Joe Haberman is managing partner for the Global Education Markets Practice at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. As an observer of education market trends for almost twenty years, he suggests that senior talent development roles have changed:

The purpose of any talent strategy is to support your organization's competitive advantage. The key is to connect investments with a key driver (e.g., improved product quality; productivity or service; enhanced social outcomes; improved efficiency). When executed well, greater and more differentiated investments in talent development result in specific competitive strengths that lead to both a successful business over time and a balanced triple bottom line.

A talent development plan for a sustainable business looks at how an organization develops, consumes, shares, and transforms knowledge into business outcomes in the context of broader boundaries and both economic and social goals. The key is to look at the organization as well as the broader market as an experience engine. Ask yourself these questions:

The first half of this challenge is to understand how a learning environment can be created to enable the discovery of knowledge for a sustainable business, and the other half is to understand the value of that knowledge and where to make the right investments.

As discussed earlier, new sustainable business models will necessitate changes in job boundaries and performance values. New knowledge will be required.