organization implies prioritizing and developing the critical competencies that nurture the business’s strategic priorities today and allow anticipating those of the future. 

A leading Oil & Gas company in Argentina faced a crucial challenge for the sector: the evaluation of investment projects was fragmented and did not consider the sector’s specific uncertainties. At Tandem, we implemented a stochastic methodology that optimized decision-making. Along with this, we designed a competency model to align skills and behaviors with the decision process. This allowed connecting strategy with operational execution and ensuring that each decision was supported by prepared talent. 

2) Development Readiness: How to improve talent development planning, both at the organizational and individual level? 

Identifying the current development situation of a team with the appropriate measurement method provides vision and clarity to plan resources and focus on the greatest growth opportunities, both at the individual and organizational level. 

In a consumer goods company in China, we implemented the 180° method (self and leader assessment) to diagnose the competency status at the individual and organizational level. From the collected data, we generated measurement reports that identified strengths and areas for improvement. The entire process was carried out on a digital platform, providing real-time access to results and facilitating the continuous development of employees. 

3) Development Engine: Why, if we have so many resources available, do people not develop? 

According to Tandem’s Development Decision Framework methodology, a robust learning offer must provide people with a clear development path, with varied solutions that include experiences, exposure, and education (70-20-10). It is important that the designed solution is not a one-time thing, but follows a curated plan, with various interventions throughout different moments.  

At Tandem, we worked with the operations area of a multinational company to identify the best development resources according to the need of each defined competency. We curated the educational content offer, as well as defined the experience and exposure initiatives for each competency and level. All of this was integrated into a platform available to all users. 

4) Meaningful Career: How to accompany each employee’s professional development plan with valuable conversations with their leader? 

Generating safe spaces of closeness and trust, whether between the leader and the employee or at the leadership team level, allows generating greater value around the importance of development and creating appropriate and feasible plans to carry out. 

In a consumer goods company, we led dialogue spaces with the leadership team and their reports to raise awareness about the value of development and the tools they have in the company to enhance growth. In turn, we identified general and particular development opportunities for each area and carried out a prioritized development plan. 

5) Organic Evolution: How to measure the impact of the development strategy to ensure its dynamism and its adjustment to context changes? 

It is a very common mistake to think of development decisions as one-time solutions. Our experience shows us that the development strategy must be sustainable and updated to the needs and evolution of the organization and the function.  

In a consumer goods company in North America, we created a dashboard of development KPIs to analyze the follow-up of technical results and employee growth. Thanks to this tool, they obtained a new methodology to measure these indicators internally in the future. 

Invest in talent development today to lead the market tomorrow 

Talent drives business results. In an environment where job choice is mutual, organizations that offer development plans aligned with their business strategy and their employees’ aspirations not only achieve greater commitment but also ensure their sustainable growth. 

Professional development is no longer just a competitive advantage, it is an unavoidable responsibility. In a world where competencies become obsolete in a matter of years, the future of organizations is in the hands of decision-makers who can drive programs to improve their key capital: people. Furthermore, in most cases, the next best employee is already part of the organization. Identifying and enhancing internal talent not only optimizes resources but also strengthens the organizational culture and accelerates adaptation to business changes. 

An organization that does not prioritize talent development as a strategic decision has an impact on lower productivity and loss of business opportunities. Are we training the talent we need for today and for the future? 

María Vila Melo y Carol Cotton

mvm@tandemsd.com / cc@tandemsd.com

¹ Leading on Learning (Deloitte)

² 2023 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey (Gartner)