People: Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, and Total Rewards
What the People domain covers
The People domain follows the employee life cycle: talent acquisition, learning and development, and total rewards, with retention and engagement running through all three.
Talent acquisition. Job analysis produces the job description (tasks, duties, responsibilities) and the job specification (knowledge, skills, abilities). Structured, behavior-based, panel interviews are more valid and less biased than unstructured conversation. Check any selection tool for adverse impact using the four-fifths (80%) rule. Onboarding is a months-long socialization process; orientation is its first day.
Learning and development. Begin with a needs assessment (organization, task, person) before picking a method. The 70-20-10 model says most learning happens on the job, then through others, then formally. Evaluate with Kirkpatrick: reaction, learning, behavior, results.
Total rewards. Everything an employee values: base pay, incentives, benefits, flexibility, recognition, development. Benchmark to the market, monitor pay compression and pay equity, and read compa-ratio (salary divided by range midpoint) to see where pay sits in the band.
Traps
Level confusion is the classic distractor: trainees saying the course was useful is Kirkpatrick Level 1, not Level 4. Engagement (discretionary effort and commitment) is not satisfaction (contentment). Situation items reward diagnosis before action: assess the gap before buying a program.
Worked example
A question asks which measure shows whether customer-service training worked. Self-ratings of the class = reaction. Test scores = learning. Observed call handling after 60 days = behavior. Fewer escalations = results. Match the verb in the stem to the level.
Rule of thumb: measure the outcome the business cares about, not the one that is easiest to collect.