Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Talent Management

Danny Canary, Director of Organizational Development & Learning, Ulta Beauty

Danny Canary, Director of Organizational Development & Learning, Ulta Beauty

We need to reframe focus on quality content to ignite meaningful employee engagement and often that means implementing bespoke programs

In your opinion, how has the Talent Management landscape evolved over the years? What are some of the advantages of the current technological evolution?

One of the most exciting things about talent management is how fast it evolves. The larger American workforce has quickly grown from talking about talent with unstructured performance reviews and ratings to fully understanding capabilities needed to enrich and ascend in careers. Now, leaders can effectively marry insights with tangible recommendations and actions and ultimately provide the right learning and development opportunities across levels and skillsets to support professional goals.

What, according to you, are some of the challenges plaguing the Talent Management landscape and how can they be effectively mitigated?

Many talent management leaders can fall into a cycle of implementing turnkey learning experiences into existing management software and assume those meet the needs of their learners. We need to reframe focus on quality content to ignite meaningful employee engagement and often that means implementing bespoke programs. This is a very nuanced process given every organization has distinct cultures, learning environments, and employees. I believe it’s always smart to test programs before rolling out across the enterprise. With the programming that’s best for your teams, keep the dialogue open to solicit real-time feedback and find ways to test what was learned from the programs (e.g., team exercises, training simulations). At Ulta Beauty, we operate with the mindset of improving always and transparency is key. These values are very much embedded into our talent management practices.

Which are a few technological trends influencing Talent Management today? What are some of the best practices businesses should adopt today to steer ahead of competitors?

Virtual reality leadership development solutions continue to gain popularity. Our ambition is to experiment with this trend in the future and assess if our teams genuinely connect. As leaders explore a new trend such as this, a best practice is understanding what is at the heart of the behaviors you wish to change then assessing if the experience alone is the perfect solution. For example, you can enhance a VR experience with mentorship or individual/group coaching sessions. At Ulta Beauty, we always come back to two-way dialogue to best understand what’s working and what can be optimized, no matter the topic.

Do you have any advice for industry veterans or budding entrepreneurs from the Talent Management space?

Building relationships with leaders at all levels is a core tenant of professional success. Beyond enhancing one’s ability to influence, it allows for first-hand exposure to culture and team dynamics. Culture and pulse surveys are great tools, but nothing compares to time spent with leaders and teams to hearing directly about what works and what does not. In my role, I set up virtual coffee chats a few times a week with leaders at various levels across the company. I’m also proud to lead welcome sessions for new employees to set a strong, strategic foundation for their career journey with Ulta Beauty. These candid conversations provide me with knowledge and insights to guide informed decisions that benefit the entire organization. Learning, development, and talent management are human-centric so while it seems obvious, it’s critical Talent Management leaders are actually keeping people at the center of everything they do.