Talent Development

Relative age effects (RAEs) refer to differences among individuals in age-based cohorts typically used in sport. These effects usually favour relatively older members of the cohort and are thought to result from differences in maturation and experience among athletes of different chronological age. Recently, researchers suggested that relatively younger participants may not be as disadvantaged as previously thought. In two studies, we examined whether relatively younger athletes who were able to survive in a system that advantages their relatively older counterparts would develop superior technical skills. In study one, participants aged 13-15 years (n=140) drawn from a regional handball talent selection camp in Germany demonstrated a general relative age effect but no differences between relatively older and relatively younger athletes in physical body size (i.e., height/weight) or technical skills. In study two, similar tests were considered with a larger sample (n=478) and revealed similar results. Furthermore, there were no differences between those selected for the national youth team and those not selected. Differences in RAEs do not seem to be due to technical skills or body size variables. Moreover, the homogeneity of these results suggests causes of the relative age effect occur early in development.

Sejak lahir seorang anak sudah di anugerahi bakat yang istimewa oleh yang maha kuasa, namun terkadang bakat ini tidak mampu untuk berkembang sebagaimana mestinya karena ktidakpahaman orang tua atau bahkan fasilitas pendukung yang tidak diberikan secara optimal untuk mendukung segala potensi yang dimiliki seorang anak. Padahal banyak para ahli mengatakan bahwa masa kanak-kanak adalah masa emas di mana segala potensi seorang anak bias terlihat dan harus dikembangkan secara optimal. Pada dasarnya setiap anak memiliki hak dan kesempatan untuk mengembangkan potensinya. Sedangkan potensi itu sendiri ialah kemampuan pada seorang individu yang belum nampak. Potensi sangat penting karena dengan potensi seseorang dapat mengembangkan dirinya, tidak hanya mengandalkan kemampuan yang sudah dimiliki saat ini. Selain itu potensi juga dapat menjadi pembeda antara individu yang satu dengan individu yang lain. Oleh karena itu perlu adanya pengembangan yang tepat pada setiap potensi yang dimiliki oleh individu tersebut. Untuk dapat mengembangkan potensi tentu membutuhkan stimulan-stimulan. Pakar pendidikan mengatakan bahwa setiap anak dilahirkan jenius. Demikian pula sebaliknya, bakat atau talenta itu akan tinggal diam, layaknya harta karun yang tidak pernah ditemukan, bahkan mungkin tidak pernahdisadari jika tidak dieksplorasi dengan sengaja dan kemudian dipupuk. Orang yang bertanggung jawab untuk eksplorasi bakat anak dan pengembangannya adalah Orang tua, karena orangtualah yang punya kesempatan dan posisi paling strategis dalam penemuan bakat sedini mungkin, kemudian juga mengembangkannya hingga mencapai potensi tertinggi.

This paper explores the challenges of executive leadership and human resource development in a nonprofit setting. While human capital is a vital asset to any organization, it is particularly vital to nonprofit organizations, which expect their employees to work for less, and often do more, than their counterparts at for-profit companies. Managing these resources presents some challenges. Some of these challenges are similar to the challenges that for-profits face, such as attracting and retaining talent and developing leaders. Some of the challenges are unique, such as managing volunteers and the high-burnout rates of non-profit employees. Executive Leadership Development (ELD) is also a critical challenge faced by nonprofits. However, all Human Resource Development (HRD) issues within a nonprofit setting must be tackled with the organization’s mission in mind.

This article provides an outline of talent identification practices and challenges in Hungary. First, it gives a summary of gifted education in the country; then the general challenges of talent identification are introduced: difficulties of defining talent, talent as potential, environmental factors, the role of perseverance and motivation, and individual variety. Later, recent Hungarian identification practices are shown, followed by a summary and a conclusion about how our identification practice should be developed into an investigation of individual characetristics. We propose stronger focus on the use of cognitive profile tests, investigation of interest-based characteristics, the use of observation and dynamic assessment methods, teacher nomination and emphasizing the need for effort. The focus from identification toward investigation exploring individual needs and characteristics to provide the most appropriate pathway for development in the 21 st century seems to be a more effective way of talent support than mere selection.

Abstract: The role of ecological constraints on the acquisition of sport expertise is gaining attention in sport science, although more research is needed. In this position paper we provide an ecological explanation for expertise acquisition, as alluding to qualitative data that support the idea that unconventional, even aversive, environmental constraints may play an important role in the development of worldclass athletes. We exemplify this argument by profiling the role of unconventional practice environments using association ...

This study reports on an effort to create a sustainable, blended, mobile and online educational system for a U.S. based national vocational program. The research looked at the current ecosystems within each of the eight city sites before determining an ecological diffusion of technology approach. Organic methods were used to manipulate the adoption of blended, mobile, as well as online teaching and learning. A field observation approach where the researcher identified current states of paper-based models and small pockets of online learning like wikis and blogs, with an inability to model or scale those digital tools. Leveraging a modeling approach, a mobile first eLearning portal was piloted in a staggered fashion, leading to a 100% adoption amongst staff and students. The intentionality behind the modeling approach was to expand adoption to 400% to address semi-and non-academic components of the program. Key results allowed the organization to align its curriculum across cities, and build master courses to offer its corporate partners with quality standards. The flexibility of the organic adoption approach also increased multi-screen access, extending the content delivery and engagement beyond the confines of time and physical space constraints. Be it mobile or computer, the organization transformed learning from a solely instructor-led approach, to accommodate 'flipped' learning engagements, as well as supportive digital and portable learning communities. Through simulations, the organization was also able to incorporate social collaboration, mLearning and interoperable learning tools that cultivated and accommodated differentiated learning and development styles.

This study examined the nature of developmental, psychosocial and contextual factors experienced by elite adolescent golfers in an effort to establish which factors might be important to achieve elite status in golf. Participants were guided through a structured interview collecting quantitative data (after Cote, Ericsson & Law, 2005). Participants were eight Caucasian male adolescent amateur golfers with a handicap between +2 and +4. All were affiliated with international representative teams run by the English Golf Union. Participants did not follow an early specialisation trajectory and refrained from engagement within long term golf specific deliberate practice. Instead, participants encountered numerous sporting activities within a playful, developmentally supportive environment until selection for international representative teams during late adolescence, at which point deliberate practice became more evident. Such findings may provide practitioners within golf talent development systems with stronger scientific basis for their coaching and development interventions.

Questioning and challenge, openness and candour, diversity, collaboration, and engaging and learning from the creative arts are all conducive of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are inter-related. Creative ideas need to be adopted, implemented and commercialised for innovation to occur which can require entrepreneurial flair. Business leaders need to discuss, consult and consider where creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are most needed, what they should be applied to and for what purpose, and what their relevance, significance and value might be for customers and prospects. They should also consider whether they should take a wider range of interests into account when deciding when, where and for whom to be creative, innovative and entrepreneurial. 

Published as: Coulson-Thomas, Colin (2017), Stimulating Creativity, Enabling Innovation and Supporting Entrepreneurship, Management Services, Summer, pp 26-29

We can change the future but we cannot change the past'. All the organizations seem to focus on acquisition and development of top quality talent and the organizations spend a lot for developing good quality talent but with little achievement. Despite all efforts and with all the knowledge of talent development practices, there is still a gap between our knowledge to develop talent and our ability to do it in exact terms. Although a number of talent development practices including coaching, performance feedback, 360 o appraisal, talent reviews are used by managers but there they all speak about the past. Feed forward is a process that helps people to focus on a positive future, not a failed past. Feed forward disseminates ideas on how the people can be even more successful in future rather than reminding them of their failed past and can thus increase their chances of getting success.This paper is an attempt to develop an understanding as to how the organizations can develop talent we actually need to develop for the organization through Feed Forward Process.

This paper addresses the rapid growth, popularity, and structure of US Golf Academies. Specifically, we highlight a phenomenon from a non-US golfing community's perspective; namely, that of the " talent tourist " (i.e., youth golfer) seeking to develop their playing skills and academic ability within a foreign talent pathway. With so much of these golfers' futures at stake (e.g., large financial costs and time dedicated), there is a surprising lack of research attention paid to these academies' talent development environments; for instance, their structure, position in the overall talent pathway, the quality of the approaches used, or reasons why golfers strive to enroll onto them. By addressing these issues, this paper will present the case for greater research interest and the development of more effective talent development pathways.

Many research theories and frameworks have been proposed to describe the talent development environment in a variety of sports and other high-performance domains. None of these, however, have suitably described the context the first author had experienced in high level rugby league during a career that has spanned 40 years as professional player, club and international coach / manager and more recently as a consultant and researcher. The paper presents current talent development literature in respect to common features that have emerged from this domain. A series of personal reflections then illustrate how these areas are operationalised in rugby league based on the first author’s experiences. What transpires is a clear mis-match between theory and practice and a glaring lack of appropriate support for those who lead in this domain. The paper therefore proposes the need for a new rugby league specific framework which can guide and support those who operate within the rugby league talent development environment.

his paper explores the influence of parenting beliefs and practices on children’s talent deelopment through a specific perspectie of seeral Chinese American families with gifted children. In-depth interiews were employed to collect data from the parents, and research questions focused on the daily practice of parenting and parents’ beliefsconcerning how to nurture high achieement among children. Findings of this studyinclude eidence of a sense of responsibility for parenting, a high leel of confidence oer their children’s future, and a mixed strategy of parenting that combines traditional Chinese parental expectations with an adopted Western notion of respect for a child’sown decision making.

This article explores what two regional film production companies in Norway do to survive and succeed with their goals. The production of feature films in Norway is largely an Oslo-based effort, but despite this reality, there are companies in the regions that produce feature films. The analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with eight employees in two companies. Mer Film has in relatively short time managed to attract talented directors and establish networks with international, critically acclaimed production companies. Filmbin was one of the first film companies in Norway who committed themselves to the production of films for children. The article shows that success must be related to context and that reputation, talent development and choice of genre, geographical location, networking and social capital, risk diversification, entrepreneurship, organizational culture and leadership, are essential factors for the companies.

For a long period, outstanding performance in complex domains was explained by innate abilities. Research on expertise questioned this assumption and showed that performance can tremendously be influenced by intensive deliberate practice. Evidence about the plasticity of the human mind and body suggests that the acquisition of expertise should rather be described as process of specific adaptations to typical tasks of the domain rather than as development of pre-existing innate abilities. Cognitive adaptations have been addressed in research on expertise for nearly half a century, whereas the investigation of physiological and neural adaptations as result of deliberate practice in specific domains is still at its beginning. Recent developments in sciences like neuroscience, training and exercise theory, physiology, or neurology, open new theoretical and technical possibilities to investigate such adaptations. Neuroimaging methods allow empirical analyses of functional and structural (anatomical) changes of the brain as result of intensive domain-specific practice. In this article, recent research concerning motor, physiological and neural plasticity is reviewed. Considerations are suggested how such research might influence educational issues of supporting the acquisition of expertise. H. Gruber et al. 4 processing paradigm, many studies investigated problem-solving, search processes or memory recall of experts. Much empirical evidence was found that the experts' advantages were not based on a general superiority, but rather were restricted to the domain of expertise. This evidence shook the assumption of innate abilities to the core. Instead, theories about the acquisition of expertise emerged, as well as assumptions about the role of practice -usually extended practice over a period of several years -and its design ("deliberate practice"; Ericsson, , theories about experience-based restructuring of expert knowledge , and about instructional support during the acquisition of expertise. Deliberate training studies confirmed the enormous plasticity of human cognitive performance, so that limiting or enabling body, motor, physiological, neural or anatomical factors were not any more in the focus of research on expertise. The idea of (bodily) innate abilities lost its attraction, since the interest for modifiable cognitive measures and adaptations has become paramount. One of the basic strategies in research on expertise is the contrastive approach. Subjects of different levels of performance in a given domain are identified and then compared according to variables which constitute the respective theoretical explanation of the nature of expertise. In most cases, two levels of expertise are identified, "experts" and "novices". The identification of experts is one of the most challenging difficulties in research on expertise. argue that this problem can be avoided in domains in which the quality of performance can be measured rather easily and without controversial opinion, for example in running and swimming (time needed for a particular distance). The expert-performance approach is based on the definition of reproducible superior performance in real domain activities, in particular in representative tasks. Examples are the move-choice task in chess or the task to play the same piece of music twice in the same manner. In their handbook of research on expertise, Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, and Hoffman (2006) collected a large number of theoretical foundations of the nature of expertise in different domains as well as empirical attempts to test these foundations. Much evidence is collected showing that superior reproducible performance generally emerges only after extended periods of deliberate practice that result in subsequent cognitive, motor, physiological and neural adaptations . It is important to note that deliberate practice is a particular kind of activity which aims solely at improving this activity. Deliberate practice thus is not inherently enjoyable, but requires a large amount of time. Unlike executing already acquired skills (like in competitions, concerts, etc.), such practice is not immediately rewarded with prizes or by social approval. The motivation inherent in the engagement in deliberate practice is often extrinsic in nature. The direction of the practice in order to reach beyond one's current level usually is based on the activities of "persons in the shadow of experts" ) like trainers, teachers or coaches who contribute through the design of practice activities and through successive refinement of the activity by providing feedback. It is still under discussion, whether the nature of deliberate practice is similar in different domains. For example, Baker, Côté, and Deakin (2005) argued that some assumptions of the theory of deliberate practice, e.g. the notion of a monotonic relationship between practice and performance, might be specific to some domains, but not to others. There is general agreement, however, that deliberate practice contributes to the acquisition of expertise, if a successful interaction of biological, psychological, and sociological constraints is achieved . Expert performance thus primarily results from specific training and practice rather than innate talent. argue that reproducible superior performance is mediated by substantial adaptations. Interestingly, body, motor, physiological, neural and anatomical factors thus re-emerge in research on expertise. Rather than constituting limiting or enabling factors for the development of expertise, they now are conceived as being influenced and formed through practice.

Talent development focusing on motion pictures is increasingly scaffolded
through transnational structures and processes. The result is
a growing emphasis on what I propose to call the ontological transnationalism
of the film practitioner. I begin by identifying transnational
talent development as a neglected, yet important area of inquiry for
Transnational Cinema Studies and go on to propose a definition of
talent development as encompassing more than technical skillsets.
A list of parameters is offered for the purpose of capturing the specificity
of different approaches to transnational talent development. Of
particular interest, I argue, are those models of talent development
that have transnational solidarity as a constitutive element. The specific
case of Filmlab Palestine is discussed with an eye to foregrounding the
promise of solidarity-based transnationalism as it relates to talent development.

This paper attempted to discuss the relationship between human capital development as measured by knowledge, innovative, creativity and interpersonal skill with the main theme which is the competitive advantage in the banking industries. Further exploration of our discussion provides evidence in explaining how fit does the selected variables are able to explain its usefulness in predicting competitive advantage. A survey was conducted in 3 Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) campuses located in Shah Alam (main campus), Dungun Terengganu and Malacca is using the quota sampling approach. Data were collected from 709 respondents to represent the population of the selected faculties from the 3 campuses. The result of the study demonstrated that all the investigative dimensions measuring human resource developments indicated their relationship with competitive advantage.

Smart fraction theory supposes that gifted and talented persons are especially relevant for societal development. Using results for the 95th percentile from TIMSS 1995- 2007, PISA 2000-2006 and PIRLS 2001-2006 we calculated an ability sum value (N=90 countries) for the upper level group (equivalent to a within country IQ-threshold of 125 or a student assessment score of 667) and compared its influence with the mean ability and the 5th percentile ability on wealth (GDP), patent rates, Nobel Prizes, numbers of scientists, political variables (government effectiveness, democracy, rule of law, political liberty), HIV, AIDS and homicide. Additionally, using information on school and professional education, we estimated the cognitive competence of political leaders in N=90 countries. Results of correlations, regression and path analyses generally show a larger impact of the smart fractions' ability on positively valued outcomes than of the mean result or the 5th percentile fraction. ...

Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WBS) individuals have a unique constellation of strengths and weaknesses aligned to Howard Gardner’s Intelligences, with accompanying biological phenomena that serve as a precursor for each.  Individuals with Williams Syndrome may be subject to very different principles of neural organization than the normal brain. Despite substantial impairments in many cognitive domains, individuals with Williams syndrome appear to possess unusual strength in language and music abilities. Individuals with WBS have smaller than average overall brain mass, but critical locations where sounds are processed remain fully-formed and are relied on to connect and synthesize information from other senses. This biologically based prevalence for pushing experience through less interconnected, more comfortable, and relatively oversized structures that do not include the more recently evolved (and central to executive function) frontal lobe is the figurative, cognitive version of comfort establishing primacy over higher-order thinking. School communities that engage WBS persons should focus on engaging the executive function (EF) of these students as means to supersede comfort for the sake of strategy. This paper recommends educators use the Talents Unlimited instructional model to drive Carol Ann Tomlinson’s emphasis on a classroom environment that is responsive to WBS student needs.

In recent years, economists have come to recognize the role of technology, as well as information, innovation, and creativity, in expanding economic potential towards sustainable development. An innovative economy that is driven by knowledge, creativity, technology, and anchored in strong values will help build resilience in small island developing states (SIDS). The aim of this research is to contribute with knowledge towards the innovative development of small island states, specifically Aruba, considering its socio-economic circumstances and the necessity to catch up to other developed countries. The main research question is: “How can a synergy between the creative industry and a knowledge-based economy, implemented within a Quadruple Helix Innovation Model to stimulate sustainable socio-economic development in the local innovation system of Aruba?”. This research is conducted as a case study and makes use of a mixed-method approach to measure human subjectivity with the help of a participatory policy instrument, the Q-methodology. A total of 28 participants contributed to the results of this research. The Q-sorting consisted of a Q-sample of 40 statements, which was collected online with the use of the Q-software software. The Q-analysis of the collected data resulted in five social perspectives, which are categorized as; Team Players, Growth Seekers, Neutralists, Innovation Enthusiasts, Innovation Sceptics, and Innovators. In the end, the results conclude that a possible synergy between the creative industry and knowledge economy could thrive through a Citizen-centered Living Lab Quadruple Helix Innovation Model in the future, however, effective policy measures will be necessary to see this through.

Recent studies have begun to explore the potentially positive impact of siblings on sporting talent development. This study aimed to explore potential mechanisms through which siblings impact on this process. Bimonthly interviews were conducted with 4 families over a 1-year period (parents and siblings; N = 14) during the talent development process. Findings revealed several themes (regularity of interaction, emotional interpersonal skills, rivalry, resilience, and separation) aligning with previous studies, alongside two new themes: communication and skill development. The study's longitudinal nature exposed important differences of potential mechanisms across families, highlighting the complex nature of the sibling relationship.

At a time when UK Sport are deciding how future funding for elite sport is to be allocated, this paper provides perspective from the manager of a sport funded for Talent but not for Performance. Qualitative data, collected through the reflective log of the Performance Manager of a National Governing Body, uncovers the difficulties that exist when funding is ring-fenced to the point where an organisation’s philosophy on athlete development is compromised. Resource Dependence Theory (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978) is used as the framework to understand the balance of power and influence whilst considering how the wider network of organisations are influenced by UK Sport policy. The discussions consider the difficulty in developing a fluid Athlete Pathway whilst working towards competition targets. The need to retain high-performing role models and retaining organisational knowledge is considered along with the impact of funding pressure on athlete performance. Finally, the paper contemplates whether there is a ‘tipping point’, where the constraints and demands of funding partners outweigh the benefits they may bring.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the existence of Relative Age Effect (RAE) on Turkish U14 athletes in 2016 U14 Turkish Indoor T&F Championship. The sample included 748 U14 athletes (455 girls, 293 boys) who were participated to championship in six events. Data was collected by the official web page of Turkish Athletic Federation (TAF). The birth dates of all athletes were divided into Quarters (Q) and Halves (H). Q1 (January, February, March), Q2 (April, May, June), Q3 (July, August, September), Q4 (October, November, December) and H1 (from January to June), H2 (from July to December). Additionally, athletes who were participated finals were divided into Quarters. To analyze the birth distribution of the athletes by Quarter and Halve we used Chi-square test. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 series of chi-square tests. Statistical significance level was set at 0,05. Results has shown statistical differences in the distribution for the girls and boys population who born in the first Quarter (Q1) and first Halve (H1) of the year. Moreover, it was observed that male and female athletes who were born in the first quarter (Q1) had a higher participation rate to the finals. Findings of this study has shown an exact influence of RAE on U14 Track and Field athletes. Coaches, parents and federations should consider RAE in the selection phase of the athletes.
ÖZET:Bu çalışmanın amacı, 2016 Türkiye Salon Atletizm Şampiyonası'na katılan 14 yaş altı (U14) atletlerde bağıl yaş etkisinin varlığını tespit etmektir. Çalışmaya toplam altı branşta yarışan 748 atlet (455 Kız, 293 Erkek) katılmıştır. Sporcuların doğum tarihlerine ait bilgiler erişime açık olan Türkiye Atletizm Federasyonu (TAF) ağ sayfasından arşiv taraması yapılarak elde edilmiştir. Müsabakaya katılan atletlerin doğum tarihleri Çeyrek yıl (ÇY) ve Yarım yıl (YY) dönemler olacak şekilde bölümlere ayrılmıştır.) aylarını kapsamaktadır. Ayrıca finalde yarışma hakkı kazanan atletlerin doğum tarihleri çeyrek dönem olacak şekilde incelenmiştir. Veriler SPSS 24 serisi Ki-kare testi ile analiz edilmiştir. Anlamlılık derecesi p=0,05 kabul edilmiştir. Yılı çeyrek ve yarım dilimlere ayırmak suretiyle yapılan değerlendirme sonucu müsabakaya katılan atletlerin dağılımlarında sayısal olarak ilk çeyrek ve ilk yarım dilimlerde istatiksel açıdan anlamlı bir fazlalık tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca yılın ilk çeyreğinde doğmuş olan kız ve erkek atletlerin finale katılım oranlarının daha fazla olduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Çalışmanın bulguları 14 yaş altı atletlerde BYE'nin varlığını açık şekilde göstermektedir. Antrenörler, aileler ve federasyonlar sporcuların takımlara seçilme aşamalarında BYE'yi göz önünde bulundurmalıdırlar.

Using a holistic perspective on athlete talent development, this study examines the impact of role strain on the life satisfaction in various life domains of junior elite Australian Rules Football players. One hundred and twelve talent-identified male Australian Rules Football players (Mage = 16.8; SD = .71) completed measures of role strain and multidimensional life satisfaction. The results indicated that role strain explained twelve to twenty-four percent of the variance in life satisfaction in the players’ life domains. Experiences of role strain related to the players’ dual careers were associated with decreased life satisfaction in sport, friendships, family, yourself, and global life satisfaction domains. Situations in which the players perceived that their abilities were underutilized were also negatively associated with life satisfaction across various life domains. This study thus evidences the importance of a domain specific, holistic approach to investigate the life satisfaction in junior athletes’ dual careers.

The digital transformation means that companies are redefining the process of talent management. Previous models involved functions, practices and processes that ensured a correct flow of employees towards key positions or a generic talent management view. The digital breakthrough, together with the growing panorama of competition for talent in the market, requires a different focus to enable well-grounded and agile decision-making processes in a sustainable world. The current research considers the functions that applied research has established as the limits of talent management, and that are the key topics in an employee life cycle, namely, talent attraction and acquisition, training, evaluation, and development. In addition, new tools such as employee advo-cacy and/or brand ambassadors have been added towards to draw conclusions about the future trends of talent management. This article examines the employee life cycle of talent attraction, and acquisition, training, evaluation, and development in the study of the main digital tools utilized in the Spanish market, by both national and multinational corporations. The results indicate that future investments are needed to correlate the digital tools and take advantage of a better employee life cycle management. The main results show a rapid increase in the number and variety of tools used in the talent acquisition process, an expanded use of social networks to enhance the scope of those processes, and conversely, a minor use of digital tools for both talent development and talent retention processes.

An employee is said to be engaged when that employee uses discretionary effort. This means the employee works that extra mile without being asked. The engaged employee leads to better customer service, which leads to better customer satisfaction, which leads to increase in Revenue. This shows that to win the customer, we need to win the employee first. The key challenge lies in linking employee morale and bottom line, which means organizations not only have to retain employees but also engage them. The study attempts to identify the Engagement drivers in a Technology Outsourcing firm at Hyderabad. The objective of the research is to identify key factors that contribute to Employee Engagement and analyze the level of Employee Engagement. The Secondary Research was carried out by studying several research papers. A Questionnaire was designed with 25 Questions based on a revised model. A pilot study was conducted and findings were analyzed. The trends of the responses have been plotted and five factors that contribute to employee engagement have been derived. The categories of disagreement among the employees have been noted and recommendations have been made.

Using a holistic perspective on athlete talent development, this study examines the impact of role strain on the life satisfaction in various life domains of junior elite Australian Rules Football players. One hundred and twelve talent-identified male Australian Rules Football players (Mage = 16.8; SD = .71) completed measures of role strain and multidimensional life satisfaction. The results indicated that role strain explained twelve to twenty-four percent of the variance in life satisfaction in the players’ life domains. Experiences of role strain related to the players’ dual careers were associated with decreased life satisfaction in sport, friendships, family, yourself, and global life satisfaction domains. Situations in which the players perceived that their abilities were underutilized were also negatively associated with life satisfaction across various life domains. This study thus evidences the importance of a domain specific, holistic approach to investigate the life satisfaction in junior athletes’ dual careers.

You're searching for the truth. What sources of information should you use and trust ? Brian Martin recommends reflecting on a topic that you know a lot about and taking note of which information sources were useful or misleading. To illustrate this process of reflection, he tells of his own experiences learning about the effects of nuclear war, the origin-of-AIDS debate and the sources of talent, in each case commenting on different sources of information that influenced him. Truth Tactics is an encouragement to learn from your own learning about how best to pursue the truths that matter to you.

Having had its fair share of challenges, the IT industry faces yet another threat. Only this time, the challenge can best be described as the global talent warfare. As with other industries, the IT industry is facing a tight labour market and top talent has never been as valuable as it is today. Given this situation, organisations’ ability to attract top management, effectively deploy line management to develop talent and retain top talent is being tested, and it will be those who can do it best who stand a chance of winning the talent war.

Buying talent is always costlier than developing talent pool. Pharmaceutical companies struggle for retaining the best talent to make their succession plan successful. If right talent management strategies (TMS) are used to attract, develop, and retain the best talent, the talent pool can be created. Thus, the succession plan will become reality. This paper is based on the vast and extensive literature review about TMS and their use in attracting, developing, and retaining best talent. By developing a hypothetical model, the researcher has found the impact of TMS on succession planning. The article further suggests the scope of empirical study to test and prove the hypothetical model. Model suggests that the right Talent identification and development strategies lead to talent retention and that brings successful succession planning in place

A real-world challenge was identified by the first author in how to create a bespoke athlete transition model for his professional rugby club. To guide the study a theoretical framework was sought to direct the data collection and analysis stages of the investigation. Established Talent Development (TD) research from other sports and TD environments is presented along with the authors’ reflections on the literature to demonstrate the iterative process of developing their own theoretical framework.  The intention was to shine a light on this research process so that both students and novice researchers could better understand the considerations that underpin this process within such a study. The product of this process is presented, that is, the C.A.R.E. Transition Model, which embeds and reflects the various best practice TD influences explored and assimilated by the authors. This model will now form the basis of future research into this phenomenon.

The paucity of talent in Nigeria’s agricultural sector is due to the limited
engagement of youth in agribusiness, the outdated curriculum being utilized by agricultural universities, limited adoption of innovation and technology in the sector, and lack of funding support for agripreneurs to build their skills. Only 4.34 percent1 of graduates from Nigerian universities study agriculture or agri-related courses, and most of these graduates admit that this was their third or fourth choice.

The agricultural extension and information delivery system is weak, with a very low ratio of extension officers to farmers, and the farming workforce is largely under skilled and struggles to adopt cutting edge technology. This has resulted in a serious gap in technical skills by smallholder farmers, limiting their productivity and ability to scale their agricultural operations.

To address the talent gaps in the agriculture sector, the National University Commission (NUC) should partner with private sector actors to update the curricula used in agricultural universities to include recent trends, management skills, and practical work experiences in agricultural organizations. In addition, private organizations and institutions should support talent development efforts by providing internship and  entorship opportunities for undergraduates studying agriculture. The government should create national capacity-building programmes for policymakers to empower them with the knowledge and skills to design sustainable policies for talent development in the agriculture sector. It is
also important for the government to encourage increased private-sector funding of polytechnics by creating fiscal incentives, strengthen intellectual property rights, boost the productivity of fabrication clusters by supplying stable power, and leverage information and communications technology in extension services delivery.

We believe this Quarterly will inspire stakeholders and decision makers in Nigeria's agriculture sector to develop and adopt creative and innovative training, education, and capacity-building systems to build a
talented and employable workforce to transform the agriculture sector in Nigeria

Technology has become a driving force of innovation in every industry and professionals need to strengthen their proficiency in emerging technologies to remain competitive. Today’s working world is very demanding of young professionals, as recent graduates are expected to come into their chosen field both knowledgeable and ready to hit the ground running, with minimal on-the-job training.

Computer-Mediated Learning for Workforce Development delivers crucial knowledge on how to prepare twenty-first century students for today’s fast-paced workforce. This book explores the use of multimedia programs in classrooms to train students on necessary technology skills through techniques such as game-based training curriculums and massive open online courses (MOOCs). This publication also touches on computer-mediated youth civic action and interaction by examining the use of social media during the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Black Lives Matter movements. Filled with critical information on educational technology, mobile learning, and employment preparation, this book is a vital resource for academicians, education practitioners, school administrators, and advanced-level students.

Topics Covered
The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to:

Informal Learning
Mobile Journalism
Mobile Learning
MOOCs
Online Learning
Simulations
Teacher Training
Technology Integration
Virtual Reality
Youth Activism

The purpose of this study was to investigate the professional duties of Academy Managers in professional Rugby League. The aim was to explore the knowledge and application of best practice concepts as well as identifying potential gaps in provision and related development needs. The TD Helix (Wilkinson and Grecic, 2020) provided the realist context by which to explore AM’s attitudes, behaviours and challenges when operating in this domain. Data were collected and analysed against this theoretical framework. Framework Analysis (FA) of the data found that the professional duties allocated to the AMs within the TD landscape were grouped into the following four areas: developing and maintaining a positive culture; implementing a holistic TD environment; supporting staff development and learning; managing up and down the pathway. The key agents to enable AMs’ success in performing these duties were their high-performance coaches. Additionally, in line with the FA method, typologies were created to describe the diverse roles that AMs perform. The roles were: Cultural Architect, Succession Planner, Life Coach Mentor, Sports Craft Teacher, and Character Builder. The paper concludes by highlighting the AMs’ developmental needs and how bespoke support is essential if they are to successfully overcome the multiple challenges they face whilst performing their professional duties.

This article presents a short-term program, The Leonardo Laboratory, for children with coexisting learning disabilities and spatial gifts. The program was developed in collaboration with a museum and administered as an after-school program to a group of elementary-school children (20 boys and 5 girls) so that its effectiveness could be evaluated preliminarily. Although the students in the program did not demonstrate statistically significant gains in academic skills, they demonstrated gains in self-efficacy and improvements in organizational skills. Thus, the program we developed has promise for certain kinds of skills and attitudinal development. Our work shows the importance of addressing the needs of children with disabilities and gifts (twice exceptional children).

Workforce development incorporates processes which involve a wide range of policies and programs. It consists of the training and education of job‐seeking individuals with the purpose of eventually engaging the individuals with productive employment. This preparation usually occurs in two environments: organization‐based development through institution‐related education and community‐based
development through the purview of social services. Workforce development in the United States commonly focuses on two categories of individuals: adults who are 25 years of age and older who have barriers to employment; and a group often referred to as disconnected youth, typically ages 14‐24 with
similar barriers to employment.

For a long period, outstanding performance in complex domains was explained by innate abilities. Research on expertise questioned this assumption and showed that performance can tremendously be influenced by intensive deliberate practice. Evidence about the plasticity of the human mind and body suggests that the acquisition of expertise should rather be described as process of specific adaptations to typical tasks of the domain rather than as development of pre-existing innate abilities. Cognitive adaptations have been addressed in research on expertise for nearly half a century, whereas the investigation of physiological and neural adaptations as result of deliberate practice in specific domains is still at its beginning. Recent developments in sciences like neuroscience, training and exercise theory, physiology, or neurology, open new theoretical and technical possibilities to investigate such adaptations. Neuroimaging methods allow empirical analyses of functional and structural (anatomical) changes of the brain as result of intensive domain-specific practice. In this article, recent research concerning motor, physiological and neural plasticity is reviewed. Considerations are suggested how such research might influence educational issues of supporting the acquisition of expertise. H. Gruber et al. 4 processing paradigm, many studies investigated problem-solving, search processes or memory recall of experts. Much empirical evidence was found that the experts' advantages were not based on a general superiority, but rather were restricted to the domain of expertise. This evidence shook the assumption of innate abilities to the core. Instead, theories about the acquisition of expertise emerged, as well as assumptions about the role of practice -usually extended practice over a period of several years -and its design ("deliberate practice"; Ericsson, , theories about experience-based restructuring of expert knowledge , and about instructional support during the acquisition of expertise. Deliberate training studies confirmed the enormous plasticity of human cognitive performance, so that limiting or enabling body, motor, physiological, neural or anatomical factors were not any more in the focus of research on expertise. The idea of (bodily) innate abilities lost its attraction, since the interest for modifiable cognitive measures and adaptations has become paramount. One of the basic strategies in research on expertise is the contrastive approach. Subjects of different levels of performance in a given domain are identified and then compared according to variables which constitute the respective theoretical explanation of the nature of expertise. In most cases, two levels of expertise are identified, "experts" and "novices". The identification of experts is one of the most challenging difficulties in research on expertise. argue that this problem can be avoided in domains in which the quality of performance can be measured rather easily and without controversial opinion, for example in running and swimming (time needed for a particular distance). The expert-performance approach is based on the definition of reproducible superior performance in real domain activities, in particular in representative tasks. Examples are the move-choice task in chess or the task to play the same piece of music twice in the same manner. In their handbook of research on expertise, Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, and Hoffman (2006) collected a large number of theoretical foundations of the nature of expertise in different domains as well as empirical attempts to test these foundations. Much evidence is collected showing that superior reproducible performance generally emerges only after extended periods of deliberate practice that result in subsequent cognitive, motor, physiological and neural adaptations . It is important to note that deliberate practice is a particular kind of activity which aims solely at improving this activity. Deliberate practice thus is not inherently enjoyable, but requires a large amount of time. Unlike executing already acquired skills (like in competitions, concerts, etc.), such practice is not immediately rewarded with prizes or by social approval. The motivation inherent in the engagement in deliberate practice is often extrinsic in nature. The direction of the practice in order to reach beyond one's current level usually is based on the activities of "persons in the shadow of experts" ) like trainers, teachers or coaches who contribute through the design of practice activities and through successive refinement of the activity by providing feedback. It is still under discussion, whether the nature of deliberate practice is similar in different domains. For example, Baker, Côté, and Deakin (2005) argued that some assumptions of the theory of deliberate practice, e.g. the notion of a monotonic relationship between practice and performance, might be specific to some domains, but not to others. There is general agreement, however, that deliberate practice contributes to the acquisition of expertise, if a successful interaction of biological, psychological, and sociological constraints is achieved . Expert performance thus primarily results from specific training and practice rather than innate talent. argue that reproducible superior performance is mediated by substantial adaptations. Interestingly, body, motor, physiological, neural and anatomical factors thus re-emerge in research on expertise. Rather than constituting limiting or enabling factors for the development of expertise, they now are conceived as being influenced and formed through practice.

This article draws on case study findings of educator leadership in an online gifted education school, which emerged from a larger study exploring online engagement practices used by specialist gifted education teachers to (re)engage gifted learners. The gifted education teachers and their team leader were interviewed about leadership practices for supporting online engagement of gifted primary and high school students. Semi-structured interview data were transcribed, coded, and thematically analysed. Findings related to teachers voicing the importance of a passionate and committed team leader who understood giftedness and who acted as a facilitator in both the continuous development of teaching team skills and facilitation of online engagement practices for gifted students. Findings indicated five key themes related to transformational leadership practices: (1) understanding requirements of online practices for teaching gifted students; (2) supporting digital and online innovation ...