The annual ATD (Association for Talent Development) conference is a highly anticipated event for professionals in the training and development field. In addition to the diverse range of workshops and sessions, the expo floor is always one of the biggest highlights of the show, especially coming off the pandemic. While the show ran last year, this year was different. There was a buzz. There was energy. There was pent-up demand for new and innovative ways to learn in the new normal of work. It was back to the traditional size of nearly 10,000 people who were ready to explore.

As part of Advantexe’s presentation at our trade show booth, we hosted an engaging business simulation challenge for conference participants. The Advantexe Paws and Claws Simulation Challenge was a micro business simulation designed to be completed within 15 minutes. It allowed participants to experience the flexibility of our simulations while emphasizing the importance of developing business acumen skills.

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The whispers of a coming recession have turned into shouts just as the leaves have accelerated their fall from the trees. Before we know it, the 4^th quarter, and the year, will be over and we will be facing much uncertainty as we enter 2023. Many business leaders and experts are predicting a significant recession hitting us soon and it seems inevitable that there will be a downturn in the economy.

The best companies are preparing today. They are preparing by assessing their talent and developing plans of action to close the talent gaps that are required to navigate through turbulent times. It’s at this point that leaders should be recognizing they have issues with people who can bring the entire company down as every company is going to be only as strong as its weakest link.

As a talent development professional, I know from decades of experience that every company is on a spectrum of weak to strong based on its weakest links. As you prepare for the inevitable recession, where do you think your organization falls on that spectrum and what can you do to support and develop the weakest links in your organization?

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One of the core features of Advantexe’s digital business simulation platform is its ability to capture data for review and performance analytics. The performance analytics from a well-designed business simulation can be used as part of capabilities assessments and career planning. For a recent business simulation workshop, we conducted for a top car manufacturer, we pulled all the simulation results from the last five cohorts which focused on four critical metrics of success including, revenue, sales expenses, operating expenses, and Net Income (profitability).

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As most businesses knows, answering a Request for Proposal (RFP) is a thankless, painstaking, and time-consuming task that too many times is a farce because the procurement department forces stakeholders to go out to bid even when they have already verbally awarded the contract to an existing provider or friend of the firm.

While we would never turn down a great opportunity because it is an RFP, over the years we have become much more rigorous about the types of RFPs we respond to. Recently, we decided to pursue an RFP from “Company X” because it fit the basic criteria we established for pursuit:

• Asking for a business simulation as part of the solution.
• Company X has revenues over $1 billion.
• Has an audience of more than 500 leaders that need help.
• Sees the training initiative as a way to change values and culture.
• Perceived to have a realistic budget for the initiative.

After investing close to 60 hours of team time thinking about, brainstorming, and designing a great solution, we shipped off the RFP and waited for a response.

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It feels like we are coming to the end of something, at the same time we are on the doorstep of something new. The end is the end of pandemic living and the new is whatever version of blended work and learning is going to happen next.

By September, many people will be “back” in their offices. But it will not be the same. As I scan the literature – and there is a lot of it to read – the prevailing data suggests:

• 80%-90% of organizations will have some sort of flexible work at home policy.
• 75% of all employees have re-thought their living arrangements for purposes of commuting, not commuting and having mobility.
• Workers will never go back to a 100% in-office environment.
• 50% of workers will want more balance and time for living and getting healthy again in the near future.
• 35% of all workers feel optimistic about the future of work (which means 65% feel a lot of uncertainty.

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