About the Author
Elaine Biech, CPTD Fellow, believes that excellence isn’t optional. Her passion is helping others achieve their passion. She specializes in maximizing individual, team, and organizational effectiveness using her expertise in organizational development (OD), training, and consulting. She designed hundreds of training courses and apps, including the first process improvement programs for The Newport News Shipbuilding Company and McDonalds; the first creativity program for Hershey Chocolate; and one of the world’s first virtual training sessions in 1986 for NASA. Elaine has been called a titan of the training industry, with 86 published books including the Washington Post #1 Best Seller, The Art & Science of Training. She presented for 36 consecutive years at ATD’s ICE and has been featured in dozens of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Washington Post, and Fortune Magazine.
Elaine has been active in ATD/ASTD since 1982, served on the National Board of Directors, and designed ATD’s first training certificate program. She is ATD’s inaugural CPTD Fellow designee and most recently was the principal author of ATD’s Body of Knowledge. A talent development thought leader, Elaine is the recipient of ATD’s 1992 Torch Award, 2004 Volunteer-Staff Partnership Award, 2006 Bliss Memorial Award, and the 2020 Distinguished Contribution to Talent Development Award. She is the recipient of ISA’s 2001 Spirit Award, 2012 Outstanding Contributor Award, and 2022 Thought Leader Award. She is also the recipient of Wisconsin’s Women’s Mentor Award; and sponsors several scholarship funds. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for ISA and CCL.
Dedication
For Shane and Thad, my best talent development projects.
Author’s Acknowledgments
An author’s mere “thank you” is so inadequate to show appreciation for everyone who helps to pen a book. Yet, to the many people who were an intricate part of authoring this book, I can do little more here than offer you a heartfelt “Thank you!”
Thanks to the generous contributors to this book. You are the Names to Know in the profession: Jane Bozarth, Ruth Clark, Julie Dirkson, Jonathan Halls, Ann Herrmann-Nehdi, Jennifer Hoffman, KJ Jeter, Karl Kapp, Jim and Wendy Kirkpatrick, Renie McClay, Jack Phillips, Bob Pike, Becky Pike Pluth, and Thiagi. You all inspire me. Thank you to Morgean Hirt for your certification proficiency. Thank you, Kim Seeger, for your fast and fabulous suggestions. Thanks to all the ebb associates clients who have challenged me to always design a better training and to conduct it under all kinds of conditions.
Thanks to everyone at the Association for Talent Development (ATD) who allow me to continue to grow and learn, especially Tony Bingham and Jennifer Homer for the special opportunity to publish under the respected ATD brand. Thanks, Tony, for a fantastic foreword. Thank you Kristen Fyfe-Mills for you dependability, expertise, and precise performance.
Thanks to the Wiley team who worked on this edition: Vicki Adang, Kelsey Baird, Susan Christophersen, and Kristie Pyles.
And finally, thanks to Dan Greene, my personal editor, scheduler, chef, and all things writing.
All of you deserve much more than the simple thank you that appears here. Thanks for helping me write Training & Development For Dummies, 2nd Edition.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Acquisitions Editor: Kelsey Baird
Editor: Susan Christophersen
Technical Editor: Kimberly Seeger
Production Editor: Pradesh Kumar
Cover Image: © Chaay_Tee/Shutterstock