Do you manage an early talent development program?
Data, events, community and insights to help you and your programs thrive.
Serving 40% of the Fortune 100.
LDP Connect is a community of professionals like you who grow early-career hires into leaders.
You’re doing important work. We’re here to help.
JOIN US
Become a member of LDP Connect and access all that the community has to offer.
We have membership levels to match all budgets.
EXISTING MEMBERS
Already a member of LDP Connect?
Click below to access your resources. Welcome Back!
WHAT IS LDP CONNECT?
LDP Connect is the community of professionals who lead, manage or support early-career talent development programs.
With an active membership of over 400, we have been serving members with research, tools and events since 2012. Join us!
LDP SUMMIT®
The annual best-practices event in North America for early career development program managers and leaders.
LDP SURVEY
Original research on how organizations manage and evaluate their talent development programs for early career hires.
LDP MEETINGS
Facilitated small group meetings that dive deep into a critical issue facing talent development program management.
COMMUNITY
The annual best-practices event for hundreds of early career development program managers and recruiters.
gdp sUMMIT (emea)
The EMEA annual best-practices event for graduate development program leaders and managers.
TOOLS
A library of tools created by and for professionals running successful early talent development programs.
MEMBERSHIP
Community Member
A small sample
of our community
Free
- Access to member discussion forums
- Limited access to the LDP Connect resource library
- Free registration to most LDP meetings
- The monthly LDP Report – a digest of content on early career talent development, and news on LDP Connect events, research and community
Professional Member
For dedicated early-career talent development professionals
$895/yr
- All “Community” member benefits
- Full access to the LDP Connect resource library
- Access to the membership “mentoring on demand” network
- Directory of early-career programs and characteristics
- Custom polls of the membership
- 20% off LDP Summit® registration
- 30% off LDP Survey reports
- 20% off LDP Workshop registration
- 10% off custom research reports
Enterprise member
For organizations invested in an early-career talent pipeline
$4899/yr
- All “Professional” member benefits for an UNLIMITED number of members from your organization
- A seat on the LDP Connect Enterprise Council
- Full access to the Early Talent DataLens benchmarking tool
- Registration to annual Enterprise Council events
- Access to Enterprise Council community and resources
- An additional 5% off all LDP Summit® registrations, LDP Survey reports, LDP Workshops, and custom research reports.
2027
THe LDP SUmmit
With the support of…
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
May 5 & 6, 2027
FAQ's
What is early talent?
Early talent is generally defined as the set of employees who are within the first several years of their career. There isn’t consensus on the point at which early talent becomes “mid-career talent,” but usually the term is applied to professionals with less than five years of experience. Early talent is also sometimes referred to as “emerging talent” or “early career talent.” Although early talent professionals are often young, the term refers to professional experience and not age.
What is early talent development?
Early talent development refers to an employer’s intentional efforts to attract, retain and foster the growth of relatively inexperienced professionals. Although new hires will often begin working in roles that are considered entry-level, “early talent development” represents a future-focused approach to an employer’s longer-term workforce development that goes beyond the value of simply filling junior roles.
Why invest in early talent development?
Employers invest in early talent development for many reasons, including, but not limited to the following: 1. They prefer to build and shape the future leaders of their organization – as opposed to hiring leaders from the outside (“build vs. buy” model); 2. Their workforce is deficient in a particular competency that they believe early talent professionals offer (such as technical savvy); 3. They believe that intentional investment in early talent development will produce more productive/loyal/competent employees in the long-run; 4. The costs of acquiring early talent are often lower than other types of recruiting because organizations can leverage the resources of universities and other educational organizations; and 5. Early talent candidate pools often provide easier access to diverse people.
What is an early talent development program?
A well-designed early talent program helps organizations build a strong internal talent and leadership pipeline, develop future-ready skills, improve retention, and reduce long-term hiring costs. By investing in emerging talent through internships, graduate programs, rotational programs, apprenticeships, or leadership development programs, organizations can create a sustainable workforce aligned with future business needs.
What is the purpose of an early talent development program?
Early talent development programs typically exist to deliver on one or more of the following objectives: 1. To on-board new early career hires and speed their path to productivity; 2. To build a pipeline of capable and diverse talent within a specific function or business unit; and/or 3. To identify and “fast-track” high-potential early career hires to leadership roles or other positions of high-impact for the organization.
What are the advantages of an early talent program?
Early talent development programs typically exist to deliver on one or more of the following objectives: 1. To on-board new early career hires and speed their path to productivity; 2. To build a pipeline of capable and diverse talent within a specific function or business unit; and/or 3. To identify and “fast-track” high-potential early career hires to leadership roles or other positions of high-impact for the organization.
What is leadership development development program?
A Leadership Development Program (LDP) is a structured experience of formalized training and assignments designed to fast-track high-potential employees into positions of leadership. Many, but not all, LDP’s are built and run by an organization for their own employees. Although there are LDP’s designed specifically for early talent, LDP’s exist for professionals at other stages in their career as well.
What is LDP Connect?
Founded in 2012 by a former early talent rotational program manager, LDP Connect is the community of professionals who lead, manage or support early talent development programs. LDP Connect helps early talent leaders learn from proven practices, benchmark their programs, and solve challenges with insights from experienced practitioners. We provide events, research, tools and support to the people working hard to build their organization’s early talent program.
Some Participating Organizations
LDP Connect includes professionals from many of the world’s marquis employers, including 40% of the Fortune 100.
