We will kick off this year’s Strategic Talent Management conference with a collaborative session designed to help you connect with other participants while exploring talent management trends. Using interactive discussion techniques, we hope you leave this session feeling plugged into the network, brimming with new ideas, and excited for the breakouts to come!

You may just be starting to explore talent management for your advancement team, or perhaps you have had an established TM program in place for years. No matter where you are in your organization’s talent strategy, none of us is ever stagnant; after all, talent never stops! Whether you are planting seeds, growing programs, or it’s time to prune a bit, this session will meet you where you are and help you get leverage this conference to cultivate a deeply-rooted talent program.

The discipline and practice of talent management has evolved significantly over the past few decades, and so have the goals we aim to achieve, the tools we have at our disposal, and the professionals who are committed to this work. In this session, Yvette Marsh (LSU Foundation) and Brittany Wilhelm (Harvard University Alumni Affairs & Development) will briefly discuss the four major evolutionary phases of talent management, share the origin stories behind LSU’s and Harvard’s talent management programs and highlight some of the experiential differences between university and foundation environments. We will also engage the room to learn from each other and offer insights on which battles to fight, which landmines to avoid, and which goals to strive for in creating (or evolving) your own TM program. This session will be most valuable for colleagues who are newer to talent management, though we welcome wisdom, insight, and curiosity from practitioners of all levels.

In times of crisis, your people (the talent you manage) look to leadership for grace, security, and guidance. Learn how leaders at Michigan State University kept internal and external constituents informed and moving forward together during turbulent times, including a campus shooting, the abrupt resignation of a university president, an unexpected passing of a staff member, and firing of a football coach for unethical behavior, by providing staff members with timely and informative communication, health and wellness resources, and space to grieve.

As the higher education recruitment market shifts, talent management teams must remain innovative and focused on consistent processes. Centered in a diversity and equity perspective, the process of selecting a great candidate and the tools to help mitigate personal bias in the recruitment process play an important role in creating an inclusive workforce. In this session, Brown University's Division of Advancement Talent Management team will explore how to create an inclusive recruitment process through bias mitigation, criteria selection, and consistency. Participants will leave with tangible learning outcomes that they can implement into their processes. This session will be facilitated by Associate Director, Talent and Learning, Sasha Callejas; Talent Acquisition Manager, Darius Davis; and Talent Specialist, Daniela Monge.

Are your new hires and key partners on board with onboarding? What makes an onboarding experience successful for a new hire is one thing, but effective processes for the employees behind the scenes of that experience is another journey. This session, led by Harvard Alumni Affairs and Development, will highlight the changes to our processes that have received rave reviews, the challenges that persist, and explore new ideas to address the needs of an ever-evolving work environment. No matter the size of your advancement organization, we all share similar challenges when it comes to onboarding. This session will engage the audience to collaborate on best practices for an extraordinary process for all involved in onboarding. Facilitated by HR Program Consultant, Sarah Keeping and Talent Management Program Manager, Amanda Ulmer.